I loved the way Steph played on S/T and he’s never quite played the same since (and only occasionally showed hints of it prior), then again he never really writes the same exact way each record and it’s part of what I love about him.
I've long thought that the album/era that got you into Deftones will generally be your favorite. Their catalog is so strong that it possibly comes down to what you connect with the most, and it's hard to unseat the feelings of your first experience.
songs I love on SNW: Hole in the Earth Rapture Beware Cherry Waves Mein (Serj almost fucks it up for me tho tbh don’t like how his voice contrasts to Chino at all) Xerces Rats!Rats!Rats! Kimdracula Rivière basically the whole record. I also dig the instrumental/konami code track but I suppose an argument could be made for its exclusion, and Combat is cool but the chorus doesn’t quite hit like it should and it kinda blends a bit in the sequence with Kimdracula (a much better song imo) and Pink Cellphone is actually kinda cool for a bit but then the ending is a fucking travesty and I never want to listen to it for that reason bc it’s all I can think about when I think of it lol.
I've said it before, my problem with SNW is that the great tracks are fucking great but it feels half-baked/aimless at times in a way none of their other records do, and Chino's vocals are ridiculously raw on that record (which may be a plus for some, but I think some of the takes are his worst sounding ever). "Rats!Rats!Rats!" is a good example of the vocals sounding fucking rough to me. That being said, I still like that record, the synth tones absolutely own, just don't see it eclipsing anything but maybe Adrenaline for me.
I got into them just before Diamond Eyes was announced but my first record was White Pony and it was def my fav for a while but over time I realized that s/t is truly the one for me.
I love SNW, but I agree with most everything you've said here. Doesn't help that it was possibly the closest they've ever come to breaking up, or that Chino was barely involved until after most of the music had been laid down.
WP ATF S/T DE KNY A G SNW SNW is bottom mainly because of Pink Cellphone and Mein. At least half of it is great.
I do wish SNW sounded a bit better in terms of production. Only weak tracks though are Mein and Pink Cellphone. The rest is fucking phenomenal.
There's just something about that record that is special. I heard My Own Summer on the radio in 1997, but I really fell in love with them with S/T. Saw them live for the first time days after it was released and the obsession just grew and grew after that.
I have yet to find another record that sounds like it/puts me in that same mood that it does. it ain’t the heaviest record in the world but when I am listening to it sometimes it feels like it could be lol. but it also is one of the most beautiful records to me as well, it really nails that duality. and stephen and chino went more for a wall of sound approach to the songs they both played guitar on so there’s this almost dark menacing shoegaze thing happening on a lot of the tracks (thinking immediately of the verses of WGTB here) that just really hits for me. even tho I feel like they’ve never made another record quite like it (nor has anyone that I have heard really), it feels like the definitive “deftones sound” to me. idk. it’s the one I think of first when I think of the band, the one I always reach for and never really get tired of, the one that speaks to me on an almost ~spiritual~ level (lol), and the one that feels like the band most “at home” if that makes sense— even if they were entering their darkest and most tumultuous period as a band. that said, I am glad they don’t make the same record twice. it makes them all special, if not equal.
It's weird that WP is the consensus best, but might have the worst opener, whether you call Back to School or Feiticera the opener. Maybe some people would say Prayers/Triangles.