Came across a tweet from Violent Soho guitarist James Tidswell today and it got me thinking about KoЯn‘s venture into genre-crossing territory when they collaborated with Skrillex (and some other DJs I couldn’t be arsed researching) for a metal/dub-step album.

Now James made a very good point, the album, while different, was lacking that unique Nu-Metal, heavy bass line driven rock we’ve grown up loving them for, but upon doing some investigating of my own, it seems maybe they went with the wrong style of cross over! There’s quite a few mashups of songs featuring KoЯn which just fit perfectly once sped up or slowed down, (AND SINCE IT WORKED FOR LINKIN PARK AND JAY-Z) I thought it was my obligation to bring those to light if you haven’t heard them before… So here’s my Top 7 Songs Made Better With KoЯn, starting with

#7 – Down With The Blank Space (feat. Korn)

Ok, technically this is a mashup between Disturbed and Taylor Swift but the added vocals of Jonathan Davis’ twisting from “Freak on a Leash” at the 2:51 mark really bring that extra piece the song was missing.

 

#6 – Falling Insane

Nu-Metal was itself a blend of rock with other elements to make it work and unique (at the time) but when you blend Hip-Hop beats from Cypress Hill with our little Cobs, you get one kick arse slow jam that’d please your gangster and metal mates evenly.

 

#5 – A.D.I.D.A.Superman

Continuing with the Hip-Hop theme from before, Eminem has become quite renowned for using rock song samples to add extra genre crossing familiarity to his music (example: his song “Bezerk” features Billy Squire‘s “The Stroke“) but what happens when you replace his music with a KoЯny classic? You get this banger!

 

#4 – Thoughtless Nookie

Think of two things that just go together so well. VB and a pack of Winnie Blues. Heavy Metal Music and Beer. Well, pretty much beer and anything really. But when you put two Nu-Metal bands together on one song, you get something that just works, you wonder why you didn’t come up with the idea yourself!

 

#3 – Throne/Liar (Dying Here)

A relatively new one to the mashup scene fearing Bring Me The Horizon‘s fast paced “Throne” off their That’s The Spirit album and “Liar” from the See You On The Other Side effort by Jonathan Davis and co. You’d be surprised how well this sounds and you can even hear that faint sound of Linkin Park‘s “Faint” somewhere amongst the orgy of sounds taking over your ears.

 

#2 – Toxic Transistor

Ok, the main reason we are here today is to hear musicians that normally wouldn’t even be put into the same sentence as KoЯn, besides only to say how different they are. Britney Spears has had some “Issues” over the years and KoЯn even released an album of the same name back in 1999, but together we have a conceived, close to perfect blend that just bounces off each other like someone pegging a bouncy ball at a squash room wall.

 

and the winner is…

#1 – We Are Never Ever Coming Undone

The first time I found this song I thought it would be a monstrosity to humanity and further ruin the reputations of the band (yes, still talking about The Path of Totality)  but something came over me and I ended up enjoying it more and more with every listen. I’m waiting for the day either KoЯn or Taylor Swift cover this live in concert, because it will literally blow up the internet. This is a pure example of two completely different musical types, morphing with each other and creating a new/similar sound for both fans of either genre. Don’t lie, you enjoyed it more than you thought you would.

 

So what do you reckon? If KoЯn tried another collaboration album, should they go with one of the above or try their luck with someone like the Biebz….ha!

Browny (@brownypaul)