Today I’d like to continue the story of my musical culture. After Michael Jackson, Radiohead, and Depeche Mode, I made a drastic change to a new genre: nu-metal. And the band was Limp Bizkit!

I have to indirectly thank the film Mission: Impossible 2 because the song used to advertise the movie was their work, “Take a Look Around.” It took the theme from Mission: Impossible and added color with rap verses, distorted guitars, and console effects orchestrated by the excellent DJ Lethal. I already liked rap, so hearing it combined with a metal sound blew my mind.

Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water will forever be a legendary album. There are very few songs on it that I would skip now. Each one has its own distinctive trait, a huge energetic power. They are almost all aggressive, and listening to them in the prime of adolescence was the best thing I could have asked for. “My Generation,” “Take a Look Around,” “Rollin,” “Boiler,” “Livin’ It Up,” “Full Nelson,” and “My Way” are songs I would still listen to today. At that age, they just electrified me. It might be Limp Bizkit’s best album and definitely in the top five nu-metal albums in general.

Some people see it as their most commercial album, but I’ve always seen that word used in a derogatory sense. What’s wrong with making something commercial that sells well? If the songs are great, what’s the problem with being commercial?

After that album, I went back and listened to Limp Bizkit’s previous work. Significant Other is good; it has some powerful songs. Maybe it lacks a signature track that would make you want to buy the album—maybe “Nookie,” but that’s a personal judgment. Still, it’s enjoyable overall, even if the middle section is a bit weak.

Three Dollar Bill, Y’all is complicated. Maybe you can appreciate it better with an altered mindset. The song that stands out the most here is “Counterfeit” (similar in style to “Nookie” and “My Generation” but rougher and more nervous in its execution and sound). The other songs are raw, almost heavy, like the themes they deal with. In that sense, it’s a well-made record because what it conveys is anguish—the same feeling you get when talking about those topics. Listen to “Pollution,” “Sour,” or “Stalemate.” They’re tough! I loved Limp Bizkit, and after many years, I managed to appreciate Three Dollar Bill, Y’all, but it took a lot of time. It’s not love at first listen, if it’s love at all.

Despite all that, for a period I was so smitten with their songs that I even wore a New York Yankees hat, and between us, I hate baseball. But it was more about communicating to the world that you liked that lifestyle—a lifestyle where you play music denouncing what you don’t like or what doesn’t sit right with you in everyday life. They were the representatives, they dressed that way, and naturally, you try to emulate them just to show others that you think like them. Is that a stupid thing to do? I don’t think so. Anyone who follows a belief, whether religious, social, or political, will tend to dress in a way that makes them immediately recognizable. So, how can you call a 16-year-old stupid for identifying with a band that makes properly angry and aggressive music?

I remember I had a really hard time finding the red hat because at the time, online purchases were forbidden for me, and stores in Rome that sold American sports merchandise were few. I even went to Wasp Yankee Shadow on Viale Jonio, I think, and I couldn’t even find it there. A couple of years after buying the blue hat (the one used in the “Nookie” video), I finally managed to find the red one. They were expensive, too, at least 50–60 euros, if I remember correctly. Anyway, that’s a past story.

From them, I then discovered Linkin Park, Slipknot, Lost Prophets, Papa Roach, P.O.D., and so on. The situation then took another turn with System of a Down, and it was a continuous passing of the torch from one group to another.

In my opinion, Limp Bizkit exploded and died with Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavoured Water. They never returned to those levels, despite the reunion with the guitarist Wes Borland, but it doesn’t matter much. They have already earned their place in rock history.

“Every Night” will be released on Friday 29th of August. It’s a song based on a DC hero also known by the Maasai in Africa. I hope you like it!

A hug