Idolator: limp bizkit

Celebrating 20 Years Of Modern-Rock Countdowns, From Siouxsie To Staind

Al Shipley — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Many people find it hard to tell the great from the godawful when it comes to 21st-century mainstream rock. To help figure out which is which, here's "Corporate Rock Still Sells," where Al "GovernmentNames" Shipley examines what's good, bad, and ugly in the world of rock and roll. This time around, he celebrates the 20th anniversary of Billboard's Modern Rock chart by cherry-picking some of its most oddly notable chart-toppers:

Last month, the Hot 100—the big cheese of Billboard's singles charts—turned 50, and the publication's been rolling out the red carpet in honor of that golden anniversary. But today, another Billboard milestone is passing by with a little less fanfare: the 20th birthday of the Modern Rock chart. The late-'80s college rock explosion resulted in more and more commercial radio stations playing a variety of young bands and singer-songwriters that didn't quite fit into the Pink Floyd/Van Hagar-heavy format covered by the Album Rock Tracks chart (now known as Mainstream Rock) Billboard responded to that trend on Sept. 10, 1998, when it published the first Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

In the two decades since, the alternative rock format has exploded—in terms of both stations and listeners—and then shrunk some, all the while going through an aesthetic identity crisis seemingly every five years. I've occasionally implied that the chart may have outlived its usefulness, given the dwindling listenership and its increasing crossover with the Mainstream Rock chart. But those arguments are largely facetious, and I hope Billboard never takes my suggestion to heart. (I'd have a lot less to follow or write about.) Two months ago, the trade mag actually added a third rock singles chart, Triple-A (as in Adult Album Alternative); the music on that chart more resembles Modern Rock's jangly early days. So with Triple-A at one pole and Mainstream Rock at the other, the Modern Rock chart is now, more than ever, effectively the center of Billboard's rock charts and its most important one, which assures that it should be alive and well for as long as there's terrestrial radio data to track.

A couple years ago, former Idolator regular Anthony Miccio counted down all of the Modern Rock No. 1s on a highly entertaining blog called modernrock4eva, which I've looked at from time to time as inspiration for this column, and to remind myself of just how silly and mercurial this chart has always been. For every No. 1 that could be praised as the harbinger of a new era along the lines of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," you have a handful of novelty hits, flukes, and bizarre mid-career diversions. I have no interest in honoring the canon, so I thought I'd go through the chart's first 21 calendar years and pick one No. 1 from each: not the best song, but the one that was most likely forgotten, never heard, or be classified as a "surprising" hit:

1988: Siouxsie and the Banshees - "Peek-a-Boo"

This isn't the most obscure of the five songs that topped the chart in its first four months of existence. But it was the chart's very first No. 1, and I can think of no more auspicious a beginning for this institution than a bonkers dance-pop crossover full of backmasked accordion.

1989: Public Image Ltd. - "Disappointed"

There are some perfectly valid reasons that this band is revered by some much more than John Lydon's other, more famous band. But this backup singer-aided ball of cheese, one of PiL's last gasps before Lydon entered an endless cycle of Sex Pistols reunions, is most likely not one of them.

1990: David J - "I'll Be Your Chauffeur"

Before embarking on this column, I had no idea that being a Bauhaus alum was apparently all it took to top this chart in its early days. Love And Rockets reached No. 1 in '89, and the next year both Peter Murphy and David J reached the summit as solo artists.

1991: U2 - "The Fly"

There were more obscure No. 1's from this year, but this wins by virtue of being one of the least-known lead singles from an established band's blockbuster album ever released. It's kind of amazing, in retrospect, that U2 managed to release this song first with future Achtung Baby smashes like "One" and "Mysterious Ways" waiting in the chamber. In light of how well they got away with this gamble, it's easier to understand where they got the balls to release "Numb" and "Discotheque" as lead singles later on.

1992: Lou Reed - "What's Good"

1992 was, for many people and especially for my 10-year-old self, ground zero for the alt-rock explosion. It was also the year I became aware of the Modern Rock chart—MTV's 120 Minutes would run through the top 10 before a commercial break each week. But even as some of the decade's biggest bands were scoring their first hits, the chart was still being dominated by oldsters enjoying their final glimpses of serious rock airplay, including Peter Gabriel, The B-52's, XTC, and ol' Lou.

1993: Tears For Fears - "Break It Down Again"

It's hard to compare this song to any of the Songs From The Big Chair megahits, but this one still sounds tremendous to me.

1994: Counting Crows - "Einstein on the Beach (For an Eggman)"

Their 1993 debut August And Everything After yielded three Modern Rock top 10 hits, but the only Counting Crows song to ever top the chart was this bouncy outtake, which was tossed on the DGC Rarities compilation.

1995: Red Hot Chili Peppers - "My Friends"

I may not particularly like the many, many power ballads RHCP has recorded since reuniting with John Frusciante. But they all beat the hell out of the one they did when Dave Navarro was in the band.

1996: The Cranberries - "Salvation"

The Cranberries' metamorphosis from the winsome Irish balladeers of "Dreams" to the creepy doomsayers of "Zombie" and this peppy anti-heroin screed is one of the more fascinating transformations of the mid-'90s alt-rock era. Some of Rihanna's fashion and artistic choices of late make me wonder if Dolores O'Riordan is her spirit animal.

1997: Live - "Lakini's Juice"

Along the same lines as "Salvation," this is a fascinating instance of an overexposed band becoming somewhat interesting at the exact moment that its career took a nosedive. It's a shame Live's ensuing commercial decline was full of more pap like "The Dolphin's Cry" than riffs as fucking nasty as the one here.

1998: The Goo Goo Dolls - "Slide"

1998 was a truly dire year for Modern Rock: It began with the 15-week reign of Marcy Playground, who were succeeded by the seven-week reign of Fastball (you can probably guess the songs). Things didn't get much better from there, and I can honestly say every single one of the 11 songs that topped the chart that year holds at least one unpleasant memory for me. And while this one isn't as good as "Iris," it's still the least overplayed of these songs that I could choose.

1999: Limp Bizkit - "Re-Arranged"

Most of Limp Bizkit's fun songs shoehorned in incongrously slow, serious bridges, so it was pretty shocking that they managed to make a whole song out of one of those brooding grooves that turned out to be one of their best hits.

2000: Green Day - "Minority"

Reminding myself that Green Day had such a popular "political" song shortly before American Idiot makes me marvel at how well they succeeded at selling that album as both a comeback and a change of pace.

2001: Sum 41 - "Fat Lip"

2001 was the year that Staind, Nickelback, Linkin Park and Incubus all became power ballad superstars, but at least one band was having some goofy, sloppy fun at No. 1 (well, two, if you count those guys that covered "Smooth Criminal").

2002: Unwritten Law - "Seein' Red"

Every time I read this song's title and tried to remember what it sounded like before looking it up on YouTube, all I could think of was Chevelle's "The Red," which reached No. 4 at almost the exact same time that this song topped the chart, features a refrain of the phrase "seeing red," and has remained a much stronger radio staple in the years since.

2003: Jane's Addiction - "Just Because"

A perfunctory one-week chart-topper from a hollow, pointless reunion. And thanks to Entourage's really, really annoying theme song, it isn't even the best-known track from its parent album.

2004: The Offspring - "Hit That"

This seems to be about the point where The Offspring decided to back off from the antics of novelty hits like "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)." But before getting fully serious with their recent hit "Hammerhead," they had to wean themselves off the silly shit by making a song with farting ska horns, awkwardly deployed hip-hop slang, and a video starring an animated dog.

2005: Audioslave - "Be Yourself"

Audioslave was an ugly marriage of convenience always headed for an inevitable divorce, but this song marked one time they seemed almost convincingly compatible.

2006: The Foo Fighters - "DOA"

Even though it's just three years old, it's not even the 10th-most-played Foo Fighters song on radio now. A shame, since it's just about their only recent single that follows through on the unfulfilled promise of muscular new wave glimpsed on early singles like "This Is A Call" or "Monkey Wrench."

2007: Incubus - "Anna Molly"

"Megalomaniac" could've been their "Lakini's Juice," but instead these guys kept at it and made leaner, better hard-rock hits.

2008: Staind - "Believe"

I leave you with the current No. 1, partly to give symmetry to our journey, and partly because I hope someday soon we'll all have long forgotten that gooey Diane Warren bullshit like "believe in me, 'cause I was meant for chasing dreams" ever topped a chart that's championed much weirder, better stuff.

Fred Durst Is Something Of A Long Shot In The Minds Of Movie Critics

Maura Johnston — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:00:00 EDT

From time to time, we like to round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Today, we're going to switch things up a bit and look at the notices given to the Fred Durst-directed The Longshots, which features Ice Cube as the doting uncle of a female football prodigy and which comes out today.

• "Worth mentioning is that the movie was directed by the Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. 'Dude, give me some of that Hollywood magic music,' one imagines this hard-core rocker, in his capacity as cheesy family-film hack, saying to his (uncredited) composer. 'Nah, man, a little more sentimental and sparkly. That's it! Now put it everywhere, man. Awesome. Work it out, dude, I'm going to lunch.' " [NYT]

• "Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, who made his directorial debut with 2007's little-seen The Education of Charlie Banks, brings a workmanlike efficiency to The Longshots but not much style, apart from a few sequences in which he wanders away from the action to explore Minden's ragged brick streets and crumbling buildings. And even those shots seem obligatory and lacking in inspiration. It's almost always rewarding to watch an underdog triumph—what else could explain why movies exactly like this keep being made?—but Longshots is one underdog that's hard to love and harder still to champion." [Chicago Tribune]

• "Saddled with such a predictable plot and script, Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, moonlighting as movie director, delivers a mildly diverting tale. But because The Longshots never escapes the sense of being too contrived, it never really gets the crowd on its feet." [Toronto Star]

• "Former Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst directs in a surprisingly dull fashion, and most of the characters, including Jasmine's mother and father, are numbingly one-dimensional. However, the saga is an undeniably heartwarming one about perseverance, hard work, and pride in community. And who could criticize that?" [USA Today]

• "Fred Durst, from the group Limp Bizkit, directs with the unsophisticated simplicity that the story requires. And in a time when so many movies throw in so much casual profanity, it's heartening to see one where the characters, even in the most cathartic stressful moments, are able to express themselves honestly and forcefully without cursing. That attitude earns The Longshots a solid recommendation for all audiences." [WP]

[Thanks to Radar for the reminder that this was coming out]

Marilyn Manson Breaks Up All Hopes Of A Limp Bizkit Reunion

Maura Johnston — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:30:00 EDT

Marilyn Manson announced last night that he'd hired a new guitar player for his band, and that man is Wes Borland, late of Limp Bizkit and Black Light Burns. And from the way Manson referred to Borland's previous musical exploits in the announcement, I wouldn't expect Fred Durst to be invited backstage to any upcoming shows: "He used to be in a really terrible band that he left because he felt that it was a destructive force in art, and he has his own band, Black Light Burns, but now he is in Marilyn Manson," Manson told a press assemblage in Seoul. "We don't know how permanent that is, but starting tomorrow will be the first step. So this will be the most indestructible Marilyn Manson." It can't even be stopped by a horde of red-baseball-cap-wearing angry dudes, or even by people who think that Manson's schtick is pretty tired by this point! Clip of Manson's press conference after the jump.

Me, I'm just hoping that Fred Durst's mom comes back to weigh in on all this.

Marilyn Manson Interview Korea 08 [YouTube via Blabbermouth]

Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland To Sell Albini-Minded Cover Album Online

Anthony Miccio — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Ah, Wes Borland. When you're playing with Limp Bizkit, everyone talks about how you're actually a good guitar player who listens to Portishead and Ween. But when you start your own band, nobody ever gives a shit. Ironically, the upcoming covers album from your Black Light Burns—which promises tributes to Fiona Apple, your old band Big Dumb Face, Swans, Lard, PJ Harvey, and Jesus Lizard-will probably bring you more attention than anything you've done before, especially once people hear the tracks. Judging by the covers of "So Alive" and "Lucretia My Reflection" on your MySpace page, it might actually be kind of cool. And thanks to your innovative pricing tiers, people may be more apt to check it out! The MP3s? Only five bucks. And if you only want his instrumentals? Free, homeslice.

Here's the tracklisting:
1. Forkboy (Lard cover)
2. So Alive (Love and Rockets cover)
3. Hungry Like The Wolf (Duran Duran cover)
4. Lucretia My Reflection (Sisters of Mercy cover)
5. Rid of Me (PJ Harvey cover)
6. The Art of Self Defense (Jesus Lizard cover)
7. On the Bound (Fiona Apple cover)
8. I Am the Sun (Swans cover)
9. Blood Red Head on Fire (Big Dumb Face cover)
10. Search and Destroy (Iggy & The Stooges cover)
11. Drowning Together, Dying Alone (previously unreleased instrumental)
12. Giving In Again (previously unreleased instrumental)
13. Failing (previously unreleased instrumental)
14. Mesopotamia (Assyrian Mix)
15. Lie (Seth Vogt Club Mix)

And here are the different ways you can get it!

FREE DOWNLOAD
• Instrumentals (seven tracks) with booklet

$5 DOWNLOAD
• Entire Cover Your Heart album with booklet

$25 PHYSICAL
• Entire Cover Your Heart album with booklet
• Entire The Anvil Pants Odyssey DVD (containing videos, a documentary, live footage, and other Wes Borland ephemera)
• T-shirt and Sticker

$100 PHYSICAL DELUXE EDITION
• Entire Cover Your Heart album with booklet
• Entire The Anvil Pants Odyssey DVD
• Entire Cruel Melody CD (Black Light Burns' first album)
• Limited edition and number hard cover
• Autographed book containing 30 Wes Borland art prints (est. size: 10.5" x 13.75")

I like the idea that someone who's willing to put down $100 for this magical collection of covers and live performances hasn't gotten around to buying the band's first album. Maybe Black Light Burns would sell even more if they said that every purchase went toward keeping Wes from having to accept Fred's annual plea for him to return to Limp Bizkit.

Limp Solo Release [antiMUSIC]
Black Light Burns [MySpace]

Chris Martin: Limp Bizkit Fan

Anthony Miccio — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:00:00 EDT

I know for some people this will just be another example of Chris Martin making Coldplay fans feel like idiots, but for me? Love. Sheer, unabashed love. The love I can only feel for a sensitive, interview-wary multiplatinum artist that goes off on a tangent about how unappreciated Limp Bizkit are in Entertainment Weekly. How was I to know that the man behind "God Put A Smile On Your Face" was a huge fan of "Rollin'," which, yes, is indeed the best Limp Bizkit song of all time? "It might be unfashionable to say it at the moment, but Limp Bizkit had a lot of life in them when they were at their best. I'm proud to say it right here, live and on the record." And I'm proud of you, Chris. You played Limp Bizkit for Brian Eno! I doubt anyone's ever thought to do that before.

MARTIN: With Brian [Eno], he's not snobby about any kind of music. He'd say, ''Listen to this Donna Summer track and then this Boyz II Men track.'' Then we'd listen to Rammstein, and I played him a Limp Bizkit song. It could be literally like that, so we were able to plagiarize from the most extraordinary places.

Which Limp Bizkit song?
MARTIN: ''Rollin,'' which is my favorite. I love Limp Bizkit. Just watch, in about 10 years people will start saying, ''You know what? They were great.'' Because you can't question their energy and enthusiasm and that's Brian's big thing — he doesn't care what the music sounds like, as long as it has life in it. It might be unfashionable to say it at the moment, but Limp Bizkit had a lot of life in them when they were at their best. I'm proud to say it right here, live and on the record.

I don't even know how to respond to that...
MARTIN: I also think that their version of ''Behind Blue Eyes'' is better than the Who's. Call me sacrilege.

No, I call you a hero. Keep on rollin', Chris! You know what time it is!

Coldplay Talk Viva La Vida [EW]
Limp Bizkit - Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle) [YouTube]

Your First Look At Fred Durst And Ice Cube's The Longshots

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Here's the trailer for The Longshots (formerly Comeback), the film that Fred Durst and Ice Cube's careers have been building toward for a long time. Who better than the authors of "Nookie" and "Givin' Up The Nappy Dug Out" to tell the story of the first female quarterback in a Pop Warner football tournament. Snoop Dogg's Pop Warner movie is still in development, so maybe he'll shout "I believe in you, bitch!" from the stands in a cameo.

While Durst is the director of The Longshots, he's also shown some talent in front of the screen as well. In 2006's Population 436, the Chocolate Starfish plays a simple-minded deputy sheriff of a town whose population count hasn't changed in over one hundred years. Jeremy Sisto plays a census bureau investigator who discovers the town's dark secret, and has sex with Durst's would-be girlfriend while Fred watches in horror through a hole in the barn wall. This clip, sadly, does not include that sequence.

The Longshots Trailer HD [YouTube]
Population 436 (2006) [YouTube]

Limp Bizkit Drummer Wants To Teach You The Funk

Anthony Miccio — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Like the way John Otto takes you to the Matthews Bridge there? "Limp Bizkit's groove master" has started Ottomatic Sounds, where he will teach you "nu and old school" drum techniques for only $150-200 a session! Let's check it out together!

I currently can't work a kick pedal for shit, but I think John Otto might just be the guy to help me master it. C'mon, Buzznet... hook a bizkit up, won't you?

Limp Bizkit - My Generation [YouTube]
John Otto of OTTOMATIC SOUNDS [MySpace via Blabbermouth]

Fred Durst, Ice Cube Seek to Provide Positive Role Models for Young Women

Anthony Miccio — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:30:51 EDT

What is Fred Durst up to right now? It's a question I frequently ask myself, and, what with me plastering his face all over Idolator, one you might be pondering as well. A new album? A new sex tape? A new cred-hungry t-shirt purchase? A new... feel-good sports movie starring Ice Cube and Keke "Akeelah & The Bee" Palmer? The Chocolate Starfish recently finished location shooting on Comeback, the story of the first female quarterback to play in a Pop Warner football tournament. Ice Cube, Durst's former Family Values tourmate, will produce the film and play her coach. Durst's TriBeca Film Festival award-winning directorial debut, The Education Of Charlie Banks, set at Vassar(!), may see release this spring. Did we misjudge Fred? Has his public idiocy just been an act?

Fred would sure like us to think so. Check out the mind-blowing career narrative in this interview promoting Banks. Turns out he always wanted to be "a Hal Ashby, a Woody Allen, a Stanley Kubrick" (at 1:59, I shit you not), but then "the band started taking off," and well... what can you do when fame comes calling for your rap-rock band?

A film by Fred Durst, yo. A film by Fred Durst.

FRED DURST ON MSG,NY - 5/2 [YouTube]
Ice Cube, 'Comeback,' film on Calvary's Field [The Shreveport Times]

This Man Would Like You To Trust Him With Your Hair

Dan Gibson — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:00:04 EST

Sometimes there's news that hits the wire that seems like it merits some sort of bloggo remark or more appropriately, should be broadcast as widely as possible to warn the populace. So here, the first (and likely last) appearance of a "feature" entitled "Presented Without Comment":

Pete Wentz to open 'punk'-themed beauty parlor: Not surprisingly, the salon is unisex. Also, a guy who was on a reality show I don't really remember will be the head stylist. [NY Daily News]

Korn Guitarist Forms New Band: It should be noted that James "Munky" Shaffer's new band, Fear and the Nervous System, also includes Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland and Faith No More's Billy Gould. [LiveDaily]

Janet Jackson is considering having her eggs frozen: Later in the piece, taken from Janet's appearance on the Tyra show, Janet mentioned that she might be "allergic to marriage." It could not be confirmed, but we hear that quiet sobs were heard from the side of the stage, interspersed with someone saying "So So Def." [Boston.com]

[Photo: AP]

Add another name beside "Toby Keith" on ...

Jess Harvell — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:00:17 EST

Add another name beside "Toby Keith" on the ever-growing list of T-Pain's dream collaborations: "Really, to just do a T-Pain/Limp Bizkit song, that would be awesome for me." Could this rappa-rocka summit prove the end of the sanga's bulletproof Billboard run? Or could T-Pain's magic touch actually get hatless pop pariah Fred Durst back on the radio? [MTV / Photo: AP]