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''Still Sucks'' is the sixth studio album by American
rap rock Rap rock is a fusion genre that fuses vocal and instrumental elements of hip hop with various forms of rock. Rap rock's most popular subgenres include rap metal and rapcore, which include heavy metal and hardcore punk-oriented influences, resp ...
band
Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...
, released on October 31, 2021, through
Suretone Records Suretone Records is an American record label established in 2006 as a joint venture by Jordan Schur, former CEO of Geffen Records, and Interscope Records, to release alternative rock music. Several high-profile bands such as Weezer, The Cure, Roone ...
. The album's lead single "Dad Vibes" was premiered at the end of a successful performance at Lollapalooza on August 2, 2021, and officially released on September 30, 2021, marking their first brand-new material to be released for seven years.


Background

After the release of '' Gold Cobra'' in 2011 and subsequent touring, Limp Bizkit left their longtime label
Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
in December of the same year owing to creative differences and poor sales of the album. On February 24, Limp Bizkit signed with Cash Money Records, and revealed plans to release a new single, " Ready to Go", a full-length album and a sequel to their 2005 album, ''
The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) ''The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1)'' is an EP by the American band Limp Bizkit, and their fifth major release overall. Released in 2005, it is the first release by the band to feature guitarist Wes Borland since he rejoined the group. He had le ...
''. Cash Money co-founder Birdman said, "If we find some great talent, we're gonna embrace it. Limp Bizkit, to me, is just a perfect match for us… It was something that Fred Durst was interested in doing, and I was already a fan, and I was like, 'Let's do it.' It's good for the brand, it will bring a different look for us, and we're definitely trying to expand on that side of music." However, after a dispute between frontman Fred Durst over his and John Otto's "partying habits" and drug abuse,
DJ Lethal Leor Dimant ( lv, Leors Dimants, russian: Леор Григорьевич Димант, ; born December 18, 1972), better known as DJ Lethal, is a Latvian-American Turntablism, turntablist and producer and is best known as a member of the groups ...
was fired from the band in March 2012. Guitarist
Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the current guitarist and backing vocalist of the rap metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock ...
released a second studio album with his side project
Black Light Burns Black Light Burns is an American industrial rock band fronted by Wes Borland. Founded in 2005 after Borland departed Limp Bizkit, the band's lineup also includes Nick Annis, Dennis Sanders and Dylan Taylor. Their debut album, ''Cruel Melody'', ...
in mid 2012 and toured in support of the album throughout 2012. It was only in December that the band's first offering for Cash Money was seen. A song called "Lightz (City of Angels)" was prematurely leaked via
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. In October 2012, DJ Lethal posted an apology using his
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account and was accepted back by the band, but he was dismissed again and left out of their upcoming 2013 tour of the US, replaced by touring turntablist DJ Skeletor. In December 2015, Durst was rumored to possibly be holding back the release because he was not happy with the recordings. In February 2016, Metal Injection reported that the band was still in the studio recording the new album. Borland provided an album update in June 2021, detailing the struggles with the album: At
Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
in
Chicago, IL (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
in July 2021, the band ended their set with a song called "Dad Vibes," which Durst said is from the upcoming record. As well as this, a hip-hop track called "Turn It Up, Bitch!" according to DJ Lethal, has been used as the outro for shows in Chicago and Wallingford, with it being announced at the latter to be the fourth track from the new album.


Recording and composition

The band started working on the album in 2012, when they signed with Cash Money. The single, "Ready to Go" was produced by hip hop producer
Polow da Don Jamal Fincher Jones (born October 15, 1977, or 1978), professionally known as Polow da Don, is an American record producer and rapper. Jones has produced a variety of singles for a multitude of artists including "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj (2014) ...
. Durst had then told ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' that he was putting the finishing touches on the track in March 2013. In their positive review of the single, Artistdirect wrote, "'Ready to Go' feels like a band reawakened in many ways. At the same time, it's the Bizkit the world knows and loves from '' Significant Other'' and ''
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water ''Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water'' is the third studio album by American nu metal band Limp Bizkit, released on October 17, 2000, by Flip and Interscope Records. Title The first part of the title is a slang term for the hum ...
''". In May 2013, amidst their tour of the United States, Borland told ''Billboard'', "We're really trying to get it hammered out here. We're done with most of the music, pretty much all the music. I've mixed two songs and have a lot more mixing to do. The lyrics and vocals are probably 30 percent done, and Fred is working as we speak, on tour." Describing the album's sound, he said, " t'sa little more pressure-free and a little more fun. I think it's a little bit more sort of playful, taking chances, a little less pop structured type of stuff. I don't want to say it (sounds) younger, but maybe a little more carefree, musically, to where we don't over-think what we're doing. We're leaving mistakes in and going, 'Oh, that sounds great, leave that in.' That's sort of the thinking instead of polishing too much or trying to stay within the parameters of a formula." He also said that producer Ross Robinson (who previously produced the band's debut album and ''The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1)'') has worked on "a little bit" of the album, along with the label's producer Detail, although it was primarily "a do-it-yourself affair." He further explained the album title, saying, " t'sjust from being stupid. I think we saw a disco ball elephant in the window of a shop somewhere. We were like, 'Look, it's a disco elephant. We should call our record ''Stampede of the Disco Elephants''.' It's just a 10-second conversation that snowballed." In an October 2018 BBC interview with
Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fis ...
frontman Oliver Sykes, it was revealed that he and Jordan Fish (the band's keyboardist as well as producer alongside Sykes) originally went to Los Angeles to help write the album with the band the year prior, however work on it would later be abandoned and the duo decided to move their attention towards work for the band's 2019 album ''
Amo Amo or AMO may refer to: Places *Amo, Indiana, United States, a town in Hendricks County * Amo Creek, a river in Alaska *Amu Darya, a river in Central Asia, sometimes referred to as "Amo" *Amo Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota *Kampong Amo, ...
''. According to Sykes, Durst "didn't show up most of the time" and would later say that he felt Durst wasn't ready to record the album yet. One of the riffs written from those sessions is used for the Bring Me the Horizon song Wonderful Life which appears on the ''Amo'' album.


Announcement and delays

The album was first announced in early 2012, with the intention of releasing it by the end of 2012. The album has suffered many delays since its announcement in 2012, and by 2016 it was in
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
. During an interview/talk with the podcast Someone Who Isn't Me that took place in September 2016, guitarist Wes Borland said he was unsure of Fred Durst's ideas for the album, though the original plan was to make music in the spirit of Beastie Boys' studio album, '' Paul's Boutique''. Borland elaborated that Durst had been working on vocals "on and off" for the album but had not been satisfied with the outcome. Whereas Borland would prefer to "do whatever and just put it out" to capture the moment, Durst's method is to "keep working on something till he’s happy with it, even if it takes years and years", and expressed uncertainty of when the album would be released, if ever. Guitarist
Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the current guitarist and backing vocalist of the rap metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock ...
had already completed writing and performing guitars for the record, but stated in late 2017 that frontman Fred Durst was still working on his parts. On July 21, 2017, Durst claimed on
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
that the album had already been available online for a year and a half on
Soulseek Soulseek is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network and application. The term Soulseek might refer to (1) one of the two networks, or (2) one of the three official user client interfaces. Soulseek is used mostly to exchange music, although user ...
and that "it's
he fans' He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
job to find it"., but Borland refuted this saying he “doesn’t know what urstis talking about.” Borland said in October 2017 that he was unaware of the status of the album, simply that he had recorded "28 or 29 songs" that Durst was working on away from the other members, before Borland was to mix the final product. Borland again reiterated the band's progress in November 2018.


Promotion

Borland stated in 2013 that the album would be completed by August, and the band was hoping for a September release date. However, in July 2013, Durst stated on a
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
"Ask Me Anything" event that the record would be released in the first quarter of 2014. The intended first official single for the album, " Ready to Go", featuring
Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...
was released in March 2013, on the band's official website as a free download and, on April 16, as a digital single on
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
and
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
and the music video, directed by Durst, was released on July 22. On August 20, 2013, Limp Bizkit posted on their Facebook page that a second single is to be expected soon. It was soon confirmed to be set for release on November 1, 2013. The second single turned out to be "
Thieves Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
"; a cover of the song by
Ministry Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...
that they performed live at Woodstock in 1999 and throughout many of their live sets since 1997, but hadn't released a studio version until 2013. A month later, on December 11, the previously leaked track, "Lightz" was officially released as a promotional single, along with an accompanying music video. The band labelled it as "gift" for their fans. Via an official Facebook post on May 30, 2014, the next single, " Endless Slaughter" was confirmed. Referring to it as the first "experience" off their upcoming album, the track is set to be released on
cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...
only during concerts, with the band encouraging potential listeners to invest in a "
BOOM BOX A boombox is a transistorized portable music player featuring one or two cassette tape recorder/players and AM/FM radio, generally with a carrying handle. Beginning in the mid 1980s, a CD player was often included. Sound is delivered through ...
for your analogue listening pleasure". The single has since been released as a free download on their website and has since been given its own music video. Limp Bizkit would embark upon a European tour from June 24 to July 4, 2014, followed by 2 dates in the US and finally culminating on November 16 at the second annual
Knotfest Knotfest is a music festival created in 2012 by American heavy metal band Slipknot. The event has been held both as a touring festival and a destination festival in several countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, Germany, Mexico, C ...
in
Makuhari Messe is a Japanese convention center outside Tokyo, located in the Mihama-ku ward of Chiba City, in the northwest corner of Chiba Prefecture. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuhari'' is the name of ...
, Tokyo, where Limp Bizkit would perform along with festival founders Slipknot, longtime friends
Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn, or occasionally KoRn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band is notable for pioneering the nu metal genre and bringing it into the mainstream. Originally formed in 1993 ...
, and other heavy metal acts such as
Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...
, Five Finger Death Punch,
Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but the ...
and
In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During t ...
. On July 6, 2019, the band debuted the new song "Out Of Style" (then tentatively titled "Wasteoid") live in Paris, France. The band played a studio recording of a new song titled "Dad Vibes" at the end of their performance at Lollapalooza on August 2, 2021, with Durst stating that it was "off
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...
new album", and they released it as a single on September 30, 2021, marking their first brand-new material to be released for 7 years. On October 19, 2021, Durst posted a poll to his
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
story, asking his followers if he should release one new song at a time or just release the entire album (12 songs) at once. The result of the poll skewed heavily in favor of the latter choice. On October 24, Fred teased a partial view of a new album cover on his Instagram story and suggested that the album would be released on Halloween, which would ultimately come true. Unlike previous albums, ''Still Sucks'' is only available on digital platforms (
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
,
Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...
, etc.). As of July 2022, no physical releases have been made available for unknown reasons.


Reception


Pre-release

The album received notoriety for its repeated delays, with ''
Team Rock ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form a ...
'' and ''
The New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...
'' dubbing it the "''
Chinese Democracy ''Chinese Democracy'' is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released on November 23, 2008, by Black Frog and Geffen Records. It was the first Guns N' Roses studio album since the 1993 covers album ''"The Spaghet ...
'' of
nu metal Nu metal (sometimes stylized as nü-metal, sometimes called aggro-metal) is a subgenre of that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, alternative rock, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu met ...
".


Critical response

''Still Sucks'' received mostly positive critical reception. ''The PRP'' considered the album to feature "an off the cuff atmosphere and a less is more approach that fits the group’s current status like a glove" and noted that Wes Borland's "eclectic riff wizardry remains as intriguing as ever." Nick Ruskell of
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...
commented "this knowingly middle-aged iteration of Limp Bizkit is far more likeable and less obnoxious than their younger self. But even so, they’ve lost none of their Big Durst Energy, and the knowing winks have only become bigger and knowing-er." Among more critical reviews, ''Wall of Sounds Paul "Browny" Brown stated "''Still Sucks'' showed signs of what
Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American rap rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers. The band's music is marked by D ...
do so well in the heavier side of music, but for me, they fell flat with some of the melodic aspects that they’ve managed to pull off so well in the past."
Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
's Simon K. gave the album a 3.8/5 and commented that the album "detonates right out of the gates with “Out of Style”, “Dirty Rotten Bizkit” and “Dad Vibes”, delivering classic, crunchy, syncopated grooves under Borland's multi-faceted and expressive elasticated riffs, while Durst grips the music with his tight flows," but criticized the album's short run time and that it "doesn’t have the time needed to justify all of those slower tracks..." and the "...arbitrary artistic choices tend to procrastinate and delay what works so frigging well here." ''
Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...
'' named ''Still Stucks'' as the fourth best metal album of 2021, while ranking “Dad Vibes” as the #1 rock song of the year (2021), stating that "…Bizkit did what they’ve always done and delivered an irresistibly catchy, groove-laden banger guaranteed to get you bouncing along." ''
Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...
/ Louder Sound'' placed the album at #4 on their Top 10 Alt-Metal Albums of 2021 list, deeming it "exactly what most fans have been clamoring for, tongue firmly in cheek as they came back with some massive anthems set to bounding, chunky riffs." ''Sputnikmusic'' ranked ''Still Sucks'' as the #15 album of the year, commenting “''Still Sucks'' stands tall as a riotous distillation of everything we love and hate about the Jacksonville 5-piece.”


Track listing


Non-album singles

The following singles were originally intended to be on ''Stampede of the Disco Elephants'', but were not included on the final iteration of ''Still Sucks''. These songs are listed chronologically by their release dates.


Personnel

Limp Bizkit *
DJ Lethal Leor Dimant ( lv, Leors Dimants, russian: Леор Григорьевич Димант, ; born December 18, 1972), better known as DJ Lethal, is a Latvian-American Turntablism, turntablist and producer and is best known as a member of the groups ...
– turntables, samples, programming * Fred Durst – lead vocals * John Otto – drums * Sam Rivers – bass *
Wes Borland Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician. He is best known as the current guitarist and backing vocalist of the rap metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock ...
– guitars Production * Fred Durst – production *
Zakk Cervini Zakk Cervini is an American record producer, vocal producer, songwriter, and mixing engineer. He was born in Monroe, Connecticut on June 2, 1993. Cervini's work includes collaborations with Simple Plan, Limp Bizkit, Blink-182, All Time Low, Mach ...
– production * DJ Lethal – production on "Turn It Up, Bitch" and "Snacky Poo" * Purps – production on "Dad Vibes" * Wes Borland – cover art design,
art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...
, illustration


Charts


References

{{Limp Bizkit 2021 albums Limp Bizkit albums