Limp Bizkit – Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (2000)

This is the breakthrough album for Limp Bizkit. Nu Metal was beginning to look like a serious thing in the music world with releases by other groups such as Korn paving the way in the late 1990s. This one is seen as a classic within the genre, selling over eight million copies and showcasing a newer and heavier form of music to surprise those in both the commercial and the Metal world. Let’s take a listen to this album, and hear what it sounds like today.

We begin with Intro which has some distorted vocals that sound rather a lot like alien voices. Shortly into it, some electronic sounds gather pace and match the alien vocals perfectly. Soon enough, some cut up beats enter and this piece shows that Limp Bizkit is in the house. Literally. Good start to the album.

Next is Hot Dog with its hilarious vocal intro, demonic sound drop tuned guitars and a pounding rhythm section here. It’s rather quirky, but excellent listening all the same. The use of the word fuck is used a huge amount of times here, and it is a very entertaining listen here. With a bit of stealing from Nine Inch Nails here (although not illegitimately), this is definitely cool and awesome to hear. Great start to this album, it sounds really funny and out there awesome. A very cool song, this is a really amazing start to an album here. Brilliant tune.

My Generation is next, and it has a brilliant intro to another great Nu Metal song that is actually not a rip off cover of the old song by The Who, just in case you were wondering. A very excellent and lively song, this is a really powerful and unique piece of music here. Infamous singer Fred Durst is really on fine form here, and this song sounds electrified and powerful here. A really top song here, this is great listening. Another lively listen with a DJ scratched guitar part, these guys clearly don’t care what others think of them here. Great tune, with a surprising finish.

Full Nelson is a strange title for a Nu Metal track, quite possibly referring to the character in The Simpsons TV show. It begins with chaotic guitars, pounding drum beats, some unique electronic sounds. It launches into a monstrous and energetic Nu Metal piece that is totally aggressive here and it sounds really chaotic. This is excellent music for those who like the darker side of sound, and it sounds awesome, once again. Powerful, driving and energetic here, this is completely different from most forms of Metal out there. Fred Durst goes into some manic screaming throughout this song, and he just sounds on fine form here. Some interesting electronic sounds and monster beats arrive in the second half here, before fading out nicely. Great tune. The presence of DJ Lethal is not to be underestimated here.

Next here is My Way which begins with some cool DJ scratching, and some eerie guitar parts, before launching into a more serious and disturbing sounding song. It is a great piece railing against figures of authority and control, and is a really awesome listen, once again. It sounds very disturbing in a way, but retains the powerful nature and great melodies here. Excellently powerful and determined sounding, Limp Bizkit sound like a band on a real mission musically. A nicely crafted sounding song, this is not Frank Sinatra, it is full on Metal in your face. An excellent song nonetheless, this sounds really awesome. It ends with the strummed clean guitar parts and more DJ scratching, admittedly the outro is a little lengthy, but another cool song regardless.

The big hit from this album is Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle). It begins with some interesting spoken word parts, before launching straight into the action here. It has some brilliant call-and-response vocals and is super catchy here. This was very popular upon release as a single, and no doubt garnered the group some attention here. It is a catchy, cool and energetic piece. Some guests here make this piece even more memorable and notorious, a really cool and fine listening experience here. A socially aware and self-conscious piece of music that has some monstrous riffs, a cool chorus and pounding drum beats here. Great tune from start to finish.

Livin’ It Up comes next, and it has some weird guitar parts and an unusual sort of song. It has Fred Durst talking about himself and his life. Pretty selfish, to be fair, but clearly not good until the chorus. It’s a weaker track, but even so, it has some interesting lyrics and playing here. All in all, a powerful and determined sounding Nu Metal track, with a sample of the Eagles here. It does sound a bit dreary here, but all the same, is a good but not great tune. A powerful and determined piece of music that will impress Metal fans, but turn off some other listeners here.

The One is next, and sounds very different from the start here, with some unusual sounding guitars, super heavy bass parts, pounding drums and a strange sounding vocal here. This is an okay song, but nothing really tremendously Nu Metal here. It’s a good listen, but sounds completely different to everything else on the album so far. A very good song, without being overly great, there are some interesting beats and a quiet section in the middle, before bursting into Nu Metal territory. A really cool and decent tune once this gets going. It goes super quiet in the second half, before going into a warped section that is clearly influenced by a broader musical template than Nu Metal. There are electronic drumbeats and semi-psychedelic textures here towards the end, and the whole thing sounds very drug influenced, with a super long fade out. These guys must have loved their weed, eh?

Next is Getcha Groove On – Dirt Road Mix which begins with some electronic beats, some groovy basslines and electronically treated beats. It’s a male sort of tune with loads of profane swearing and badass sort of attitude here, which isn’t that different to the rest of the album here. An excellent tune with some guests (Xzibit, DJ Premier) who make this piece sound a bit more like Rap music here, it is obviously a mixture of musical ideas that are unusual here. A good and interesting mixture cocktail of sounds here, it does sound very decent all the same. Better than expected for this sort of thing, it does still sound great today. Brilliant tune and sounds very good.

Following is Take A Look Around which begins with some Surf Rock sounding guitars, meaty basslines and hi-hats galore. It then launches into a really cool and groovy piece that samples a familiar melody here, which later required legal attention. This is more the Rap side of Limp Bizkit here, that is, until the Nu Metal guitars enter and we launch into a loud, powerful and energetic song here that will get any Metal fan’s attention. A really awesome tune, although it does sound a little depressing here. In any case, this is a good mixture of melody and bombastic rhythm that does make an impression on the listener here. In the second half are some more interesting musical stop/start styled parts, before launching into a loud and chaotic section that sounds really marvelous. Decent tune, nice to hear.

It’ll Be OK comes next, with some great bass playing and guitars in the intro, sounding super dark and gloomy. It is about relationship issues, and sounds very dark and disturbing here. The drumming in particular sounds good as this piece builds up to a brilliant climax, with more noisy and chaotic Nu Metal sounds here which are different. It’s broken love from a deep, dark and scary place, but sounds really excellent all the same. A good listening experience, although this is very dark sounding territory, even for Limp Bizkit. Rather intense, this is brutal listening throughout. The production and sounds here take us elsewhere, though. It ends with the mixture of guitar riffs and bass parts, all the way through to the fade out.

Boiler is a seven minute long piece. It begins with an eerie guitar part which sounds quite disturbing, a lot like a keyboard here. Quickly enough, it launches into a Nu Metal song that is about taking one’s opportunities in life to make it on your own. It is tremendously loud and catchy, and just sounds like Fred Durst is baring his soul here. A really determined sounding piece with many production textures and sounds to hold your interest. Some digital hi-hats begin the next section here, and this is more a musical experiment in sound and textures rather than a song itself. Despite this fact, it is a simple and in-your-face effort that just sounds awesome. It also sounds very aggressive here too, with Fred Durst’s screaming sounding really amazing here. In the second half, some jangly guitars and harmonics that are cut up give this a premature ending, before some chatter indicates a mock intermission part of the record. A bit odd, but an interesting twist to this record, before some beats and textures begin a long fade out.

Next here is Hold On which is another long-ish piece, beginning with some melancholy guitar parts, muffled drum hits and guest Scott Weiland on vocals. It’s from a deep and disturbing place and just doesn’t sound overly happy here. Sure, it is good music for those who enjoy depressing music. However, to many listeners out there, this will seem dreary and disappointing. It also takes a while to get started here, which is not a strong point for this track. Good but definitely not the best song on this album, it seems contradictory to the first half of the album for this to be super depressing. Anyway, it’s okay, but could have been rethought through. The chorus is very good, all the same. This could have been edited down a lot, and this is nearly six minutes of dull, depressing music. It has a long outro with the guitar parts here played nicely, however.

After that is Rollin’ (Urban Assault Vehicle) which begins with a request to “play the fucking track!”. It’s basically a remix of their original track with several guests: Redman; Method Man and DMX. A very odd remix that doesn’t sound as good as the original, it still retains its original structure and catchiness here, which is different. The guest Rap section is really odd, but nonetheless this is different and odd. More a thing for fans of Rap rather than Nu Metal, it has some interesting sounds that sound wacky and different, but many fans will likely wish to skip this. In any case, a different effort that should bring Nu Metal and Rap efforts to different crossover audiences here. Entertaining tune, although not really essential to hear from this album. The rhythm is quite catchy, mind you.

Outro is the longest track here, at well over nine minutes. It is also the last track here. It begins with the alien voice communicating with another alien voice returning (obviously digitally edited). It then launches into the sounds from the intro. Before long, some interesting pieces of beats and sounds, with some recorded dialogue here. It has some studio chatter which is interesting, to say the least. Quite hilarious male talk, but undeniably sexist and immature for some listeners, no doubt. It continues for some time, but is out there. Laughter is looped here for many minutes, no idea why, perhaps pointing to the looped outro on The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Anyway, we then hear a phone being dialed and a call being made and some chatter being made about being in London whilst some weird beats and sounds are played over it. Some further calls are made, and recorded here. Interesting but weird way to end an album.

This is a very good album that falls just short of being really perfect. The first half is pumping, upbeat and energetic, yet on the second half it gradually worsens after listening as it goes into dark and negative territory emotionally. This may throw off some listeners, but aside from that, this is a really thoroughly good and interesting listen, especially for Metalheads out there. Check it out if you are interested.

Full on and no dynamics.

8/10