DEFTONES
(you know, when Marc loves a CD, he gushes all over it, almost to the point of soaking it in his own man-fluid. However, when he DISLIKES a piece of music, he's ruthless. He finds the nastiest comments from deep within his sphincter and flings them all over the poor unsuspecting band. This review, however... is a different one for Marc. He doesn't like it, but he doesn't want to bash it. Odd fish, this kid is - SC)
It's been a couple of months that I've had this CD, listening to it over and over trying to find direction toward writing this review. Well after a few more weeks, I've come to the decision that I will not judge this CD on a rated scale, the reason being: It's simply too difficult to judge from many angles, but I will give it a shot.
This disc is simply devoid of characterization. I have never sat with a CD this long thinking how to review it, how to judge the songs, musicianship, production, etc, but time and time again this disc alludes me and for one reason or the other, this disc simply does nothing for me as well. Being a HUGE fan of their last two efforts, and considering
White Pony to be one of the best 'alt-nu-metal-what-ever-you-call-it-these-days' discs, I simply cannot sit here and tell you that DEFTONES has anything even remotely accessible throughout the entire 11 tracks presented on this CD. I cannot slag them, judge them, bash them, nor praise them for that matter because I simply cannot find one thing I like about this disc. The songs are very dissonant, Chino Merino screams in virtual indecipherable tones, and 'sings' in such a way that all musical structure is mute. The band is in top form, and proves their musical muscle on each and every track, shifting dynamically between calm/serine moments, to all out cacophony, usually all within the same measure, but the end result leaves me with nothing to hold on to. But, does this mean this disc sucks harder than Jenna Jameson? NO. It's simply a disc that each and every one of you who decides to purchase (or dare I say - download it) and listen to it, must judge for yourself, because in the end, this band are truer to themselves and their art than most bands on the planet. They do not care about singles, hooks, riffs, styles, characterization, or musical integrity. What they do care about is being themselves, and this disc proves that in more ways than you can imagine. I will not ever slag a band of their caliber and influence for releasing an album that simply doesn't grab me, just because I can't find a hook, or chorus to latch on to. They have created an album of their own making for themselves and decided to share it with you, the fans, and for that, I give them the highest praise an artist can receive: INTEGRITY. If they had made
White Pony 2, sure, we would love it, and buy it by the truck load, but Deftones are not that type of band. They simply create what they NEED to create, and play music only THEY can create, and for that, they are still top shelf in my book. So with that, I will give this disc NO stars, because as corny as this sound: Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and that's what this disc is.....ART. Meant to be viewed, listened to by each and every individual who decides to take a chance on a band that dares to be what they are: ARTISTS.
