Bring it on�
With Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, the limp Bizkit five-man assault crew bring it on like it never has before. With over 13 tracks - including one that's so phat it had to be presented in two different versions in order to fit everything in - the quintet from Jacksonville, Fl that's spent the past four years turning the rock world on it's head and spinning it round and round is back with its third album, a set of songs that's deeper, denser and harder hitting than anything that's preceded it.

"It's kind of a combination," explains Wes Borland, the guitarist of many faces. "It's a third level as a combination of Significant Other and Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$, kind of the heaviness of Three Dollar Bill but more mature and focused in a better way."

Adds drummer John Otto; "it's us with different edges."

On Chocolate Starfish, those edges are the product of growth, maturity and the confidence that becomes from being one of the world's most distinctive, popular and, when necessary, controversial bands. "People are afraid of this band," says Borland, who makes that observation with a certain degree of pride. After all a hint of danger has always been one of the vanguards of rock 'n' roll.

Limp Bizkit formed six years ago in Jacksonville, an assemblage of visionaries brought together by front man Fred Durst, a former Navy plebe turned tattoo artist who'd been writing raps since he was 14. The collision of sensibilities between Durst, Otto, Borland, bassist Sam Rivers and Hose of Pain's DJ Lethal formed a synthesis that was entirely of its time, a sonic barrage of crunchy power chords, phat grooves and psycho-delic loops that was without precedent - at least all under the same roof.

The 1997 debut Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ ushered Limp Bizkit into the platinum house, thanks to an irreverent hit remake of George Michaels's "Faith" and an attention-getting spot on the 1998 OZZfest bill, with its famous giant toilet stage prop. But Limp Bizkit really ascended to the throne with 1999s Significant Other, a ranting, raging masterpiece that dubuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200, selling 634,874 copies during its first week of release and went on to sell more than six million copies.

As Durst notes on the new album, Limp Bizkit "crawled up your butt somehow/and that's when things got turned around," and what followed was a torrent of activity and accolades that left scorched earth and happily spent mosh pits. With the hits - "Nookie," "Rearranged," "Break Stuff" - as a soundtrack, played at the WHFStival in Washington, D.C., and at Woodstock '99 in Rome, N.Y., and it headlined the 1999 Family Values tour. Durst was named a Senior Vice-President at Interscope and started his own label, Flawless; he also signed on to direct the films "Nature's Cure" and "Runt." River, meanwhile was named the Best Rock Bass Player at the 2000 Orville H. Gibson Guitar Awards.

And as it set out to start work on what would become Chocolate St*rfish, Limp Bizkit was also tapped to record the theme song for Mission Impossible 2, scoring a summer hit with "Take a Look Around" - which is also featured on the new album.

The key words for Chocolate St*rfish were bigger, badder, harder, heavier, phatter, funkier�you get the idea. "There's a lot of really good melody, and everything about every part is pretty catchy, " says Otto. "It's new and really melodic. There's kinds of different hooks going on within the music. You could listen to the music by itself, really, but once the vocals get over and Lee does all his DJ stuff, it takes it up to that enormous, killer level."

But even with its new layers and textures, Chocolate St*rfish is unquestionably Limp Bizkit. Produced mostly by the band and Terry Date - with additional production by Stone Temple Pilot front man Scott Weiland, Josh Abraham and Swiss Beatz - the album blasts forth with us-against-the-world fury over the molten riffery of "Hot Dog," "My Generation," "Boiler" and the call-response grapple of "Full Nelson." The two versions of "Rollin'" - designated as "(Air Raid Vehicle)" and "(Urban Assault Vehicle)" - bounce along while Durst trades vocal licks with Method Man, Redman and DMX, while Weiland shows up to add new flavors to the moody, melodic "Hold On." "The One" subtly builds along Rivers' sinewy bass groove, while "Getcha Groove On," which features guest raps by Xzibit (who will be part of Limp Bizkit's fall "Anger Management" tour), rides down a horror movie keyboard line.

Actors Ben Stiller and Mark Wahlberg wind up in the Hot Dog Flavored Water too, as does a bit of the Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane" and some unabashedly bald call-outs to some of Limp Bizkit most vocal critics - including a couple of less than-loving multi-platinum peers. After all, Limp Bizkit knows how to win friends; it doesn't need to worry about its enemies.

"If you hated us before, you'll probably hate us now, "Borland says with a laugh. "If you liked us before, I think you'll like the new record. There's nothing new that's going to win anybody over that didn't like us. It's just us - hopefully a little better."

Flip/Interscope Records Press Release

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