Ahh, Limp Bizkit. Hated by some, loved by others, then later, hated and mocked by everyone. But most of this is because of lead vocalist Fred Durst’s status as the “Axl Rose of the late 90’s” (Axl Rose is the Axl Rose of the EARLY 90’s, in case you were wondering). But hey, at least their first album was decent.

And it starts out with my favorite intro for… well… No. But it’s a nice intro. “Go buy a gun! And you give that gun to Jesus, and you say ‘Jesus, go kill the disciples of Satan… etc.” Well, at least I found it funny. And the first song isn’t that bad as well. “Pollution” rocks hard and loud, which is all I ask of these guys (because if you ask for more, you’ll probably be disappointed). The ending (Fred yelling “back! BACK! BACK!” after the sing had ended) would have been funny if Fred’s “yelling voice” wasn’t so intolerable. “Counterfeit” is another nice one. I really can’t comment much, since I don’t know what it is I like about it. Maybe it’s the guitars. Probably the bass. For all I know, it’s probably the fact this is the only time Fred has anything approaching a flow to his raps. Ever. It has some real conviction to it, at least compared to their later anthems (“My Generation”) and excursions into directionless excuses to play some loud guitars (“Rollin’”)

As I remember it, the next song “Stuck” was the second song I ever heard by the Bizkits, and the one that clinched the deal when I decided to buy the album. Loud, just as I liked it. And, like a lot of Limp’s songs, it’s about breakups (I guess…). At this point in the game, the “I hate myself and girls always screw me over” shtick wasn’t getting old, and Wes’s proficiency with riffs stays good through the album. “Nobody Loves Me” is another song that drives that shtick strait into your brain, and is probably the beginning of the album’s eventual downfall. A lame rant about, well, not being loved, the song’s chorus is just atrocious lyrically. “(yelling) Nobody loves me! Nobody cares! Nobody loves me! Nobody owes me a thing! Nobody loves me! Maybe I’ll go eat worms…” I’ll give them credit for the little “doo doo doo doo doo” part that comes after the chorus, though. Also, by this song, the album’s limitations (namely Fred’s lyrics, song premises, Fred’s ego, and a lack of diversity) become quite obvious.

“Sour.” A good song, at least by itself, (and my choice for best song here) by this point borderlines the point where Limp’s sound get stale. More breakups, more loud riffs, aggression, what have you. But still, that intro cooks! The guitars, vinyl scratches, drums… nice. Neat echo effects in the chorus, too (this is before Fred’s vocal overdubbing/special FX got overblown and lame). “Stalemate” has a nice intro, though a bit like “Sour.” The guitars aren’t anything to brag about (and they’d probably get on my nerves if I was to listen to this album more often). Durst sings, too, which is slightly better than his rapping. It gets back to their normal sound toward the middle/end, though. I forgot about it before listening to it through this one run.

The next song, “Clunk” lacks the good intros from the last two songs, and is stale. The sound is getting boring by this point. And the lyrics suck… more so than the lyrics in the songs like preceded it. I’m feeling tired. The coda is a little funny, but isn’t waking me up any. But then… “FAITH!” A George Michaels cover! And it has probably the best instrumentation for any song on the album, at least at the beginning. And it’s short. I don’t know why this isn’t on the “Best Song” thing at the top… Oh well, no use in pondering the mysteries of life. And the interludes between “Faith” and “Stinkfinger” suck. The lyrics suck, flow’s bad, it’s boring. And “Stinkfinger” itself is tuneless and uninspired. I was THIS close to changing this album’s grade from a 5 to maybe a 6 before this.

The next song is the first of their “Shout-out songs.” If I want to see who they feel like thanking, I’ll look inside the CD jacket. Instrumentally, the song is alright (and definitely different from the rest of the songs). It’s a precursor to a lot of the songs on the next album, except this is MORE pointless. If I were any of the people mentioned in this song, I’d be embarrassed. Bu tthat’s more out of hindsight because of what Fred’s become. “Leech” is unbridled aggression, and it doesn’t work. It’s old now, and it’s only the first album. And the bass sounds like the guy from Korn (who, by the way, has to be the shittiest bassist in rock music history). The intro to the final song, “Everything” is just Fred speaking over a sound collage. It sucks, and goes on for too long. Way too long. Thank god it didn’t come in the middle of the album, or I’d have chopped that 5 in half. Thankfully, if only to make the album NOT end on a sour note, it goes into a rather interesting instrumental. But then, THAT drags on too long, which just kills this album’s chances at salvation at this thing’s hands. By the 7th minute, it gets repetitive. It goes for a little of SIXTEEN minutes. Damn. Well, for fear of this review going on too long, as well, I won’t even bother with a conclusion. Limp showed some promise, but never delivered. The end.