Nirvana had an album called Nevermind back in the 90's, which started the music of such a spectacular decade. Eminem had an album in the year 2000 known as The Marshall Mathers LP, which became the sound of the beginning of the new millenium. However, an album had to end the music of the previous decade before some brand new music could take effect. Before Nevermind had its claim to fame, the 80's got killed by The Real Thing from one hit wonders Faith No More. And ten years later, back when Eminem was labelled as a one hit wonder by The Slim Shady LP, Limp Bizkit brutally murdered the 90's with Significant Other. That was the significance behind Significant Other, the album which made a backwards red baseball cap a fashion statement, thanks to the very idiotic Fred Durst. Many people have hated Limp Bizkit for their follow-up album Chocolate St*rfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water and Results May Vary was a pretty decent listen, but Significant Other was the underrated gem behind one of the best alternative bands way back in the 90's.
The band line-up are:
Fred Durst: Vocalist/Poser
Wes Borland: Drop D Guitarist
Sam Rivers: Unimportant Bassist Guy
John Otto: Dumb Drummer
DJ Lethal: What Do You Think He Does?
Tracklisting:
01. Intro
A beat from DJ Lethal comes on and a very low voice introduces the album by saying "You want the worst... you got the worst... the one... the only... Limp Bizkit". That's pretty much all he says, but it's a funny way to introduce an album from a band that got worse later on in their career.
02. Just Like This
After the intro comes a good opening song. The drums start the track and mash in well with the guitar while Fred Durst makes some rhymes on what happens when Limp Bizkit perform live, especially all the riots and the girls getting naked. After some verses and the chorus, DJ Lethal says with his turntables "Limp Bizkit's in the house, y'all", followed by "Hey John, bring that beat back". The pattern of the song then goes back to its original form and the guitar ends the track. Just what the beginning of the album needed.
03. Nookie
Ah, the biggest hit Limp Bizkit ever had. Sam Rivers gets the song going with a smooth bass flow and John's drums and Wes' guitar follow in shortly. Fred does some crazy raps in the verses about a relationship that's about being dependent on the girl, saying lines like "Should I be really bad? (No) Should I be really good? (No) It's kinda sad that I'm the laughin' stock of the neighbourhood". The funny thing is that eventually Fred Durst became the laughing stock of the music industry. Anyway, my favourite parts of the song are the hard-hitting, but funny chorus in which Fred explains that the relationship was all for the sex ("I did it all for the nookie (C'mon), the nookie (C'mon), so you can take that cookie and stick it up your... Yeah! Stick it up your... Yeah! Stick it up your... Yeah! Stick it up your...") and the bridge, in which all of the instrumentation goes slow, but builds up and eventually goes back to the normal pace of the song, where the chorus gets done one last time. Lethal scratches in some laughter and the track ends by the bass and drums fading out.
04. Break Stuff
You can easily tell what this song is all about... breaking stuff. In fact, after "Nookie" comes a hidden track in which Limp Bizkit break a bunch of glass objects. When the song comes on, Wes Borland's guitar draws you into the aggression of the song and Fred Durst swears in most of the two minutes and forty-six seconds that make up the track. The drumming is decent here and I like "Break Stuff" because it does a good job at making fun of nu-metal and shows that even slashing someone's ass off with a chainsaw can be a powerful message ("I'm packed with a chainsaw, I'll skin your ass raw and if my day keeps going this way I just might break your f**king face tonight".).
05. Re-Arranged
This stands out as my favourite song on Significant Other. The guitar plays a short riff, Fred says "Just think about it.", and DJ Lethal scratches the last three words of the aforementioned sentence. Fred actually sings instead of raps (which is a good change for the album) and every part of the song has a trippy Pink Floyd feel to it. We know Fred Durst isn't the next Roger Waters, but at least he provides some good lyrics in the bridge ("You make believe that nothing is wrong until you're cryin' (Cryin'), cryin' on me and you make believe that life is so long until you're dyin' (Dyin'), dyin' on me".). The guitars and drums suddenly get louder than before and Fred says "You think that everybody's the same. I don't think that anybody's like you". Then, the beginning part gets done again and just when you think the song's over, DJ Lethal brings in the best scratches you will come across on the album. A good song clocking in at 5:54.
06. I'm Broke
The guitar starts the song off yet again and Fred gets back to rapping. This time, it's about a guy who won't give him back his money. The chorus only consists of three words ("Me, I'm broke".) and is sung similar to the chorus of "Re-Arranged", but a little faster. The rhymes in the bridge are typical of Fred to write and this is a decent song. Afterwards though is a hidden track in which Fred Durst shows off a few messages on his answering machine. After the words "Next message" comes...
07. Nobody Like You
This is a collaboration with Jonathan Davis of KoRn and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver fame. The instrumentaion is soft in the verses and Fred Durst and Jonathan Davis sing in low volume. Some people might not like this track because of Jonathan's singing, but I think his voice has a perfect atmosphere in the second verse. Then, the drums and guitar get hard once the chorus is reached and Scott Weiland sings after Fred. The collaboration ends with Scott doing some more vocals than before and this is an album cut I recommend.
08. Don't Go Off Wondering
The music here becomes as trippy as "Re-Arranged", but is more relaxing than before. Fred doesn't do much lyrically however, because he's just doing a combination of singing and rapping about getting revenge for being humiliated, something that Fred Durst did later on the Summer Sanitarium tour in 2003 that made people wait nine hours for Metallica. However, this track is another average and I don't skip it because of the mood it brings.
09. 9 Teen 90 Nine
A pretty outdated song about the so-called apocalypse, but you can tell that this was a great song for people to mosh to back in that year. Wes Borland's guitar brings in some nice effects and Fred raps better than before. My favourite parts though are the bridge in which Fred sings "All we need is a place to escape from today" and the ending part, complete with heavy instrumentaion and some very catchy rhymes. Then, a hidden track comes on showing Fred Durst's mother trying to sing that song to him about the billy goat that ate the shirts.
10. N2gether Now
Definitely the best collaboration Limp Bizkit has ever made. Special guest DJ Premier provides an amazing beat here. Even though Method Man is busting rhymes with Fred Durst on this track, it's a good example of how two wrongs can make a right. With lyrics like "Who can be the boss? Who can get across stranded in the land of the lost? I'm standing up sideways, blazing up the path, running through the highways of rap.", how can you go wrong? The only flaw of the song is the irony that's brought up by saying the word "peace" after saying the phrase "Shut the f**k up" twenty-two times. Other than that, DJ Premier does a good job with the turntables at the end of the song and it's worth checking out. Afterwards comes a hidden track with a slower beat in which Fred sings "Everyday is better than the next day, at least that's what you think", leading right into...
11. Trust?
Fred begins the track by saying "Backstabber", "Two-face", and "Low life". The drumming is decent and the guitar has the extreme heaviness that I was looking for, but this is the worst point on the album lyrically. I like Fred Durst shouting on every bit of the song but he just seems like a total idiot here ("I'm too f**king good and f**king proud. I'm gonna show you how that it hurts to be a clown".). However, another hidden track appears. This time, it's DJ Lethal bringing in an amazing turntable session.
12. No Sex
Wes' guitar plays smoothly and then Fred Durst sings something you would never expect him to sing about... a relationship in which he doesn't want to have sex ("Sex has become all I've known about you, memories of those filthy things that we do. There's not one single thought that is left after sex with you".). The best areas of the song though are the humourous chorus of "Should've left my pants on this time, but instead you had to let me dive right in." and the slow bridge. Another fantastic album cut, but this should've been a hit with how radio-friendly it is.
13. Show Me What You Got
On Limp Bizkit's first album (Three Dollar Bill, Y'All$), there was a song called "Indigo Flow" in which Fred gave props to his people in Jacksonville. "Show Me What You Got" is basically a sequel to the aforementioned song, thanking everyone else in the music industry for their support with the making of Significant Other. Fred Durst provides some funny lyrics throughout like "I got lost in Boston looking for The Tea Party". I also enjoy the guitar in the chorus and even though this isn't a good song compared to "Indigo Flow", it's still something enjoyable.
14. A Lesson Learned
A short song only six seconds shorter than "Break Stuff". The instrumentation is as trippy as possible and once you get to this track, Fred explains the moral of the album, that fortune and fame are disguised as your friends. Other than that, the song doesn't have much of an impact as the other songs on Significant Other, yet it's a nice way to close it off.
15. Outro
The intro gets repeated here, but afterwards the low voice tells more, saying stupid things like that Limp Bizkit has balls of steel. The track ends by fading out while the voice says "You ate sh*t" over and over again, but I'm glad that's not how the album really ends.
16. (The Significant Other Hidden Track)
Unfortunately, the outro has to be played in order to reach the secret track or else you will get just four seconds of silence out of it. A bald guy talks about how bad the 90's has become with all the boy bands and female pop stars out there and tells the guys of Limp Bizkit that they need to put an end to this music, which they had some success at doing. Then, Les Claypool, the vocalist/bassist of Primus says "HIT ME... firecracker!", DJ Lethal brings in a catchy beat, and Les states how you wasted your money buying Significant Other, explaining that you thought it was a Celine Dion record for some strange reason. Finally, Les Claypool raps the first verse and the chorus of "Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious" to Lethal's beat and says good-bye, leaving the beat alone to fade out.
Track By Track Rating:
01. Intro [N/A]
02. Just Like This [4]
03. Nookie [5]
04. Break Stuff [5]
05. Re-Arranged [5]
06. I'm Broke [3]
07. Nobody Like You [4]
08. Don't Go Off Wondering [3.5]
09. 9 Teen 90 Nine [4]
10. N2gether Now [5]
11. Trust? [3]
12. No Sex [4.5]
13. Show Me What You Got [3.5]
14. A Lesson Learned [3]
15. Outro [N/A]
16. (The Significant Other Hidden Track) [4]
Content Rating: Parental Advisory: Explicit Content
