the gang needs some stuff to break …
Limp Bizkit has a new single out … let the games begin!
http://youtu.be/5xKyurEkvUU
Brent Johnson: So where does the new Limp Bizkit song go wrong? Is it when Fred Durst opens the track by telling the audience to penetrate themselves? Or is it a few seconds later when he shouts the band name in case you mistakenly forgot you were listening to a Limp Bizkit tune and needed one last chance to re-think that decision? Or is it when he calls himself “Freddy D”? Or is it when he crudely references the claim that he slept with Britney Spears back in the days when you still had a flip phone? Or is it right there in the title, where the words “Featuring Lil Wayne” are written? Verdict: One and Done.
Nick Porcaro: Six minutes? What is this, Limp Bizkit Presents The 40/40 Experience? But seriously, that snooze-worthy outro has no business on an otherwise amped-up track. As for the song itself … honestly, I was expecting worse. Fred’s boasts are embarrassing, sure, but wasn’t that always the case? Lil’ Wayne phones it in, sure, but he hasn’t sounded relevant since 2009. The only real surprise here is how shockingly quiet Wes Borland’s guitar track is in the mix. But that’s the cost of half-assed attempts at radio play, I suppose. Truth be told this would groove pretty hard with a better mix and, you know, without Fred Durst. Verdict: One and Done.
Lauren Stern: THIS is what Twitter was going gaga over today? THIS GARBAGE? I can’t believe it.
This song left me nothing but confused. Why did Fred Durst need to come out of the hole he was hiding in for so long? I mean what possessed him to just say “Hey I’m going to put on my red Yankees baseball cap and rap again”? The music industry is already in a sad state, did he really think reviving Limp Bizkit from the dead would make that better?
Look, I was never a gigantic fan of Limp Bizkit to begin with (I kind of liked Fred Durst as a “personality” though, meaning whenever he was on TRL with Carson Daly back in the day) but this song just makes me feel sad. In fact, I actually cried while listening to it because I thought of all the unfortunate souls who listened to this today and tweeted about it. Those poor ears … my poor ears!
Time is very precious, and trust me, these 6 minutes aren’t worth it. Go listen to Justin Timberlake’s new record instead. You’ll be happy you did. Verdict: One and Done
Kelly Gonsalves: Limp Bizkit is definitely not my cup of tea, but not having a taste for a particular genre should not immediately classify all songs under that genre as “bad music.” That being said, even if I were looking at it as somebody at least moderately likely to listen to heavy metal-rap, the word “embarrassing failure” just doesn’t cut it when it comes to describing Limp’s new single “Ready to Go.”
To clarify, the song met all expectations: angry Fred laying down some angry rap about gettin’ dem bitties, angry but admittedly exhilarating rage guitar rifts screaming between chorus lines, and angry drums clonking around in the background akin to a child banging on a series of pots and pans. The surprise Lil’ Wayne appearance to rap a bit about pretty much nothing was kinda nifty, I guess. Could’ve been angrier, but I’m not complaining. But something about this track, particularly its theme of Limp making some kind of comeback in a world dominated by pop and Fred calling himself a “mother-fuckin’ rock god,” kind of makes the whole song sound like a parody of itself.
Trying to resurrect a dying genre is tricky business – Fall Out Boy hit the head on the nail with their “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark,” which references the band’s past fame as dead skin being shedded in light of a new beginning — but “Ready to Go” is an embarrassing mess, trying eagerly to highlight past success as a reason for renewed popularity. It all just feels very strained and awkward. While FOB’s comeback single made me feel nostalgic and even vaguely proud to have once been an FOB fan, I gotta say I’m feeling pretty bad for any past Limp Bizkit fans right about now. Verdict: One and Done.
Jason Stives: Is there anything more outdated in 2013 than nu metal? Korn gets a pass because their sound meshed well with the influx of dubstep but Limp Bizkit’s relevancy today falls exactly in the same place as wearing a red baseball cap backwards, which is, they aren’t relevant. Now admittedly, I profess to once owning their 1999 sophomore juggernaut, Significant Other because, well, I was 12 and who didn’t have “Nookie” and “N 2 Gether Now” on at least three mix CDs, but that time has come and gone. Despite several attempts to restart their career in the last six years nothing has done them a world of good and this new single won’t do much different. Sure, they have Lil’ Wayne featured on it but it’s a largely formulaic effort; a cavalcade of noises clamoring for attention and Fred Durst gets out staged by Wayne’s verses by a mile (I’m not the biggest Lil’ Wayne fan but I know a turd when I hear one). I understand a band will always inherently be attached to the sound that defined them but, seriously, who thinks passing the same garbage around will turn it into gold? Bottom-line: I need a new Limp Bizkit single as much as I need a deviated septum. Verdict: One and Done
Joe Zorzi: If someone came up to me and was like “Yo, Joe. What’s the worst song?” I would definitely go with this one. I’m not saying this is the worst song ever made in the history of music. But right at that exact moment, I know there would be no other song that could compare to this one. It’s just that bad right now.
I’m usually very fair when it comes to music. I like to give artists respect just for creating the music they choose to create (I own a physical copy of Justin Bieber’s Believe for God’s sake). But, this song just upset me. It tried so hard. It tried too hard. Fred Durst has brought to the table some of the worst puns I’ve heard in hip-hop all just in this one song. The lyrics aren’t even enjoyable in a 2 Chainz “I’m a bad rapper, but lol” kind of way. And Lil Wayne does nothing to help the situation.
Overall, I didn’t mind the last minute and a half. Verdict: Please, don’t add to playlist.
Jason Kundrath: With a strained “Go Fuck Yourself!” Fred Durst announces his return to the game, and in three words sums up the respect he feels towards his audience. Mr. Durst, the feeling is mutual. What follows on comeback single “Ready to Go” is an agonizing six minutes of mindless aggression, brazen sexism, and a host of vulgarities fit for the middle school cafeteria. The fact that he sold “40 million records” – as he rightly boasts – is sad but true. But his claim that he is “still the man” is laughable. Lil’ Wayne’s appearance on the track only serves to further drag this pathetic mess into the mud. “Fuck the world / Bust a nut!” All in all, it’s a sad reminder of the ugliness and ignorance that exists in our culture. A world where shit like this catches on is a world that terrifies me.
A steaming pile of shit. (one and done)
Bill Bodkin: Okay, confession time. I was a big Limp Bizkit fan back in the day. Yup, I owned Three Dollar Bill Y’all and Significant Other and my first professionally published music review was of Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. So yeah, me and Freddie D go way back. And I’ll own my non-ironic love for this band when I was in high school.
And while my Singles Party compatriots have deemed this song the second coming of the Anti-Christ, I say this — I’ve heard worse and I’ve heard worse from this band. “Ready to Go” is by no stretch of the imagination a good song, but let’s not forget, this is LIMP BIZKIT. This isn’t a band we’re expecting the next White Album from, they don’t write for the culturally enlightened and so, when you look at it that way, “Ready to Go” is exactly what you were expecting — big, dumb, loud, at times annoying, at times decent and overall a big ol’ ‘whatevs.’
Is it worth an add to the playlist? Well, if you need a good song to lift weights to or destroy your frat house too, then yes. If you enjoy good music, particularly quality metal or hard rock (and yes, it exists), then you know what to do. Verdict: One and Done.
Final Verdict: Yeah, if you could figure this one out, you might be an extra in The Walking Dead. We’re telling you stay away, far away from this tune.
