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 decent rap by
Everlast. Also,
DJ Premier's mix of "My Way" is quite impressive, keeping it much like the original except for some great scratching and samples. The best remix might be
Butch Vig's version of "Nookie," which sounds more like
Fatboy Slim with its thick beat and dirty keyboards. But three good tracks do not make an album, and this is a huge disappointment from a band that should know better. Fans of the band might enjoy this, but most other listeners will probably find this silly and needless. ~ Bradley Torreano