Wes Borland – Limp Bizkit ‘Probably Have 35 Songs’ Recorded Instrumentally for ‘Disco Elephants’ Album
One of the great mysteries of the last decade has been when or if Limp Bizkit will ever release the long-teased Stampede of the Disco Elephants album, but guitarist Wes Borland has offered some more insight on the progress of the record while appearing on the Drinks With Johnny podcast.
As a refresher, word of the album started to circulate back in 2012 as the band teamed up with producer Ross Robinson to work out tracks for the record. In 2013, the group issued the single “Ready to Go” with “Endless Slaughter” following a year later, but the album itself has yet to arrive.
Speaking with Drinks With Johnny host Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold, Borland commented on the album’s current state. “We’ve probably, in the last 10 years, been in the studio to try and complete the record, I wanna say, seven times, to different studios. And we’ve been working on stuff, working on stuff, working on stuff. And Fred [Durst] has been consistently kind of unsatisfied with where vision is, I guess.”
He continued, “We probably have 35 songs recorded instrumentally, and he’s done vocals on them and then thrown the vocals away — done vocals and then [gone], ‘Fuck this,’ [and] thrown it away. So I think he’s finally at the point now where he’s gonna pick a set of these songs that he’s finally cool with and finish ’em and we’re gonna finish the record. So, fingers crossed.”
When asked about a potential timeline, Borland added, “I’m not in charge of Fred’s vocals… I’m way done with my parts on the record. I’m sure I’ll go back in and play a little bit more after. But it’s fucking Fred Durst. He went from being a darling to everybody’s most hated person in the world. We broke up as a band. He’s tried to find his footing, I think, on a bunch of these songs. He’s so talented, and I love him so much as a brother, but if he’s not ready to do it, he’s not ready to do it.”
The guitarist continued, “My whole thing is I force things, but I’m happy to make mistakes and get embarrassed and go, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t have done that.’ But I just like to put stuff out. But he’s a perfectionist, so we’ll see when he’s ready to do it. I doubt it’ll be called Stampede of the Disco Elephants at that point.”
Reflecting on what he’s seen from the sessions, Borland states, “I will definitely say that the riffs and the music, it’s the best stuff I’ve ever done as a musician, I think. I’m so pleased with the direction the music went, and I love what we did as a band. And I’ve heard a bunch of his, sort of, demoed vocals over the stuff, and they’re great. So I have no doubt that he’s gonna come and bring it and it’s gonna be a great record.”
Limp Bizkit’s last studio album was 2011’s Gold Cobra. In the time since, the band has issued the singles “Lightz (City of Angels),” “Ready to Go” and “Endless Slaughter.” They’ve also toured off-and-on over the years and have more dates booked for the summer with Spiritbox. See those dates listed here.