Limp Bizkit
Three Dollar Bill, Y'All

THE REVIEW

Indeed, thinking about it for a moment, I hardly associate Fred Durst with anything other than a big piece of shit; yeah, just one of those two-hundred-carat assholes who never understood a damn thing about life and have nothing to do from morning to night but get drunk, snort some coke, go in and out of jail, score a hot chick, and even tattoo their toes.

Yeah, the tattoos, Fred's great obsession, who one day had the grand stroke of luck to have none other than Fieldy Snuts, bassist of Korn, pass by his "office," to whom he talks about his musical projects. Yes, projects, you read that right. Or rather project, because Fred had only one thing on his mind at that time: a massive rage. It didn't take him long, after all, to find four other drifters, street kids like him, with a tremendous desire to make their way and prove they were more than a bunch of losers. Yes, the money and success, that's exactly what they're after; they don't care about expressing art and complicated concepts; they have only one damn thing in mind: to escape a crappy life and make lots of money. Judge them as you like, but if you don't live on the outskirts of a major American city where gangs, all sorts of dealings, and deaths on the street are a daily occurrence, you'll hardly be objective.

So, the great opportunity: their demo gets into the hands of the Korn producer (and other bands like Slipknot, Sepultura, and Cure) Ross Robinson, who doesn't take long to hand them over to a record label; it's 1997 and these guys release "Three Dollar Bill, Y'All," which today can be considered without fear of contradiction as one of the best Nu-Metal albums. It won't last long, already starting with the following "Significant Other," the five from Florida will begin to noticeably soften their sound, which over time will further decline to become ridiculous in recent years, but there's not much to say here; we're in front of a stellar cd: Fred puts in a grit that he couldn't bring out again over time, literally spewing insults left and right and the rage is palpable in every slang syllable he pronounces in his characteristic rap style. The real rage, not fake to appeal to kids, is definitely present here, mixed with frustration (especially in "Nobody Loves Me") and the carefree attitude that comes from the awareness that you can't go lower than tattooing on the streets. However, it's not just the buddy Durst, but the other four members of the band that bring out the best of themselves here, particularly the guitarist, Wes Borland, capable of imprinting on the listener's mind riffs of great incisiveness and roughness. Also noteworthy is the presence of a DJ, a certain Lethal, capable of steering the band's sound significantly towards hip-hop and who has the opportunity to experiment in "Everything," and above all, an excellent bassist like Sam Rivers, who right after the release of this album brought home (I don't know how deservedly, but it must mean something, right?) the award for best bassist in the world... In short, beyond the passion, there's also that quality that will become increasingly rare over the years and yet appears undeniable in this cd.

Yeah, because as I mentioned, with this album the first money comes in (it sells about two and a half million copies), and after another not too shabby LP, "Significant Other" indeed, with a more marked hip-hop sound, the descent into the abyss begins: in the end, what the five wanted, they've achieved, money, fame, success, beautiful women, and all that entails. Come on, there's no point in kidding ourselves, in the end messing themselves up and selling out isn't any more or less than what countless other promising bands like them have already done in the past; yet almost everyone has forgotten even the good that the Bizkit did for reasons I honestly can't explain. They were never, nor have they ever claimed to be, life models with their thousand flaws (more than once accused not unjustly of inciting gratuitous violence), certainly they never will be in the future, but about a decade ago at least they were true, genuine, innocent I'd almost say, not yet tainted by all the garbage that business puts into your head.

In short, they were sincere, and for me, without overthinking it, they were more than fine that way.