In Defense Of Limp Bizkit

I was at a party and “nookie” came on the stereo. I was caught off guard when people started singing along. As any self absorbed music snob would be, I began verbally shitting all over Limp Bizkit. Fred Durst the pinnacle of aggro white aggression, lack of lyrical subtlety, and general asshole status.

Another music snob at the party, ironically donned in t-jeans and a “vintage” Velvet Underground t-shirt, commented “Limp Bizkit is great…until you turn 15″.

It got me thinking was/is Limp Bizkit the anti-Christ of music? I have to say, no.

This blog entry is defense of Limp Bizkit, I shall play devil’s advocate. While my indie, metal, and punk friends may disown me, I am the one being open minded.

I listened to all three Bizkit disc’s. “Three Dollar Bill, Yall$”, “Significant Other”, and “Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water” (yes I know they released a greatest hits and the Unquestionable Truth Pt 1, but fuck off with that).

Their sound, while nothing totally new, it is pretty good. Their rhythm section is incredibly tight. Bassist Sam Rivers is amazingly talented, his rhythm and licks would put many others to shame. Drummer John Otto knows how to find the pocket and work magic inside it.  Together they make a great pair weaving and playing off each other. The bass line, sometimes carrying its own melody.

Wes Borland, the guitar player; while not a flashy guitar player, is still talented. Listen to “Sour” his finger tapping is impressive. He employs a variety of styles crossing over many genres. He can play thrash metal, funk, jazz, or more ambient guitar. He played foil to Fred Durst. He was the arty geek to Fred’s jock.

Borland, Rivers, and Otto are all very accomplished musicians (in particular Otto and Rivers). On their three album’s the music was not overly simplified and they explored many different styles and genres, sometimes within one song. They created any enticing musical background, while some songs were better than others, that could be argued of any band. On the first three album’s the music varied enough and had different flavors to keep you interested.

DJ Lethal added ambiance. He would sometimes scratch out guitar solo’s, which was interesting. Or he would add sounds (usually combined with Borland’s) to make eerie atmospherics. Or he would add extra rhythm to the overall song.

Now we come to Fred Durst. I am sure you’ve heard everything negative about Fred, and most of it is probably true. His lyrics, not very deep. Vocals, not the greatest. But, I must say on Three Dollar he lets out some amazing screams. He has a real hardcore screaming voice. He took his vocal cues from hardcore punk’s spitfire lyrics and mixed it with rap. Thank you Mike Patton!

Three Dollar’s lyrics are still raw. He has a sense of melody, but his anger seems honest. It’s just raw emotion, much like Jonathan Davis on Korn’s first two albums. It’s style mixing rap and hardcore punk, hence “rapcore” meh, fucking music journalists and their genre titles.

Significant Other, the album that launched them into superstardom is slightly more rap driven, but that does not define it. The lyrics deal with Durst going through a real life break-up. The music draws on all the members tastes creating an intense collage. This album is good. It’s not great, but it’s damn good. The only song I truly dislike “N 2 Gether Now” featuring Method Man. Every other song is pretty good.

The music has some 1980’s thrash, hardcore, alternative (aka grunge), some electronic/ambient, and rap. Durst’s vocals are greatly improved and his lyrics are focused. Still no poet, he gets his point across. The album is good, it has every member of the band working at their best and still working as a unit.

Their next album, Starfish, is once again full of catchy fucking songs. They all rock, in a very honest sense. There is no real pretension, no indie cred, they know their audience and work with it. Though, the track “Rollin” leaves me with a sour taste. Overall, the album has some strong outings and showings by all members of the band.

See, here is the thing about Limp Bizkit, people think, for better or for worse of Fred Durst and his backwards red hat. It’s now cool to hate Limp Bizkit. But, honestly, Limp Bizkit made some catchy rock songs plain and simple. The bass was also interesting, the drums always had great fills and were in the pocket, the guitar had either a great riff or some cool sound, etc…

I stand in defense of Limp Bizkit! They get shit on while Linkin Park is praised. To me, they are doing the same exact music, but Chester is considered cool. Fred Durst just took a lot of heat, some of it deserved.

(did you know L.P. used to be Hybrid Theory and when L.B. broke they changed their name.. funny how close L.P. is to L.B. in the music bin)

Here are some songs to download (legally)…. Boiler, Take A Look Around, Break Stuff, Re-Arranged, 9 Teen 90 Nine, Nookie, No Sex, Counterfeit, Sour, Pollution, Faith, Stink Finger.