Limp Bizkit, which suffered sales of its long-awaited new album, has been named worst band of the year by readers of Guitar World magazine.
Creed, another act that draws sharp reactions, came in at No. 2 even though the Christian combo took the year off. New York rockers the Strokes were No. 3, followed by “all pop-punk bands” at No. 4 and pop-punk band Good Charlotte at No. 5.
Limp Bizkit’s “Results May Vary” has sold one million copies after 13 weeks, and ranks No. 64 on the U.S. pop charts. Its previous release, 2000’s "Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water,” ranked No. 5 after 13 weeks with sales of four million copies.
Metallica’s poor-selling new album, “St. Anger,” was named biggest disappointment, but it also came in at No. 2 as the best metal album, ranking behind Black Label Society’s “The Blessed Hellride.”
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett was named best metal guitarist, a possible consolation prize for having all his solos cut from "St. Anger,” and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl was named best rock guitarist, notwithstanding his initial claim to fame as the drummer with defunct rock band Nirvana.
Another long-gone band, Led Zeppelin, released the best rock album of 2003, the 3-CD live package “How the West Was Won,” according to Guitar World readers. That category was rounded out by Audioslave’s self-titled debut, the White Stripes’ “Elephant,” Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Vicious Cycle” and Rush’s “Rock in Rio.”
The other big disappointments of the year were listed as "all new music,” the break-up of Texas metal veterans Pantera, the continued absence of a new Guns ’N Roses album, and Marcos Curiel’s departure from Christian rock band P.O.D.