The singer’s called the making of this album a “seriously unhealthy experience”, and he was unsure if he’d even return to Deftones. Moreno jumping ship midway through recording to focus on Team Sleep – not to mention sorting out various addictions, and picking himself up from divorce – must play a part in the stuttering quality of ‘Saturday Night Wrist’. Many collaborators were experimented with during the record’s gestation, from Dan the Automator to eventual producers Shaun Lopez and Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Lou Reed), and the result is a collection that doesn’t take the band anywhere new.
It’s not a happy listen – Chino’s repeated screams of “I hope we never do meet again” which close out ‘…Telephone’ are absolutely vicious – and Spin commented on its darkness: “(They’re) sad as hell, and they’re not gonna take it anymore.” But ‘Deftones’ is an essential part of this band’s catalogue, marking a point of reflection, refracting personal-life damage, and preceding a between-albums-proper B-sides compilation, which emerged in 2005.Īlbum five came from a period of strained relationships in the band, and it shows: ‘Saturday Night Wrist’ is limits pushing, sure enough, but also patience testing. Individually, these are impressive tracks together, their contrasting approaches unsettle the overall atmosphere of ‘Deftones’. ‘Deathblow’ is an affecting grind through romantic distress – the album’s original title was ‘Lovers’, and matters of the heart take centre stage throughout – but it’s followed by the devastating tumult of ‘When Girls Telephone Boys’.
Perhaps it’s just too bold for its own damn good. It’s got its share of evergreen songs – ‘Minerva’ is a spine-tingling anthem which, seen live, can reduce a man to tears of joy – but somehow this eponymous collection couldn’t reproduce the impact of album three. Beneath them was evident heart, if you dug deep enough, the overall impression more like The Cure than Korn – and Deftones never once looked back to nu-metal in the wake of this absorbing collection.Ī record that quite clearly took its leads from the experimental edge of ‘White Pony’, ‘Deftones’ didn’t quite hang together in the same cohesive manner of its predecessor. I remember how divisive it was at the time, though, with Select magazine awarding it a dismissive one-out-of-five review, and friends of mine not feeling its sometimes cold, threatening soundscapes. Kerrang!’s third-best album of 2000 remains a favourite amongst Deftones fans, many of whom feel the band’s never bettered this third studio set. The judges must have had a thing for Transformers. Elsewhere, ‘Teenager’ leans on smoky trip-hop beats, the melancholic ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’ became the band’s biggest single to date (and it still is), and ‘Elite’ won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2001. Electronics were now woven throughout songs that convulsed with amplified aggression but also stepped back to reflect on the bruising, guilty but enthralled.Ī distinct air of progressive rock descended, with the track ‘Knife P(a)rty’ going so far as to actually riff on Pink Floyd’s ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’ with its soar-away vocals from the guesting Rodleen Getsic. This album changed everything – not just for Deftones, but metal as a whole. That, and incredible drumming from Abe Cunningham, saw ‘Around The Fur’ propel its makers to previously unattainable critical acclaim and commercial success.Īs great as ‘Around The Fur’ was, few predicted that Deftones would surpass it in quite the way they achieved with ‘White Pony’. Palpable emotion was now right at the forefront of his lyrics, revealing a softer heart to this band compared to many of its contemporaries. Which certainly cannot be said for much that Red Cap and company put out during the same period.Ĭhino’s singing voice was becoming a potent part of the band’s arsenal, his ability to switch between soft tones and terrific shrieks a force to be reckoned with. True, the likes of ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ and ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)’ will always be synonymous with the genre that gave us Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, but compared to ‘Break Stuff’ (for example) they’re wonderfully detailed, texturally deep songs that can still electrify the senses. Again, Date is the man at the production controls, delivering a sharp end product – but Deftones’ ambition was now bubbling over, and they were ready to remove themselves from the nu-metal equation entirely. The breakthrough, spawning a couple of MTV-courting singles, and also the album that brought electronics man Frank Delgado into the fold to expand the band’s sonic palette.