Fire At Will (Limp Bizkit in general)

Member Name: Peakly

Product:	Limp Bizkit in general
Date:	12/07/01 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Makes Young People Happy, Only As Crap As Everything Else

Disadvantages: Crap

Yep, it’s me again. This time, as with Slipknot, I’m writing because I feel obligated. A category bursting at the seams with short, pointless opinions. One man with the desire to set the record straight. Here comes the best opinion in the section, right up until I was so arrogant as to say so myself. I’ve tried writing opinions on things that (italics) really (end italics) represent my musical tastes, but no one decided to read it, so I figure my best bet is just to stick to popular categories but do it better then everyone else. Sorry, but you’ve driven me to it.

So who actually likes Limp Bizkit anyway? No, seriously, I’m not being funny. Who does? Are we all closet fans? What?

They’re on MT2/Kerrang/Q all the time, their albums sell millions of copies, they’re constantly featured in music magazines (even have a whole mainstream publication dedicated to them), they’re ‘the worlds biggest band’, and yet no body admits they like them. Doesn’t add up, does it?

Unless, wait a second… Yep, I think I got it. It’s the old music snobbery, mature taste, this-band-are-too-mainstream thing again. Must be. Teenagers who are just a bit smarter then the mob, trying to sound like they care about substance over image and have an ear for quality. “Limp Bizkit are just sooo passé…” or “Mmm, I liked their earlier stuff, but they completely sold-out with Chocolate Starfish & The Hot Dog Flavoured Water..”. Right, ok then. Nu-metal is the latest addition to the pop music family, and no one cool/mature likes pop. Limp Bizkit are indeed the world’s most popular nu-metal act, and no one cool/mature likes popular. 2 and 2 makes 666. Not so much providing understanding of angst, as acting as a target for it. At the moment, it’s probably ok the like Staind. Give it a few more hit singles, and we can say the first album was a
lright, but since then they’ve gone downhill. Ok, got ya.

Ah, but I’m being too cynical again. The world isn’t quite as full of hypocrites, phonies and nasty people as you think, Peakly my boy. You’ll forget, when you get older.

Ok, so why else might we hate Limp Bizkit, besides the fact they aren’t cool anymore? Um, I know Miss. Oh really young man? Then please, share your knowledge with the rest of us…

Fred Durst (the one you know), Wes Borland (the one who might ring a bell), DJ Lethal (the one you think I made up) and Sam Rivers/John Otto (the two you’ve forgotten….. now.) all form Limp Bizkit, which is the name of a popular nu-metal band (for those of you who are old, but not as cool as Jill, ‘nu-metal’ is metal with rap/hip hop influences). They’ve released three albums – a token mediocre debut (that’s the best, obviously), a second called ‘Significant Other’ (which is really the best), followed by the third and latest (title given above), which is still somewhere in the charts and contains all the songs you’ve heard before.

Another, slightly better-informed criticism of Limp Bizkit goes something like as follows: “The band as a whole are ok, but Fred Durst spoils them. What a wa*ker”. Aside from the profanity, which, as my opinions show, do not amuse me, I would pretty much agree with that statement. The most notably irritating thing about the band as a whole is its front-man, Mr. Durst, who reminds me of the children’s television presenters I used to cringe at, before I grew out of watching them last year. Although it goes against my rules of music review, I can’t resist taking a pop at his image before explaining why he spoils the music. I’m sure I’ll feel guilty, but hey, it’ll help my inferiority complex that comes with not being a millionaire rock star myself:

Fr
ed Durst, though I feel sorry for him, does act like a bit of a buffoon. His constant ‘flipping the bird’ and red cap only serve to… nah, I can’t do it. If you want to read crap like that, I recommend all the other opinions in this section. I just can’t.

Fred Durst is a poor musician, simple as that. God bless him, he can’t sing a bean. The finest confirmation of this can be found by watching the Staind ‘Outside’ video, in which Fred joins his young friend live on stage. Watch his eyes. He knows he can’t cope unless he’s leaping about in the comfort of heavy guitars and drums. His voice is wafer-thin, barely in tune, and he keeps it quiet as a mouse to prove so. He is a terrible singer. Watch his eyes. I don’t enjoy saying this you know, I want a world where the most successful musicians are the most talented as much as you, but we don’t have one so there. Anyway, if any of you had bothered to read my Ezio opinion, I would have quite happily continued being nice about things.

Aside from being a barely competent singer, Fred is also responsible for Limp Bizkits appalling lyrical offerings. Particularly on the latest album. While Significant Other displayed (italics) some (end italics – get some display functions Dooyoo) thought and general depth, Chocolate Starfish… falls victim to some truly horrendous ‘down with the kids’ clichés. I’m talking ‘get the f*ck up’, ‘bring it back yo’, ‘bring that beat back’ and ‘bounce in da mosh-pit’ as standard. Combine talking utter bollo*k with a less then Less Then Jake singing voice, and it’s hard to understand where the appeal is at all.

But then, I know the answer to that too.

Their songs are always build on a solid foundation of Wes Borland’s textbook light-metal riffs, and contain an angry, bottled-angst chorus. Th
is means that Limp Bizkit are really rather good at creating songs that are catchy enough to appeal to mainstream fans, yet metal enough to have ‘attitude’, which is favourable among young audiences during the current boy-band backlash. Younger people are prepared to excuse (or not recognise) the shallow lyrics, as long as Limp Bizkit provide them with something catchy. I hate being so cynical and hopeless when talking about my generation, but I can’t put it any other way. Catchy, angsty, good. That’s why they sell records. Yes, it’s sad, it’s frustrating, it’s unfair, and yes, there’s nothing quite right about it. That’s the deal though, so get used, k y’all? Cool.

So, the moral of the story. Limp Bizkit are a bit smelly. Personally, I still rather like them though, is that allowed? I loved their cover of ‘Faith’, I loved ‘Break Stuff’, and, at times, I quite like listening to their albums. Maybe that’s just me, refusing to sell-out by branding them sell-outs, but who cares. I like bits, that’s all. The drumming at the start of ‘My Generation’ makes you grin. The riff in ‘Nookie’ is, despite it’s simplicity, rather good fun. ‘N 2 Gether Now’ has a quirky melody I like. Of course, this means you can never trust a word I say again and I most definitely don’t know anything about music, but then you knew that anyway.

Unfortunately though, there isn’t much I can say about a band like Limp Bizkit. I mean seriously, how much could you find to talk about if you wrote about Steps? Technically, the band keep things as simple and easy as possible. Power chords, big bass, token DJ. End of story. Nothing inventive, nothing selective, just textbook, big-bucks kiddie metal. Lots of swearing, lots of cool, lots of backlash. Same old same old. Even so, I do get tired of hearing people slag o
ff Limp Bizkit. I’m of the belief that just because a criticism is valid, it doesn’t mean it needs to be made all the time, or that’s it’s particularly useful to anyone. I’ve been saying the same things about Limp Bizkit before and after their success, and only when asked at that. Most people, I hope, have done exactly the same.

It’s Eminem, it’s the Spice Girls, it’s skateboarding and it’s spiked hair. Lots of die-heard fans, lots of critics who should know better. Bringer of happiness to some, source of irritation to others. Cool, not cool. Here today, replaced tomorrow. If you’re young enough to like them – good for you, I don’t begrudge you your band one bit, enjoy it while it lasts. If you’re their greatest critic, show some real maturity by shutting up about it. Just do what you gotta do, and be cool, however you choose to do it.



PS – take back arrogant intro bit, it didn’t come out as good as I though it would. The section actually contains some excellent reviews, I’m just naturally attracted to the crappy ones.

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