The "Freeola Customer Forum" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Although Limp Bizkit only came to public manifestation with the Mission Impossible 2 theme in 2000, they have in fact been around some time. For the uninitiated, the line up consists of Fred Durst, Wes Borland, DJ Lethal, Sam Rivers and John Otto. They’ve released three albums. The first (“Three Dollar Bill Y’All”) was the heaviest and won them a few hardcore fans. Their 1999 effort (“Significant Other’” was a development of their style, mixing hip-hop and nu-metal. It received critical acclaim from the rock press, but failed to bring them to mainstream awareness in this country (although it has sold well following their “Take A Look Around” breakthrough).
Before I begin I’d like to admit that I am slightly biased. Also a random fact – this album was originally scheduled for July 4th (2000) and set to be called “Limpdependence Day” but was delayed, probably because the title wasn’t funny enough…
The album begins traditionally enough with a piece called “Intro”. As noticeable by first glance, it’s short, just 1:18. What actually surprised me is it’s also surprisingly good! Many albums begin with brief throwaway instrumentals and, while I’m not saying this is anything particularly special, it’s probably better than most.
The first track proper, “Hot Dog”, and not a promising start in my opinion, but I’ll give it a chance. Ok, the swearing’s gratuitous, but it doesn’t really offend me or put me off – although I certainly don’t think it’s “cool” or whatever LB fans do – but Fred’s whiny style does grate a bit. I’d heard about bad relations between Fred Durst and Trent Reznor (of industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails) and that there was something relating to it on this album. Well, 1:30 into the first proper song and:
“You wanna f-ck me like an animal
You wanna burn me on the inside
You like to think I’m a perfect drug
Just know that nothing you do will bring you closer to me”
That’s a blatant rip-off of two NIN classics (“Closer” and a reference to “Perfect Drug”).
So that turned out to be a bad start to the album. Next up though it’s the single “My Generation”. I guess many will know this from it’s chart placing (there’s a postcard in the album advertising it’s release for 30/10/2000). Just in case though, it’s the one that goes:
“Maybe I am just a little f**ked up
Life’s just a little f**ked up”
And so on, again not exactly appealing to me. Certainly not particularly clever, witty, original or profound. There’s also a possible Guns N Roses reference (“Do you know where you are? Welcome to the jungle punk”) and name checks for the band members. In fairness though, the actual music is quite good – it gets you moving and is certainly popular in the clubs, particularly with young or “trendy” fans.
While the previous song at least had merits, I find it hard to justify “Full Nelson” – it’s filler even by LB standards. The music is by numbers and the vocals the same old whiny poor-man’s-rap. Even the theme’s the same “Why is everybody always picking on me? Does anybody really know a thing about me?” and then a lot of swearing.
Next up, “My Way”, thankfully not a Sinatra cover (although I wouldn’t put it past them). It was another single I think (the fourth, can we say “cash in” folks? Thought so), although I didn’t hear much of it on the radio. It’s actually a welcome change – beginning with a slow sensitive intro, Fred almost singing over gentle guitars.
”Rollin’’ was another single, and appears on the album in two formats, firstly the (air raid vehicle) version (don’t ask me!), which will be the more familiar version to most. It’s not as rocky as some of the previous songs, a more laid back song, with the repeated chorus “Come on keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ yeah”.
”Livin’ It Up” is an interesting song, not stereotypical Limp Bizkit. Another quiet lengthy intro, with a sample from “Life in the Fast Lane”. It does sound like Limp Bizkit, but it’s certainly different from their standard fare. In fact, I’d give them credit just for trying to add some diversity to the album, and it’s not even a bad song either. Next up, “The One”, is another quiet one, maybe there’s more on this album than would be suggested by the singles; although I don’t think this is as sensitive or good as the previous song.
There’s a lengthy one-minute intro/voice-over interlude before “Getcha Groove On”, but when the song itself begins it’s more upbeat than this would suggest. A very rap/hip-hop-influenced song, with a gentle laid-back lazy attitude and guest vocals from Xzibit suit the track well (better rapping than Durst too).
”Take A Look Around” was their big break – the theme from M:i2 which first brought them into the public eye in the UK. Personally I didn’t think much of the single release. The song itself is pretty good – it’s easy to see why it achieved what it did (number three in the charts if I remember rightly) because (apart from the obvious film tie in (Metallica’s M:i2 contribution stalled in the mid-30s) it’s actually very commercial.
The best I can say about “It’ll Be Ok” is simply that it is! It uses a loud/quiet format that’s hardly original and makes for a tolerable listen, but a forgettable “album-filler” style track. ‘Boiler’ initially sounds very like Linkin Park (which I think is a good thing) but it goes down hill on reaching the chorus; returning to a more familiar LB sound, with an attempt to sound a bit like ‘Take A Look Around’ again and more of the tiresome whining (and swearing) from Fred Durst.
”Hold On” is another of my favourites, but largely due to the vocals from (Stone Temple Pilot’s) Scott Weiland. It manages to break free from the clichéd nu-metal mould, incorporating a yearning feeling and grunge influence, reminiscent of Staind. There’s another slightly annoying interlude before hand, but actually I think this is the best track on the album.
The last proper song is “Rollin” (urban assault vehicle), the alternate version of "Rollin’’ (from earlier). It’s not as lively and loses the ‘moshability’ of the earlier version, but the album’s coming to a close so I suppose this is more appropriate. At 6:23 it gets rather repetitive, but it’s not the worst thing here. Finally there’s an “Outro” to end the album – which is rather pointless; going on about how LB are so great for mixing hip-hop and metal and producing something that isn’t “fertiliser”.
Overall, as you can tell, I didn’t want to like this album, and mostly I didn’t. To be fair, I did find it better than I expected though. Not being a LB fan, I’d be quick to point out that the best moments are mostly provided by guests (Weiland, Wu-Tang, Xzibit) but I don’t think that detracts from the album itself.
Perhaps LB should even be credited for being the first band able to bring this type of music into (the UK) mainstream. Unfortunately this didn’t (as many hoped) open the door for more original/talented nu-metal bands, such as Incubus but merely led to a deluge of second-rate, major label-backed pop metal like Papa Roach and Crazy Town.
In light of the good bits, I’m forced to give this album two stars and say if you like those bands, you’ll probably like this. I can’t recommend this to a friend though, as there’s far better out there.
One last point that amazes me is that LB was allowed to achieve such popularity with so much gratuitous swearing. There’s a prominent “Parental Advisory” label on the front and, for the record, there are 223 “bad words” in there.
Nice to know what you’re listening to isn’t it...
Thanks for reading.
Firebalt.
Before I begin I’d like to admit that I am slightly biased. Also a random fact – this album was originally scheduled for July 4th (2000) and set to be called “Limpdependence Day” but was delayed, probably because the title wasn’t funny enough…
The album begins traditionally enough with a piece called “Intro”. As noticeable by first glance, it’s short, just 1:18. What actually surprised me is it’s also surprisingly good! Many albums begin with brief throwaway instrumentals and, while I’m not saying this is anything particularly special, it’s probably better than most.
The first track proper, “Hot Dog”, and not a promising start in my opinion, but I’ll give it a chance. Ok, the swearing’s gratuitous, but it doesn’t really offend me or put me off – although I certainly don’t think it’s “cool” or whatever LB fans do – but Fred’s whiny style does grate a bit. I’d heard about bad relations between Fred Durst and Trent Reznor (of industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails) and that there was something relating to it on this album. Well, 1:30 into the first proper song and:
“You wanna f-ck me like an animal
You wanna burn me on the inside
You like to think I’m a perfect drug
Just know that nothing you do will bring you closer to me”
That’s a blatant rip-off of two NIN classics (“Closer” and a reference to “Perfect Drug”).
So that turned out to be a bad start to the album. Next up though it’s the single “My Generation”. I guess many will know this from it’s chart placing (there’s a postcard in the album advertising it’s release for 30/10/2000). Just in case though, it’s the one that goes:
“Maybe I am just a little f**ked up
Life’s just a little f**ked up”
And so on, again not exactly appealing to me. Certainly not particularly clever, witty, original or profound. There’s also a possible Guns N Roses reference (“Do you know where you are? Welcome to the jungle punk”) and name checks for the band members. In fairness though, the actual music is quite good – it gets you moving and is certainly popular in the clubs, particularly with young or “trendy” fans.
While the previous song at least had merits, I find it hard to justify “Full Nelson” – it’s filler even by LB standards. The music is by numbers and the vocals the same old whiny poor-man’s-rap. Even the theme’s the same “Why is everybody always picking on me? Does anybody really know a thing about me?” and then a lot of swearing.
Next up, “My Way”, thankfully not a Sinatra cover (although I wouldn’t put it past them). It was another single I think (the fourth, can we say “cash in” folks? Thought so), although I didn’t hear much of it on the radio. It’s actually a welcome change – beginning with a slow sensitive intro, Fred almost singing over gentle guitars.
”Rollin’’ was another single, and appears on the album in two formats, firstly the (air raid vehicle) version (don’t ask me!), which will be the more familiar version to most. It’s not as rocky as some of the previous songs, a more laid back song, with the repeated chorus “Come on keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ yeah”.
”Livin’ It Up” is an interesting song, not stereotypical Limp Bizkit. Another quiet lengthy intro, with a sample from “Life in the Fast Lane”. It does sound like Limp Bizkit, but it’s certainly different from their standard fare. In fact, I’d give them credit just for trying to add some diversity to the album, and it’s not even a bad song either. Next up, “The One”, is another quiet one, maybe there’s more on this album than would be suggested by the singles; although I don’t think this is as sensitive or good as the previous song.
There’s a lengthy one-minute intro/voice-over interlude before “Getcha Groove On”, but when the song itself begins it’s more upbeat than this would suggest. A very rap/hip-hop-influenced song, with a gentle laid-back lazy attitude and guest vocals from Xzibit suit the track well (better rapping than Durst too).
”Take A Look Around” was their big break – the theme from M:i2 which first brought them into the public eye in the UK. Personally I didn’t think much of the single release. The song itself is pretty good – it’s easy to see why it achieved what it did (number three in the charts if I remember rightly) because (apart from the obvious film tie in (Metallica’s M:i2 contribution stalled in the mid-30s) it’s actually very commercial.
The best I can say about “It’ll Be Ok” is simply that it is! It uses a loud/quiet format that’s hardly original and makes for a tolerable listen, but a forgettable “album-filler” style track. ‘Boiler’ initially sounds very like Linkin Park (which I think is a good thing) but it goes down hill on reaching the chorus; returning to a more familiar LB sound, with an attempt to sound a bit like ‘Take A Look Around’ again and more of the tiresome whining (and swearing) from Fred Durst.
”Hold On” is another of my favourites, but largely due to the vocals from (Stone Temple Pilot’s) Scott Weiland. It manages to break free from the clichéd nu-metal mould, incorporating a yearning feeling and grunge influence, reminiscent of Staind. There’s another slightly annoying interlude before hand, but actually I think this is the best track on the album.
The last proper song is “Rollin” (urban assault vehicle), the alternate version of "Rollin’’ (from earlier). It’s not as lively and loses the ‘moshability’ of the earlier version, but the album’s coming to a close so I suppose this is more appropriate. At 6:23 it gets rather repetitive, but it’s not the worst thing here. Finally there’s an “Outro” to end the album – which is rather pointless; going on about how LB are so great for mixing hip-hop and metal and producing something that isn’t “fertiliser”.
Overall, as you can tell, I didn’t want to like this album, and mostly I didn’t. To be fair, I did find it better than I expected though. Not being a LB fan, I’d be quick to point out that the best moments are mostly provided by guests (Weiland, Wu-Tang, Xzibit) but I don’t think that detracts from the album itself.
Perhaps LB should even be credited for being the first band able to bring this type of music into (the UK) mainstream. Unfortunately this didn’t (as many hoped) open the door for more original/talented nu-metal bands, such as Incubus but merely led to a deluge of second-rate, major label-backed pop metal like Papa Roach and Crazy Town.
In light of the good bits, I’m forced to give this album two stars and say if you like those bands, you’ll probably like this. I can’t recommend this to a friend though, as there’s far better out there.
One last point that amazes me is that LB was allowed to achieve such popularity with so much gratuitous swearing. There’s a prominent “Parental Advisory” label on the front and, for the record, there are 223 “bad words” in there.
Nice to know what you’re listening to isn’t it...
Thanks for reading.
Firebalt.
I waz watching a Limp_Bizkit program on MTV2 the other day about the new album. I listened to a bit of it. It sounds a load of crap to me!
I must say that '3 Dollar Bill, Yall$' is Limp's best album!! 'Significant Other' is their second best, but 'Chocolate St*rfish & The Hot Dog Flavoured Water' is the worst of the 3. Some songs are quite good and lyrically funny on it, but they haven't been released. I also think 'Boiler' shouldn't have been released and 'Livin' It Up' or 'Hot Dog' should've been released instead!!
I know that they're releasing 'New Old Songs' the remix album but that doesn't count. It's a load of pointless remixes by Hip-Hop artists, and isn't worth the money. I'm not gunna buy it and you shouldn't!! You MUST HAVE 3 Dollar Bill, Yall$ if you're a real Limp fan!!
I also think they'll go downhill following Wes' shock departure.
I know that they're releasing 'New Old Songs' the remix album but that doesn't count. It's a load of pointless remixes by Hip-Hop artists, and isn't worth the money. I'm not gunna buy it and you shouldn't!! You MUST HAVE 3 Dollar Bill, Yall$ if you're a real Limp fan!!
I also think they'll go downhill following Wes' shock departure.
However much i dislike Limp Bizkit, I would give Fred Durst a little grudging respect for slagging off Trent Reznor.. I have nothing against NIN but I don't think Reznor gets as much as he gives out, so any abuse is welcome (look at the amount of enemies he lays into in the starfu*kers video)
But no, Fred being the moron tha he is goes and does something that destroys the ounce of respect I gave him. He actually spoke to Trent Reznor's record company to clear the lyrics and brief samples he had used! The guy phoned up and said that yeah he was slagging off Reznor but could he pretty please use some NIN lyrics and sounds to do it. Reznor gets the ultimate decision on the matter and ends up humiliating Durst by letting him use the lyrics and samples. So why does Reznor get the last laugh? Because he wouldn't have sued Fred Durst for not asking to use the samples; he would have looked stupid if he had said no.. and most importantly it shows what an idiot Fred is to ask before he insults someone (badly).
But no, Fred being the moron tha he is goes and does something that destroys the ounce of respect I gave him. He actually spoke to Trent Reznor's record company to clear the lyrics and brief samples he had used! The guy phoned up and said that yeah he was slagging off Reznor but could he pretty please use some NIN lyrics and sounds to do it. Reznor gets the ultimate decision on the matter and ends up humiliating Durst by letting him use the lyrics and samples. So why does Reznor get the last laugh? Because he wouldn't have sued Fred Durst for not asking to use the samples; he would have looked stupid if he had said no.. and most importantly it shows what an idiot Fred is to ask before he insults someone (badly).
Nice review, surely a FAD winner.
Although Limp Bizkit only came to public manifestation with the Mission Impossible 2 theme in 2000, they have in fact been around some time. For the uninitiated, the line up consists of Fred Durst, Wes Borland, DJ Lethal, Sam Rivers and John Otto. They’ve released three albums. The first (“Three Dollar Bill Y’All”) was the heaviest and won them a few hardcore fans. Their 1999 effort (“Significant Other’” was a development of their style, mixing hip-hop and nu-metal. It received critical acclaim from the rock press, but failed to bring them to mainstream awareness in this country (although it has sold well following their “Take A Look Around” breakthrough).
Before I begin I’d like to admit that I am slightly biased. Also a random fact – this album was originally scheduled for July 4th (2000) and set to be called “Limpdependence Day” but was delayed, probably because the title wasn’t funny enough…
The album begins traditionally enough with a piece called “Intro”. As noticeable by first glance, it’s short, just 1:18. What actually surprised me is it’s also surprisingly good! Many albums begin with brief throwaway instrumentals and, while I’m not saying this is anything particularly special, it’s probably better than most.
The first track proper, “Hot Dog”, and not a promising start in my opinion, but I’ll give it a chance. Ok, the swearing’s gratuitous, but it doesn’t really offend me or put me off – although I certainly don’t think it’s “cool” or whatever LB fans do – but Fred’s whiny style does grate a bit. I’d heard about bad relations between Fred Durst and Trent Reznor (of industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails) and that there was something relating to it on this album. Well, 1:30 into the first proper song and:
“You wanna f-ck me like an animal
You wanna burn me on the inside
You like to think I’m a perfect drug
Just know that nothing you do will bring you closer to me”
That’s a blatant rip-off of two NIN classics (“Closer” and a reference to “Perfect Drug”).
So that turned out to be a bad start to the album. Next up though it’s the single “My Generation”. I guess many will know this from it’s chart placing (there’s a postcard in the album advertising it’s release for 30/10/2000). Just in case though, it’s the one that goes:
“Maybe I am just a little f**ked up
Life’s just a little f**ked up”
And so on, again not exactly appealing to me. Certainly not particularly clever, witty, original or profound. There’s also a possible Guns N Roses reference (“Do you know where you are? Welcome to the jungle punk”) and name checks for the band members. In fairness though, the actual music is quite good – it gets you moving and is certainly popular in the clubs, particularly with young or “trendy” fans.
While the previous song at least had merits, I find it hard to justify “Full Nelson” – it’s filler even by LB standards. The music is by numbers and the vocals the same old whiny poor-man’s-rap. Even the theme’s the same “Why is everybody always picking on me? Does anybody really know a thing about me?” and then a lot of swearing.
Next up, “My Way”, thankfully not a Sinatra cover (although I wouldn’t put it past them). It was another single I think (the fourth, can we say “cash in” folks? Thought so), although I didn’t hear much of it on the radio. It’s actually a welcome change – beginning with a slow sensitive intro, Fred almost singing over gentle guitars.
”Rollin’’ was another single, and appears on the album in two formats, firstly the (air raid vehicle) version (don’t ask me!), which will be the more familiar version to most. It’s not as rocky as some of the previous songs, a more laid back song, with the repeated chorus “Come on keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ yeah”.
”Livin’ It Up” is an interesting song, not stereotypical Limp Bizkit. Another quiet lengthy intro, with a sample from “Life in the Fast Lane”. It does sound like Limp Bizkit, but it’s certainly different from their standard fare. In fact, I’d give them credit just for trying to add some diversity to the album, and it’s not even a bad song either. Next up, “The One”, is another quiet one, maybe there’s more on this album than would be suggested by the singles; although I don’t think this is as sensitive or good as the previous song.
There’s a lengthy one-minute intro/voice-over interlude before “Getcha Groove On”, but when the song itself begins it’s more upbeat than this would suggest. A very rap/hip-hop-influenced song, with a gentle laid-back lazy attitude and guest vocals from Xzibit suit the track well (better rapping than Durst too).
”Take A Look Around” was their big break – the theme from M:i2 which first brought them into the public eye in the UK. Personally I didn’t think much of the single release. The song itself is pretty good – it’s easy to see why it achieved what it did (number three in the charts if I remember rightly) because (apart from the obvious film tie in (Metallica’s M:i2 contribution stalled in the mid-30s) it’s actually very commercial.
The best I can say about “It’ll Be Ok” is simply that it is! It uses a loud/quiet format that’s hardly original and makes for a tolerable listen, but a forgettable “album-filler” style track. ‘Boiler’ initially sounds very like Linkin Park (which I think is a good thing) but it goes down hill on reaching the chorus; returning to a more familiar LB sound, with an attempt to sound a bit like ‘Take A Look Around’ again and more of the tiresome whining (and swearing) from Fred Durst.
”Hold On” is another of my favourites, but largely due to the vocals from (Stone Temple Pilot’s) Scott Weiland. It manages to break free from the clichéd nu-metal mould, incorporating a yearning feeling and grunge influence, reminiscent of Staind. There’s another slightly annoying interlude before hand, but actually I think this is the best track on the album.
The last proper song is “Rollin” (urban assault vehicle), the alternate version of "Rollin’’ (from earlier). It’s not as lively and loses the ‘moshability’ of the earlier version, but the album’s coming to a close so I suppose this is more appropriate. At 6:23 it gets rather repetitive, but it’s not the worst thing here. Finally there’s an “Outro” to end the album – which is rather pointless; going on about how LB are so great for mixing hip-hop and metal and producing something that isn’t “fertiliser”.
Overall, as you can tell, I didn’t want to like this album, and mostly I didn’t. To be fair, I did find it better than I expected though. Not being a LB fan, I’d be quick to point out that the best moments are mostly provided by guests (Weiland, Wu-Tang, Xzibit) but I don’t think that detracts from the album itself.
Perhaps LB should even be credited for being the first band able to bring this type of music into (the UK) mainstream. Unfortunately this didn’t (as many hoped) open the door for more original/talented nu-metal bands, such as Incubus but merely led to a deluge of second-rate, major label-backed pop metal like Papa Roach and Crazy Town.
In light of the good bits, I’m forced to give this album two stars and say if you like those bands, you’ll probably like this. I can’t recommend this to a friend though, as there’s far better out there.
One last point that amazes me is that LB was allowed to achieve such popularity with so much gratuitous swearing. There’s a prominent “Parental Advisory” label on the front and, for the record, there are 223 “bad words” in there.
Nice to know what you’re listening to isn’t it...
Thanks for reading.
Firebalt.
Before I begin I’d like to admit that I am slightly biased. Also a random fact – this album was originally scheduled for July 4th (2000) and set to be called “Limpdependence Day” but was delayed, probably because the title wasn’t funny enough…
The album begins traditionally enough with a piece called “Intro”. As noticeable by first glance, it’s short, just 1:18. What actually surprised me is it’s also surprisingly good! Many albums begin with brief throwaway instrumentals and, while I’m not saying this is anything particularly special, it’s probably better than most.
The first track proper, “Hot Dog”, and not a promising start in my opinion, but I’ll give it a chance. Ok, the swearing’s gratuitous, but it doesn’t really offend me or put me off – although I certainly don’t think it’s “cool” or whatever LB fans do – but Fred’s whiny style does grate a bit. I’d heard about bad relations between Fred Durst and Trent Reznor (of industrial metal band Nine Inch Nails) and that there was something relating to it on this album. Well, 1:30 into the first proper song and:
“You wanna f-ck me like an animal
You wanna burn me on the inside
You like to think I’m a perfect drug
Just know that nothing you do will bring you closer to me”
That’s a blatant rip-off of two NIN classics (“Closer” and a reference to “Perfect Drug”).
So that turned out to be a bad start to the album. Next up though it’s the single “My Generation”. I guess many will know this from it’s chart placing (there’s a postcard in the album advertising it’s release for 30/10/2000). Just in case though, it’s the one that goes:
“Maybe I am just a little f**ked up
Life’s just a little f**ked up”
And so on, again not exactly appealing to me. Certainly not particularly clever, witty, original or profound. There’s also a possible Guns N Roses reference (“Do you know where you are? Welcome to the jungle punk”) and name checks for the band members. In fairness though, the actual music is quite good – it gets you moving and is certainly popular in the clubs, particularly with young or “trendy” fans.
While the previous song at least had merits, I find it hard to justify “Full Nelson” – it’s filler even by LB standards. The music is by numbers and the vocals the same old whiny poor-man’s-rap. Even the theme’s the same “Why is everybody always picking on me? Does anybody really know a thing about me?” and then a lot of swearing.
Next up, “My Way”, thankfully not a Sinatra cover (although I wouldn’t put it past them). It was another single I think (the fourth, can we say “cash in” folks? Thought so), although I didn’t hear much of it on the radio. It’s actually a welcome change – beginning with a slow sensitive intro, Fred almost singing over gentle guitars.
”Rollin’’ was another single, and appears on the album in two formats, firstly the (air raid vehicle) version (don’t ask me!), which will be the more familiar version to most. It’s not as rocky as some of the previous songs, a more laid back song, with the repeated chorus “Come on keep rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ yeah”.
”Livin’ It Up” is an interesting song, not stereotypical Limp Bizkit. Another quiet lengthy intro, with a sample from “Life in the Fast Lane”. It does sound like Limp Bizkit, but it’s certainly different from their standard fare. In fact, I’d give them credit just for trying to add some diversity to the album, and it’s not even a bad song either. Next up, “The One”, is another quiet one, maybe there’s more on this album than would be suggested by the singles; although I don’t think this is as sensitive or good as the previous song.
There’s a lengthy one-minute intro/voice-over interlude before “Getcha Groove On”, but when the song itself begins it’s more upbeat than this would suggest. A very rap/hip-hop-influenced song, with a gentle laid-back lazy attitude and guest vocals from Xzibit suit the track well (better rapping than Durst too).
”Take A Look Around” was their big break – the theme from M:i2 which first brought them into the public eye in the UK. Personally I didn’t think much of the single release. The song itself is pretty good – it’s easy to see why it achieved what it did (number three in the charts if I remember rightly) because (apart from the obvious film tie in (Metallica’s M:i2 contribution stalled in the mid-30s) it’s actually very commercial.
The best I can say about “It’ll Be Ok” is simply that it is! It uses a loud/quiet format that’s hardly original and makes for a tolerable listen, but a forgettable “album-filler” style track. ‘Boiler’ initially sounds very like Linkin Park (which I think is a good thing) but it goes down hill on reaching the chorus; returning to a more familiar LB sound, with an attempt to sound a bit like ‘Take A Look Around’ again and more of the tiresome whining (and swearing) from Fred Durst.
”Hold On” is another of my favourites, but largely due to the vocals from (Stone Temple Pilot’s) Scott Weiland. It manages to break free from the clichéd nu-metal mould, incorporating a yearning feeling and grunge influence, reminiscent of Staind. There’s another slightly annoying interlude before hand, but actually I think this is the best track on the album.
The last proper song is “Rollin” (urban assault vehicle), the alternate version of "Rollin’’ (from earlier). It’s not as lively and loses the ‘moshability’ of the earlier version, but the album’s coming to a close so I suppose this is more appropriate. At 6:23 it gets rather repetitive, but it’s not the worst thing here. Finally there’s an “Outro” to end the album – which is rather pointless; going on about how LB are so great for mixing hip-hop and metal and producing something that isn’t “fertiliser”.
Overall, as you can tell, I didn’t want to like this album, and mostly I didn’t. To be fair, I did find it better than I expected though. Not being a LB fan, I’d be quick to point out that the best moments are mostly provided by guests (Weiland, Wu-Tang, Xzibit) but I don’t think that detracts from the album itself.
Perhaps LB should even be credited for being the first band able to bring this type of music into (the UK) mainstream. Unfortunately this didn’t (as many hoped) open the door for more original/talented nu-metal bands, such as Incubus but merely led to a deluge of second-rate, major label-backed pop metal like Papa Roach and Crazy Town.
In light of the good bits, I’m forced to give this album two stars and say if you like those bands, you’ll probably like this. I can’t recommend this to a friend though, as there’s far better out there.
One last point that amazes me is that LB was allowed to achieve such popularity with so much gratuitous swearing. There’s a prominent “Parental Advisory” label on the front and, for the record, there are 223 “bad words” in there.
Nice to know what you’re listening to isn’t it...
Thanks for reading.
Firebalt.