| Deftones | ||||
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| Studio album by Deftones | ||||
| Released | May 20, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | March – October 2002 at Studio X, Seattle, Washington, Larrabee Studio, West Hollywood, California, The Spot, Sacramento, California |
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| Genre | Alternative metal, experimental rock | |||
| Length | 47:14 | |||
| Label | Maverick (9362-48391-2) |
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| Producer | Terry Date and Deftones | |||
| Deftones chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Deftones | ||||
Deftones is the fourth studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones. It was released on May 20, 2003 through Maverick Records. Although achieving a greater critical reception, Deftones commercially disappointed Maverick compared with the band's previous effort, White Pony.
The album features a broader spectrum of musical styles than previous Deftones records, ranging from some of their heaviest compositions to rather moody trip hop influences. It would be the band's final album produced by Terry Date, whose collaboration with Deftones dates back to their 1995 debut.
Contents |
Originally to be titled Lovers, the album was instead given an eponymous title because singer Chino Moreno considered Lovers too obvious to the context of its material. The song "Lovers" does, however, exist on the UK single for "Hexagram" as a B-side. Deftones was the last album produced by Terry Date, who had collaborated with the band since Adrenaline, due to the vast amount of time spent in the studio, for example the band spent the first 3 days hanging around. They took considerable amounts of time to write and record music which frustrated Date as much as their lack of material when they entered the studio, the latter of the songs were written in the studio. "Needles and Pins" originally had two tentative names, one being "Aria" and the other being "White Woman". It was intended to be the opening track, but the band decided to change the song's title and order at the last minute.
Deftones is an eclectic album, with songs spanning many different ideas in diverse genres. It has a much different feel from prior efforts, due in part to Frank Delgado leaving his turntables behind and instead playing keyboards and synthesizers. Most songs on the album make extensive use of the band's low G# tuning and Moreno's instable high screams, resulting on the heaviest songs in the band's catalog. On the other hand, "Lucky You" is a dark soft trip hop-influenced piece featuring DJ Crook from Moreno's side project, the band, Team Sleep. A grand piano and toy piano are featured in the mournful "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event."
Deftones produced two singles, the soaring "Minerva" and the brutal "Hexagram." Music videos were shot for both singles as well as the track "Bloody Cape," which video was available in the band's official website only for one day, the video however, was later released in the Deftones B-Sides & Rarities album. As the lead single, "Minerva" features a melodic, commercially viable sound and gained strong rotation on mainstream rock video programming. In contrast, the extreme heaviness of "Hexagram" landed it on shows such as Uranium and Headbangers Ball.
"Battle-axe" was featured in the video game Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 while "Minerva" was featured in True Crime: Streets of LA and as downloadable content for the Rock Band series.
This album sold 167,000 copies in its first week of release in America opening up at #2 on the Billboard 200 (the highest charted album to date by the band)[1] and went on to sell over 500,000 copies in the U.S. giving it Gold status.
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Dot Music | [2] |
| Rolling Stone | [2] |
| Allmusic | [3] |
| Q magazine | [2] |
| Playlouder | (Mixed)[2] |
| Sputnikmusic | [4] |
| Spin magazine | [5] |
| The A.V. Club | [2] |
| E! Online | [2] |
| Entertainment weekly | (Favourable)[2] |
Deftones was well received by critics earning an aggregate rating of 74 on Metacritic.[6] The music website Sputnikmusic gave it a perfect score and praised the band for have returned to their heavy sound without leaving behind their experimental side, lauding also Moreno's abstract lyrics and the band's musicianship.
Q magazine also praised the album, giving it four and a half out of five stars, stating: "In a genre considered creatively bankrupt, this is genuinely new metal." Dot music considered the album "an important leap forward for the band" while Rolling Stone stated: This is metal that crushes, then soothes; collapses, then soars... Deftones just blows open the possibilities.
In contrast, reviewers from sites such The A.V. Club or Allmusic, although giving it a positive score, criticized the band for have returned to their heavy style, instead of the more soft and artistic style of it's predecessor: the White Pony album.
Spin magazine also give it a positive score, but complained about the album's notable darkness saying: "On their fourth album, Deftones are sad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore; this is less an 11-song album than a single long-form mope." A mixed review came from Playlouder, which, while praising band's musicianship criticized Moreno´s high screamed vocals.
All songs were written by Deftones except "Lucky You," by Deftones and DJ Crook.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hexagram" | 4:09 | |
| 2. | "Needles and Pins" | 3:23 | |
| 3. | "Minerva" | 4:18 | |
| 4. | "Good Morning Beautiful" | 3:28 | |
| 5. | "Deathblow" | 5:28 | |
| 6. | "When Girls Telephone Boys" | 4:36 | |
| 7. | "Battle-Axe" | 5:01 | |
| 8. | "Lucky You" (feat. Reyka Osburn) | Deftones and D.J. Crook | 4:10 |
| 9. | "Bloody Cape" | 3:37 | |
| 10. | "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event" | 3:57 | |
| 11. | "Moana" | 5:02 |
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| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada[25] | Gold |
| United Kingdom[26] | Silver |
| United States[27] | Gold |
| Preceded by The Golden Age of Grotesque by Marilyn Manson |
Canadian Albums Chart number-one album June 7, 2003 - June 14, 2003 |
Succeeded by How the West Was Won by Led Zeppelin |
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