Ultimately Nu-Metal comes across as a genre which many of will ignore and insult, and there are those that love the genre a huge amount and those people are then split into two categories, those who only listen to Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, and those that listen to other Nu-metal bands as well. Despite what we like to say, despite how much some of these bands suck you have to admit quite a few of them have a lot of talent. Pioneering this genre is KoRn, but sticking apart from them is the Deftones which I have to say is my favorite and deserve most of the credit they get. Why is this, well they have different hooks, they are louder, more intelligent and the vocalist has to be one of the best voices in this genre.
Their debut back in 1995, Adrenaline, was a bit of a word of mouth album; it sold quite a few copies but ultimately didn’t have any huge singles and its sales weren’t anywhere near as big as what was to come. Many liked to accuse the Deftones as being KoRn rip offs, but saying that they have been around just as long means you can’t really accuse them of being parodies, this album with the new additional help of a DJ, sets them at the top of the alt metal table because of its originality compared to other artists, though some may think it’s a big clump of distorted mess mixed with a vocalist that likes to scream a lot (which I do in parts).

Members Of The Deftones
Chino Moreno - vocals, guitar occasionally
Stephen Carpenter - guitar
Chi Cheng - bass and backing vocals
Abe Cunningham - drums
Frank Delgado - turntables

There were two songs which gave the Deftones their fame, the opener My Own Summer (Shove It) was one of these. Using the niftiness of one of the coolest riffs out there, mixed the perfect amounts of bass combined with adjusted distortion waves to increase the levels dramatics makes this one of the most perfect main riffs around. Beyond that Chino uses his signature vocals to deliver the hard hitting goods, the verses are a soft blend of toned down distorted guitars and fabulously placed bass drums without the furious smashing of a heavy moment basically supplies his softer almost telephone generated vocals. Then the vocals of the chorus do something that while logistically sounds stupid, is actually a mere stroke of genius. Distorting your vocals adds something new in terms of substance, with bass it sounds more like a death metal growl, but in here with that extracted you can appreciate the shrill terror of it.
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) is more along the lines of heavy rock music rather than alt-metal, it stands up as being epic as far as Deftones songs go with its length spiraling down the path to 5.10 minutes. But this is in the end my favorite song by the band. in no way does the main riff compare to My Own Summer in coolness, but is just one of those perfectly crafted rock songs, logically flowing, entertaining, and original. The riff is basically just a simple yet cool riff made of sharp sounding power chords, the vocals delve more into the softer side of Chino’s voice and the Screaming only comes in the Chorus from the backing vocals, and that is perfectly timed to add entertainment to those with short attention spans that are getting bored.

The lyrics though out this album tend to flow on one topic, ultimately the topic of getting used, prostitutes ETC. you can quite easily see the hatred towards these people coming through from experiences rather then today’s teenage boy bands, Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) is written about telling someone to shut up and p!ss off, sounds generic, but the intelligence of that can be seen in much of the lyrics from certain tracks. Around The Fur shoves the themes in you face straight away with its lyrics, just check out the sample from the first verse, “hey vanity, this vile's empty, so are you, hey glamorous, this vile's not god anymore”
This song is also one of my favorites from this album, the drums seem to do something special for me, simple in the sense that they never do anything very hard in the areas of crazy drums solo’s, but that bass drum just seems to bring you in so fast. then with the distortion on the guitars you don’t get any feedback, the distortion is clean and sparkles with the job of being a build up the extremely loud/ full of screams/ chorus. Beyond these tracks it starts to get a little more forgettable, Mascara stands out as being the only track which is truly mellow, there isn’t a scream to be heard, though out it there are points where its just the guitar and vocals. This can bore the shight out of me saying the main guitar riff is simplistic pile of dung, and the vocals aren’t aloud to be loud, and the volume is turned up on them so they can get extremely crusty.

Tracks like Ihabia cause you to wonder how must moisture is left on the microphone after Chino is done with all those breathy whispers which sound like he has problems with volume, but this problem is a huge part of many songs but this is ultimately saved by a memorable chorus using the beauty in Chino’s vocals layered with the shrill screaming of the backing vocals. Lotion and Head Up use rapping as their source of entertainment. Lotion is less so on this path, more so it’s a mixture of tuned talking, and not to mention a lovely scream every time you enter and leave the verses. The other thing that makes it stand out is its stop start rhythm, one part is grating raw edges guitar, the other is hard edged but glassy goodness, but switch between each other so fast to get attached. A chorus is also tossed in quite frequently, and it’s a good thing that it is quite memorable so that this song becomes a highlight amongst some of the other tracks. Head Up seems to sound much more like KoRn than the band might like to admit in parts, but for the most part is full on mix of rapping to an extent but it sounds rather weird, a lot of it sounds like angry chattering monkeys because its duet effectively, one set of vocals are going through lyrics really fast and the other is just screaming underneath. I have seen this live on DVD and it seems more so to be a something to get people warmed up and head banging with rather than a recorded song you listen to.

Dai The Flu comes across to an extent of being sign of the progression that would take place on White Poney, drowning bass and soft vocals for the verses, using some parts that do show the talent held in Chino’s tongue with some stuck that sounds quite lovely compared to the large proportion of the tracks, yet for a chorus this really lays on what I wanted from the band, its loud but not tuneless, not to mention the vocals do make the lyrics decipherable and understandable. Written from the point of view of being in hospital bed watching your friends and family stand around you.
”now i know that you love me
thank god you love at all,”

Rickets has originality built into it, but that doesn’t mean its any good. Its short, that’s good, but it gets tedious. Once again the vocals at points are far from understandable, then beyond there its quite repetitive or cheap lyrics mixed in with a chorus which gets played to many times, there’s more detail but you don’t need to know it. MX has all of the cons and flaws of the album mixed up in a blender, then served to you on a cheap plastic platter. The verses in terms of lyrics seem to be what the album is about but sort of in the concentrated form. using the voice of a stereotypical white American teenager that acts Chino’s responses, this song goes along a path which could offend very protective woman with the themes of peoples lust for sluts, getting used as bills for clothes and the violence that surrounds these relationships. Yet the chorus is also exactly what I wanted to hear from the band, it’s a show of lovely melodic vocals mixed with loud guitars exactly like White Pony.
but wait, there’s also a secret songs on here which I have to say is better than about 60% of the songs on here, but I’ll shove that as a little incentive if you feel that you might like this to go buy it.

Yes, though out listening to this CD I disliked quite a bit of the material, but that’s because my tastes don’t really comply perfectly with alternative metal. On the scales that weigh this album up then you have to take in your amounts of tolerance and love for different music, of course its got its good moments that weigh up certain glitches but if you really want to get into the Deftones then go towards the likes of White Pony for accessibility, and possibly there self titled album from 2003. if you want rap metal then go get some Rage Against The Machine, if you want heavy yet intelligent metal then go get some TooL.

Track Listing And Ratings
1. My Own Summer * * * * *
2. Ihabia * * *
3. Mascara * * *
4. Around the Fur * * * * *
5. Rickets * *
6. Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) * * * * *
7. Lotion * * *
8. Dai The Flu * * * *
9. Head Up * * *
10. MX * * *

Final Rating - 3.5/5


Recommended: Yes