There was talk about mending fences and making friends, but the bottom line is: when the big dog calls, you come, and in 1999, Durst was rock's biggest dog.

He touched all the rock star bases this year (scored a number one album, got arrested, took the blame for causing a riot, etc.), but he managed to go even further, transcending his role as frontman (and even transcending his band to a certain extent) to become something more. Building on hip-hop's mogul/artist model, the singer turned his name into a cottage industry landing a Vice President position at Interscope Records, directing videos, and even netting a movie deal. In the process he also became one of rock's most polarizing figures as onlookers debated his place in music: Is he a true rock visionary, a greed-driven megalomaniac, or simply a guy who wants to rock as loud and as long as he can?

Whatever he is, he certainly came along at the right time. It's as if Durst arrived as the dream applicant for the "help wanted" ads that the music media had been publishing on behalf of the rock world for years. As 1999 opened, riff-lovers everywhere continued to bemoan the lack of a charismatic focal point for a rock revival. Korn, Monster Magnet, Rammstein, Rob Zombie, and others had muddied the mainstream in 1998, but none presented the kind of pitchman that rock needed to regain the top 40. However, one of '98's other breakthrough acts had everything needed to fit the bill.

In case you're wondering what really happened to Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst at the end of the "Re-Arranged" video, the answers will apparently be provided in the band's next clip, for "N 2 Gether Now," slated to premiere on MTV later this month. Rapper Method Man appears in the song and video for "N 2 Gether Now," which was directed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst around the same time as he shot "Re-Arranged." The video for "Re-Arranged" ends with Limp Bizkit drifting in a white void after apparently being drowned in a milk-like liquid. As the band floats around wondering if they're in heaven or not, Durst muses, "Dude, if I were in heaven, I'd be kickin' it with Method Man right now," and then falls forward, off screen. As Durst recently told MTV News, the beginning of "N 2 Gether Now" picks up where "Re-Arranged" left off, taking cinematic inspiration from a popular series of comedies from the '60s and '70s. "I just pop into [Method Man's] room," Durst said, "and it's [decorated with] all kind of Chinese swords, and a Wu-Tang vibe. I'm just in there, playing video games with him, and I sort of nudge him like, 'Hey, yeah! I'm winning.' And he's like, 'What?' and nudges me back, and I fly across the room and go 'Rawwr!' Then we have this really bizarre fight between each other that's [still] friendly," he continued. "It's kind of like Peter Sellers and his butler [Cato] in 'The Pink Panther.' Like we're fighting, and all of a sudden the phone rings, and we stop and go, 'Hey, what's up?' It's just a really cool video. It's just a video that I think that we needed to have," Durst continued, "and no one in a rock band with an amazing hip-hop artist such as Method Man has really crossed these lines. Run-DMC had an amazing video with Aerosmith, and people have had amazing videos together, with rock bands and hip-hop artists, but this is different, man. There's something about it that's different." You can see what the difference is when the video for "N 2 Gether Now," featuring Limp Bizkit and Method Man, debuts on MTV on October 18. The following day, Method Man and Redman will hook up with Limp Bizkit, Filter, Staind and Primus at San Francisco's Cow Palace for the beginning of their stint on the Family Values tour.

Durst was officially charged with the misdemeanors last Thursday in St. Paul, Minn., following an incident on July 12 in which he allegedly kicked a security guard in the head during a concert at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Each of the two charges carries a maximum fine of 90 days in prison and/or a $700 fine.

The St. Paul Pioneer Planet reports that Durst plans to fight the charges and has decided to demand a jury trial. "We're just going to go to court and fight the charges. He was protecting his personal friend and bodyguard at the time of this incident," says Gray.

The preliminary court date has not yet been set, and Limp Bizkit remains on tour — they're scheduled to wrap up the current leg of their North American tour with an appearance this Saturday at Woodstock '99.