Then in 2000 they released White Pony which I believe to be the turning point. Even though it was their breakthrough album which brought commercial success and recognition, the actual significance of the album was their display of cohesiveness as a band. Spring boarding off of the first two albums album their sound really rounds into form and White Pony is where they started to really define themselves as a band.
As I said from the start, it seems like these guys have hung around but I do not mean that critically. They have hung around by continually putting out good albums. Their breakthrough of White Pony was followed up with a self titled album which received significant acclaim and then ‘Saturday Night Wrist’ which did not do as well (and is the only Deftones album I do not own so I abstain).
Then for some reason, I stopped listening. I can’t give any excuse or justification for that behavior. Fortunately, I have good friends that didn’t. And all I heard about over the past year was how great their 6th album ‘Diamond Eyes’ was. I believed the hype however it always seemed to be the one I passed over on my running list of albums to buy.
When I heard about yet another Deftones album coming out this year I realized I needed to get my shit together and I bought 'Diamond Eyes' this summer. Have you ever ignored something to then later realize you have been an ingnorant ass? Yep that pretty much sums up how I felt.
(no kidding this was up for best rock album in 2010)
So to bring it back to the start of this post the first thing I noticed about ‘KOI NO YOKAN’ is it being such a polished version of what I grew up hearing from the Deftones. They still have the same level of intensity and I think their music is built on the same foundation. However as they have grow as musicians their sound continues to be more cohesive without compromising that foundation.
Both Diamond Eyes and KOI NO YOKAN are fantastic albums. The latter is their newest, seventh studio album. And it gets better each time I listen to it which is believe is one of the best charateristics of an album.
(Source)
If you can't tell what I think I will spell it out: check this out. Look into Diamond Eyes too. Actual if you want a good rock album it seems like you can't go wrong with the Deftones no matter what decade you choose.
Notable Tracks:
And for those interested here are a few from Diamond Eyes:
Still haven't picked this up yet, I need to get my shit together.
ReplyDeleteOk, after some careful consideration of this record over the last month or so, I have to say that it is fucking awesome. It might be even better than Diamond Eyes and White Pony. There may not be quite as many absolute standouts on Koi as on those other two, but the consistency across all tracks makes the record overall more enjoyable. It's similar to the last Sword record in that respect.
ReplyDeleteDiamond Eyes also had more solid material than most Deftones records, and this is a good trend for them. The first four, though good, were all pretty spotty in my mind (I still listen to Battle-Axe on the S/T all the time for some reason, but that's the only song I return to on that one.) But here, really everything besides Entombed is essential.
Another highlight of the album for me is that even though the front is so strong, the back half might be even better (particularly if you want to start the back half at Graphic Nature). Rosemary and Goon Squad, the last songs proper before the outro ender What Happened to You?, might be my favorite songs on the record. Where Diamond Eyes ran out of steam at the end, Koi picks it up.
Really hoping they do another US Tour with a Philly stop in 2013, though the fact that they played three shows in Philly last year makes me doubtful I'll be so lucky.