Limp Bizkit New Old Songs CD

While Limp Bizkit scrambled to find a replacement guitarist for the vacancy left by Wes Borland, mastermind Fred Durst found a way to breathe new life into selected tracks from the band's canon. NEW OLD SONGS reads like a who's who of 2001's hottest DJ's. "Nookie" sounds funkier and possibly more compelling than the original, as manipulated by The Neptunes, while Timbaland puts a fresh spin on "Take a Look Around" with hip-hop help from MC's E-40 and Eightball. Limp Bizkit's own man behind the turntables (DJ Lethal) takes center stage with his cut-up version of "Break Stuff." Xzibit checks in with DJ Premier on "Getcha Groove On," while Durst tries his own hand at remixing with guest vocals by Everlast on "Faith/Fame." NEW OLD SONGS is a great introduction for hip-hop fans that find rap metal a bit hard to swallow, as these well produced remixes simultaneously appease hungry Bizkit fans.

New Old Songs is the remix album from rap-rock superstars Limp Bizkit. The band gets a lot of criticism, some deserved and some not, for their songwriting skills. But as this album proves, they actually have a very solid formula that does not survive remixes well. Limp Bizkit does not accentuate their strong points through these remixes, which results in cute but meaningless shells of the original. The only thing that survives in most of these new mixes is Fred Durst's voice, which is without a doubt the most recognizable element of the group. But that means nothing when the music that puts across his point is taken away and replaced with rap beats. For example, the group's resident turntablist DJ Lethal has three remixes on the album. In each remix, he virtually eliminates all the music in exchange for generic hip-hop beats that make Durst's shaky lyrics sound that much worse. Even in his supposed "Lethal Dose Extreme Guitar Mix" of "Counterfeit," he only keeps a little of the original chugging guitar. Most of these songs could have even survived the remix if the choruses, which are an important part of the Bizkit formula, retained their massive riffing and awesome production. But no, most of these songs are devoid of the "quiet verses/loud chorus" formula that has worked so well for them in the past, rendering Timbaland's mix of "Take a Look Around" and the Neptunes' take on "Nookie" quite limp indeed despite some great production ideas from the producers. And do not even bother with "Rollin" as remixed by DJ Monk and the Track Mack; it sounds like someone took a bad techno song and pasted Durst's vocals over it. There are still a few redeeming songs on the album. For example, Durst and Josh Abraham do a great remix of "Faith" by adding on bits and pieces of David Bowie's "Fame" and a ...