A) I never said that they regretted it, I said that they have indicated being embarrassed by it and that it lacked some integrity as they felt coerced by the label to do it. I don’t think the band (very) occasionally busting it out live contradicts that at all, plenty of band’s play material they find embarrassing in hindsight for their fan’s enjoyment. B) it’s great that you like nü-metal, I like some too. unfortunately a lot of people really don’t like it and would be turned off by an album by a band that supposedly transcends the genre starting with that band’s most nü-metal moment. I find it regressive even by their prior album’s standards. for all of the elements of Around The Fur that still adhere to the genre, it is a much more sophisticated take imo. C) it’s not how the band intended the record to be heard and it should not be the way a new listener experiences it first. if they go on to check it out with that as the opener and prefer it that way, then that’s good for them but I think the band’s vision for the record actually matters.
Don't be obnoxious, it's heavier than other tracks on the album. I'm mainly thinking of the chorus. I mean, almost all the songs have heavier moments at some point even with all the atmosphere, but that one sticks out to me for some reason I can't explain.
I can't refute any of that, nor do I really want to, but I do hope @MattNCheeze likes the song so that we have another person we can draft into our army when the end times come.
As a nu-metal fan, I do like it as Its Own Thing, "Feiticeira" is clearly the better song and opening track in every conceivable universe, though
I can count the amount of times I've listened to that on one hand, it doesn't even register as part of the canon. Feiticeira on the other hand is a perfect song.
Back to School is a "deluxe edition track." It's good and it should be seen as part of White Pony but it should've been separated for a rerelease.
Okay so I think those are my favorites so far: - ecdysis => I got Gojira's Fortitude vibes from the groovy pre-chorus for some reason. Chino came up with some of his best melodies here and I love how it all culminate into the euphoric spacey part at the 2 min mark, which is also one of the coolest transitions they've done in a song. A late career high. - infinite source => The most Deftones song, just so effortless. The chorus has been stuck in my head for the past few days and the harmonic riff is ridiculously catchy as well. - cut hands => How does this band always manage to make such simple guitar parts sound so heavy continues to fascinate me. Love Chino's staccato vocals, recalling his work on Poltergeist and some of their earlier stuff too. Hope they play it live because I want to be in the pit for the brutal ending. - metal dream => The jammy/loungey vibe of the verse makes this such a trip. The way it then launches into such a melodic chorus right away is neat. They continue to play with contrast masterfully. - departing the body => It's been a while since they've done a slower and moodier closer and this hits me everytime. Frank built quite the cinematic soundscape on this one, they could've extended it to a dozen more minutes I wouldn't even notice. Couple songs I'm struggling a little bit with: - locked club => Still don't know how to feel about Chino's vocal approach in the verses. The rest slaps though. - cXz => The aggressive vocals are a bit jarring as well, takes me back to listening to Rapture before getting into the band and finding what I was hearing weird. Otherwise, nothing stands out with this one so far, but that might change after many more listens.
I was a freshman in high school when the BtS music video released and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. That said, for me it has no business sitting on an album with songs like Knife Party and RX Queen.
back to school is fine - on one hand yes it's weird to kick off the re-release of white pony but I also like how it bookends with pink maggit at the end.
White Pony is a masterpiece, an album where even the couple of relatively straightforward heavy songs have something extra, something alien, something foreign that elevates them above being just good songs. Back to School on the other hand is just a good song. Everything is on the surface. That's fine. But it sticks out on a record like that; it doesn't belong.
One thing we can all agree on, Abe is a beast of a drummer and I hope he’s remembered as one of the greats. His style is so unique and breathes so much life into the songs.
Since coming onto Deftones in 2006 I've always had Back to School as the opener. That's just what I thought it was. And it's great! More recently I've made it a point to start any album play with Feiticeira as it should be. Helps that Feiticeira has always been a top Deftones song for me. (seeing both live in 07-08 in a small/midsize venue I'll always cherish). I can only imagine being a fan back then from their birth. Having that 1st album into ATF. Loving those. Then, seeing they have new album on the CD store shelves..."Deftones White Pony, eh?"..... and hearing the first 2 tracks. Must have been a shock.
This became especially apparent to me watching the Livestream. I hope I'm lucky enough to see them live someday
I remember being so confused when the “Back to School” music video came out. I’m like “hey this sounds really familiar… hey I have that CD… hey this song isn’t on the CD… is my CD wrong? Hey it’s also missing the ‘a’ in ‘party’ for “Knife Prty” what the fuck…?” and maybe I’m misremembering but I feel like some channels had the song listed as “Back to School (Mini Maggit)” which helped connect it to “Pink Maggit” for some of the lyrics and what sounded familiar but other channels only had it as “Back to School” so 6th/7th grade me couldn’t comprehend what was happening lol