Limp Bizkit - Significant Other

Limp Bizkit made their reputation through hard work, touring the hell out of their debut album Three Dollar Bill Y'All and thereby elevating themselves to the popularity status of their similarly rap-inflected, alt-metal mentors Korn. With their second album, Significant Other, they come close to reaching Korn's artistic level; at the very least, it's considerably more ambitious and multi-dimensional than Three Dollar Bill. Limp Bizkit, of course, hasn't abandoned their testosterone-overloaded signature sound, they've just built around it. There are flourishes of neo-psychedelia on pummeling metal numbers and there are swirls of strings, even crooning, at the most unexpected background. All of it simply enhances the force of their rap-metal attack, which can get a little tedious if it's unadorned. Not so coincidentally, the enlarged sonic palette also serves as emotional coloring for Fred Durst's lyrics. He broke up with his longtime girlfriend -- his Significant Other, if you will -- during the writing of the album, and his anguish is apparent throughout the record, as almost every song is infused with the guilt, anger, and regret that was churned up in the wake of separation. That, however, gives the impression that this is an alt-metal Blood on the Tracks. It's not. Nevertheless, it does have more emotional weight than Three Dollar Bill, along with more effective, adventurous music. More importantly, it balances these new concerns with trace elements of their juvenile humor along with the overpowering aggro rap-metal that is their stock in trade. Which makes it a rare artistic leap forward that will still please audiences that just want more of the same. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

Name Credits Aaron Lewis Vocals (Background) Brendan O'Brien Mixing Cameron Webb Engineer, Assistant Engineer Dexter Thibou Assistant Engineer DJ Lethal Multi Instruments DJ Premier Producer Eddie Sancho Engineer Eric B. Engineer Eric Hunter Assistant Erin Haley Production Coordination Eve Butler Strings, String Section Fred Durst Vocals, Art Direction, Annotation, Multi Instruments Howie Weinberg Mastering Jesse Gorman Studio Assistant Joel Derouin String Section, Strings John Ewing, Jr. Engineer John Otto Multi Instruments Jordan Schur A&R, Executive Producer Karl Egsieker Mixing Assistant, Assistant Engineer Larry Corbett String Section, Strings Les Claypool Vocals (Background), Voiceover Limp Bizkit Producer Liza Joseph Assistant Markus Ulibarri Assistant Engineer Matt Pinfield Voiceover, Vocals Method Man Vocals Peter Katsis A&R Rakim Engineer Renita Koven String Section, Strings Roger Lian Editing Ryan Williams Mixing Assistant, Assistant Engineer Sam Rivers Multi Instruments Scott Borland Keyboards Suzie Katayama Strings, String Section, String Arrangements Terry Date Producer, Engineer Tom Whalley A&R Wes Borland Multi Instruments