A couple of weeks ago, Fred Durst and Wes Borland announced that the original five-man lineup of Limp Bizkit (which also includes Sam Rivers, John Otto, and DJ Lethal) were back together and getting ready to launch an overseas tour this spring.
Then, last week Rolling Stone mused on whether or not the rock world was ready for Limp Bizkit’s return.
However, after reading the article and the various opinions of folks in the music biz, I’m instead wondering whether or not Americans are ready for Limp Bizkit’s return.
92.3 KRock’s assistant program director and music director, Danni, pointed out that even though the station and its listeners were all about the nookie back during Limp Bizkit’s prime, audience preferences have changed:
“We played all Limp Bizkit [...] We had huge ratings. It was all about Limp Bizkit. And then there was sort of a shift and people stopped caring and stopped wanting to hear about the angry side of things. Nowadays, with people losing their jobs right and left, I feel like it’s more of a banding together. Even the stuff from the ’90s, like some of the Pearl Jam stuff, that angst-ridden stuff, just doesn’t really work as much… I think there’s more of a positive spin on things with the new president and people trying to be positive about the economy.”
You’d have to live on another planet to not be aware of America’s assortment of problems.
Economic woes, job loss, foreclosures - they’ve all worked together to charge Americans a hefty psychological toll - one that has shown us a booming business for therapists and, sadly, situations like that of Carlene Balderrama. Of course, many Americans are clinging to the hope our new president exudes, but let’s face it - when it comes to Obama’s change, we’re still very much in the growing pains stages.
Are we really in the mood to top all this off with the kind of music Limp Bizkit plays?
That’s not really fair, either; I don’t think we know what exactly Limp Bizkit has in store for us yet. In their statement, Durst and Borland said Limp Bizkit is back because they decided they “were more disgusted and bored with the state of heavy popular music than we were with each other” (awe, I’m sure that gave all the members the warm fuzzies), but that doesn’t necessarily mean we can expect angry, angsty tunes from them, does it?
And, if that is what we get from them, who’s to say it’s not what some Americans want? Tom Beaujour, Revolver’s editor-in-chief, is a bit more optimistic than Danni:
“It’s possible that aggression and escapism are just what the public needs right now [...]“
But, anything that Limp Bizkit produces wouldn’t exactly be the only tunes we have right now for “aggression and escapism,” would it? No. There’s plenty of music out there packed with aggression and offering escapism. Granted, it’s not being played on most of your mainstream radio stations, and during their prime lots of Limp Bizkit stuff was, so…
Limp Bizkit fan or not - what are your thoughts? Have your musical tastes changed with the country’s woes, and have you noticed a change in mainstream music over the past couple of years? Do you think there’s a fan base left for bands that pump out the kind of angsty stuff Limp Bizkit might have in store?
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I don’t think my taste in music has changed since the recession, but I have found myself listening to more soothing music.
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