Limp Bizkit - 'Results May Vary' (Interscope)
2/5
By: Toby L
If recent press/line-up changes were to serve as a marker, it'd seem Limp Bizkit were finished. From the fruits of their new album, the unfortunately titled 'Results May Vary', the jury's still out.
For, the departure of guitarist Wes Borland from the group, was a significant blow. Not just PR-wise - where outbursts from both ubiquitous frontman Fred Durst and Borland turned into open-field slanging-matches - but, musically, 'Results...' is the band's most notably one-dimensional record to date, lacking the sheer anthems of prior LP, 'Chocolate Starfish...', whilst existent without the punch of 'Significant Other'. More-so, it's Durst's attempt in vain to validate the relevance of his nu-metal group, without the presence of a vital founder-member.
But in an ever-changing music-world, where do LB fit? The trouble is, they don't. With the likes of peers such as Deftones moulding a further-reaching, more atmospheric and intelligent end of the modern metal-spectrum, the 'Bizkit have become ironic tragedies of their own 'Limp' moniker.
If there's one saving-grace of 'Results May Vary', it's that Fred Durst is really f**king trying. Melodies are piled and stacked high, and lyrics are overt in their stabs at earnest, and the production is beefy. But, somewhere lost in the mix, is the soul; it all seems so digital, blatantly forced, too pristine to reflect any heartfelt emotion, and Durst can't help but sell himself as embarrassing in his endless self-justification/indulgence (sample, of a very recurring theme: 'I remember high-school, man I hated high-school/It was like a prison with bullies putting me down')... It's the general lack of subtlety that taints the product (let alone the sentiment, 'Rock, rock to the planet rock, don't stop (c'mon)' - frankly, unforgivable).
As a vacuous listen, however, it's a hook-y pop-record for the mid-teenager with a skateboard in hand and pair of oversized shorts in the other. A collaboration with Snoop Dogg ('Red Light-Green Light') instils the cred.-stakes, and otherwise, the record is a teeming mass of swirly, dirge-y guitars, Fred's grisly howl and lite-angst rock, lacking the bold choruses of yore in preference of clichι, commercial, American 'alternative'... Beware: Nickelback County is approaching...
For previous indulgers, there's little to despise. But for the presently unintroduced, 'Results May Vary' all too sadly lives up to its own name; unless the formula can find new air to breathe in future endeavours, the worrying truth is that Durst may soon have to hang up the red-cap and focus on less pained, strained activities.
Artists in this article: Limp Bizkit
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