Adrenaline (album)

Adrenaline
Studio album by Deftones
Released October 3, 1995
Recorded July–August 1995 at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington
Genre Nu metal, alternative metal
Length 47:07
Label Maverick, Warner Bros.
(9 46054-2)
Producer Terry Date, Deftones
Deftones chronology
(Like) Linus
(1993)		 Adrenaline
(1995)		 Around the Fur
(1997)
Singles from Adrenaline
  1. "7 Words"
    Released: 1995
  2. "Bored"
    Released: 1996

Adrenaline is the debut album by the metal band Deftones, released in 1995 through Maverick Records. The hidden track on the album "Fist", was produced by Ross Robinson while the rest of album is produced by Terry Date. It was originally titled Communion and some promotional copies did get out, before Adrenaline became the name of choice. "7 Words" and "Bored" were released as singles. The album's cover art depicts a baby aspirator. The song "Engine No. 9" has been covered by Korn, Live, and Suicide Silence and is featured in the film Law Abiding Citizen.

Contents

Recording

Regarding the recording, Abe Cunningham said, "At the time we did the first record – which I really like and think is good – you can tell the band was really young. We'd been playing most of those songs for quite a while, and we were just so happy to be making a record that we didn't really think a whole lot about making the songs better."[1] Moreno felt that Adrenaline was recorded "really fast"[2] and performed all his vocals live with the band in the room using a hand-held Shure SM58 microphone.[3]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Absolute Punk (87%)[4]
Allmusic [5]
Sputnik Music [6]

Daniel Gioffre stated in the Allmusic review: "Unlike many of their contemporaries, Deftones are very controlled even in the midst of chaos."[5] He added: "Throw Abe Cunningham's surprisingly sophisticated drumming into the mix, and you have a band that possesses a far greater degree of nuance than most others that work in the genre."[5] He also noted that "there is a bit of sameness in Chino Moreno's whispered vocal melodies, which drags the record down a bit."[5]

Music critic Piero Scaruffi includes Adrenaline at number 33, just after Deicide's self-titled album and before Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny, in his classification of the best metal albums of all times.[7]

While the album was initially unsuccessful, extensive touring and word-of-mouth promotion built the band a dedicated fanbase and helped Adrenaline to sell over 220,000 copies.[8] Asked to what he attributed the album's success, Cheng responded, "One word: perseverance. We've been together for almost eight years, on the road for two and we do it with honesty and integrity – and the kids can tell."[9] The album was RIAA certified gold on July 7, 1999 in recognition of 500,000 units sold. It was eventually certified platinum on September 23, 2008 in recognition of 1,000,000 units sold.[10]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Deftones. 

No. Title Length
1. "Bored"   4:06
2. "Minus Blindfold"   4:04
3. "One Weak"   4:29
4. "Nosebleed"   4:26
5. "Lifter"   4:43
6. "Root"   3:41
7. "7 Words"   3:43
8. "Birthmark"   4:18
9. "Engine No. 9"   3:25
10. "Fireal"   6:36
11. "Fist" (unlisted track) 3:35

Personnel

Deftones
Production

Chart positions

Year Chart Peak
position
1996 Top Heatseekers[12] 23
2000 Catalog Albums Chart[13] 46

Certifications

Country Certification
United Kingdom[14] Silver
United States[10] Platinum

References

  1. ^ Peiken, Matt. Interview with Abe Cunningham, Modern Drummer, 1997.
  2. ^ Bromley, Adrian. Keeping It Simple, Chart, July, 1998.
  3. ^ Walkling, Dennis. Chillin' with Chino: Deftones get Moody, Circus, June 1998.
  4. ^ http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1781912
  5. ^ a b c d Allmusic Review
  6. ^ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/1926/Deftones-Adrenaline/
  7. ^ Scaruffi, Piero. "Best heavy-metal albums of all time". http://www.scaruffi.com/music/metal.html. Retrieved March 6th, 2011. 
  8. ^ Prato, Greg. "Deftones biography". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/deftones-p168233/biography. Retrieved 2007-12-14. 
  9. ^ Deftones [interview], Guitar World Online – Guitar School, 1997.
  10. ^ a b "RIAA certifications". Recording Industry Association of America. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?&artist=deftones. Retrieved 2007-09-01. 
  11. ^ Adrenaline (1994) liner notes. Maverick Recording Company.
  12. ^ "Adrenaline - Deftones". Allmusic. http://allmusic.com/album/adrenaline-r224220/charts-awards. 
  13. ^ "Adrenaline - Deftones". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/#/album/deftones/adrenaline/175003. 
  14. ^ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. 
  • Essi Berelian's "Rough Guide to Heavy Metal", p. 95, "This still stands as one of the best examples of nu-metal"
Deftones
Studio albums
Singles
Other songs
Other albums
Live (Live EP) · Music in High Places: Live in Hawaii (DVD) · B-Sides & Rarities (Compilation) · Eros (Unreleased) · Covers (Compilation) · The Vinyl Collection 1995—2011(Compilation)
Related articles
Book:Deftones · Category:Deftones · Portal:Rock music