music.wikisort.org - Composition

Life Is Peachy is the second studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on October 15, 1996, through both Immortal Records and Epic Records. After the release of Korn's 1994 self-titled debut album, the band reunited with Ross Robinson to produce and went back to Indigo Ranch Studios to record. Life Is Peachy features such themes as drugs, social encounters, sex, betrayal, and revenge. The album has fourteen tracks, excluding the hidden track after "Kill You". Its cover art was designed by Martin Riedl, and its name is credited to Korn's bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu. Life Is Peachy was Korn's first significant breakthrough, which came from constant touring after the debut album release and building a fan base, thus fueling great expectations.

Life Is Peachy
Studio album by Korn
Released	October 15, 1996 (1996-10-15)
Recorded	April–July 1996
Studio	Indigo Ranch Studios, Malibu, California, U.S.
Genre	Nu metal[1]
Length	48:14
Label	Immortal Epic
Producer	Ross Robinson
Korn chronology
Korn (1994) Life Is Peachy (1996) Follow the Leader (1998)
Singles from Life Is Peachy
"No Place to Hide" Released: September 14, 1996 "A.D.I.D.A.S." Released: March 4, 1997 "Good God" Released: November 7, 1997

Critical reception for the album was mainly mixed, but its songwriting and sound quality were praised. The vocal performance of Jonathan Davis on "Good God" was viewed as encapsulating the album's essence, becoming one of the decisive elements in the development of nu metal, a subgenre of which Korn has been the pioneering act. The album earned Korn a Kerrang! Award for Best Album.

Life Is Peachy debuted and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number one in New Zealand. In its first week of being released, the album sold 106,000 copies in the US. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 1997 and platinum in December of that same year. Life Is Peachy was RIAA-certified double platinum in the US in November 1999. As of 2019, the album has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.

Korn released three singles from Life Is Peachy: "No Place to Hide", "A.D.I.D.A.S.", and "Good God". All three singles went on the UK Singles Chart. Shortly before the album's release, Korn launched the Life Is Peachy Tour in the US with Limp Bizkit as the opening act. After its release, the band toured in support of Metallica in the US. Korn then embarked on its headlining tour throughout the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia, with often sold-out shows. The band also took part in the 1997 Lollapalooza summer tour, where the Life Is Peachy Tour ended abruptly due to guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer being diagnosed with viral meningitis. "No Place to Hide" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards.

Background

Korn's self-titled debut album was already selling well due to word of mouth and subsequent touring, earning them a "loyal" fanbase.[2] The album received a gold US certification in January 1996.[3] After fourteen months of touring to promote the debut album,[4] Korn took a month off and began writing material for the next studio effort.[5] At this point, Korn's members had difficulty projecting themselves into the future because they had spent their last few years under the influence of alcohol and drugs, being only sober when performing.[6] As they had to begin writing new songs, Korn was then in "a serious state of disarray", but they would not stop their partying habits.[6] Meanwhile, "the buzz" on Korn "was huge".[7]

Writing and recording

Lead singer Jonathan Davis said regarding the writing of the second album, "Right after we got done touring with Ozzy Osbourne, Ross [Robinson] hooked up with us. We went into a rehearsal studio and started writing. It was faster and thrashier. It was us reacting the vibe that we had to hurry up and get this done. We thought, 'Let's do something great, but let's not take a year on it.'"[8] However, Davis had begun writing part of the song "Mr. Rogers" while on tour in the fall of 1995.[9] Guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer described the writing process as, "We didn't write nothin' for two years then we had creativity build up, like blue balls of creativity."[10] Author Doug Small wrote that "the band's songwriting method—a sort of collective building process wherein four instrumentalists, with the input of Jonathan, develop each other's ideas until they've created a monster—is truly a group effort."[10] In a Modern Drummer interview, drummer David Silveria explained that for Life Is Peachy, and unlike the debut album, "we went in really fresh, and we wanted to get it done quickly to capture that energy. So it was probably about 60% knowing what I was going to play and 40% just playing whatever came to mind at that moment ... it ended up really good, and it has a kind of energy I probably wouldn't have gotten if I'd worked everything out beforehand."[5]

Korn wrote the first song of the album, "A.D.I.D.A.S.", in their rehearsal space called Underground Chicken Sound in Huntington Beach.[8][11] Silveria said, "somebody will start playing something and the rest of us will work around it and see where it goes", mentioning the songs "Twist" and "Good God" whose beats came first.[5] Shaffer said, "Some of the songs and riffs from the first record had been lingering around for years. When it was time to write Life Is Peachy, we went back into the rehearsal studio and we wanted to take the elements that the fans liked and we liked about Korn and elaborate on some of those like Jonathan freaking out. 'Twist' came to life. There was that dissonant guitar playing. There was more of a punk rock feel and attitude that the band had. I think a lot of that came from touring so much and the energy of the crowds. We wanted to create a really angry album."[8] Davis subsequently added his vocals to the jams.[6] While working on the album, the band consumed "mass quantities" of alcoholic beverages and were often so high that most nights, one of the band members passed out and thus could not play his instrument, especially guitarist Brian "Head" Welch.[6] Korn's productive sessions were often interrupted due to their debaucherous lifestyle, and Robinson struggled to get them to stop drinking to focus instead on songwriting and rehearsing. The band members also fought frequently.[6]

After playing at a few gigs with Deftones in California,[12] Korn returned to the studio to start tracking Life Is Peachy in April 1996. Korn and Robinson reunited to produce and begin recording at Indigo Ranch Studios in Malibu, California.[6] It was mainly because their first album had been recorded there and was a success.[12] Korn's bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu said, "We wanted that same energy and inspiration we found up in the Malibu Hills."[12] Davis said working with Robinson was essential as he was connected to the band since working on the first album and knew how to capture their live energy and motivate them in the studio. "Fortunately, he's here to kick our asses. Otherwise, we wouldn't be very... motivated!", he said.[13] Although some ideas emerged when returning to rehearsals, the album was primarily written in the studio as the band was less inspired on the road.[5]

The guitarists would approach their instruments "more like a keyboard" to bring more atmosphere while keeping their heavy sound, and more experimentation with volume swells and different effects pedals.[8] Silveria finished tracking drums in five days.[5] Apart from the cover versions of "Lowrider" and "Wicked", the album's lyrics were entirely written by Davis, who found inspiration in a place called Magic Room in Los Angeles.[14] The album was completed in July 1996.[6] Author Doug Small insisted Life Is Peachy was rushed when it was put together but praised its "unique" sound.[10] The album cost US$150,000 to make (in 1996).[4][15]

In 2002, Arvizu said he enjoyed the album much more than in the past. "A good pissed-off record", he said.[16] In 2015, Davis said even though Life Is Peachy was a "killer" record, it was not among his favorite Korn albums due to its rushed production, mentioning that the only reason was the pressure of constant touring. He further said, "But yeah, very rushed, very raw, it's still a cool-ass record."[17]

Album art and booklet

Arvizu came up with the title Life Is Peachy. The name came from Arvizu's Pee Chee folder. He often wrote the words "Life Is" in front of the brand name, which he found amusing.[18] Arvizu said, "I used to doodle all over it [the file folder]. I drew long hair on the character and put guitars in their hands. I used to sketch stuff all the time. I eventually knew my scribbles might someday pay off. I thought that visual would make a really cool album cover."[18] Korn contacted the Pee Chee file folder company and asked for permission to use the file folder's image for an album cover, offering twenty thousand dollars ($20,000), resulting in the company turning the offer down. The name Life Is Peachy was agreed by band members to be a "great" name for the album, and kept the name but didn't add Fieldy's file folder cover.[18] Due to the album's dark lyrical content, its title would be interpreted as ironic.[19]

The booklet, along with every other album by Korn, does not feature printed lyrics to the songs. The band explained that the booklets do not feature it because Davis believes fans should not rely on the printed lyrics as it limits the experience of listening to the music. As Davis told MTV's Serena Altschul, "I think music is something that every individual has their own meaning to the song. They can come up with whatever the hell I'm saying and that's the beauty of it and that's what I wanna keep there."[10]

Life Is Peachy's black and white front cover depicts a little boy with neatly combed blond hair straightening his tie in a gilt mirror while a taller, shadowy presence looms behind him.[10][19] The photo was taken by Martin Riedl.[20] The design and concept were by Scott Leberecht.[20] Small said that it "continued the threatened child theme as depicted on Korn's artwork."[10] Other pictures in the booklet were taken by Stephen Stickler.[20] Life Is Peachy is, to date, the only album by Korn to feature their name spelled in a different font.[21]

Release and promotion

Korn resumed intensive touring immediately after recording sessions for Life Is Peachy ended, performing notably at the UK Monsters of Rock festival in Donington on August 17, 1996, where they headlined the second stage.[22] At the festival, the band was interviewed by MTV's Vanessa Warwick for Headbangers Ball.[23] Korn had only cost the Swiss Rock Oz'Arènes festival $3,000 to get them to perform in mid-1996.[24] In September 1996, it was reported sales figures of 6,000 copies a week of the 1994 self-titled debut album; "It was a completely grass-roots campaign", said Epic Records' Al Masocco. However, Davis stressed his desire for Korn to stay underground.[25]

Life Is Peachy was released worldwide on October 15, 1996.[26] It was released by Immortal/Epic Records.[27] The CD album version included a bonus multimedia section that featured live video footage of "Good God" recorded live at London Astoria in the summer of 1996.[28]

Life Is Peachy Tour

The band toured throughout the US from October with Limp Bizkit as the opening act.[29] Korn supported Metallica on their US tour, which began in mid-December 1996.[2]

According to Shaffer, the tour with Metallica ended in mid-January 1997.[30] Korn toured solo in 1997 and headlined at often sold-out shows.[31] The band released a promotional disc in 1997 called Life Is Peachy Tour Sampler, with Incubus and the Urge,[32] as both bands supported Korn on their UK and European headlining tour.[29] The album featured three live tracks: "Chi" by Korn (US Tour Fall 1996), "All Washed Up" by the Urge, and "Hilikus" by Incubus.[33] The tour encompassed twenty-six shows and began on January 21, 1997, in Germany, visiting Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden, and ended in London on February 24.[34] On February 20, 1997, Korn made a television appearance as the musical guest of the day on Nulle Part Ailleurs (NPA), performing "No Place to Hide" (live broadcast) in prime time on Canal+ in Paris.[35]

Helmet and Limp Bizkit also toured with them to promote Life Is Peachy; both bands were the opening acts for Korn's North American tour.[36][37] After ten days of rest, Korn kicked off their North American headlining tour on March 6 in Arizona, performing to "a packed" Mesa Amphitheater, and ended on March 27 in Maine, with a total of sixteen shows. It included performances in Chicago, Kansas City, Pensacola, Tampa, and Toronto, among other cities.[38] They then went on an Australia tour.[39] In May 1997, the band returned for a short second leg of the UK and Europe headline tour, including a few dates in France; Limb Bizkit and Helmet were the opening acts.[40] They also performed at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Eindhoven.[41] Korn became a "must-see" band through the Life Is Peachy Tour and garnered media attention in the UK and Europe.[42]

Korn was a co-headliner on the main stage at the Lollapalooza summer tour 7, along with Jane's Addiction, the Prodigy, Snoop Dogg, Tool, and Tricky, among others, which began on June 25, 1997.[43] The band secured the Lollapalooza slot at the beginning of the year.[44] During the prior year's Lollapalooza, there was controversy over the inclusion of marquee, big name artists such as Metallica and Soundgarden, which founder Perry Farrell considered a "bastardization" of Lollapalooza, leading him to walk out on the tour.[45] Davis said, "Last year... wasn't like a real Lollapalooza vibe. Because it seems to me that Lollapalooza's been about cutting-edge bands, ones on the underground, and that's what I think he [Perry Farrell] based that whole thing on and last year really just wasn't all about that. And this year, now that he's back on, you can tell, there's so many different, diverse music groups here."[46] Korn's popularity in the US increased significantly during the Lollapalooza tour, where they developed a growing fan base.[46]

On July 18, not even a month into the tour, Korn was forced to cancel the remainder of their Lollapalooza appearances due to Shaffer's recent diagnosis with viral meningitis. Davis issued a written statement about Shaffer's illness, saying, "We love our fans. This is the last thing we want to do, but it's the only decision to make at this time. It just doesn't feel right without [Shaffer]."[47] The statement also acknowledged fans that "there is no suitable replacement for [Shaffer] during his recuperation."[47] The July 18, 1997 date at Cleveland's Blossom Music Center as part of the Lollapalooza marked the final show of the Life Is Peachy Tour.[48][49] Korn would envision reuniting after Shaffer's recovery to record the third album.[50] By then, fan rumors circulated on the Internet about Shaffer's supposed death.[49]

Concert synopsis

Writers Katia Kulawick of Rock Sound and Manuel Rabasse of Hard N'Heavy Magazine reviewed a Life Is Peachy Tour's show at Seattle's Mercer Arena on November 30, 1996.[51][52] Before the show, Kulawick asked Korn about their "mental state"; Shaffer responded, "Aggressive. And there, right away, exhausted."[30] The Life Is Peachy Tour featured live performances of Davis wearing customized sequined Adidas tracksuits.[53][30] The show started with a video projected on a screen onstage, which was a nonsensical animated cartoon with "grimacing characters", then Davis, dressed in a purple sequined tracksuit, "belched out" "Twist" under a dim spotlight, the opening song, followed by "Blind" from the 1994 debut album with the full lighting production. Rabasse praised the performance, describing it as "Powerful, of rare cohesion, of infallible precision."[54] Kulawick wrote that the animated cartoon, supplemented by dismembered dolls scattered behind and hung on two large grids above the band members, gave a "tragic dimension". She noted that the band's clothing style was in stark contrast with the stage setting and Life Is Peachy's music and lyrics.[30]

The onstage lighting configuration consisted of vertical spotlights in pink, red, and purple colors, illuminating the musicians above and below. The show also featured green-colored spotlights, most commonly used in death metal shows at that time, and strobe lights of fast flashing frequencies. The "ominous" shadows of the musicians were sometimes displayed on the screen, which only had that type of function during the show. The pit was mostly made up of fans wearing "oversized and misshapen" clothes and pants and often having the same hairstyle as guitarist Welch.[55] The sound system in the venue amplifying Davis' voice was "questionable", but it improved on "Good God". Throughout the show, Davis was constantly "hanging on to his mic stand", gesticulating over the heavy rhythms propelled by Arvizu's percussive bass sound paired with the TR-8080's sound integrated into Silveria's drum kit. The dominant instrument was the bass, and the live sound was described as "a mini-earthquake" at each Silveria's kick drum hit. Of the guitar playing, Rabasse wrote, "Dirtiness, approximation, confusion are inherent elements of the sound" of Shaffer and Welch, "at the head of a panoply of pedals, all more tinkered than the others". Rabasse called the show's final songs "a voodoo trance mixed with psychotherapy" and "apocalyptic". Some other songs from Life Is Peachy played that night were "A.D.I.D.A.S.", "Lowrider", "No Place to Hide", and "Kill You".[55] Kulawick described the Korn performance that night as "extremely grueling" and the crowd as "hysterical".[30] The show lasted just over an hour; without an encore.[55]

Singles

Aside from touring, Korn also released three singles following the album's release.[32][56] "No Place to Hide" was the album's first single, released in 1996.[25] The single features "Sean Olson" and "Proud", a song that would later be included on the soundtrack for I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997).[57][58] Other releases include the original album song and remixed versions of songs featured on 1994's Korn, such as "Shoots and Ladders.[57] Korn did not make a music video for "No Place to Hide", as Davis said it was a "waste of time and money" and mentioned the band's "integrity".[25] They chose instead to include a live video of "Good God" on the enhanced CD.[25] The song "A.D.I.D.A.S." was released as a single in early 1997.[32] The song's music video was directed by Joseph Kahn in Los Angeles in January 1997.[18][59] Arvizu said, "It was one of the hardest videos we ever made because we all had to lie still on cold metal slabs for hours, pretending to be dead. We wore dirty blue contacts in our eyes that made us partially blind while they were in."[18] "Good God" was the album's third and final single.[32] Various CD single versions include both original and remixed versions of "Good God" as well as remixes of "A.D.I.D.A.S." and "Wicked".[60]

Music and lyrical themes

Life Is Peachy opens with the approximately one-minute prelude "Twist", which is made up of improvised guttural scat singing and contains the word "twist" as the sole lyric, performed by Davis.[62] Small described the vocal style as "spitting out the twisted rantings of a madman" and said that it was fit for the album's introduction.[63] Kerrang! wrote that "Twist" features "nonsensical vocal noises";[64] and conveys the underlying message that the opener of the "much-anticipated" second album won't be a single but rather a "great big 'Fuck you'".[65] An a cappella version of "Twist" is included as a hidden track after "Kill You".[64] "Chi" is named after former Deftones bassist Chi Cheng.[9] It was named after Cheng because he liked reggae music and thought the song "Chi" was actually a reggae song.[9] Davis said the song is "about a lot of alcohol and drug abuse".[9] He stated that his vocal style on "Twist" and "Chi" and the latter's lyrics remain "a mystery" to him.[54] The meaning of "Lost" is the loss of his best friend when the latter settled down with his girlfriend.[13][66] "Swallow" is about drug-induced paranoia.[67] The instrumental "Porno Creep" was noted for its jazz-funk style, with Silveria's "deft, jazzy touches behind the drums kit" described by Kerrang! as "setting the band apart from any other group on the metal scene".[64] Davis explained the background behind "Good God":

"It's about a guy I knew in school who I thought was my friend, but who fucked me. He came into my life with nothing, hung out at my house, lived off me, and made me do shit I didn't really wanna do. I was into new romantic music and he was a mod, and he'd tell me if I didn't dress like a mod he wouldn't be my friend anymore. Whenever I had plans to go on a date with a chick he'd sabotage it, because he didn't have a date or nothing. He was a gutless fucking nothing. I haven't talked to him for years."[68]

"Mr. Rogers" is about Fred Rogers.[9] Davis said: "As a kid, he told me to be polite, and all it did was get me picked on. I fucking hate that man. Thanks for making me polite and trusting everyone, and easy to take advantage of."[9] "K@#Ø%!" is about women who have hurt Davis. The song is noted for its heavy use of vulgarisms throughout all the lyrics; because of this, Shaffer said that band had intended to jokingly submit it to rock radio stations as a joke because they "knew they wouldn't play it, then follow up about a week later with the real thing".[69] The grawlix "K@#Ø%!" stands for "Kunts!".[62] The lyrical theme of "No Place to Hide" is the impossibility of escaping from oneself, facing the same problems and obsessions in everyday life and beyond, year after year.[13] "A.D.I.D.A.S." is an acronym for "All Day I Dream About Sex".[68] "A.D.I.D.A.S." is also about sexual frustration and refers to the parties where a boy chases a girl but returns home alone; Davis added, " ... and you lie in bed and all you have to do is jerk off".[13] The cover song "Lowrider" is characterized by Davis' bagpipes and the band's style of humor.[64] "Ass Itch" is about Davis' difficulty with songwriting.[68] "Kill You" is about Davis' ex-stepmother.[70] Davis explained:

"It's about a relative I first met when I was 12. I fucking hate that bitch. She's the most evil, fucked up person I've met in my whole life. She hated my guts. She did everything she could to make my life hell. Like, when I was sick she'd feed me tea with tabasco, which is really hot pepper oil. She'd make me drink it and say, 'You have to burn that cold out, boy'. Fucked up shit like that. So every night when I'd go to sleep, I'd dream of killing that bitch. In some sick way I had a sexual fantasy about her, and I don't know what that stems from or why, but I always dreamt about fucking her and killing her."[71]

While the debut album centered on Davis' childhood themes, Life Is Peachy reflected more on his past eighteen months within the band, except for a few songs.[4][72] In 1996, Kerrang! summarized Life Is Peachy's themes: "Hate, pain, hate, sex, hate."[73] They later stated that Korn channeled an "atmosphere of pure dementia" into the record, which showcased "more tales of child abuse, insecurity, betrayal of trust and general hatred for the world".[16] The album's overall tone has been described by terms such as "big ball of anger", "contained rage", and "frustration".[72] It instills a feeling of belligerence.[16]

Life Is Peachy features a more prominent hip hop influence than the band's self-titled debut, with Shaffer recalling, "We were listening to a lot of hip hop! I was probably listening to a lot of Mr. Bungle, hip hop like early Outkast and the Pharcyde, Sepultura records, and Rage Against the Machine, just to name a few."[8] Characteristics that define the album's sound include the elements that appeared on the debut album, such as Arvizu's "clanking bass" and Welch and Shaffer's dissonant 7-string guitars, which are more disharmonic and noisy than previously, like on the loops on "Swallow", contrasting with Davis who had added more vocal melodies as exemplified on "No Place to Hide".[72] Silveria achieved the high-pitched sound by using a 20" kick drum and a 3 1/2" piccolo snare.[5] On the album, Davis' vocal style varies from whispering to clean singing, harsh vocals, and guttural scatting.[62] Screamings and sounds comparable to "borborygms" and onomatopoeias spontaneously punctuate his vocal parts.[54][74] The vocal style on "Twist" was also described as a "cacophony of borborygms" or "borborygms delivered in a scat-like manner".[19][75]

In the Life Is Peachy era context, magazines and newspapers had vaguely defined the album's musical style, although all had converged on the description of a metal sound.[76][77] In early October 1996, announcing its imminent release, Kerrang! deemed "Good God" as "brutal" and wrote, "sound like nothing that's gone before".[73] On October 25, 1996, Entertainment Weekly's David Grad described the album's sound as a "fusion of heavy riffs and tight hip-hop beats".[76] In October 1996, writer Manuel Rabasse commented that with Life Is Peachy, Korn "continues to depave the marked pathways of current metal".[72] On November 5, 1996, The New York Times critic Jon Pareles wrote that throughout Life Is Peachy, "the band applies hip-hop's noise esthetics to a hard-rock lineup".[77] In January 1997, Rock Sound's Katia Kulawick called Korn the "metal's mutants".[30] In an interview during the Life Is Peachy Tour in March 1997, Hard Force magazine described Korn as the "most revered new generation's metal band of this time".[78] In May 1997, Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called Korn a "testosterone-juiced metal act".[79] Life Is Peachy was subsequently considered a nu metal album.[80] Korn is regarded as "the one band that jumpstarted the nü-metal trend".[81]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[82]
Chronicles of Chaos	8/10[83]
Entertainment Weekly	C−[76]
Kerrang!	[73]
The New York Times	(favorable)[77]
Q	[27]
Robert Christgau	[84]

Life Is Peachy received mainly mixed reviews from critics. Q Magazine's Danny Scott said the album is "Harsher and harder than their groundbreaking debut."[27] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote: "Korn add enough elements of alternative rock song structure to make the music accessible to the masses, and their songwriting has continued to improve."[82] Mörat of Kerrang! rated the album four out of five stars. He wrote Davis' vocals are "filled with rage and hatred and bile", and he opined that what "makes the band" is the "bare emotion" in his voice. He highlighted the darkness and heaviness of the music, which occasionally showcased a "weird funky vibe".[73] Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote: "Korn has learned more than a few tricks from Nine Inch Nails, and it's not above using invective for simple shock value. But the chip on its shoulder sounds genuine."[77]

Adrian Bromley of Chronicles of Chaos wrote that he was "impressed with the strength and sound quality" Korn "has been able to magnify with Life Is Peachy".[83] Los Angeles Times critic Mike Boehm called the album a "gloomy hard-rock record".[85] Hard Force magazine rated the album 3 out of 5, writing that although Life Is Peachy is still in the same style as the debut album, Korn "radicalizes its discourse" on this one, making it harder to pin down.[86] Entertainment Weekly said that the album left the "impression that frontman Jonathan Davis is turning his well-publicized childhood traumas into a cheap marketing device". They gave it a C- and said that it "may be of interest to mental-health professionals."[76] Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club panned Life Is Peachy, calling the album "nothing but plain old, ham-fisted, butt-stupid heavy metal".[87]

In a 2002 critical reappraisal, Paul Brannigan of Kerrang! wrote that Life Is Peachy was a "difficult, angular, sinister record". He commented that critics and fans have divergent opinions of the album; for some, it was "disjointed", and for others, it was regarded as "the finest hour" of the band. Elaborating further, he stated: "In Faith No More terms, this was Angel Dust, in Nirvana terms it was In Utero. In anyone's terms, it's one hell of a ride". Praising Davis' vocal performance on "Good God", Brannigan said its powerful chorus would be a pivotal moment on the album, thus becoming an important influence for "legions of down-tuned wannabes" who "ripped off" this singing style. But, he added, "never has a metal mantra been delivered with more tortured passion" than Davis. Brannigan called "Good God" the "pinnacle" of Life Is Peachy. He dismissed "K@#Ø%!", which he included in "a couple of slips", although that was not enough to impair "an album of such diverse charms".[16]

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History author Bob Gulla described Davis as a "Virulent singer" on the album. Gulla gave a laudatory assessment, writing that he "seethed his way through the recording in helping to define himself as one of the most compelling and troubled voices in all of rock", and praised the creative partnership, stating that "the manic guitars and rhythm surrounding him only enhanced the final product".[88] In a retrospective review of 2021, Metal Hammer noted that Life Is Peachy was "occasionally wacky" but also "far more" experimental than the debut album, further stating that songs such as "Chi", "Mr. Rogers", "No Place to Hide", and "Wicked" are "moments of genuine brilliance", and added, "But they're all topped by the savage 'Good God', which can lay a claim to being the best song Korn have ever written." The magazine felt that the triviality of "Porno Creep", "K@#¿%!", and "Lowrider", tended to downgrade the album.[89]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
1997	Kerrang! Awards	Best Album	Won	[90]

In 1998, the single "No Place to Hide" earned the band a second Grammy Award nomination in the Best Metal Performance category.[91]

Commercial performance

Life Is Peachy peaked at number one in New Zealand.[92] It also peaked at number three on the Billboard 200,[93] and number 32 on the UK Albums Chart.[94] The album sold 106,000 copies in the US in its opening week.[2] It was the band's first significant breakthrough.[2] Life Is Peachy was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 8, 1997. On December 9, 1997, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA. On November 10, 1999, it was certified 2× platinum.[95] Life Is Peachy has sold over 6 million copies worldwide as of 2019.[26]

"No Place to Hide" peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.[94] The album's second single, "A.D.I.D.A.S.", peaked at number 22 on the UK Singles Chart,[94] while also making an appearance at number 45 in Australia.[96] In April 1997, "A.D.I.D.A.S." went to number 13 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[97] "Good God" peaked at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart[94] and number 81 on the Australian ARIA Charts.[96]

Rankings

In 2000, Life Is Peachy was voted number 869 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[98] In 2021, Metal Hammer included the album in its list of the Top 20 best metal albums of 1996 (in alphabetical order).[89] In 2021, Alternative Press included Life Is Peachy in its list of the 20 Albums from 1996 that mark some of the best of the decade.[99] In 2022, the album was ranked number 13 on Metal Hammer's list of the 50 best nu metal albums of all time.[1]

Track listing

• Kunts! is censored on most releases as "K@#ø%!" also written as "K@#¿%!" on the cover of the disc.
• The song "Kill You" ends at 5:04. After two minutes and 30 seconds of silence [5:04 – 7:34] a brief reprisal of "Twist" in a cappella form called "Twist A Capella", starts.[100]

Personnel

Credits taken from the CD liner notes.[20]

Korn

• Jonathan Davis – lead vocals, bagpipes, additional guitars on "Kill You" and "Mr. Rogers"
• Head – guitars, vocals on "Lowrider"
• Munky – guitars
• Fieldy – bass guitar
• David Silveria – drums

Additional musicians

• Chino Moreno – vocals on "Wicked"
• Nathan Davis – additional vocals on "A.D.I.D.A.S."
• Sugar and Earl – additional guest appearance on "Swallow"
• Chuck Johnson – cowbell in "Lowrider"

Technical

• Ross Robinson – producer, engineer, mixing
• Chuck Johnson – engineer, mixing
• Richard Kaplan – mixing, additional engineering
• Rob Agnello – assistant
• Jamie Leavitt – assistant
• Eddy Schreyer – mastering

Charts

Notes

• A ^ "A.D.I.D.A.S." did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number 13 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[97]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[117]	Platinum	70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[118]	Gold	50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[119]	Gold	7,500^
United Kingdom (BPI)[120]	Gold	100,000*
United States (RIAA)[121]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Citations

Sources

Bibliography

• Arvizu, Reginald (2009). Got the Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery, and Korn. William Marrow. ISBN 978-0-06-166249-2.
• Furman, Leah (May 5, 2000). Korn: Life in the Pit. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 0-312-25396-6.
• Gulla, Bob (2006). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History – The Grunge and Post-Grunge Years, 1991–2005. Vol. 6. Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-32981-4.
• Paquet, Sebastien (May 1, 2002). Korn de A à Z [Korn from A to Z]. MusicBook guides (in French) (1st ed.). Paris: Prélude et Fugue. ISBN 978-2-843-43101-2.
• Small, Doug (1998). The Story of Korn. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-8256-1688-3.

External links

• "Vintage Korn: Life Is Peachy At 20". MTV.

На других языках

---

[de] Life Is Peachy

Life Is Peachy (engl. für: „Das Leben ist klasse“, peachy = wörtlich: „pfirsichartig“) ist das zweite Studioalbum der US-amerikanischen Nu-Metal-Band Korn. Es wurde am 15. Oktober 1996 bei Immortal und Epic veröffentlicht.

---

- [en] Life Is Peachy

---

[es] Life is Peachy

Life Is Peachy es el segundo álbum de estudio de la banda estadounidense de metal alternativo Korn. Fue lanzado al mercado el 15 de octubre de 1996 por Immortal/Epic Records. Tras el lanzamiento del disco homónimo de la banda, la banda le pidió a Ross Robinson que produjera y volviera a Indigo Ranch para grabar. Life Is Peachy tiene catorce pistas, excluyendo la pista oculta después de "Kill You". Korn lanzó tres sencillos de Life Is Peachy: "No Place to Hide", "A.D.I.D.A.S.", y "Good God". Los tres sencillos llegaron a la lista de sencillos en el Reino Unido. Life Is Peachy incluye temas sobre drogas, encuentros sociales, sexo, y venganza. La carátula el disco fue diseñada por Martin Riedl, y su nombre es acreditado a Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, bajista de la banda.

---

[ru] Life Is Peachy

Life Is Peachy (с англ. — «Жизнь Прекрасна») — второй студийный альбом американской ню-метал-группы Korn, выпущенный 15 октября 1996 года на лейблах Epic Records и Immortal Records. После записи дебютного альбома, группа вновь попросила Росса Робинсона стать их продюсером и вернуться в студию Indigo Runch чтобы записать новый альбом. В альбом Life Is Peachy вошло 14 композиций, включая скрытый трек, который содержится в песне «Kill You». С альбома было выпущено три сингла: «No Place to Hide», «A.D.I.D.A.S.» и «Good God». Все три сингла попали в британский чарт UK Singles Chart. Альбом посвящён таким темам, как: наркотики, секс, месть и социальный контакт. Автором обложки альбома является дизайнер Мартин Ридл, чьё имя приписывают басисту группы Реджинальду «Филди» Арвизу.

---

---