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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moving, an intelligent metal album, 20 Mar 2002
I have never been fond of metal. In earlier years, 1996, after scanning through the late night music channels I wandered upon a clip of a supposed "new band", the Deftones, performing something close to noise which I had no intention of ever enduring. Maturing was inevitable and since listening to rock over the years, metal was still boisterous ever since the arrival of Limp Bizkit and crew. The loud, heavy guitars did nothing and frontman Fred Durst seemed a fake, providing more comedy that seriousness. When I heard a track by the Deftones on late night radio, I liked what I heard. Change (In The House Of Flies) had a mysterious, sinister edge that changed my view on metal completely. Like their album, White Pony, the Deftones actually DID something to inject much needed intelligence and originality into this genre. No longer is the lead singer of a metal band screaming his testicles off about how bad life is, how someone hurt him... lyrics so vague that for every listener, each track could mean something completely different. Anger is usually the emotion released with heavy distortion, but here the music has so many transitions a track can move from rage to sheer beauty in an instant. Chino has a voice that moves this music like a tide - on Digital Bath the loud guitars suddenly cease as he mouths; "You breathed - then you stopped". Teenager is a soothing little number and the variety, which was needed to make this more than just a heavy-metal record. The whole album benefits from it, after it fades out, down come the blazing guitars with Street Carp and Knife Party. The Deftones really outdid themselves here. No longer do I generalise metal after White Pony. This is an album with a dark, sinister undertone, a Clive Barker of albums, an album to listen to at the end of a hard day, relax, rock, release all your emotions to with one CD. If you take emotional music further than listening to a bland love song, you need this.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing, rewarding, magnificent, 7 Dec 2004
Released at a time when nu-metal ruled the rock roost, 'White Pony', the Deftones' 3rd record was released in a period when the band were expected to forsake any artistic development and create an album of simple riffs, rapping and tortured lyrics. Well, after listening to White Pony, the question begs, if that's what you want then why are you listening to the Deftones?White Pony is the biggest departure for the band; yes, the chuggy riffs are still evident in 'Korea' and 'Elite', but whilst the Deftones have always forgone the option of making an easily heavy and hook laden rock album, this time they took the option of taking the listener on a proper journey. The moods the band creates here are truly sublime, emphasised in the emotive and driving 'Change (in the house of flies)' or 'Digital Bath'. Both with great melodic but firm riffs, and chased with a sense of beauty. And of course, the ever-impressive Chino Moreno's powerful voice bringing its trademark depth to this set of amazing songs. Definitely the most absorbing and rewarding of the bands records, here, the Deftones delve into light electronica ('Teenager'), semi acoustic prog ('Pink Maggit') and...lets call it developmental rock for 'Passenger', which includes a stirring guest performance by Tool's Maynard James Keenan. And not once does any of this fail to work; each track flows seamlessly into the next, each track standing out from its predecessor as each flawless track makes itself recognisable. Absorbing, rewarding and magnificent, White Pony is one of the best albums ever made, regardless of genre. If this doesn't make the hairs on your back stand up then nothing will.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
thank god for deftones, at last an intelligent metal band!, 25 Mar 2001
By A Customer
White Pony is a big improvement compared to the previous two albums, as they seemed to have dropped the 'same-as-all-other-american-bands' approach for a much darker, moodier feel. This works beautifully, and tracks like Change and Digital Bath really stand out as excellent examples of this. Change in particular has a massive effect on you, and this is something that cannot be said about many metal songs. This album relies much less on the constant cacophony of noise that the previous two did, and instead builds up to it using quiet atmospheric sections in the songs. This leaves the album as a whole with quite a sinister feel, which many bands try to get, but few actually achieve. The album does have its weak points, namely songs like Korea which sound a little too much the deftones of old. It does not seem to go anywhere, instead hovering around the 'too-loud-to-hear-what-he-is-saying' mark. However, this does not greatly detract from what i would describe as one of the best metal albums of 2000. Makes a welcome change from Limp Bizkit, eh?
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