B-Sides and Rarities [CD + DVD]

‘B – Sides and Rarities’ is Deftones’ latest release and one for which fans of the band will be most thankful. This is a collection of rare and unreleased tracks comprising material reaching far back to their earliest recording sessions. These tracks are far from the usual Deftones sound, incorporating a great deal of the emotion and feeling that comes across in their music, but with a different sound overall.

Along with the covers, there are four original Deftones songs, three of which are acoustic versions and all are admirable attempts. The three from ‘White Pony’ are ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’, ‘Digital Bath’, and ‘Teenager (Idiot Version)’. The acoustic ‘Be Quiet and Drive’ from ‘Around the Fur’, is the fourth.

The covers include, ‘Savory’, which is a Jawbox cover off their album, ‘My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents’, and a perfect opener to the album with a very distinctive Deftones sound. The band brings a different but highly enjoyable take on, ‘Wax and Wane’, by The Cocteau Twins. The Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, ‘Simple Man’, is a beautiful rendition of the original that is as far from a Deftones sound as you will find, however, this song touches all the right notes as it ambles along with it’s morose yet toe-tapping rhythm. One of the features on this release is Helmets’, ‘Sinatra’, that finds the band altering the song to sound as close to a Deftones song as possible. The band avoids this tactic with Sade’s, ‘No Ordinary Love’, which is very close to the original, even down to Moreno’s crooning vocals. ‘If Only Tonight We Could Sleep’, a Cure cover, is a great musical interlude that potters along for five minutes, with very distinctive Moreno vocals appearing half way through. ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’, by The Smiths is carried off for its short duration and keeps the original shape while still having a Deftones feeling. Duran Duran’s, ‘The Chauffeur’, is the last cover on the album.

‘Crenshaw Punch / I'll Throw Rocks at You’, is the last song they recorded for, ‘Around the Fur’, which never made the cut for the album. The rap-filled, ‘Black Moon’, was the last song they recorded for, ‘White Pony’, and is possibly the worst or most ill fitting track on, ‘B-Sides and Rarities’.

The DVD that comes with this package is a lovely collection of all of their videos presented in a professional manner, with smaller highlights, interviews, and footage between videos. The listing includes the bonus video for ‘Root’, ‘7 Words’, ‘Bored’, and ‘Engine No. 9’ off, ‘Adrenaline’; ‘My Own Summer’ and ‘Be Quiet and Drive’ from, ‘Around the Fur’; ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ and ‘Digital Bath’ from, ‘White Pony’; ‘Minerva’, ‘Hexagram’, and ‘Bloody Cape’ from Deftones; and finally ‘Back to School (Mini Maggit)’.

With all of the covers and every one of their videos present in one package, there is little opportunity to create the consistent overall sound found on other Deftones releases, giving the listener an erratic and disjointed experience. However, having all these songs on one collection makes this release perfect for any Deftones fan, and there are many. There is a noticeable absence of a few other cover versions, which raises the question of why release this package and leave off a plethora of material, which would complete most collections. Overall, this exceptional collection makes a fine little package to include in a Deftones set.