limpbizkit: Results May Vary
limpbizkit -- the band formerly known as Limp Bizkit -- has taken a colossal wrong turn with this album. Frontman/bad boy Fred Durst sounds as if he's lost his compass. The explosiveness that helped propel 'bizkit to the top of the rap-metal pack has largely disappeared, replaced by frequent attempts by Durst to sing rather than rap. You can predict the rest, because Durst is a great rapper, but a really flat, unexciting singer. He reveals his shortcomings in "Almost Over" (in which he seems lugubriously to predict the band's future) and "Underneath the Gun," a sad stab at psychedelic metal. Durst & Co. are clearly trying to outgrow nu-metal stereotypes, but they're very uptight in the transition (would you ever imagine the word uptight being associated with this band?). They overly craft too many songs while leaving the fun and dynamism behind. New guitarist Mike Smith is no match for the departed Wes Borland, but it is Durst who sounds the most lost, even resorting to a cover of The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" (the song worked in concert this summer when limpbizkit was on Metallica's Sanitarium Tour, but not as well in the studio version). Durst regains some spark in the rap-filled "Head for the Barricade" and in a cocky tradeoff with Snoop Dogg on "Red Light -- Green Light," but mostly he seems stuck in an identity crisis.
