Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$ is the debut album by American Nu Metal band Limp Bizkit, released on July 1, 1997 by Flip and Interscope Records.
The album showed the band developing their trademark Nu Metal cross of aggression and funk by combining the influences of Beastie Boys' snotty attitudes, Korn's intense emotional outpouring, Primus' funky rhythms and nasal vocals (when Fred's not screaming or rapping), Deftones' sonic experimentation (especially in Wes Borland's guitar playing) and some of tool's spacey vocals and instrumentation to create an album that even some of the band's detractors admit is not bad.
The album was produced by Ross Robinson, who was introduced to the band through Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, bassist for Korn, who persuaded Robinson to listen to the band's demo. Impressed by the band's motivation and sound, he agreed to work with them, with the end result being an abrasive and angry sound which the band felt would attract a fanbase. While it didn't necessarily have the best reviews or sales early on, extensive touring eventually made it a hit, and it did get some good reviews.
The big hits from the album were "Counterfeit" and the band's cover of George Michael's "Faith".
Track listing:
- "Intro" (0:48)
- "Pollution" (3:52)
- "Counterfeit" (5:08)
- "Stuck" (5:21)
- "Nobody Loves Me" (4:33)
- "Sour" (3:33)
- "Stalemate" (6:13)
- "Clunk" (4:03)
- "Faith" (George Michael cover) (3:52)*
- "Stinkfinger" (3:03)
- "Indigo Flow" (2:23)
- "Leech" (demo version) (2:11)
- "Everything" (16:26)
Tropes:
- Album Title Drop: In "Sour", sort of:Maybe you won't, maybe you will,
But baby, you're still about as real as a three-dollar bill. - Break-Up Song: "Sour"
- Careful with That Axe:
- "Indigo Flow"Fred: Terry Parker you know what's up, dialed into the planet, and God, I LOVE YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!
- A good chunk of the album is comprised of these actually, with "Pollution" and "Nobody Loves Me" being particular of note.
- "Indigo Flow"
- Epic Rocking: 16-minute song "Everything" is definitely a huge example of this trope. "Stalemate" also qualifies, to a lesser extent, clocking just over six minutes.
- Genre Mashup: This album fused Nu Metal, Funk Metal and Rap Metal, with elements of Jazz, Psychedelia, Thrash Metal and Turntablism.
- Hidden Track: "Faith" itself clocks in at 2:27; the rest of the song is an unlisted interlude called "Stereotype Me".
- Intercourse with You: Inverted in their cover of "Faith", about turning down sex.
- Lampshade Hanging: The sample at the end of "Clunk" lampshades that Limp Bizkit plays louder than their favorite bands because they can't reproduce the sound of those bands, and that the band performs solely to entertain themselves, not for critical respect.
- Longest Song Goes Last: "Everything" (16:26)
- Lucky Charms Title: Not only the album itself, but also the track "Nobody Loves Me", which is listed as "Nobody ♥'s Me".
- Out-of-Genre Experience: The Jazz Fusion section on "Stuck", especially contrasted with the generally aggressive Nu Metal sound of the rest of the song. It happened largely because Fred Durst is a Jazz fan. There was another Jazz part at the end of "Douchebag" on Gold Cobra.
- Nu Metal/Rap Metal: Trope Codifier.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: In "Counterfeit". It's an electric keyboard imitating an organ, but it's put to the same use.
- Shout-Out: "Indigo Flow" entirely consists of this, thanking associates like Fear Factory, Korn, Deftones and Everlast.
- During the bridge and ending of "Nobody Loves Me", Durst sings the chorus In the Style of Maynard James Keenan.
- One of the verses of "Stuck" references "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies: "All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi / Far from suicidal still I get them tendencies"
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Everything".
