From “Prayers/Triangles’ video
It’s been over two months since Deftones released their eighth album, Gore, and it’s #2 debut gave the band their best chart week since 2003. That also means that with having had two months to digest the album, we can comfortably rank it alongside the rest of their catalog. Since their debut album Adrenaline in 1995, the band have staked out a unique territory in heavy music. Having released the album as nu-metal was at it’s height, they could have continued to mine those waters. However, the combination of Chino Moreno’s unique and expressive vocals taking a cue from The Cure’s Robert Smith and Morrissey, the rhythm section of Chi Cheng and Abe Cunningham that was influenced by bands like Bad Brains, and Stephen Carpenter’s love of metal, they have a sound that transcended and outlasted nu-metal. The addition of turntablist/sampler Frank Delgado also helped set them apart from their peers. With a Summer tour set to kick off in August, we thought we’d revisit the band’s catalogue and rank it (rank it! rank it! rank it!). Have thoughts on whether we’re right or wrong? Let us know in the comment section.
8) Deftones (2003)
After the critical and commercial success of White Pony showed that the band could deviate from the nu-metal sound that they’d effectively distanced themselves from, Deftones returned three years later with their self-titled album. And while there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, it finds them treading the same ground of shoegaze, metal and ’80s alt-rock they’d been on White Pony, but with diminishing results. First single “Minerva” is the high point of an album that doesn’t have that many solid songs on it, and as the album goes on, it gets bogged down by it’s own dreariness.
7) Saturday Night Wrist (2006)
By 2006, Deftones were in a rut creatively as far as personally. Chino Moreno was addicted to drugs and getting divorced, which might have been good for inspiration, but not particularly for the actual making of the album. Sessions dragged on, the band took a hiatus, and they re-recorded most of the album once they returned from it. This album found them experimenting with trip-hop/shoegaze elements along with their normal heaviness, but it doesn’t result in that many memorable tunes with the exception of “Hole in the Earth.”
6) Koi No Yokan (2012)
After the incredible comeback of Diamond Eyes, the band returned with Koi No Yokan. It’s less of statement than their previous album, finding the band comfortable with the relatively unique place they have in heavy music. Songs like “Romantic Dreams’ and “Leathers” and “Tempest” are the high points of the album, and the album is pleasant enough to listen, even if it’s not their most memorable album.
5) Adrenaline (1995)
This started it all for the band. If they’d continued in this realm, they would’ve been relegated to the junkyard of ’90s nu-metal bands like Coal Chamber and Limp Bizkit. And even if that did happen, they would’ve gone out on the top of that, as Adrenaline is quite a good album. Sure, Chino raps more than he sings on some of the songs, and not the entire album holds up 21 years later, but “7 Words,” “Bored” and “Engine No. 9” are instant classics. But the touring and growth the band showed over the next few years allowed them to write their follow-up album.
