Significant Other is the second album by the American nu metal band Limp Bizkit, released on June 22, 1999 and serving as the band's breakthrough into the mainstream.
The album showed a lyrical evolution from their debut album Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$, downplaying the themes of angst and heartbreak and playing up more of a lighter, party-oriented atmosphere, combined with music that incorporated more influences from funk metal and hip-hop.
Not only did the band solidify the sound that would be most associated with the band through this album, it also introduced the production style that would carry over to their next album Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, with ambient interludes by DJ Lethal, extended hidden skits and bookending intro/outro tracks designed exclusively to Mind Screw the listeners — not to mention the guest stars.
During the band's live performance at Woodstock 1999, violence erupted during the song "Break Stuff", and the ensuing mass controversy and blame directed towards the band became an albatross for their reputation. Despite this, Significant Other received high commercial sales, and critical reception was also favorable, with many responding well to its unique sound and the band's performance, which was considered to be an improvement over the band's debut. The album has sold at least 16 million copies worldwide.
Track listing
- "Intro" (0:37)
- "Just Like This" (3:35)
- "Nookie" (4:49)*
- "Break Stuff" (2:47)
- "Re-arranged" (5:54)
- "I'm Broke" (3:59)*
- "Nobody Like You" (featuring Jonathan Davis and Scott Weiland) (4:20)
- "Don't Go Off Wandering" (4:00)
- "9 Teen 90 Nine" (4:36)*
- "N 2 Gether Now" (featuring Method Man) (4:49)*
- "Trust?" (4:59)*
- "No Sex" (featuring Aaron Lewis) (3:54)
- "Show Me What You Got" (4:27)
- "A Lesson Learned" (2:40)
- "Outro" (7:18)*
- Blank track (0:04)
Tropes:
- Audience Participation Song: "Nookie" is kind of a call-and-response in the chorus, in some live performances, and especially toward the end of the music video for the song in which Fred holds up the mic for the girls to shout "C'MON!" on the word "nookie", and for the men to shout "YEAH!" on "stick it up your...".
- Break-Up Song: Many songs from Significant Other are shots to Durst's ex-girlfriend. On the other hand, there also are songs where Durst takes shots at himself about how he probably played an important role in the end of his relationship, particularly "Nookie".
- Curse Cut Short: "Nookie"'s infamous "So you can take that cookie and stick it up your (yeah!)"
- Guest Star:
- Jonathan Davis and Scott Weiland on "Nobody Like You"
- MethodMan on "N 2 Gether Now"
- Staind's Aaron Lewis on "No Sex"
- Les Claypool on "The Mind of Les"
- Hidden Track: There are multiple hidden tracks and skits throughout the album, all of which are listed above.
- Listing Cities: "Show Me What You Got".
- Our Product Sucks: You wanted the worst... you got the worst. The one... the only... Limp Bizkit. You wanted the best? Go get the fuckin' Backstreet Boys CD!
- During the tour to promote this album, Fred Durst emerged from a giant toilet and announced that he was "a piece of shit", and so was his band.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: "N 2 Gether Now", a Hip-Hop song with beats by Gang Starr's DJ Premier and guest verses by Method Man. The first mix of this song, from the pre-release edition of the album (sometimes called "Rough"), actually featured guitar riffs in the mix, but the final version released on the album had a different track by Premier.
- "A Lesson Learned," a weird psychedelic/ambient experiment.
- The pre-release version of "The Mind of Les" featured a Lounge Jazz track as Claypool's backing.
- Shout-Out: "Show Me What You Got" has shout-outs to Slim Shady and Les Claypool.
- To Shakespeare: In "Rearranged", Fred sings, "Life is overwhelming, / Heavy is the head that wears the crown", which is a reference to the title character's quote in Henry IV, Part 2: "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown" (III, i).
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "A Lesson Learned."
