(L)MIRL is stupid underrated too. And when Stef comes in at the end of "Phantom Bride"...good god man
Completed my discography run and there is where I'm at: 1, Diamond Eyes 2. White Pony 3. Deftones 4. Around the Fur 5. Gore 6. Koi No Yokan 7. Ohms 8. Saturday Night Wrist 9. Adrenaline Those top three are pretty much completely interchangeable depending on the day, as are Gore and Koi, but I like to give Gore the edge because it really is underrated imo. Would honestly be easier to put these in tiers because even Adrenaline is like a 7 and they only get better from there.
They are my favorite band. Everything they've done is either phenomenal (White Pony, Deftones & Diamond Eyes) or extremely great (everything else). I remember being v meh about Gore when it first came out but I love it now. Just a ridiculously consistent band.
This being said, I think there's an EXTREMELY strong case for Around the Fur being kind of the ultimate, "best" Deftones album w/r/t defining their sound and firing all cylinders. I also feel pretty strongly that Diamond Eyes is like the updated, 2010 version of that.
1. White Pony 2. Koi no Yokan 3. Diamond Eyes 4. S/T 5. Ohms 6. Gore 7. Saturday Night Wrist 8. Adrenaline/Around the Fur Band has never made anything less than an 8/10 for me. White Pony is an obvious 10/10. I feel like they hit their stride with that, and it's a miracle SNW holds together at all considering how fucked things were within the band at that time.
I like this a lot. Important to note that one is with Chi, and one without. He's so important to their sound on those first 5 albums. Once you start hearing his bass line in songs you realize just how much he was doing for the songs.
I think both ATF and DE were written and recorded in the same manner too, relatively quickly. They seem to shine when they do that.
I was in the middle of an undercover, animal abuse investigation when Koi came out, so that one holds a special place in my heart for getting me through a lot of rough nights combing through hours of footage I took during the day.
No. The only things released are a live song, studio videos, and Smile. As far as I know it's not even complete.
Chi was incredible and a wholly unique bassist for a band in this genre, he brought a dub influence that imo kinda completed the full picture of what Deftones was. obviously due to his coma and eventual death that picture had to change, but the band truly hasn’t been quite the same since. I did love what Sergio brought to the band, he had a really cool style that set him apart from Chi and brought a new edge to the band’s sound. I am interested to hear more of what Fred brings to the table, the bass work in the new song is serviceable but I don’t think I’ve really gotten good insight into exactly what his identity is as the band’s bassist yet.
I'm excited for them to release a moodier second single then, assuming Fred gets to show off a little more in that setting
I just hope track 2 is an absolute ass-beater that fully capitalizes on/builds off of the momentum of my mind is a mountain, a la Hole in the Earth/Rapture, or Diamond Eyes/Royal.
Gore is a classic album where it's slightly disappointing when it comes out when you have high expectations, but looking back in hindsight after a perceived course correct allows you to look at it like a slight detour that is cool in its own right.