Sound Advice: CD Reviews - Limp Bizkit (Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water)

CD Review:
Anyone who grew up in the '80s will remember the fun the media had accusing, in a side of the mouth manner, Michael Jackson of having his way with a chimpanzee he owned as a pet. With other events in his life that were exposed as weird and eccentric, Michael came out with a song to answer all this criticism. The song named, if I remember correctly "Leave Me Alone," had the chimpanzee in question on the video release and Michael and his mate moved through a variety of surrealistic scenes including a trip in a roller coaster.

After Woodstock '99 and the criticism that followed from the press as they blamed Limp Bizkit for the instigation of the violence that dogged the outdoor concert, Fred Durst, it seems, couldn't take it and decided to put out this album in answer to all the crap that followed. Durst, the 2000 version of Michael Jackson, lets them all have it on this CD.

The album has that paranoia that all people feel creeping in when a spotlight is put on them. I have to respect the man for deciding to defend himself however anti-social his answer is. It is not as pathetic as Michael's "crying to his mother after being hit by a school bully" routine. Durst basically states that if you don't like him then bring it on or fuck off.

All their sensitivity aside, this band knows how to put out power on their CDs. I could do without all the constant swearing, although it does add to the over-the-top testosterone injected music.

Because this band is basically the newest version of the pissed off anti-social hard rock group that angst ridden teenagers are drawn to and love, I tried hard to blow this band off. But in the end I couldn't. The power, speed, and mix of rap and hard rock that the band puts forth is done in a way that it doesn't sound like plain noise.

The production is great and although a song that has over 40 fuck words in it can't be taken too seriously, and a song that is just an angrier version of The Who's "My Generation" is nothing innovative, I can't help enjoy the music itself. It is a great album from a next generation paranoia freak and quite enjoyable in its youthful energy

Scott D. Brown