Korn

This platinum-selling debut from Alt-Metal avatars Korn paved the way for such mega-selling acts as Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach. Expect an onslaught of processed guitars and hip-hop beats that rarely, if ever, lets up on the beleaguered eardrums of the listener.

The cover depicts a frightened little girl peering up from a swing at a hook-handed rapist whose huge shadow slants across her space; the girl's shadow seems to hang from the gallows-shaped K of the band logo. They love this image, exploit it in every trade ad as Sony flogs their death-industrial into its second year. They sing about child abuse, too--guess what, they're agin it. But if their name isn't short for kiddie porn, they should insist on a video where they get eaten by giant chickens. (Grade - C-)