Limp Bizkit Best Album
Juliane Bari
Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by Durst's angry vocal delivery and Borland's sonic experimentation. Borland's elaborate visual appearance, which includes face and body paint, masks, and uniforms, also plays a large role in Limp Bizkit's live shows. The band has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, sold 40 million records worldwide, and won several other awards.[1]
Formed in 1994,[2] Limp Bizkit became popular playing in the Jacksonville underground music scene in the late 1990s, and signed with Flip Records (with distribution from Interscope), who released the band's debut album, Three Dollar Bill, Y'all (1997). The band achieved mainstream success with its second and third studio albums, Significant Other (1999) and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000), although this success was marred by a series of controversies surrounding its performances at Woodstock '99 and the 2001 Big Day Out festival.
Borland left the group in 2001, but Durst, Rivers, Otto, and Lethal continued to record and tour with guitarist Mike Smith. Following the release of its album Results May Vary (2003), Borland rejoined the band and recorded The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) (2005) with Durst, Rivers, Lethal, and drummer Sammy Siegler before entering a hiatus. In 2009, the band reunited with Borland playing guitar and began touring, culminating with the recording of the album Gold Cobra (2011), after which it left Interscope and later signed with Cash Money Records; DJ Lethal quit the band soon afterward, returning in 2018. After years of teasing an album tentatively titled Stampede of the Disco Elephants,[3] the band released its sixth studio album Still Sucks on October 31, 2021.[4]
The band has released 26 singles, the most notable of which include "Nookie", "Re-Arranged", "Break Stuff", "Take a Look Around", "Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle)", "My Generation", "My Way", "Eat You Alive", and their cover of The Who's 1971 single "Behind Blue Eyes", all of which have charted within the top 20 of the US Alternative Airplay Chart.[5]
While mowing lawns and working as a tattoo artist, he developed an idea for a band that combined elements of rock and hip hop.[6] Durst played with three other bands: Split 26, Malachi Sage (both of which were unsuccessful), and 10 Foot Shindig, which Durst left to form a new band.[7] Durst told Sam Rivers, the bassist for Malachi Sage, "You need to quit this band and start a band with me that's like this: rappin' and rockin'."[7] Rivers suggested that John Otto, who was studying jazz drumming at the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and playing in local avant garde bands, become the band's drummer.[7] Durst, Rivers, and Otto jammed and wrote three songs together and after brief stints with guitarists Rob Waters and Terry Balsamo, Wes Borland joined as their permanent guitarist.[7]
Durst named the band Limp Bizkit because he wanted a name that would repel listeners. According to Durst, "The name is there to turn people's heads away. A lot of people pick up the disc and go, 'Limp Bizkit. Oh, they must suck.' Those are the people that we don't even want listening to our music."[7] Fred said that the band liked quirky and corny things and that they didn't take themselves seriously all the time, and thus the name "Limp Bizkit" represented these characteristics and the band as a whole.[8] Other names that were considered by Durst included Gimp Disco, Split Dickslit, Bitch Piglet, and Blood Fart.[9] Every record label that showed an interest in the band pressured its members to change its name.[7]
Limp Bizkit developed a cult following in the underground music scene, particularly at the Milk Bar, an underground punk club in Jacksonville. The band's local popularity was such that Sugar Ray, who had a major label contract, opened for a then-unsigned Limp Bizkit at Velocity with hip hop group Funkdoobiest.[7] Milkbar owner Danny Wimmer stated that Limp Bizkit "had the biggest draw for a local band. They went from playing [for] ten people to eight hundred within months. Fred ... was always marketing the band. He would go to record stores and get people involved, he was in touch with high schools."[7] However, the band knew that to achieve national success, it would have to distinguish themselves in its live performances.[7] Attracting crowds by word of mouth, the band gave energetic live performances, covering George Michael's "Faith" and Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" and featuring Borland in bizarre costumes.[7] Borland's theatrical rock style was the primary attraction for many concert attendees.[7]
Durst unsuccessfully tried to attract attention from A&R representatives at various labels by pretending to be the band's manager.[7] Later when Korn performed in town as the opening act for Sick of It All, Durst invited Korn to drink beer and tattoo them. Although Durst's tattoos were unimpressive, he was able to persuade Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu to listen to a demo, consisting of the songs "Pollution", "Counterfeit", and "Stalemate". Korn added a then-unsigned Limp Bizkit to two tours, which exposed the band to a new audience.[7][10] The band attempted to expand its sound by auditioning an additional guitarist, but Borland soon determined that another guitarist was not the answer and DJ Lethal, formerly of the hip hop group House of Pain, joined the band as a turntablist after a successful practice performance.[11] Joining the band gave Lethal an opportunity to experiment with his turntable technique in ways that hip hop had not allowed him to do, helping shape the band's style. Due to creative differences, Borland left the band at this point.[7]
After its performance opening for Korn at the Dragonfly in Hollywood was well received, Limp Bizkit were offered a record deal with the Los Angeles-based independent label Flip Records, who attempted to sign the band for $50,000.[12] Soon after that, however, they were also offered a record deal with the major label Mojo, a subsidiary of MCA Records. According to Flip Records' founder Jordan Schur, Limp Bizkit stated that the only way the band wouldn't sign with Mojo was if the band's van flipped over on the way to Los Angeles.[13]
While heading to California to record its first album, the band's van flipped over five times, resulting in all of the band's members sustaining serious injuries. As a result of the near-death experience, Durst made amends with Borland, who rejoined the band.[7][12] The accident also strained the band's relationship with Mojo, who Durst felt wanted the band to resume working prematurely, resulting in Schur buying out the band's record and management contract and signing the band to Flip, which cost him $175,000.[11][12]
Arvizu persuaded Ross Robinson to listen to the demo. Robinson neglected to listen to it until it was appraised by his girlfriend. Impressed by the band's motivation and sound, Robinson produced Limp Bizkit's debut, which was recorded at Indigo Ranch. Durst's problems with his girlfriend inspired him to write the song "Sour".[7] The mood and tone set by Robinson in the studio allowed the band to improvise; a recording of the band improvising appeared as the last track on the album, "Everything".[7] Schur bankrolled the recording sessions for the album, and following its completion negotiated a 50/50 agreement with Interscope Records to distribute the album.[13]
Despite the success of live performances of the band's cover of the song "Faith", Robinson was opposed to recording it and tried to persuade the band not to play it on the album. However, the final recording, which incorporated heavier guitar playing and drumming as well as DJ scratching, impressed him.[7] Robinson also bonded with Borland, who he perceived as not taking the band seriously.[7] The progressive metal band Tool provided a strong influence in shaping the album's sound, particularly in the song "Nobody Loves Me", which contains a breakdown in which Durst imitated the singing style of Maynard James Keenan.[7]
Continuing the band's policy of using names that would repulse potential listeners, Limp Bizkit named the album by using part of the phrase "queer as a three dollar bill" and adding the word "Y'all" for Florida flavor, titling it Three Dollar Bill, Y'all.[7] The completed album featured an abrasive, angry sound which Limp Bizkit used to attract listeners to its music.[7]
After the band completed recording, it toured with Korn and Helmet in 1997. Critics reacted unfavorably to performances of Korn and Limp Bizkit; Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel music critic Jon M. Gilbertson criticized Durst's performance, stating "The one attention-grabbing moment of Limp Bizkit's rap/thrash show was when the lead singer expressed a desire for gay men to be 'stomped'. Which isn't remotely rebellious. It's just puerile."[7] That same year, they also notably served as an opening act on the Album of the Year Tour for Faith No More, a band often credited as paving the way for Limp Bizkit and the nu metal genre.[14] They were subject to a hostile reception from Faith No More's fans,[15] with the group's keyboardist Roddy Bottum later recalling, "That guy Fred Durst had a really bad attitude. He was kind of a jerk. I remembered he called the audience faggots at one show when they booed him. Not a good scene."[16]
Interscope proposed to the band that the label pay $5,000 to guarantee that a Portland, Oregon, radio station play the song "Counterfeit" fifty times, preceded and concluded with an announcement that the air time was paid for by Interscope.[17][18] The paid air time was criticized by the media, who saw it as "payola".[17][18] The band's manager Jeff Kwatinetz later termed the plan as a "brilliant marketing move".[17] Durst stated, "It worked, but it's not that cool of a thing."[17]
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