The Late 80s Alt-Metal Album That Shaped Korn and the Birth of Nu Metal

Few bands can genuinely claim to have created an entirely new genre, but Korn undeniably stands among them. With their self-titled debut album in 1994, the Bakersfield, California group became the architects of nu metal, a movement that reshaped rock music for the remainder of the 1990s and the early 2000s. However, even trailblazers have their influences, and Korn’s groundbreaking sound was no exception.

For the members of Korn, their music emerged as a unique fusion of metal, hip-hop, and funk. Yet, as Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch shared in a 2019 interview with Metal Hammer, one late 80s alternative metal album opened their eyes to the possibilities of blending styles and paved the way for the band’s future. That album was The Real Thing (1989) by Faith No More.

The Late 80s Metal Scene: A Turning Point

In the late 1980s, glam metal reigned supreme. Head admitted that, like many young guitarists at the time, he was deeply attached to the hard rock and hair metal scene dominated by bands like Whitesnake and Mötley Crüe. “I didn’t want to let go of Whitesnake and all these bands that had huge guitar parts, because I was a guitarist too, and I loved all that stuff,” he confessed. But everything changed when he and his future bandmates discovered Faith No More’s The Real Thing.

Faith No More had evolved through various lineups and musical styles since forming in San Francisco in 1979. By the time they released their third album in 1989, they had settled into an eclectic, genre-defying sound, thanks in part to the addition of 20-year-old vocalist Mike Patton. With its innovative blend of post-punk, funk, thrash metal, and rap, The Real Thing became a game-changer for Korn.

The Album That Changed Everything

“All the guys in Korn changed after they heard The Real Thing,” Head revealed. “It turned them from being the Mötley Crüe guys into something more alternative. Hearing Faith No More for the first time, I really felt something. It was darker than other bands you’d hear at the time like Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it also had this incredibly cool bass sound that really got me to let go of the old and embrace the new. I caught the vision for where music could go and where we could go later, even though it came out long before Korn was a band.”

Head noted that Faith No More’s genre-bending approach resonated deeply with him and his bandmates. “They didn’t fit in completely with anybody,” he explained. “Sure, they had the alternative thing going on, but they’d also got these thrash metal guitars they’d picked up from being around the scene with bands like Metallica. That’s what I loved about it – it was guitar-focused, but there weren’t too many leads getting in the way.”

Breaking Barriers with “The Real Thing”

Released in 1989, The Real Thing marked Faith No More’s breakthrough into the mainstream. Singles like the rap-metal anthem “Epic” and the keyboard-driven “From Out of Nowhere” became MTV staples. Alongside bands like Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More helped open the door for alternative rock and metal to break into the mainstream, a shift that would later explode with Nirvana’s Nevermind in 1991.

Korn took the funk-inspired grooves and hip-hop swagger of Faith No More’s music and infused it with a darker, angrier edge, giving birth to the nu metal sound. Head cited the song “The Real Thing” as a prime example of the album’s influence on Korn. “If I had to explain what influences go behind what we do in Korn, I’d pick a song like ‘The Real Thing’ 100 per cent. The way the song starts, with that opening drumbeat and those keys, really reminds me of ‘Blind.’ And that vocal line! It’s perfection, man. All minor music with this bright vocal – ‘I know the feeling/it is the real thing’ is just perfection to me.”

The Legacy of Faith No More

Korn has never shied away from acknowledging the role Faith No More played in shaping their sound. Head expressed regret that he has never had the chance to meet the members of Faith No More, though his bandmates Jonathan Davis and James “Munky” Shaffer have. Korn even had plans to tour with Faith No More before the COVID-19 pandemic derailed those efforts. “I really hope we actually get to do that someday,” Head said.

Faith No More’s legacy as innovators who pushed boundaries is cemented in the history of alternative and metal music. For Korn, the influence of The Real Thing endures, serving as both a blueprint and inspiration for the genre-defining sound they’ve continued to evolve since their debut.

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