What year did Limp Bizkit do Behind Blue Eyes?

On one side, there's one of the most revered rock bands of all time undertaking a landmark album with an electrifying combination of subtlety and power. On the other side, there's one of the most reviled bands of the past 20 years demolishing a rock classic with the ham-fisted arrogance with which they approached their own intolerable music.

In 2003, as Limp Bizkit's presence began to wane (following two No. 1 albums, including 2000's 'Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water,' truly one of the worst-titled records in history), the band -- led by Fred Durst, a polarizing frontman whose merging of rap and rock revealed his total lack of comprehension of either genre -- released their fourth album, 'Results May Vary.' The group's guitarist had quit a couple of years before, leaving Durst alone at the helm and with no one to call him on his bad ideas.

And he had plenty of terrible ones for 'Results May Vary,' including a decision to make it a personal record that also showcased the band's musical diversity. But it didn't turn out that way. Not at all. With Durst's open-diary confessions reading more like spoiled rock-star whining and the band's turns into less-abrasive territory coming off clumsy and pretentious, 'Results May Vary' was a commercial and critical bomb.

Still, the album's Durst-penned songs, all 15 of them, were nothing compared to the penultimate track: a cover of the Who's 'Behind Blue Eyes.' Durst (wrongly) assumed that his cover of the song would prop up his own material and give the album a defining heft. The frontman also presumed that by opening his heart (albeit with someone else's words) with a song about being misunderstood, haters would be more sympathetic to his heavy burden as spokesman for a generation of backward baseball cap-wearing bros.

The Who's version, from their classic 1971 album 'Who's Next,' strikes a complex balance of hidden shame and outward aggression. Originally part of Pete Townshend's 'Lifehouse' project for the band, 'Behind Blue Eyes' was told from the perspective of the abandoned rock opera's antagonist. Durst, however, turns the song into a taxing exercise in gloomy self-pity. To cap it all, he adds a Speak & Spell -- the '80s speech-synthesizer toy -- passage to the bridge for no discernible reason.

Limp Bizkit were almost immediately skewered for their pointless cover of 'Behind Blue Eyes.' Defiant to the end, Durst released the song as a single, and it managed to climb to No. 71 (it fared a little better on the rock-radio charts, reaching No. 11 at mainstream and No. 18 at modern). By then, the damage was done. When Limp Bizkit released their next album two years later, they couldn't even crack the Top 20.

Watch the Who Perform 'Behind Blue Eyes'

• 1 Behind Blue Eyes (Album Version) 4:31

• 3 My Way (Remixed by DJ Lethal) 4:29

  • remixer

• - Behind Blue Eyes [video]

• Total length: 13:02

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How bad it's if I say I prefer Limp Bizkit's version of Behind Blue Eyes instead of the The Who one?

Published

Okay so Fred Durst covered this so everybody would feel sorry for him and instead of the kickass part in the middle you get a bunch of computer noises spelling out "l.i.m.p. a.i. discover" otherwise it's not too bad. at least his singing was good (unlike with his god awful cover of faith by George Micheal). Overall a decent cover and probably the only limp bizkut song (besides rearranged) I can stand.

Published

What really pisses me off is that people cry over this as EMOTIONAL AND SO FULL OF HEART AAARGH OH MY GOD I JACK OFF!
This is about as emotional as a waffle iron.

Published

As I'm a music teacher, the college pupils were all the time bothering me with Limp Bizkit as a new sensation... But when I heard about their cover of "Behind Blue Eyes", one day, I told the teenagers that I was going to make them a surprise.
One student brought the Limp Bizkit single and I brought the Who's version. Of course, no one heard about a cover and most of them had never heard the name of the Who.
Though I asked them to compare the 2 versions of that song; and tell me, which was their favourite one by giving me musical arguments such as the way to use instruments, the mood, the singing etc. While most of them were completely hypnotized by the cover, I have been surprised to know that more than 50% finally preferred the Who, as they never heard it before.
While Townshend starts singing with a single acoustic guitar, Limp Bizkit play several instruments at the same time from the beginning and kill the crescendo which create the tension till the exploding rock part.
In the cover, no rock part but a awful simili techno horrible garbage instead...
Well they destroyed the song, made it an insipid, sappy and tasteless product and turned it into a crap teenage romance... Poor guys! How dare you covering one of the best Who' song at the height of the band?
Anyway, people who have a minimum critical sense, could step back till the original version.

Published

no one knows what it's like
to be the bad they/them
to be the sad they/them
behind blue eyes

Published

The Who?

This cover is so good The Who should ship all of their newly minted re-releases with this cover instead the original. It transforms and transcends the original like nothing else. It's Crazy Frog-esque in how it takes a mediocre song to new heights. Easily a 10/10, the only thing that could bump this down is a Crazy Frog cover of the same song.

Published

Not as Bad as Everyone Says It Is

I know I am definitely in the minority when it comes to this cover. While I don't think Limp Bizkit are the worst band out there, I'd say their discography is very spotty. This song in particular being one of their most infamous due to being a cover of a great classic rock tune by The Who. In my own 100% honest opinion, I think it is not as bad as everyone says and is probably one of their better songs. One common complaint I see about this cover is that Fred Durst sounds "emotionless" or "derpy", I honestly think he sounds fine on this track. I also kind of like the haunting electronic atmosphere it has going as it strengthens the mood of the song. However, if there is one part of the song I can agree is as bad as everyone else says, it would be the speak-and-say bridge. Seriously, this part replaces arguably the best part of the original, and sort of ruins the overall flow of the song. Is this as good as the original? No. Is this a terrible song? Not quite. I just feel that this cover gets a bad rap just because of the name associated with it, and if it were done by a different, lesser known band, people wouldn't trash it as hard as they do

Published

In this man's opinion, Limp Bizkit's considerably more cold, robotic treatment of the Who original (courtesy of the more metronomic guitar part and electronic ambience) does lend itself to the lyrics very well. Fred's more straightforward vocal also helps that effect. They tried and succeeded to do something different with it musically, at least in technical terms clearly.

I'm kind of glad this was nearly the maximum of my exposure to Limp Bizkit growing up, but at the same time when it comes to this track I just can't get on board with herd mentality.

Published

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Ratings: 657

Cataloged: 77

Track rating sets:Track ratings: 31

When did Limp Bizkit make Behind Blue Eyes?

When did Behind Blue Eyes come out the who?

Who originally wrote the song Behind Blue Eyes?

What movie is the song Behind Blue Eyes from?