Three Dollar Bill, Y'all (stylized as Three Dollar Bill, Yall$) is the debut studio album by American nu metal band Limp Bizkit, released on July 1, 1997, through Flip and Interscope Records. It established the band's trademark sound with the singles "Counterfeit", which was influenced by hip hop and heavy metal, and "Faith", a cover of the 1987 song of the same name by George Michael. Three Dollar Bill, Y'all was produced by Ross Robinson, who was introduced to the band through Korn bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, who persuaded Robinson to listen to Limp Bizkit's demo. Robinson was impressed by the band's motivation and sound, and agreed to work with them. The album showcased an intentionally abrasive, angry sound which the band felt would attract a fanbase.
Background
Wes Borland left Limp Bizkit preceding a successful performance opening for Korn at the Dragonfly in Hollywood due to a disagreement with Fred Durst. Soon after, Limp Bizkit signed with Mojo, a subsidiary of MCA Records. While heading to California to record their first album, the band's van was involved in a major crash whilst they were driving through Texas. The near-death experience encouraged Durst to phone Borland to put their differences aside.
Continuing the band's policy of using titles that would hopefully repulse potential listeners, the band named the album by using part of the phrase "queer as a three dollar bill" and adding the word "Y'alls" (in possessive form) at the end to embody Florida slang into the title, consequently giving the album the name Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$.
Music and lyrics
"Pollution", according to Durst, is about people who say the band's music is "nothing but noise pollution. There's nothing particularly heavy there. No big-time message." In a Q&A, Durst said about the song: "It's like, well, you're preaching and telling me that I'm so wrong—well, that's noise to me because little do you know that my band says a prayer every time before they go on stage and we're not just praying to Buddha or something." Borland also made use of unevenly accented syncopated sixteenth notes and hypnotic, droning licks to create a disorienting effect. rap metal, which was the group's final tour before their break up the following year. Despite citing Faith No More as an influence, guitarist Wes Borland has spoken of how touring with them was a negative experience for the band, with Faith No More's fans booing Limp Bizkit off stage at several shows. He said, "The idea of it was cool, we were really excited about it, about the idea of opening for Faith No More. But once we got there, it was a really tough crowd. They have a really tough crowd to please, who are very vocal about not liking you. We opened for Faith No More and Primus in the same year, and the Primus tour went a lot better than the Faith No More tour. I did not get to know Mike Patton on that tour, I got to know him later [through Adam from Tool]." Between March and June 1997, before the album's release, Limp Bizkit had toured North America and Europe with Korn and Helmet, two other artists they cite as influences. This was also Helmet's last tour before their initial break up the following year, with DJ Lethal having earlier collaborated with them on the 1993 song "Just Another Victim", when he was in House of Pain.
The music video for "Counterfeit" was released in 1997 and played on music channels like The Box and M2. Limp Bizkit performed on MTV's 1998 Spring Break special Fashionably Loud, which brought the band attention. A music video was later made for the single "Sour". Durst directed a music video for the band's single "Faith" in promotion for its appearance in the film Very Bad Things, but was unsatisfied with it, and directed a second video which paid tribute to tourmates like Primus, Deftones, and Mötley Crüe, who appeared in the video. The paid air time was criticized by the media, who saw it as "payola". However, payola specifically refers to songs played on the radio in which they are not disclosed as paid air time. Jeff Kwatinetz, the band's manager, later termed the plan as a "brilliant marketing move". Despite criticism, the paid air time did not increase sales, which stood at only 170,000 in early 1998. Much of the album's resulting sales instead came from consistent touring by the band. Durst also said: "Somebody may hear the word 'bitch' on our songs, but I love women. I will always be ready for my soul mate to fall into my lap. So those people who think it's derogatory towards women are the people that aren't listening to the words."
| rev4 = The Essential Rock Discography
| rev4Score = 7/10
| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
| rev5Score =
| rev6 = Tom Hull – on the Web
| rev6score = B+
Three Dollar Bill, Y'all received mixed to positive reviews from critics. A June 1997 review from the Gavin Report stated, "Limp Bizkit has created a sound that will fast be incorporated into the hard rock genre—let's call it grindhop. Even if the name doesn't stick, Limp Bizkit will still appeal to anyone with an ear for innovative music." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic praised the album in his retrospective review, writing "They might not have many original ideas [...] but they do the sound well. They have a powerful rhythm section and memorable hooks, most of which make up for the uneven songwriting." In The Essential Rock Discography, Martin Charles Strong gave the album a 7 out of 10 rating. Borland stated in an interview that George Michael, the writer of the song "Faith", hated Limp Bizkit's cover and "hates us for doing it". Metal Hammer also included it on their 2022 list of the "10 essential rap metal albums". Despite publicly expressing his disdain for nu metal and his personal dislike of Durst, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine spoke very positively about Three Dollar Bill, Y'all$, praising Borland's guitar work and the musicianship. Despite a widely publicized feud with Limp Bizkit, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor also expressed much praise for the album, crediting it as an influence on Slipknot's 1999 self-titled album. In 2021, the staff of Revolver included the album in their list of the "20 Essential Nu-Metal Albums".
Track listing
Notes
- "Nobody Loves Me" is stylized as "Nobody ♡'s Me" on the back of physical editions.
- On some digital editions such as Spotify, the hidden track "Blind" is omitted from "Faith".
Personnel
Personnel taken from Three Dollar Bill Y'All CD booklet.
Limp Bizkit
- Wes Borland – guitars
- DJ Lethal – turntables, samples
- Fred Durst – vocals, art direction
- John Otto – drums
- Sam Rivers – bass
Additional musicians
- Scott Borland – keyboards (tracks 1, 2, 6)
Production
- Ross Robinson – producer
- Limp Bizkit – producer, art direction
- Richard Kaplan – engineer
- Rob Agnello – assistant Engineer
- Andy Wallace – mixing at Soundtrack Studio (New York City)
- Steve Sisco – assistant mixer
- Howie Weinberg – mastering at Masterdisk (Peekskill, New York)
- Tom Simpson – media
- Jordan Schur – executive producer
- John Otto (Flip) – layout
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Chart
! Position
|-
|1998
|US Heatseekers
|style="text-align:center"|1
|-
|1999
|US Billboard 200
|style="text-align:center"|22
|-
|1999
|US Catalog Albums
|style="text-align:center"|1
|-
|1999
|Canadian Albums Chart
| style="text-align:center"|29
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!align="center"|Chart (1999)
!align="center"|Peak<br />position
|-
|align="center"|US Billboard 200
| style="text-align:center;"|56
|}