When you review an album, you normally don’t expect to hear a response from said artist, even if it’s a pretty negative review. Yet that’s exactly what happened to Antiquiet after posting a less than favorable review of Limp Bizkit’s Gold Cobra. While you’d think they might be used to unpleasant critiques, guitarist Wes Borland decided to reach out to the reviewer and defend frontman Fred Durst (who received the most flack in the review).
What resulted was an email discussion between Wes Borland and reviewer Johnny Firecloud. You can read the entire exchange online, but you can read Borland’s opening email below:
“First of all, I’ve totally seen where you’re coming from, and I’ve seen it over and over again. I know many people who have a similar attitude towards our band (I was one of them 10 years ago when I quit) and in these weeks leading up to the release of the album, I’ve been promising myself that I wouldn’t succumb to curiosity by reading reviews, and I did. I was told that there were starting to be several great ones, so I read them and they totally got it and hit the nail on the head as far as identifying with our intention. But a few have had a tone similar to yours: the band is OK, but I don’t like FD.
There is no way in Hell that our band would ever have been as successful without Fred as the singer. Period. No matter what effect he has on people in a ‘TMZ Personality’ kind of way, he is an astonishing front man and performer. I’ve never seen anything like it and the feeling I have during our shows can’t be touched by any other experience I’ve ever had. I have talked to folks time and time again who hated us and had all these preconceived notions… after seeing us live they can’t wait to see the show again. We are a ridiculous band. We have fun. We are obnoxious. We provide an escape for ourselves and our fans through what we do and our fans seem to be so happy with this record and so are we. It would be appalling for us to try to come out with some kind of “oh, we’re in our thirties and Fred just turned 40, so let’s make a grown up meaningful record that makes us feel like men” album. We made a record that is 100% not thought out to be anything but other than what it is: a Limp Bizkit record. We went into the studio and did what came naturally to us. I’m pretty sure most of our negative reviews will be from people who always hated the band and are totally disgusted that we came back together to do anything for any reason. I am so proud to be a part of this band. Thanks for your time.”
Borland continues on to discuss the backlash that resulted from “Break Stuff” and Woodstock, the band’s use of aggression, and Durst’s growth as a frontman. Even if you’re a Limp Bizkit basher, Borland’s open discussion with Antiquiet is definitely an interesting read.
If you by chance have a change of heart and are willing to give Bizkit another shot after reading Borland’s comments, you can watch the band’s new video for their new album’s title track over at the band’s website. However, the chances are that after watching it once, you’ll probably remember why you didn’t like Limp Bizkit in the first place. To their credit though, the video does prove that turning 40 hasn’t changed them…for better or worse.
[picture via]
