Deftones - White Pony
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Free Music Notes for White Pony
Free Music Review: Name recognition without losing their `street cred'...
Hit: 5 Stars
It's not uncommon for a band with a nice following of devoted fans to come out with an album years into their success that finally gets them commercial success, propelling them into constant radio play, possibly even getting their music used for film trailers and attaining them frequent spots on MTV. It is also not uncommon for that said band to `allegedly' sell out in the process and thus lose the respect of those fans who followed them from birth so-to-speak.
`White Pony' was the album that made Deftones a household name. The catch is, this album is 100% Deftones, and will not lose them any fans (but it surely gained them quite a few).
I don't know how they did it, but they did.
The album has a few low points, most notably the atrociously brutal `Elite', which doesn't capitalize on what Deftones can do. The chaotic nature of the track is a turn off (which is a surprise to me) and it kind of takes me out of the more natural and progressive textures of the album.
`RX Queen' and `Street Carp' are predictable and formulaic, but fun, and `Teenager' has a subtle bite, but it pales when placed up against some of their other `mellow' tracks.
The rest of the album is simply divine.
Most everybody has heard `Change (In the House of Flies)'. It is one of the more commercial offerings from Deftones, but it never once feels like a detour from their established formula. It has a haunting edge to it that sinks into each glistening moment, and that chorus line is catchy to the superlative. `Knife Party' was my ex-girlfriends FAVORITE song for a long time, and so I listened to it a lot and it certainly grew on me. I don't hate her so the song hasn't lost any of its spark. I love the fact that the lyrical ambiguity wraps itself beautifully around the playful texture of the musicality, even if there is an obvious air of brutality at play. The opening track, `Feiteceira', is a classic example of what makes Deftones so great. It recalls the beauty of their first two albums with an ease and excitement only they can elicit. `Korea' puts `Elite' in its place by completely obliterating it with a more polished and focused approach to chaos.
And then there are the softer tracks.
`Digital Bath' is kind of genius. The song is so beautiful. I mean, it just doesn't get any more fluid or calming on a Deftones album, and it's so intoxicating. You just drift into the place it creates and dwell there for four minutes. `Pink Maggot' is an interesting and expectedly disturbing way to close the album. Sure, it's a repressed version of `Mini Maggot', but it contains far more passion.
But there can only be one song that reigns supreme as the `best on the album' and that track is EASILY `Passenger'. This song is one of the best ever recorded, by anyone. The haunting quality is entrancing from start to finish. It actually brought me to tears on more than one occasion. There is a fragile beauty about it, something so off that it begs for an understanding ear. You can hear pain and defeat with a passionate portrayal.
Possibly the best song they've ever recorded.
So, when all is said and done, Deftones continue their streak, expanding their fan base without compromising their vision.
Free Music Review: Best Album of 2000!
Hit: 5 Stars
Few artists have the ability to do what they want and gain acceptance from fans or at least be successful with that album. Most bands change their sound and try something new which is met with poor acceptance(Def Leppard's Slang and Metallica's Load.) While other bands do the same thing every single album with no change which sells lots of copies(every Blink-182, Limp Bizkit, and every pop band out there.) But Deftones manages to combine a more melodic type album with some tracks than can still rock.Back To School: 10/10 - This is the best opener for a CD I've ever seen. Catchy chorus and great mosh song. Awesome video as well.
Feiticeira: 8/10 - This is a good song. Sounds like something off Adrenaline(that's a HUGE compliment. That album rules!) Love the ending part at the end with the really low voice.
Digital Bath: 15/10 - Sheer words cannot do justice to this song. Cryptic verses, big choruses, Chino's singing, the water and subtleness of the interlude is all in this one amazing song. Chino plays guitar on this one. Favourite song on album.
Elite: 10/10 - One of heaviest songs they've done. Songs like 7 Words and a lot of songs off Around The Fur have Chino screaming, singing, screaming, singing. This song is all screaming. Very good mosh song. Some have said if it was shorter, it would've been a lot better. I don't think so. Over 4 minutes, it's still energetic.
Rx Queen: 8/10 - Another with Chino on guitar. A love song in a way. Drums beat, some electronics noises but still works good.
Street Carp: 8/10 - Shortest track on the album. I like how he forgets his address. Standard track from them but still kicks.
Teenager: 11/10 - This one totally caught me off guard. Different territory but works in really REALLY good ways. More soft singing from Chino.
Knife Party: 10/10 - This is a really good song. Good chorus and around 3:00 starts like a chant mixed with a woman screaming throughout the rest of the song. Would make a cool video.
Korea: 8/10 - Good song. Nothing much we haven't heard before but it's good. Classic Deftones.
Passenger: 15/10 - Now this is one badass song. If you didn't know, it features Maynard James Keenan of Tool and both vocalists are the highlight on the one. Eerie in a way. Nice piano sounding harmonics at the end.
Change(In The House Of Flies): 13/10 - If you haven't heard this song...where were you for the past year? in my opinion, good choice for a single. Showcasing a more melodic turn this time. Metaphorical lyrics. Very very good song. The 3rd with Chino on the guitar.
Pink Maggit: 11/10 Continuing with Fireal-Fist and MX-Damone, is another long closer. The last one featuring Chino playing guitar. Features a slower Back To School chorus and some guitar playing for the rest of it. Closes with heartbeat.
*The Boys Republic: 9/10 - Available on the Limited Edition ones. Shoulda been a secret song like Fist or Damone. Love that main riff. Sounds like Korea or something off Adrenaline.
So there you have it. Get this album and crank it up cause this is a big album start to finish.
Free Music Review: A high water mark in modern popular metal
Hit: 5 Stars
Deftones really hit the nail on the head with their third record, White Pony. Here they emerged out of the quickly deteriorating nu metal scene as the clear masters and innovators of the style. Every track drips with gritty, atmospheric intensity and there's not a weak track in the batch.
Chino's voice tends to be a dividing line, an acquired taste that serves to weed out the people who can't hang with Deftones' particular brand of musical anxiety. Once it grows on you though, it becomes clear how expressive and original he is. No one in the field of popular aggro bands can touch his use of dynamics or the agility with which he transitions between his chameleonic range of vocal styles. White Pony blows Chino's talent wide open. He's all over the place providing the most appropriate emotional nuances for the present moment, and nowhere is this more obvious than on tracks like the terrifying "Digital Bath" or catchy "Change In the House of Flies."
But it's not just Chino - every member of the band steps up to the plate in a big way on this album. The riffs and chords are more creative and hair-raising, the bass lines more serpantine, the drums more spastic, and the addition of a full time DJ adds a fifth layer to their already rich sound pallette. More than anything this record achieves a distinctly intense mood and atmosphere, something the Deftones hinted at on past records but hadn't fully realized until now. Somehow all the elements of that sound have come together here (probably in no small part from Chino writing more of the music.)
There's nothing I could honestly pin down as a weak point on the record. Every song reaches its intended goal effectively. The heavier tracks are more creative and mature than anything previous to this record; it's beyond me how people who clamor for more "My Own Summer"s fail to notice the presence of glorious headbangers like "Korea" and "Elite". In contrast is the delicate "Teenager", originally intended to be released by Team Sleep. Sheets of brittle guitarstuff rain down on the listener from tracks like "Feiticiera".
Speaking of which, by far the best version of the album opens with "Feiticiera" and closes with "Pink Maggit". The former is such a charged opening track and the latter is possibly the most beautiful song Deftones has written up to this point. The substitute opener, "Back to School", is a decent song but it suggests Around the Fur far too strongly and most of its best elements are used to much better effect in "Pink Maggit". The bonus track "Boys Republic" is fairly boring, a born B-side all the way.
So original issue is the way to go, if you can find it. It's a concise and mature album like nothing the realms of modern popular metal can yet hold a candle to, maybe even including the Deftones themselves. A Mainstay of my record collection for a good 6 years now. It's uncomfortable, and so it should be, but every last note is worth the relatively small listening curve involved.
Free Music Review: my love for this album will forever stand the test of time
Hit: 5 Stars
well lets see...like most people who "got" into the deftones, i started with this album. the track, "digital bath", was the song i fell into.
over time you start to define your musical tastes, and catagorize albums by favorites and least favorites. unless you just stick with the radio as your musical guide. COME ON PEOPLE, TRY AND READ ABOUT MUSIC SOMETIMES!!!
this album ranks in my top 5. first is the smashing pumpkins "melon colie and the infinite sadness", second is U2 "the joshua tree", third is radiohead's masterpiece, "ok computer", deftones are fourth, and in fifth place is rage against the machines 2nd album "evil empire".
why state my passions over this review? well i just wanted to state my love for this work of ART.
everybody has "their" album to hold onto during those "years" that we all remember. i got this when i was in 11th grade, and played it to death. every song is great, and the atmosperic music makes me feel at ease.
i love music that scorches across soundscapes, and engulphs the listener into eternal bliss. bands that come to mind in this catagory are, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, SONIC YOUTH, RADIO HEAD, TOOL, TV ON THE RADIO, SMASHING PUMKINS, ECHO AND THE BUNNY MEN, U2, PINK FLOYD, and even THE BEACH BOYS with their masterpiece "pet sounds".
the wall of sound is great, and the flow takes you over the hills, and far away. (zeppelin pun intended)
you feel something when you put this album on with big headphones and just space out.
since i love this band so much i went back and purchased their catalogue. this is still my favorite album by them, just because of the nakedness and the attitude of not really caring about the evil nu-metal trend at the time or about making a hit, which it became.
on the label of nu-metal, i will only say this. the deftones came out when the stuff was popular. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't call them nu-metal. the don't rap and the don't cry about disfunctional lifestyles. they are not korn and deffinitly not limp biscuit.
this band is seriously underated, just like sevendust or scatter the ashes.
they were ahead of their time, since all this emo/metalcore/hardcore/vans warped tour/ozzfest crowd stuff, that is popular right now, sounds like the deftones.
who didn't like poison the well's last album? those old school hardcore kids didn't. they couldn't place their new sound. well poison the well were showing their love for the deftones.
finch, glassjaw, poison the well, thursday, thrice, and almost every emo/screemo/metalcore/hardcore/mtv band, owe something to the deftones.
i love this band, and will always love them, no matter what they do.
heck, i hope they do a radiohead, and totally change their sound and landscapes.
i wish them the best of luck.
Free Music Review: I can't believe it
Hit: 5 Stars
First of all, I didn't have the original White Pony. I got this because it was the same price, and had an extra track. If you don't have this version, you can download Back to School from the CD Xtra. Okay?Now to business. This is a wonderful album. Each song is unique, so I have to reveiw it song by song.
Back to School: An excelent song/single. I'm glad I got this version because it's so cool. The second most agressive song on this album, sounding like a combination of Minus Blindfold, My Own Summer, and Pink Maggot. It's argualbly the best song the Deftones do live, too. 10/10
Feticeria: This is not as good an opener at Back to School. It still is good, however. The lyrics are a bit clear for a Deftones song, like My Own Summer. However, it still isn't personal, so in the end, it's just your regular Deftones song. 7/10
Digital Bath: One of my favorite songs of all time. This features Chino on the guitar, and has weird lyrics like Root. However, this is NOT a mosh pit song. It is a bit slow, but makes up for that in its great sound. 10/10
Elite: Yuck. This is nothing but ultra heavy riffs, and Chino screaming, "When you're ripe, you'll bleed out of control!" After reading the lyrics, I discovered what this song is really about. If I say it in this review, Amazon.com won't post it. 3/10
RX Queen: This is a weird song. It features the new DJ as a second percussion part. Nice cryptic lyrics, though. 5/10
Street Carp: Short and heavy. Sounds like a shorter version of Feticeria with better riffs. Probably the fourth heaviest song on the album. 8/10
Teenager: SOFT is the key word. This slow song abot high school romance is toughing, but doesn't sound like the Deftones. If you like this song, get any Eels album; it sounds a lot like them. 6/10
Knife Prty: A combination of all the styles of this album like Root and Far Away were on their respective albums. I like the screaming female vocals in the background 10/10
Korea: This is a great aggressive song like 7 Words. Great transition in the middle like Root. It's the opener in the Back to School tour, and in my city, it got everyone up. 10/10
Passanger: The best song on the album. It features Maunard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle fame. The vocals and riffs are amazing stuff. 10/10
Change: A bit slow; too misleading for a first single. If you ask me, Korea would have been a better single. Oh well... it's still a good song 7/10
Pink Maggot: In every Deftones album, there's a good, long closer. This is no exception. Starting off with slow power chords and vocals, this evolves into a song that I like as much as Back to School. There's a nice heartbeat noise at the end. 10/10
Well, that's my two cents. If you haven't got this album already, buy it. It totally rocks.