Ever since Deftones released their new album Private Music a couple months back, it’s been in constant rotation. It’s a really good album. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should! It’s the album that should’ve come after Koi No Yokan. If you want to read more about Private Music, you can check out my review here. Earlier this week, while in the beginning stages of putting together an Ultimate Set List for Deftones, I realized how many great songs they have that don’t get played live. And there are a bunch. One track in particular that I’ve always gravitated to is the final song on their 2003 self titled album, “Moana.” According to setlist.fm, this song has only been played live twice and both happened in 2004. That must change (no pun intended)! “Moana” is one of those signature Deftones songs with the ambience, heavy guitars, pulsating rhythms and those oh so sweet vocals! So, I’m putting it out in the universe that “Moana” needs to start getting it’s time to shine!!
One of my good friends just went to the annual Dia De Los Deftones festival. It looked like a pretty solid show especially with Knocked Loose and Rile playing alongside Deftones. After the show was over my buddy sent me some video of some songs and I naturally looked up the set list. It was nice to see some rarities played though the majority of the set was a lot of the usual suspects. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, sometimes, it would just be nice to switch it up. Which brings me to my next Ultimate Set List, an updated Deftones set. This one is pretty damn good if I say so myself.
Guideline 1: What line up of the band would it be
Guideline 2: Where would you want to see the show
Guideline 3: maximum 25 songs (In order of how the set should go)
Lineup: Chino Moreno, Abe Cunningham, Frank Delgado, Stephen Carpenter, Chi Cheng
Venue: Fonda- Los Angeles
01) Engine No. 9 02) Elite 03) Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) 04) Good Morning Beautiful 05) Diamond Eyes 06) Kim Dracula 07) Digital Bath 08) Risk 09) When Girls Telephone Boys 10) Swerve City 11) Around The Fur 12) Rocket Skates 13) Radiant City 14) Cherry Waves 15) You’ve Seen The Butcher 16) Lhabia 17) RX Queen 18) Entombed 19) My Own Summer (Shove It) 20) Change (In The House Of Flies) ENCORE: 21) Hole In The Earth 22) Knife Party 23) Rickets 24) Minus Blindfold 25) Pink Maggit (with “Back To School”)
The sounds track to 1996’s Escape From L.A. is quite a good one. It features songs from White Zombie, Tool, Ministry, Clutch, Deftones and many more. The film itself is still a fun movie but, the soundtrack is what holds up most. One song from it that I’ve always enjoyed and have hoped for years that would be played live is the contribution from Deftones and their song “Can’t Even Breathe.” It’s an early Deftones track that is a bit of a pre-cursor to where they were headed after Adrenaline. This is one of those soundtrack only songs that should be celebrated!
The other day I saw that it’s the 20th anniversary of Deftones 2003 self titled album. I remember the day it came out, it was also the same day as Metallica’s St. Anger! When I went to listen to the album, it’s been quite a minute since I have, I quickly remembered an old favorite song and went straight for it and that song would be “When Girls Telephone Boys.” This song is one hell of a gem. It’s got everything I like about the band in one and live?! Oh, it’s a beast that goes off! I’m just gonna keep it short and simple, enjoy this song!
Yesterday evening, I was on a Deftones rabbit hole and found myself looking up a lot of Adrenaline era live videos. While on this trip, my interest in the song “Teething” peaked the most. I will always remember the song from being a part of The Crow: City Of Angels Soundtrack (great soundtrack but, terrible movie). I especially remember that they are in fact featured in the movie playing the song. “Teething” most definitely should have been included on the Adrenaline album. It’s such a cool song. So, enjoy some Deftones today!
On Deftones second album (and my personal favorite) 1997’s Around The Fur, it didn’t just have one hidden track, but two. After the final song “MX” finishes, there’s about 15 minutes of silence before there’s a 20 second skit/recording called Bong Hit, which is exactly what it sounds like. Some 13 minutes after that, though, “Damone” begins and the rest is history! This song shouldn’t have been a hidden track. It’s too damn good not to be included in the original sequence of the album. No matter what though, Deftones really knocked it out of the park with this one!
Back in 1998, Deftones were riding high on their second album Around The Fur (my all time favorite Deftones album). By the time their second single “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” dropped, Deftones were fast on their way to begin taking over. On April 20, 1998, they performed “Be Quiet and Drive” on Late Night with Conan O’Brien before heading out on the Vans Warped Tour (back when they still had great lineups). Check out this great performance!
Deftones- Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) on Conan O’Brien 1998:
Deftones have a long history of making quite complete albums. There are a couple that are a little disjointed but, for the most part are rather perfectly sequenced. Their artistry and evolution is something that many bands from their era should have taken a cue from. They’ve managed to stay relevant by pushing themselves as songwriters and performers as well as incorporating other elements into their sound to separate themselves from their peers. On these few title track songs, Deftones, really encapsulated the sound of these albums with these songs.
I really thought that this feature was a lot of fun so I’m doing it again. This time I present my ultimate set list for Deftones.
Here are the rules:
Rule 1: maximum 25 songs
Rule 2: What line up of the band would it be
Rule 3: Where would you want to see the show
Lineup: Chino, Steph, Abe, Frank, Chi and Sergio
Venue: Satellite (Spaceland)- Los Angeles
Set List:
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
Around The Fur
My Own Summer (Shove It)
Lotion
Deathblow
Minerva
Beware
Kim Dracula
Swerve City
Entombed
Tempest
Feiticerira
Digital Bath
RX Queen
Knife Party
Passenger
Change (In The House Of Flies)
Diamond Eyes
You’ve Seen The Butcher
Rocket Skates
Risk
Minus Blindfold
Engine No. 9
Root
Pink Maggit
I’ve been a huge Deftones fan since I first remember seeing the video for “Bored.” I thought Adrenaline was a cool album when it came out, then I heard Around The Fur and my excitement level went through the roof. Around The Fur was so powerful. There was a striking difference between this album and their debut. As The story goes, when Deftones went into the studio to make Around The Fur they really didn’t have a set idea of what they wanted to come out with. This time around the guys spent more time in the studio with producer Terry Date. If you listen closely to Abe Cunningham’s drums, you can tell there is a difference on the drum sounds especially the snare, as he began to experiment using different snares on each song. There is also something really intriguing about the quiet to loud dynamics on the album as well. When you have songs like “My Own Summer (Shove It),” “Lhabia,” Around The Fur,” “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” it really shows the bands growth and ability to write songs that can be heavy yet have a sense of melody without compromising their artistic integrity.
After a break from touring Around The Fur, the band spent a few months locked away in the studio writing and recording what would become White Pony. The majority of this time was spent trying to write songs, and that the writing of a particular song “Change (In The House Of Flies)” was the turning point for the group as they began working as a “band.” There was also pressure from their label to release the album sooner, but, the band decided to take their time making the album that they wanted to make. The band essentially picked up where they left off with Around The Fur by really delving more into melancholia and melody. The album is explosive and beautiful, thus making it one of the bands most mature releases. The inclusion of songs like “Digital Bath” “RX Queen,” (which features guest vocals by Scott Weiland), and “Knife Party,” join in with the vibe that “Change” had in its spaciousness and use of experimentation. The guesting of Maynard from Tool was a great use of a guest vocalist on “Passenger.” Even with all the experimentation and evolution, Deftones still had their heavy touch on a lot of the songs like “Elite,” “Feiticeira,” and “Street Carp.”
Granted these are two very different albums but they are similar in showing a bands evolution. Personally I’ve always been more partial to Around The Fur, for it’s raw prowess, and unforgiving nature. White Pony is a close second though. To me though Around The Fur just really gets me going in such a fashion that I can’t turn it off, or even turn the volume down. Where do you fall on this issue?
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AUDIOECLECTICA 