Elsewhere, ‘Teenager’ leans on smoky trip-hop beats, the melancholic ‘Change (In The House Of Flies)’ became the band’s biggest single to date (and it still is), and ‘Elite’ won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2001. Electronics were now woven throughout songs that convulsed with amplified aggression but also stepped back to reflect on the bruising, guilty but enthralled.Ī distinct air of progressive rock descended, with the track ‘Knife P(a)rty’ going so far as to actually riff on Pink Floyd’s ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’ with its soar-away vocals from the guesting Rodleen Getsic. This album changed everything – not just for Deftones, but metal as a whole. That, and incredible drumming from Abe Cunningham, saw ‘Around The Fur’ propel its makers to previously unattainable critical acclaim and commercial success.Īs great as ‘Around The Fur’ was, few predicted that Deftones would surpass it in quite the way they achieved with ‘White Pony’. Palpable emotion was now right at the forefront of his lyrics, revealing a softer heart to this band compared to many of its contemporaries. Which certainly cannot be said for much that Red Cap and company put out during the same period.Ĭhino’s singing voice was becoming a potent part of the band’s arsenal, his ability to switch between soft tones and terrific shrieks a force to be reckoned with. True, the likes of ‘My Own Summer (Shove It)’ and ‘Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)’ will always be synonymous with the genre that gave us Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, but compared to ‘Break Stuff’ (for example) they’re wonderfully detailed, texturally deep songs that can still electrify the senses. Again, Date is the man at the production controls, delivering a sharp end product – but Deftones’ ambition was now bubbling over, and they were ready to remove themselves from the nu-metal equation entirely. The breakthrough, spawning a couple of MTV-courting singles, and also the album that brought electronics man Frank Delgado into the fold to expand the band’s sonic palette.

List of deftones albums