Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water is the third studio album by American band Limp Bizkit, released on October 17, 2000 by Flip and Interscope Records.
Commercial performance
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 1,054,511 copies in its first week of being released, with 400,000 of those copies being sold in the album's first day of release—the largest first-week sales debut for a rock album in the United States ever since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking album sales in 1991. In its second week of being released, the album sold 392,000 copies, and remained at number 1 on the Billboard 200. The album also went to number 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 98,707 copies in its first week in the country. Two months after its release date, the album was certified 4x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and almost seven months after its release date, it was certified 5x platinum by the RIAA. In April 2002, the album was certified 6x platinum by the RIAA. It also was certified 6x platinum by Music Canada in October 2001.Music and lyrics
The first part of the title is a scatological reference to the appearance of the human anus. However, Hot Dog Flavored Water is an inside joke started by Wes Borland at a truck stop while the band was on tour, where Borland saw bottles of Crystal Geyser flavored water, and made a joke about having meat or hot dog flavors.Durst himself refers to the album name in three songs. First, "Livin' It Up", where he declares that "The chocolate starfish is my man Fred Durst", "Hot Dog", where he tells his detractors to "Kiss my starfish, my chocolate starfish," and "Rollin' " where he mentions "Chocolate Starfish" in the introduction.
The song "Hot Dog" features the word "fuck" 46 times as pointed out by Durst himself in the lyrics "if I say fuck 2 more times that's 46 fucks in this fucked up rhyme" which is also the most profanity contained on any Limp Bizkit song. The chorus parodies the Nine Inch Nails songs "Closer", "The Perfect Drug" and "Burn". Durst said he was a big fan of Nine Inch Nails, who inspired his music, although Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor had made negative remarks about Durst during that period. Reviewers have often interpreted Durst's lyrics in "Hot Dog" as an insult to Reznor. "Livin' It Up" samples "Life in the Fast Lane" by the American rock band The Eagles. The lyrics of My Generation reference "My Generation" by The Who and "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses.
Critical reception
Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water received mixed reviews from critics, as Metacritic gave it a 49 out of 100. AllMusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "Durst's self-pitying and the monotonous music give away that the band bashed Chocolate Starfish out very quickly – it's the sound of a band determined to deliver a sequel in a finite amount of time." The Rolling Stone Album Guide awarded the album three out of five stars, whereas the magazine itself gave the album a 3.5 out of 5. Even so, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water was listed in the book for 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, but later removed in recent editions of the book.Track listing
Notes- Trent Reznor receives music credits for "Hot Dog" for samples only.
- Eric Barrier and William Griffin receive music credits for "My Way" for samples only.
- Glenn Frey, Don Henley, and Joe Walsh receive music credits for "Livin' It Up" for samples only.
- Track 15 features voice overs by Ben Stiller, Mark Wahlberg, Rob Dyrdek and Stephan Jenkins.
Personnel
;Limp Bizkit
- Fred Durst – vocals, art direction, liner notes, photography
- Wes Borland – guitars, cover art
- Sam Rivers – bass
- DJ Lethal – turntables, samples, keyboards, programming, sound development
- John Otto – drums
- Scott Borland – keyboards on tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12 & 13
- Scott Weiland – vocals on "Hold On"
- DMX, Redman, Method Man – vocals on "Rollin' "
- Xzibit – vocals on "Getcha Groove On"
- Stephan Jenkins, Ben Stiller, Mark Wahlberg, Rob Dyrdek – spoken word on "Outro"
- Rich Keller – bass guitar on "Rollin' "
- Produced by Limp Bizkit and Terry Date, additional production by Scott Weiland and Josh Abraham ; DJ Lethal and Fred Durst ; Swizz Beatz
- Executive producer – Eve Butler
- Assistant executive producer – Peter Katsis
- Production coordination – Erin Haley
- Editing: Domenic Barbers, DJ Premier, Carl Nappa
- Editing assistant – Cailan Mccarthy
- Engineers – Eric B., Joe Barresi, Barney Chase, Terry Date, Jesse Gorman, Kevin Guarnieri, Scott Olson, Ted Reiger, Dylan Vaughan, Darren Venbitti, Rakim
- Assistant engineers – Barney Chase, Steve Conover, David Dominguez, Jaime Duncan, Fran Flannery, Kevin Guarnieri, Femio Hernández, Matt Kingdom, Carl Nappa, Pete Novak, Ted Reiger, Doug Trantow, Alex Morfas
- Mastering – Vlado Mellior
- Mixing – Andy Wallace, Rich Keller, Brendan O'Brien, Michael Patterson
- Assistant mix engineers - Steve Sisco, Josh Wilbur, Ryan Williams, Karl Egsieker
- Art coordinator – Liam Wars
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| Australian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Austrian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 1 |
| Danish Albums Chart | 9 |
| Dutch Albums Chart | 1 |
| German Albums Chart | 1 |
| Finnish Albums Chart | 2 |
| French Albums Chart | 7 |
| Italian Albums Chart | 6 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart | 1 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart | 5 |
| Polish Albums Chart | 2 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 11 |
| Swedish Albums Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 4 |
| UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 1 |
| US Top Internet Albums | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart | Position |
| German Albums Chart | 38 |
Decade-end chart
Singles| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 2000 | "My Generation" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 33 |
| 2000 | "My Generation" | US Modern Rock Tracks | 18 |
| 2000 | "Rollin' " | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 10 |
| 2000 | "Rollin' " | US Modern Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 2000 | "Rollin' " | Rhythmic Top 40 | 38 |
| 2000 | "Rollin' " | US Billboard Hot 100 | 65 |
| 2000 | "Take a Look Around" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 15 |
| 2000 | "Take a Look Around" | US Modern Rock Tracks | 8 |
| 2001 | "My Way" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 4 |
| 2001 | "My Way" | Modern Rock Tracks | 3 |
| 2001 | "My Way" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 75 |
| 2001 | "My Way" | Top 40 Mainstream | 40 |
| 2001 | "Boiler" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 30 |