Significant Other

Rap metal is pop's newest creative hotbed, but the trouble with this rising Florida act is that it too often comes off as an attitude in search of a band. Like nose rings or baggy jeans, attitude is just one more pop prop, and the muddy roar of Bizkit's angry, shapeless songs does nothing to prove otherwise. The group's latest album, though, trades some of the hard-core posing for song structure and, yes, melody--without getting too wimpy. Even the hardiest moshers occasionally need something to thrash to. Bizkit is still a long way from the brutal majesty of Korn or Rage Against the Machine, but at least it's inching in the right direction.

--By David E. Thigpen