Deftones - private music (Album Thread)

[Draken]

So, fantano gave it a 7.Thoughts on that? I feel an 8 would be fairer but Im taking it. I do not agree on his view of souvenir but I think he was on spot this time.

For Fantano, a 7 is fair. He doesn't seem to like Deftones, and Deftones fans kinda loathe him... I can appreciate his articulate reviews but fuck him he knows nothing about good music. And yes, I disagree with him on souvenir too. It's a good song, I do think the song synth outro could've been shorter however.

[Inkblades]

I enjoy some of his non-review videos and Twitch streams, but my issue with him as a critic is he's an internet influencer first and a music critic second, so he's naturally going to flock to what he thinks is going to get him the most clicks, views, subscribers, Patreon members, etc. I get preferring pm over Ohms, but I don't think there's such a huge gap in quality where the former is a 7 and the latter is a 3, so I do kind of wonder how much of him giving this a positive review is "Gen Z likes Deftones? I better get on board". 

[Draken]

Track by track MMIAM is a favorite on the album. Simple, yet it's such an unmistakable Deftones groove, and I personally like the theme of the song. What shines here is Chino's vocal melodies (perhaps Steph had songs like this in mind when he mentioned how amazed he is with Chino's vocals after completing the music). It grew on me with on each listen.

Locked Club was a surprising track (in a good way), admittedly, when I first read the track listing I judged it right away. I'm so glad I ended up liking it as much as I do, probably one of my favorites on the album. Reminds me a lot of the band Kowloon Walled City, I love the spoken verses and its straightforward abrasiveness.

Ecdysis reminds me of something off of Gore (in a good way) even though I don't like that album. Starts out with that Filter-esque bass line from Gerbil, then breaks out into the chorus, it's extremely infectious. I find myself playing it in my head all the time.

I get a 311 vibe from Infinite Source, I could easily see 311 doing a song like this. The ending especially is very 311. Would be fucking SWEET if they covered it. I can see why this caught on with people, it's a very poppy and accessible track. it's not bad, just not my tempo.

Souvenir is another personal favorite. It starts out slow maybe a bit dull but around the 2 min mark it REALLY begins to open up to an epic song. I LOVE Chino's songwriting and lyrics here. It definitely has a Deftones trade mark sound while also exploring around. The synth outro should have been shortened by half. Even 45 secs is already kind of a long outro for that song.

Ok so the first half of the album is my favorite. After this track I feel the album loses me a little. When CXZ kicks in it goes hard and I like the intensity, the song is not as interesting or diverse in it's sound, but basically it's just one of the album's faster more intense songs which is fine. I loved the visualizer when I first heard it, my gf still doesn't like the song that much but I don't mind it at all. It's more of that frenetic energy that's threaded within the album.

ITAYATT I don't have anything really nice to say so I'll just say it was disappointing. Sextape was better. I always fall in love with the idea of what a Deftones song COULD be based on the titles and what I hear others say (Zane Lowe) but it's a skip for me.

MOTM wasn't impressed on first listen but now that I have heard the whole album it's a banger. One of the best on the album, I hate that the chorus is ALWAYS in my head though, my gf and I look at each other sometimes randomly and we both know what we're thinking... "HoLy gHost... I'm oN FiiiiRe!". It just has this fast energy like alot of the other tracks here but it also has this desperation in the verses that I find to be strangely appealing.

Cut Hands. Deftones doing their Deftones thing with some vibes reminiscent of CMND/CTRL (a song I don't care for) but this time I think they did a more refined version, and I don't know if I like the weird voice modulator thing. The ending is literally EXACTLY the same as DE, why no one is talking about that more IDK. I think people are already talking about Steph's writing but, it could have been a banger song if they worked it a little more.

Metal Dream is an alright track but not a standout, it's just kinda there. Don't care for the verses at all, and that's about it, I don't have much to really say about it other than that.

Departing the Body is a great closer, Chino does this Mike Patton voice? (I thought of Tom Waites first) in the beginning and toward the end of the song. The story is Chino was recording ideas for the song in a hotel room or something and didn't want to be loud so he recorded it like that and Nick heard the tape and told Chino to just sing it that way... wish he wouldn't have... oh well, you take artistic chances, sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. Obviously there are lots of people who love that choice and that's why it's ok. Again, just not what I like.

Overall a good album. It's what I wish Gore would have been.

[976-EVIL]

Experimental Record for sure, but the same Sound? Fantastic Album!

Honestly, opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one. The only one that truly matters is ours...lol

[Inkblades]

Well, it's been long enough, I'll drop my thoughts on each track...

1. my mind is a mountain - Banger. I saw some online talk that this is a by-the-numbers Deftones song, but when it's still this hard-hitting and aesthetically pleasing, I really have no problem with it. It has that short, straight to the point vibe that Diamond Eyes and Swerve City have, but I like this one more, probably mostly because Stephen's riffs on this hit me harder in the gut. One retroactive nitpick, but I do wish the studio version had Frank's little synth intro from the privatemusic.tv performance because they sound cool as hell.

2. locked club - Maybe its the title but this definitely has some futuristic post-punk vibes. Like Ahnuld shooting 80's dancers at the Tech Noir club in Terminator. Appreciate Chino trying different things vocally in the verses before it gives way to a classic-sounding hypnotic Chino chorus. Maybe not the most mind-blowing song, but it's a cool vibe.

3. ecdysis - This one was immediate for me on first listen. Kind of catchy and bouncy in the same way Urantia is (an underrated song IMO), but ecdysis is maybe a bit more successful overall because it...feels more focused? Chorus is awesome, making me feel like I can fight off 100 bears or something. Chino touching on the California fires lyrically, it seems. Ohms t/t was also touching on a similar topic. The end of the world is a good topic, so keep exploring it, Chino.

4. infinite source - Closest Deftones has ever gotten to outright pop-punk, so I see why its a single and why the newer fans went crazy for it it. Now personally I was never really a pop-punk fan - nothing against it, was just never my cup of tea (mostly due to the nasally vocals), but I can get into the Deftones version of it. Cool song overall - I particularly like the verses. Abe's great on this one as well.

5. souvenir - This song conjures images of Victorian-era London for some reason. Princesses in elaborate dresses and fops in pancake makeup sitting around in ornate castle chambers. Probably the clock chime sounds on the verse? One little nitpick but the high note Chino hits near the back half of the song sounds very, very similar to the high note he hits on locked club. I mean, it's a cool note, but very similar. Good song, if maybe a tad too long.

6. cXz - One of the darker sounding songs here - reminds me of 00's Deftones A LOT. Some interesting structural changes here. Like the "constant zero" chorus part. I'll keep this one in the stash for when I'm in a weird mood. More nice touches from Abe with the "start stop" drumming.

7. i think about you all the time - Probably a scalding hot take - I like this more than Sextape. I get why Sextape is such a popular song, and it is a good song, but I was never head over heels for it as many are. I like this because it has that romantic, dreamy vibe but Stephen's power chords make it feel more like a Deftones song to me. I also really like how Chino keeps subtly switching the melody up on the back half of the song. One of the best songs on here I think. It's makeout at the beach during sunset music and for that reason I can't be mad at it.

8. milk of the madonna - Absolutely fucking BANGER. It has a "being shot out of a rocket" feel, which is cool as fuck. Love Stephen's tone and chord changes here, probably some of my favorite work from him in awhile. Probably between this and ecdysis as my two favorite tracks, but I think this is taking it. This song encapsulates everything I love about this band.

9. cut hands - Haha this song is fucking nuts. Feels like an Adrenaline/ATF throwback in the same way This Link Is Dead did, but more married to their newer style than that one. I saw some online talk theorizing its about Sergio, but I don't think so - I think it's again touching on us whiny, annoying, entitled online fans in the same way This Link Is Dead and Crosses' Big Youth did. I get it, Chino, we're annoying! No argument there. But I do feel like he can move on from this topic now. Did Frank throw a Firestarter sample in here?

10. ~metal dream - This one took some time to grow on me but I like it. Chorus is vaguely reminiscent to 976-EVIL (forever a favorite). Are those dub effects in the verses?

11. departing the body - Great, great closer. It kind of reminds me of a Gore-era song (mean that as a compliment) mixed with Fantastic Planet-era Failure. This might sound weird, but the visual this song gives me in my head is a robot in a cowboy hat hanging off a metal buoy in the ocean right as the apocalypse is about to hit. Saw some criticism of Chino's deep voice vocals and don't understand the problem, it sounds awesome.

I'd probably say this is one of if not the most consistent album of the post-Chi era. There's really not an outright bad or even mid song here. The only thing that is holding me off on putting it above Diamond Eyes and Koi for now is those albums have some very high all-time songs for me - Royal, Prince, Risk, 976, Leathers, Tempest (btw, it took me a very long time to realize Tempest is a masterpiece of songwriting, but it's an absolute masterpiece of songwriting), Gauze, Rosemary, even if this is more consistent overall? I said in a previous post that I would try to go into  this with zero expectations per Chino's request on This Link Is Dead and I did. All I asked for in that previous post was for 7 out of 11 bangers on the album and they gave me that and then went past it with 11 bangers. 4.5/5 overall.