Deftones (album)
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Deftones is the fourth studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones. Released on May 20, 2003, by Maverick Records, the album incorporates trip hop and shoegaze influences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was the band's last release to be produced by Terry Date until Ohms in 2020. Being one of the most expensive rock albums of all time to record at a budget of $2.5 million, Deftones is the 13th most expensive album ever made.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Musical style
Deftones is an eclectic album, with songs spanning many different ideas in diverse genres. Most of the album's songs make extensive use of Stephen Carpenter’s low G# tuning. On the other hand, the track "Lucky You" is a dark, soft, trip hop piece featuring DJ Crook from Moreno's side project Team Sleep and vocalist Rey Osburn of Tinfed.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A grand piano and toy piano were featured in the mournful "Anniversary of an Uninteresting Event", while "Minerva" has been described as a shoegaze song.<ref name="cos">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="spinmag">Template:Cite web</ref>
Promotion
Template:Uncited section Deftones produced two singles, "Minerva" and "Hexagram". Music videos were shot for both singles as well as the track "Bloody Cape", which was also intended to be a single, but was released in limited editions for promotional purposes only. The latter's video was only available on the band's official website for one day, but was later released on the DVD portion of the band's B-Sides & Rarities. As the lead single, "Minerva" featured a melodic, commercially viable sound and gained strong rotation on mainstream rock video programming. In contrast, the heavier, more abrasive sound of "Hexagram" landed it on metal-themed shows such as Uranium and Headbangers Ball.
Critical reception
Deftones received an aggregate rating of 74 on Metacritic, which indicated generally positive reviews.<ref name="Summary" /> However, the album was not as well received as its predecessor White Pony, and, at the time of its release, it received some reviews ranging from marginal to negative from critics. Upon its release, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the album as a disappointment compared to the rest of the band's catalogue.<ref name="auto" />
Q praised the album, giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating, "In a genre considered creatively bankrupt, this is genuinely new metal".<ref name="Summary" />Template:Bsn Rolling Stone stated, "This is metal that crushes, then soothes; collapses, then soars... Deftones just blow open the possibilities".<ref name="auto1"/>
In 2016, Jonathan Dick of NPR Music retrospectively noted the album's "trip-hop nuances" and included the album as an example of Deftones' varied catalogue, stating that "Deftones' catalogue reads like a case study in how a band can translate influences into a sound that's definitively their own."<ref name="npr">Template:Cite web</ref> The track "Minerva" was placed at spot number 12 in Consequence of Sound's article "The Top 20 Deftones Song", with Jon Hadusek claiming that "[in] a way, Deftones brought shoegaze to the alternative metal mainstream with 'Minerva', a crushingly heavy, textured jam indebted to Siamese Dream-era Smashing Pumpkins and Hum". Hadusek further stated that the track was "far-and-away the best track" of the self-titled album and that the track "hints at the dreamier directions" that Deftones would continue to explore.<ref name="cos"/>
The A.V. Club gave the album a moderate score but criticized the band for returning to their heavy style, instead of the more soft and artistic style of its predecessor, White Pony.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Spin also gave the album a marginal score, but complained about the album's notable darkness, saying, "On their fourth album, Deftones are sad as hell, and they're not gonna take it anymore; this is less an 11-song album than a single long-form mope".<ref name="spin.com"/>
Pitchfork reacted negatively to the album, describing the album as pretentious and as a bizarre departure from their previous work, claiming "Deftones sounds more like a band in the throws of a mid-life crisis than a group of musicians that could be called the 'Radiohead of Metal'. This is music on the fence-post of popular pining and dulled experimentation, an anachronistic addition to an otherwise respectable discography, and it will be remembered as such."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Playlouder gave the album a negative review, criticizing the album's droning melodic songwriting structures, proclaiming: "it's why this album almost completely fails to deliver on that promise. When Chino's not screaming, he's generally busy turning 'Deftones' into 'Tonedef', improvising a series of randomly-pitched moans which seem never to have shared so much as a rehearsal room with their generic metal backing, let alone a chord sequence."<ref name="archive.org"/>
During a 2020 interview with Metal Injection, frontman Chino Moreno expressed his dissatisfaction of the album for both personal and musical reasons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Commercial performance
Deftones debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, behind Staind's 14 Shades of Grey, one spot higher than its predecessor. The album also debuted at No. 1 on the Canadian Albums Chart, selling 10,700 copies in its first week of release in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album sold 167,000 copies in its first week of release in America.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Despite the strong initial sales, it quickly became apparent that the album did not match the success of White Pony after its first month; the band's label described it as a commercial disappointment.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The album was certified gold by the RIAA on July 7, 2003.<ref name="RIAA" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> To date, it was the highest-charting debut for any album by the band;<ref>Template:BillboardURLbyName</ref> it would manage to sell over 492,000 copies in the U.S. by 2005.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Track listing
Personnel
Deftones
- Chino Moreno – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Stephen Carpenter – lead guitar
- Chi Cheng – bass
- Frank Delgado – samples, keyboards
- Abe Cunningham – drums
Additional personnel
- Rey Osburn – additional vocals on "Lucky You"
Production
- Terry Date – production, engineering, mixing
- Greg Wells – co-production, arrangements
- Sam Hofstedt – assistant engineering
- Sean Tallman – assistant engineering
- Pete Roberts – Pro Tools engineering, additional engineering
- Tom Baker – mastering
- Frank Maddocks – art direction, design
- James R. Minchin III – band photography
- Kinski Gallo – additional photography
- Nick Spanos – additional photography
Charts
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Weekly charts
| Chart (2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> | 28 |
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Greek Albums (IFPI)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 60 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2003) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 174 |
Certifications
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