Deftones Band • Page 29

Yeah, great write-up Drew! I totally agree about the creative tensions in the band pushing them to new heights.

 

I don't want to forget about Saturday Night Wrist

 

That was the album that got me hooked. Had heard singles from all the others casually, but I bought SNW on a slight whim on launch day since we got it in where I worked. And that's how my obsession begin.....

 

Currently I'm trying to find all the best quality files for everything that has been played from Eros live or what not. We of course have "Smile", and I have a version of "Melanie" but I think there are better versions out there on YouTube. Looking around I see an instrumental of "Dallas" as well. Not sure if legit.... There's a thread on another forum that crazy long I'll go through if I have to lol.

Also, I have "Finger of Death" live from the SNW sessions, but does anyone know of other cut songs that were played live previous to an albums release that didn't show up on one of their albums like that?

 

I do like SNW but the whole recording and waiting process and arguing from a fans perspective was exhausting - I just want to forget that whole era/cycle

 

In some ways, I'm glad I wasn't a following fan at that point in their career leading up to the release.

 

I didn't know there were files of Smile out there. I was under the assumption that they put it on YouTube only. Unless people are able to extract files that way through there. If you have any Eros songs you would like to share with me

 

Still digesting Gore and figuring out where it fits, but my personal list...

Saturday Night Wrist
Koi No Yokan
White Pony
Around the Fur
Diamond Eyes
Adrenaline
Deftones (the only one I kind of actively dislike)

 

Great review as always, Drew.

 

Loved the review, Drew!

 

White Pony
Koi No Yokan
Gore
Diamond Eyes
Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist
Around the Fur
Adrenaline

This is rated as "which ones do I enjoy the most front to back today". Adrenaline and ATF are hard listens for me these days, and while SNW does have good tracks, some definitely falter. Same with deftones to a certain extent. Diamond eyes up are the ones I truly enjoy front to back. Gore has a chance to move up, I just haven't had enough time.

 

Revisited Saturday Night Wrist this afternoon and while I enjoyed it more than I remembered, it's still a very unfocused album and likely their weakest post-Adrenaline. The three-track sequence of "Xerces," "Rats!Rats!Rats!" and "Pink Cellphone" ranges from forgettable to bad, but conversely, the closing three-track sequence and "Beware" through "U, U, D, D, L, R, L, R, A, B, Select, Start" has some really great moments. "Hole in the Earth" holds up as one of their best openers.

 

Diamond Eyes will likely always tie with White Pony for my favorite Deftones album. "You've Seen the Butcher," "Beauty School" and "Prince" are just brilliantly heavy and deceptively beautiful songs.

 

I think I might be the only person who thinks "Pink Cellphone" is really, really good.

(And that "Lucky You" is really, really bad.)

 

Gore is growing on me, but I still wouldn't say it's one of their best. It's certainly interesting.

(Sorry everyone, rolling through their discography while I work tonight.)

 

I'm a big fan of Pink Cellphone.

 

Lucky You is pretty bad

 

Lucky You is great. Chino's voice is on point with that one.

 

Pink Cellphone is also great.

 

Lucky You is great and totally fits in with the feel of the self-titled. So dark and sinister.

Now that the honeymoon period for Gore has settled down:

- My only real negative with this record is the mix. The guitars are too loud, drums are too far back in the mix, vocal effect is a little irritating at times. I'm not usually a fan of remastered releases but I would like to hear it for this.
- Some of the songs that I wasn't as keen on at the start like Pittura Infamante and Xenon, have grown on me a lot. I'm really fond of those two songs in particular now.
- Rubicon is still my jam.
- Acid Hologram is so good. The vocals are great and also super interesting (Bjorkish in places), Frank's on top form as well. I particularly love it when they all drop out, leaving Frank's atmospherics to fill in the gaps until they all kick back in. That song might be pushing Rubicon as my favourite.
- Phantom Bride has worn off a little bit, with the exception of the outro which is straight-up awesome. It's not usually something I'd criticise Chino for but the vocal melodies on that song are perhaps a little too 'sugary', which means it's not quite as enjoyable after a few listens. It's probably moved down to the middle of the pack for me. Still a very good song though.
- The beauty of this record might actually be what it lacks. Lesser bands would try and find more immediately satisfying conclusions to a lot of these songs, whereas Deftones are experienced enough to know that that's not necessarily the best way to do it. It's the subtle things that they now do brilliantly well; the way they play with unused space, the masterful shifts in tone, the way they'll open a chorus up. Every time I listen to this album, I feel like there's a hidden depth that hasn't been explored and yet I also feel the album is all the more captivating for that.
- Overall, I think it's a 9/10 record, something which has become their forte now. I thought the same for KNY and DE but I definitely prefer the tone of this - the previous two, especially KNY, are a little too polished whereas this is more fragmented and weird.

 

Agree on all points.

 

I listened to KNY the other day, and yeah after spending the last few weeks with Gore it sounds super polished. Which kinda turns me off. Gore production is not fantastic, but it's better imo than KNY.

 

Did the guy who produced DE and KNY do Gore too?

 

Matt Hyde produced Gore I believe, but I can't remember who mixed it.

 

So no. Terry Date mixed it.