Limp Bizkit - Results May Vary
On September 23, 2003, "Limp Bizkit" released its fourth studio album, "Results May Vary".
Three years earlier, "Limp Bizkit" had seemed unstoppable. "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" had turned the band into an arena-sized force, but cracks were already showing beneath the noise. Now, without the guitarist who had shaped so much of its identity, the band had to prove it could remain itself while finding a new direction.
Wes Borland's departure in 2001 left a considerable gap. His strange riffs, unexpected sounds and theatrical instincts were part of the band's personality. After public auditions, former "Snot" guitarist Mike Smith was recruited to take his place. The sessions went through several incarnations, material was replaced, and Fred Durst took on more responsibility and more artistic decisions. Terry Date was among the album's producers, alongside Durst and DJ Lethal. What emerges is a band searching for its direction as it goes.
"Eat You Alive" tries to pull listeners straight back into the pit. A grinding guitar, a punishing rhythm and a voice that shifts from a whisper to a threat set the tone. The quieter pauses only sharpen the eruptions. Musically, the band can still hit hard, but the obsessive lyrics and the video featuring Thora Birch make it difficult to dismiss the provocation as harmless fun. "Gimme the Mic" and "Head for the Barricade" carry that energy forward, though at times the anger sounds like an attempt to hold on to a moment that has already passed.
"Underneath the Gun" opens up a different space. The guitars breathe, the vocals stretch out, and loneliness finds its way through the gaps left by the noise. In "Almost Over", Durst returns to memories of rejection and ridicule, moving from rap-driven verses toward a more open chorus. Throughout the album, the urge to shout wrestles with the need to say something that a shout cannot conceal.
"Build a Bridge", featuring Brian "Head" Welch of "Korn" on guitar, almost completely sets aside the defiance. Acoustic guitar and a warm melody make it feel like a plea. Not every line lands (we already know that lyrics are one of the band's weaknesses), but the feeling underneath is hard to dismiss. Snoop Dogg joins "Red Light-Green Light" and gives its rhythm a more relaxed groove, while "Lonely World" hovers between a soft beat and a sense of alienation.
With "Behind Blue Eyes", "Limp Bizkit" took a song by "The Who" and traded its rock drama for a more restrained, personal arrangement. The melody carries Durst's voice somewhere the riffs cannot reach, although the Speak & Spell passage in the middle draws attention away from the pain the performance is trying to build.
"Drown" closes the original album sequence in relative quiet, with a weariness that lingers after the outbursts. In that ending, we can hear what lay beneath all the noise. This was more than an attempt to recreate "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water"; it was a document of a band trying to find its footing again.
The album reached No. 3 on the US chart and sold around 325,000 copies in its first week. Those are impressive figures, though far below the peak of its predecessor. Reviews were harsh, and "Results May Vary" remains one of the most divisive albums in "Limp Bizkit"'s catalog. Borland's later return to the band only made his absence here feel more pronounced.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music
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