Limp Bizkit - Significant Other
(Flip / Interscope Records)
3 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars)
By Tony Bonyata
Limp Bizkit, a 5-piece rap / metal hybrid from Jacksonville, Florida, is crass, crude, obstreperous and immature. But then again, folks, this ain't Tchaikovsky, it's rock-n-roll. The same reckless genre that saw The Doors' Jim Morrison drop his drawers on stage slobbering drunk, Hendrix set his guitar aflame, Ozzy bite the head of a bat off and The Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious carve his chest with a razor blade - all in the name of rock-n-roll.
With that in mind then, the base language - one that warrants a parental advisory label on the cover - and sophomoric views that dominate Limp Bizkit's second album, Significant Other, really isn't all that shocking. What does shock however is their ability to shove their powerful, aggressive blend of hardcore metal and rap - which was originally mined from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and more recently toughened up by the likes of Rage Against The Machine and Korn - in your face and make you like it.
Led by vocalist Fred Durst, the band has honed the chaotic, menace of their first album Three Dollar Bill, Y'all into a slightly more palatable collection of, well, menacing chaos.
From the lethal metal of "Just Like Us" and "9 Teen 90 Nine" to the hard-core hip-hop of "N 2 Gether Now", which features the vocal rappings of Method Man from WuTang Clan, and Durst's cracker-rapping over the clenched-teeth guitar riffs on "Break Stuff" Limp Bizkit proves that their biz is anything but limp. Stone Temple Pilots' vocalist and rehab regular Scott Weiland along with Korn vocalist Jonathan Davis join the Bizkit on "Nobody Like You", an aggressive slice of morbid pop-metal, while they tip their hat to the Beastie Boys on "Show Me What You Got" and dip their toes in the bloody pool of goth-rock on the dirgey "A Lesson Learned". The quirky sensibilities of Beck haunts the more laid-back number "Re-arranged", while Durst's whacked rap delivery along with, dare I say melodic, middle-eight section amidst the metal mayhem of their first single "Nookie" could incite a riot at a Tibetan peace rally.
It's only aggressive, hardcore, obnoxious and immature rock-n-roll, but I like it.