A buddy of mine on Twitter wrote this about a month ago, and I only just now ran into it. It's a terrific piece. Deftones: "We still argue a lot" | Upset
"Meanwhile Stephen, quite simply, is the metalhead of the group. That recurring bombardment of distortion on ‘Rocket Skates’? Stephen. ‘My Own Summer’’s iconic fury? Stephen. Basically, anything from a Deftones album or live show that leaves you feeling like you’ve been punched in the jaw is on him." I disagree with this part whole heartedly. Steph also wrote Pink Maggit, BQAD, Mascara, Fireal, Fist, and a good chunk of SNW. He's more than capable of meshing beautiful moments with the heavier stuff. I get why they keep bringing up this dichotomy, but I feel now like it does them a disservice.
Yeah, that part of the article felt a bit questionable to me as well. Frank also recently mentioned on Twitter that he came up with "Entombed," which blew my mind. I always thought SNW was a record where the band wrote the majority of the music while they waited for Chino to complete lyrics and melodies, which is what led to a lot of the conflict between he and Ezrin in the first place. I could be wrong, but that means SNW can't exactly be labeled a Chino record. I know that the dude who wrote the article only got into Deftones in the last year and a half, so he may have missed the mark while connecting a few of the dots in their timeline.
I always wondered who wrote "Entombed." It didn't really strike me as heavily Chino or Stephen influenced, which made it so interesting when I first heard it.
I haven't really gone back to it but I think that's more a testament to a handful of records that have hit me really hard this year
This album seems to be really divisive for Deftones fans. It seems like the reaction was pretty positive critically, but a lot of fans on the Deftones subreddit seem to dislike it. Granted, I think a lot of them just want heavy Deftones.
@JM95 Very true. Some of them are cool but many of them seem to be stuck in the Adrenaline/Around the Fur era.
And then you get the newer fans who are stuck in "Koi No Yokan is easily the best Deftones album". Ugh
True. I mean, I think they've been getting a lot of new fans from Diamond Eyes onward, so I can see how if someone got on board with that album or KNY then it might be their favorite. WP and S/T will always be my faves, and that reflects the time period which I got into the band.
I think this album is fine but if we're being real I think there's a reason I haven't gone back to it much. I just don't think it touches some of their best work, and that's okay. Maybe I'll come around to this the same way I came around to Koi No Yokan a year or so after release.
I've cooled on the album quite a bit. Some good moments, but the production and pacing kinda takes away a lot for me.
I wish the mixing was better. That's the only thing that takes away from my listens. The drums get pretty drowned out by the guitars.
They need a better producer/mixer I just don't understand why you leave practically the best (Date) for producers who offer you a lesser product in the end. Do they not hear what we do? But anyway, thanks for Acid Hologram. Every other song coulda been awful, and I'd still consider that a top 10 Deftones song
I mean, maybe Date is busy with other artists and Deftones can't just wait around for them if there are contract needs to be met. Or maybe they just get along better with whom they work with now. I would love to hear Deftones with Date again though.
Yeah, I get that. I mean, there are still hundreds, if not thousands of people they could work with who wouldn't bury the bass and drums on every single track. 3 albums with this shit