History Music / ResultsMayVary

While it sold well enough to go platinum, critics did not appreciate its wildly disparate musical styles, from aggressive nu metal to straight hip-hop to [[LighterAndSofter "sensitive"]] {{alternative rock}} (including a cover of Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes" with a Speak n' Spell sample), and lambasted the inconsistency as the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'' -- at best a mess and at worst unfinished. Many fans were also not interested in the new creative direction, and non-fans held it up as all of the band's worst traits on full display. It currently holds the second-lowest album score of all time on Metacritic, above only Kevin Federline's ''Playing with Fire''.

While it sold well enough to go platinum, critics did not appreciate its wildly disparate musical styles, from aggressive nu metal to straight hip-hop to [[LighterAndSofter "sensitive"]] {{alternative rock}} (including a cover of Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes" with a Speak n' Spell sample), and lambasted the inconsistency as the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'' -- at best a mess and at worst unfinished. Fans were also not interested in the new creative direction, and non-fans held it up as all of the band's worst traits on full display. It currently holds the second-lowest album score of all time on Metacritic, above only Kevin Federline's ''Playing with Fire''.

At the {{turn of the millennium}}, Limp Bizkit were the poster boys for nu metal, having amassed a big following in the late '90s with ''Music/ThreeDollarBillYall'' and ''Music/SignificantOther'' before blowing up in 2000 with their third album, ''Music/ChocolateStarfishAndTheHotDogFlavoredWater''. Despite mixed critical reception and a growing {{hype backlash}} for their crass, abrasive style, the band continued to ride high on the wave of their success, becoming one of the most (in)famous music acts of the era.

While it sold well enough to go platinum, critics did not appreciate its wildly disparate musical styles, from aggressive nu metal to straight hip-hop to [[LighterAndSofter "sensitive"]] {{alternative rock}} (including a cover of Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes" with a Speak n' Spell sample), and lambasted the inconsistency as the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'' -- at best a mess and at worst unfinished. Fans were also not interested in the new creative direction, and non-fans held it up as all of the band's worst traits on full display. It currently holds the second-lowest album score on Metacritic, above only Kevin Federline's ''Playing with Fire''.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[NeverLiveItDown That's one way of putting it]].]]

At the {{turn of the millennium}}, Music/LimpBizkit were the poster-boys for the NuMetal genre, having amassed a reasonably big following in the late 90s with ''Music/ThreeDollarBillYall'' and ''Music/SignificantOther'' before blowing up in 2000 with their third album ''Music/ChocolateStarfishAndTheHotDogFlavoredWater''. Despite mixed critical reception and a growing {{hype backlash}} for their crass, abrasive style, the band continued to ride high on the wave of their success, becoming one of the most (in)famous music acts of the era.

Then, amidst ever-growing hype for their fourth album, the band split acrimoniously from their guitarist and most popular member Wes Borland, and everything went wrong.

What followed was a three-year TroubledProduction as the band struggled to find its footing through a rotating cast of guitarists, failed {{genre shift}}s, abandoned ideas for a {{concept album}} and entire records worth of {{cut song}}s. In the end, they cobbled together the best of what remained into 2003's ''Results May Vary''. The results were dire.

While it sold well enough to go platinum, critics did not appreciate wildly disparate musical styles, from aggressive nu metal to straight hip-hop to [[LighterAndSofter "sensitive"]] {{alternative rock}} (including a brooding cover of Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes" with an inexplicable Speak n' Spell sample), and lambasted the inconsistency as the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'': at best a mess and at worst unfinished. Fans were also not interested in the new creative direction, and non-fans held it up as all of the band's worst traits on full display. It currently holds the second lowest album score on Metacritic, above only Kevin Federline's ''Playing with Fire''.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: All over the map. Most of the songs, which are closer to alt. rock than the band's typical nu metal, are at a 5-6 range, while the more traditional metal songs like "Head for the Barricade" and "Gimme the Mic" are a solid 8. "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Drown," the band's softest songs at the time, are all the way down at 1.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: All over the map. Most of the songs, which are closer to alt. rock than the band's typical nu metal, are at a 5-6 range, while the more traditional metal songs like "Head for the Barricade" and "Gimme the Mic" are a solid 8. "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Drown," the bands softest songs at the time, are all the way down at 1.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: All over the map. Most of the songs, which are closer to alt. rock than the band's typical nu metal, are at a 5-6 range, while the more traditional metal songs like "Head for the Barricade" and "Gimmie the Mic" are a solid 8. "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Drown," the bands softest songs at the time, are all the way down at 1.

At the TurnOfTheMillennium, Music/LimpBizkit were the poster-boys for the NuMetal genre, having amassed a reasonably big following in the late 90s with ''Music/ThreeDollarBillYall'' and ''Music/SignificantOther'' before blowing up in 2000 with their third album ''Music/ChocolateStarfishAndTheHotDogFlavoredWater''. Despite mixed critical reception and a growing {{hype backlash}} for their crass, abrasive style, the band continued to ride high on the wave of their success, becoming one of the most (in)famous music acts of the era.

Then, amidst ever-growing hype for their forth album, the band split acrimoniously from their guitarist and most popular member Wes Borland, and everything went wrong.

What followed was a three year TroubledProduction of the band's fourth album as they struggled to find it's footing through a rotating cast of guitarists, failed {{genre shift}}s, abandoned ideas for a {{concept album}} and entire records worth of {{cut song}}s. In the end, they cobbled together the best of what remained into 2003's ''Results May Vary''. The results were dire.

While it sold well enough to go platinum, critics did not appreciate wildly disparate musical styles, from aggressive nu metal to straight hip-hop to [[LighterAndSofter "sensitive"]] {{alternative rock}} (including a brooding cover of Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes" with an inexplicable Speek n' Spell sample), and lambasted the inconsistency as the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'': at best a mess and at worst unfinished. Fans were also not interested in the new creative direction and non-fans held it up as all of the band's worst traits on full display. It's currently the second lowest score on Metacritic, above only Kevin Federline's ''Playing with Fire''.

Despite it's unpopularity, tracks like "Eat You Alive" and the afore-mentioned Who cover remain popular among fans of the band.

At the TurnOfTheMillennium, Music/LimpBizkit were the poster-boys for the NuMetal genre, having amassed a reasonably big following in the late 90s with ''Music/ThreeDollarBillYall'' and ''Music/SignificantOther'' before blowing up in 2000 with their third album ''Music/ChocolateStarfishAndTheHotDogFlavoredWater''. Despite mixed critical reception and a growing {{hype backlash}} for their crass, abrasive style, the band continued to ride high on the wave of their success, becoming one of the most {in)famous music acts of the era.

Then, amidst ever-growing hype for their forth album, the band split acrimoniously from their guitarist and most popular member Wes Borland. Three years of rotating guitarists, internal struggles and radical shifts in creative vision later, the band cobbled together what they could make out of the album's TroubledProduction into 2003's ''Results May Vary''. Suffice to say, it was not the follow-up people were hoping for.

The album that fans [[CanonDiscontinuity don't like to talk about]] and haters [[NeverLiveItDown won't stop picking on them for]].

[[caption-width-right:300:That's [[TheScrappy a huge understatement]].]]

Whew. ''[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Let's start from the beginning]].''

Music/LimpBizkit were the poster-boys for NuMetal and riding high on their wave of success. They had a couple of albums which were popular with critics and fans, ''Music/ThreeDollarBillYall'' and ''Music/SignificantOther''. Then they released ''Music/ChocolateStarfishAndTheHotDogFlavoredWater'', which was subject to mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. OK, not a problem, since it did have some strong material amidst the stuff fans didn't like. They still have time to make up for their missteps with their next album.

What could possibly go wrong? How about Wes Borland, the band's most popular member, quitting Limp Bizkit? Uh-oh.

Without a guitar player, the band jammed on their own, bringing in session guitar players and writing new songs until the position could be permanently filled. Fred Durst himself had learned how to play guitar by this point, so he played guitar on a few tracks for the band's upcoming fourth album.

[[WhatCouldHaveBeen At one point]], Creator/TimBurton was going to help Fred develop the artwork, when it was going to be a ConceptAlbum called ''The Search for Teddy Swoes''.

Music/{{Korn}}'s Brian "Head" Welch joined Limp Bizkit in the studio for a few songs. As did Music/{{Helmet}}'s Page Hamilton and Music/{{Weezer}}'s Rivers Cuomo.

[[Music/{{Evanescence}} Terry Balsamo]], who had been the band's guitarist in 1995, briefly rejoined the band, and recorded some songs before quitting.

Finally, [[Music/{{Snot}} Mike Smith]] joined the band. The album's direction shifted again. It was now going to be an aggressive, heavy, raw NuMetal album called ''Bipolar''.

Al Jourgensen of Music/{{Ministry}} was hired to produce three songs, including the single "Crack Addict", all of which were left off the album. During the recording, Jourgensen decided to troll Durst by convincing Fred to strip naked and wear a cowboy hat while singing.

During the recording sessions Durst was hired to work with Music/BritneySpears, and became infatuated with her, inspiring the lyrics of "Eat You Alive", one of the band's most popular songs. However, either she didn't return his affections, based on her side of the story, or, according to his side, they began dating, but she broke his heart. Whatever the case, Durst wrote "[[BreakUpSong Just Drop Dead]]", in the aftermath, as a TakeThat to Spears.

Eventually, Mike Smith's relationship with the band deteriorated, and he quit. An album's worth of material with Mike was scrapped, and they began working on an introspective AlternativeRock album called ''Panty Sniffer''.

They recorded a CoverVersion of Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes". Fred heard DJ Lethal messing around with a Speak-N-Spell, and for whatever reason, had him use it in the song's bridge, spelling out the word "limp", to [[{{Narm}} generally confused response]] from fans and critics, though the cover is generally considered one of the band's best performances.

Ultimately, with production on the album lasting a year and the new album beginning to look like the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'', it was decided to take all the various, ''wildly inconsistent'' in terms of style, songwriting approach and quality, sessions for the unfinished album and try to assemble ''something'', '''''anything''''', out of it.

The name of the album was changed to ''Less Is More'', then to ''Fetus More'', then ''Surrender'', and finally to ''Results May Vary'', and the final album was unleashed upon the world.

Despite being a commercial hit at the time, it received extremely negative reviews. It is the second lowest score on Metacritic, above only Kevin Federline's album ''Playing with Fire''. Among Limp Bizkit fans, it is generally considered TheScrappy of their catalog.

#"Behind Blue Eyes" (Music/TheWho cover) (5:58)

* GriefSong: The biggest complaint about this album is that it has too many of these. Kitty Empire of The Guardian wrote:
--> "Limp Bizkit have decided to expose their tender side. They really shouldn't have bothered [...] having seen Limp Bizkit's 'other side', you want the old, unapologetic, meathead version back"
* LighterAndSofter
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Mostly at the 5-6 range, as it stems from the trope above. However, the hardest songs like "Head for the Barricade" and "Gimmie the Mic" hit up to solid 8, like it was in earlier material, and the softest ("Behind Blue Eyes", "Drown") drops down to 1 again.
* NewSoundAlbum: Critics ''hated'' the NewSoundAlbum attempt here, and fans mostly found it average (though it did manage to go platinum despite the negative reviews) which started off with their usual sound then detoured into a bunch of other things, mostly AlternativeRock and {{ballad}}s.

[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/31rqf6sctwl.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:299:That's [[TheScrappy a huge understatement]].]]

!Track listing:

#"Re-Entry" 2:37
#"Eat You Alive" 3:57
#"Gimme the Mic" 3:05
#"Underneath the Gun" 5:42
#"Down Another Day" 4:06
#"Almost Over" 4:38
# "Build a Bridge" (featuring [[Music/{{Korn}} Brian "Head" Welch]]) 3:57
#"Red Light–Green Light" (featuring Music/SnoopDogg) 5:36
#"The Only One" 4:08
#"Let Me Down" 4:16
#"Lonely World" 4:34
#"Phenomenon" 3:59
#"Creamer (Radio Is Dead)" 4:30
#"Head for the Barricade" 3:34
#"Behind Blue Eyes" (Music/TheWho cover) 5:58
#"Drown" 3:58

!Tropes:

* CreatorBacklash: Wes Borland initially disparaged ''Results May Vary'' as "Fred's solo album" after leaving the band a second time. But he later spoke more warmly about it, saying he liked some of the songs on it, and has since gone on to perform "Eat You Alive" in concerts.
* CoveredUp: With regards to Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes", to the extent of making people to believe that it's an original song made by them.

Whew. Let's start from the beginning.

* BonusMaterial: UK edition of ''Results May Vary'' has the bonus track "Let It Go". Japan edition has this track, and one more track: "Armpit".

-> "Limp Bizkit have decided to expose their tender side. They really shouldn't have bothered [...] having seen Limp Bizkit's 'other side', you want the old, unapologetic, meathead version back"

* TakeThat: "Let it Go", a bonus track from this album, is addressed to then-absent guitarist Wes Borland. This song even lampshades Wes' side-project '''Big Dumb Face''' in the lyrics.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The band was working on a cover of the Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood song "Relax" for the movie ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'' and the band's fourth album. After Wes Borland left the band, their unfinished recording of the song was scrapped, and a new cover was instead recorded by Music/{{Powerman 5000}} and [[Music/HouseOfPain Danny Boy]].
** ''Results May Vary'' began its life as a ConceptAlbum called ''The Search for Teddy Swoes'', and was originally going to feature artwork and design by Creator/TimBurton.
*** Then when Mike Smith joined the band, it was going to be a much heavier album, called ''Bipolar''. At one point, the title was changed again, to what Allmusic described as the [[SarcasmMode "charmingly titled"]] ''Panty Sniffer'' (there's a line about this in "Eat You Alive"). However, Mike had a falling out with the band and left, so they scrapped the songs they recorded with Mike and assembled ''Results May Vary'' from various sessions which produced different styles of songs, making for an inconsistent album. Shades of this unfinished album can be heard in some of the tracks that ''did'' end up on the album, like "Eat You Alive" and "Pass The Mic", as well as the two B-sides from the "Eat You Alive" single, "Shot" and "Just Drop Dead".

* CoveredUp: With regards to Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes", to the extent of making people to believe that it's an original song made by them. In spite of the fact that Fred Durst gave interviews to MTV and others talking about the George Michael version, and MTV showing clips from Michael's music video while talking about the Limp Bizkit cover.

* CoveredUp: With regards to Music/TheWho's "Behind Blue Eyes", to the extent of making people to believe that it's an original song made by them. In spite of the fact that Fred Durst gave interviews to MTV and others talking about the George Michael version, and MTV showing clips from Michael's music video while talking about the Limp Bizkit cover.

Ultimately, with production on the album lasting a year and the new album beginning to look like the NuMetal equivalent of Music/TheBeachBoys' ''Music/{{Smile}}'', it was decided to take all the various, ''wildly inconsistent'' in terms of style, songwriting approach and quality, sessions for the unfinished album and try to assemble ''something'', anything, out of it.

The name of the album was changed to ''Less Is More'', then to '-Fetus More'', then ''Surrender'', and finally to ''Results May Vary'', and the final album was unleashed upon the world.

What could possibly go wrong? How about Wes Borland, the band's most popular member quitting? Uh-oh.

Despite being a commercial hit at the time, it received extremely negative reviews. It is the second lowest score on Metacritic, above only Music/KevinFederline's album ''Playing with Fire''. Among Limp Bizkit fans, it is generally considered TheScrappy of their catalog.