There’s many tracks here that are seemingly lesser versions of songs on White Pony – “Minerva”, while a good single, falls short of potential great heights, while “Needles And Pins” and “Battle-Axe” are 2 of the weakest tracks here – the latter is a slow burner with some nice crunchy riffage, however.Īll that being said, this is nowhere near a bad album. It’s one of their 3 weakest albums to most people. The follow-up to career milestone White Pony was underwhelming, sure. A product of the nu-metal era, sure, but Deftones were (and are!) so much more than that label.

There’s still some highlights here, though – singles “Bored” and “7 Words” are solid, but it’s slightly experimental and atmospheric tracks like “Fireal” and “Minus Blindfold” that would foreshadow their material 2 years later on Around The Fur. The aggressiveness on display here was only a prelude to what they would do in their career. It’s a downtuned, riff-heavy, Stephen Carpenter show here – though the band would show flashes of their abilities here as they progressed (more of the sharp, frenetic Carpenter riffs, Chino’s growing vocal ability), it’s their weakest release in most respects. Anyway, this is the 1995 debut Deftones full-length. 9” was featured in the music Law Abiding Citizen back in the day. But where do their 8 studio albums since 1995 rank as a whole? Find out below.įun fact, frantic highlight track “Engine No. It even went to #2 on the Billboard Top 200. Their 8th studio album Gore is now out, and while the mixing is still a little off to me, it’s another great addition to their discography.

They’re both from California, are well-respected both critically and commercially, and have added new elements to their sound over time – both bands are also considered massive influences on many of today’s current alternative rock, post-hardcore, and metalcore bands – how many vocalists are influenced by Chino Moreno in some way? The answer: many. Speaking of Thrice, alternative metal veterans Deftones have much in common. Progressive death metal veterans Enslaved (13 albums in, and everything they’ve done is still solid at worst), alternative rockers Thrice and The Dear Hunter would probably fit here too – a combined almost 30 years experience between the two, and the least awesome thing either have done was Thrice’s debut full-length, Identity Crisis – which wasn’t even bad, really. If you’re looking for consistent excellence in your bands, there’s very few I can think of who haven’t ever really put out anything even a little disappointing.

Deftones albums best to worst