KoRn
“Follow the Leader”
Immortal/Epic Records
Grade: B+
Black Eyed Peas
“Behind the Front”
Interscope Records
Grade: B+
Of all the records that have been or will
be released this summer, the new KoRn
album was probably the biggest question
mark of all. It wasn’t hard to believe the
band might have softened up after the suc
cess of the last album, “Life is Peachy,” or
have gone into some weird Marilyn Manson
tangent to get away from the newfound fans.
However, neither scenario is true.
Instead, KoRn will win over several new
fans with their most diverse and best album
yet, “Follow the Leader.”
Soon to be a new KoRn staple, “It’s On”
leads off the record by throwing down solid
beats and the band’s standard of hard, funky
bass and guitar.
Changing it up, KoRn throws in the key
board and wild guitar of “Dead Bodies
Everywhere,” then adds Ice Cube rapping
along on “Children of the KoRn” and slows
Liz Phair
“whitechocolatespaceegg”
Matador
Grade: A
For some hardcore fans of Liz Phair, 1994
was like a swift kick to the stomach. The
woman who once bemoaned, “I’m going to
spend my whole life alone,” got married. In
1996, she gave birth to a boy. Domestication
soon set in as vigorously as it had with punk
priestess Patti Smith nearly two decades earli
er.
Unlike Smith, however, Phair isn’t wait
ing around to return to the music world.
Albeit a four year absence from her last
album “Whip-Smart” is a long wait Her new
album, “whitechocolatespaceegg,” has
already generated enough speculation to keep
fans talking for another three years. The
album was initially sent back to her after
record executives complained that it lacked a
“hit single.” She also alternated producers,
it down for “Pretty,” while each completely
shift the perception of the versatility of the
band. Even Cheech Marin makes an appear
ance on the secret track “Earache My Eye ”
The stand-out song on the album is “All
in the Family;” where singer Jonathan Davis
duets with Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst. The
• two use the song to rip on each other and
their bands. Calling each other everything
from Vanilla Ice to unoriginal to discussing
body parts, the song is grotesque but funny.
The real sticking point of the album is
that Davis has mastered his style as a vocal
ist so well, songs including “Freak On A
Leash” make the listener do a double take
the first time through the album. Unlike
before, the listener can enjoy most songs on
this KoRn record for his singing and not be
lying.
KoRn will be hitting the road this fall on
its very own “Family Values” tour along
with Limp Bizkit, Rammstein, Ice Cube
and Orgy.
Black Eyed Peas were part of the
“Smokin’ Grooves” tour this summer, and
while their album hasn’t received the atten
tion of KoRn’s, it is just as good.
The styles displayed on “Behind the
Front” can be explained as a cross between
A Tribe Called Quest and Spearhead, not
using the services ol both Scott Litt (R.E.M.)
and “Exile in Guyville” producer Brad Wood.
A long absence and two producers could
have made “whitechocolatespaceegg” a
career-ending album for Phair. She has
always done best with little production and a
quick session in the studio. Her classic album,
“Exile in Guyville,” was recorded in her bed
room. Wood, producer of Guyville, kept all
the flaws there, making Phair far more
humane than most of the alternative divas out
there today. The slightly off-key guitar play
ing and her trademark warble-like voice
became a trademark for the artist.
Surprisingly, “whitechocolatespaceegg”
does not have a polished feel to it. The uneven
structure of “Perfect World” and her shaky
but frank vocal delivery on “Go On Ahead”
prove that the old Liz Phair is still very much
intact throughout this album. Another sur
prise on the album is the musical variety.
There’s enough style changes and shifts to
make even the Beastie Boys’ new album seem
repetitive.
There are the traditional pop songs that
Phair does so well, including the title track,
“Polyester Bride,” and “Johnny Feelgood.”
But there is also the quirky, almost unclassifi
able, “Uncle Alvarez” and the vintage rocka
billy shuffle of “Baby Got Going.”
Sometimes the risks don’t work. “S***loads
of Money” just doesn’t seem to come togeth
er, and, even with R.E.M. helping out,
“Fantasize” rings hollow compared to the
other great songs on “whitechocolate
spaceegg.”
While Phair has grown musically, she has
toned down quite a bit in the vulgarity depart
ment. One thing that made people drool over
I—
bad company with which to be compared.
The first track, “Failin’ Up,” begins with
a Spearhead beat as the three members of
Black Eyed Peas add Tribe quality rhymes
over it The chorus to the song is very simi
lar to something from De La Soul’s “Three
Feet High and Rising,” leaving the rest of
the album with a lot to live up to.
From the qui.ck rhymes of “Clap Your
Hands,” to the slow groove of “The Way U
Make Me Feel,” to the strong rapping of
“Head Bobs,” the album keeps flowing
while hitting several different styles of the
genre.
The first single is the finger-snapping
“Joints and Jam” which features some of the
best rhyming laid down in the past few
years. Without the weak “Grease” rip-off in
the middle of the song, it’s one of the best
songs here.
While the 16-track album seems to drag
on a little in the middle with several slow
tempo songs in a row, this is probably the
best hip-hop album of the year thus far. Still,
until Tribe’s “The Love Movement” is out
Sept. 29, no claims for that honor can yet be
made.
— Patrick Miner
“Guyville” was Phair’s explicit R-rated car
crash scenarios of relationships gone bad.
Indeed, before Alanis Morissette was telling
teen-agers about tales of going down on
boyfriends in a theater, Phair was giving a
harsher description in her much-quoted song
“Flower.” One of the best songs she has ever
written was called, “F*** and Run.”
And maybe because she was afraid that
her kid would be quoting lyrics from her new
album, she has taken on a tamer identity. In
the only song in which she utters the “f-word,”
“Johnny Feelgood,” Phair still has that maver
ick persona to her. The song is basically a
shootout to dominance in a strangely femi
nist-empowering sort of way. The only other
song that would have fit in perfectly in
“Guyville” is the driving song “Ride,” in
which she uses a bedtime prayer as a founda
tion to her story of purgatory and liberation.
Sadly, “whitechocolatespaceegg” lacks
the metaphor usage that Phair seemed to rely
on so heavily in her earlier works. Instead, the
lyrics are more case studies of other charac
ters. Other times, she resorts to bland descrip
tions such as, “It feels good.”
With 16 songs and only three so-so songs,
“whitechocolatespaceegg” is a must purchase
for fans. For first-time Liz Phair fans, “white
chocolatespaceegg” is an ideal purchase. It
isn’t as radically innovative as “Exile in
Guyville,” but it is a profile of an artist who
refhses to compromise for anyone for the past
four years. The title of the album may not
sound like a classic, but the rest of the album
rings with a confidence and freshness that
makes it one of the best albums of this year so
far.
— Sean McCarthy
‘Buffalo 66’ weaves
offbeat tale of love
BUFFALO from page 8
Brown notices the man next to him is peeking at his package.
When Brown tells the guy to keep his eyes to himself, the guy
says, “But it’s so big!” Just out of prison and already a homo
phobe, Brown goes ballistic and almost beats the crap out of
him, and then can’t urinate because he’s so angry.
Shortly after this scene, Brown meets up with Layla,
played by Christina Ricci. A platinum blonde dancer in a
short, baby-blue dress with matching eye shadow, Layla
becomes Brown’s hostage after he promises his mother over
the phone that he and his wife “Wendy” are coming over.
On the way over to his parents house, Brown gets rough
with Layla and threatens to kill her unless she agrees to pose
as “Wendy.” He then instructs Layla on how he wants her to
act when they arrive, telling her, “You’ll adore me, you’ll love
me, you’ll cherish me, Jesus Christ, you can’t live without
me.
Layla soon discovers why Billy Brown acts the way he
does — he is the product of a dysfunctional family. His
father, Jimmy
Brown (Ben ~~ ~
Gazzara), dis- f fy/*
owns Billy, and iWlfltW
his mother, Film: "Buffalo ‘66”
Janet Brown Stars: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci,
(A nj el i c a Atfelica Huston, Ben Gazzara
Huston), is a Director Vincent Gallo
Buffalo Bills
fanatic who Not Rated
wishes Billy Grade: A
was never bom Five Words: Troubled man unexpect
because she edfy finds love
missed a Bills
football game
the day he was conceived.
Despite the tension coming from the three Browns dur
ing Billy’s first visit in over five years, Layla is charming and
wins Billy’s parents over. During the dinner, all of the atten
tion is on her, and Jimmy Brown enjoys having her around so
much that he decides to bury his face in between Layla’s
breasts while hugging her goodbye.
After viewing “Buffalo ‘66,” all former images of Ricci
have been erased from the memory banks. It would be an
understatement to say that the 18-year-old Ricci has grown
up during the last few years.
Until recently, the actress was best known for playing cute, lit
uegiriroiesiiKev.nersaaugmerin Mermaids and Wednesday
in the “Addams Family” movies. But in “Buffalo ‘66,” a sexually
promiscuous Ricci flashes the camera cleavage throughout and
even gives the audience a panty shot. The reinvented Ricci has
performed several adult roles in indie films as of late, most
notably in the movies “Ice Storm” and “The Opposite of Sex,”
which have earned her the tag “Sundance darling.”
When Layla and Billy leave his parent’s house, Billy set
tles down and apologizes to Layla for the things he made her
do. He tells her that she’s free to go, but Layla decides to stick
around because she has seen parts of Billy’s personality that
she finds intriguing. Like Billy, Layla is a lost soul in search
of someone to love, and she falls for him.
Billy then begins to soften in the presence of Layla, and
as he becomes more comfortable around her, he opens up. By
the end of the movie Billy is a changed man, more compas
sionate and less judgmental, and he decides to give the beau
tiful girl and love a second chance.
“Buffalo 66” runs at the Mary Riepma Ross Film Theater
tonight through Sunday and Aug. 20-23. Screenings are at 7
and 9:15 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays; 1,3:15,7 and 9:15
p.m. on Saturdays; and 2:30, 4:45, 7 and 9:15 p.m. on
Sundays.
200s Far sale
Jeans, shorts and camo. The Jean Outlet 3241 South
13th ©Indian Village 420-5151.
(Students Wanted)
To buy our unusual furniture. B.B.& R. Mall 1709 O
Street. Open seven days!
Full and Queen size mattress sets. New and plastic.
Never used. 10 years warrantee. Retail for $439 and
$639. Sell for $165 for the Full, Queen $195.477-1225.
97 Kawasaki ZXI 750 Jetski^i^if^4/50a94
Starcraft Camper, loaded, awning, $4,000
402-376-1616.*
Re-conditioned, professional clarinet (Noblet). Leave
message at 463-8858.
‘87 VW Cabroilet, 5 speed, air, 78K, nice. $3,650.
Baer’s Auto. 1647 South 3rd. 477-6442.
For Sale: 21 inch Trek 620 Touring bike. Only $100.
Queen-size waterbed with storage compartments $75.
483-2175.
Daily Nebraskan
Back-to-School Issue
Check out the Daily Nebraskan classified ads in its
special Back-to-School issue, Thursday, Aug. 20.
Call 472-2588 to place your ad by noon, Wednesday,
Aug. 19 or email to: dnvunl.edu
300s Unton
ADOPTION
A loving alternative
We offer counseling and adoption services to help you
plan the best future tor your baby. No fees or obligations.
Statewide since 1893. Nebraska Children's
Home. 4600 Valley Rd.. Suite 314,483-7879
Pheasant Hunters
Excellent hunting in Central South Dakota. Rooms
available, great rate. For information, diall Darik
605-266-2173 after 7p.m.
Auto Accidents & DWI
Other criminal matters, call Sanford Pollack 476-7474.
Criminal Defense, DWI. Bankruptcy, Stone Law Firm,
Affordable Rates, 475-0055
