SPEAKER_1 Hello, and welcome to another Double Dutch Rudder Podcast. Bet you didn't think I was gonna get in with my February episode, but I am. I know it's last minute, and technically this would be a leap day, so, normally, this wouldn't apply, but hey, we got around to it anyway, so that's all that really matters. Now, with that being said, it's gonna be a slightly different episode. You know, I've talked a little bit about music on this show before, and, you know, I enjoy music. I'm sure most of you out there do as well. So, I actually thought there was a particular band that's one of my favorites, I would say, it is on my top ten bands of all time. I think these, this particular band is great. They started in the 90s out in Sacramento, California. And if you don't know who I'm talking about, I am talking about the Deftones. Deftones, yes, they got started, I think, in the very late 80s, and started putting out albums in the mid 90s, right at the start of the, I would say, the genesis of the, quote unquote, new metal movement. I would really just kind of call it a heavy alternative, you know, stuff that was a mixture of like punk and metal and hip hop and all that stuff. It had a whole bunch of different elements in it. But anyway, I was going to rank their albums because they've got quite a few albums out, nine to be exact. And I think they're all, you know, fantastic in their own way. But some are better than others, in my personal opinion. And again, this is just my opinion as a fan of the band. So, you know, feel free to disagree. You're entitled to your opinion, and your opinion's allowed to be wrong. Because, you know, on this show, I'm right. Anyway, let's go ahead and get started. The, what I would say is number nine on the list, starting from the bottom, now we're here, is actually their very first album. This is actually the first thing I ever heard of theirs whenever I first became aware of the Deftones was their very first album. And that's Adrenaline. Now, this is a good album, but I will say there are a few knocks on it in terms of why I consider it to be their worst album, if they have a worst album. Namely, for this particular album, I would say it is the production on the album. The production is not great. It is very thin. The guitars are extremely thin sounding, like there's not much to them. All the heaviness, in my opinion, comes from the bass on that album. They also, the way they kind of mixed different genres on that album wasn't near as clean as it would be on subsequent albums. So that's why we're kind of starting out at the bottom with their first album. Surprisingly enough, I would actually, at number eight, I would actually put their most recent album. And my biggest complaint on that one, as well as actually the production on it, which is interesting because I believe the same person who produced their first album is the same one who produced this album. So, and I think that was Terry Dade. Anyway, the songwriting on Ohms, which is their most recent album, the songwriting just on this album is really kind of weak, in my opinion. The song structures are weak, the production is not great. There's some really grating and, dare I say, obnoxious guitar tones on it. I just think they probably should have spent a little more time, developed it a little bit more, because I think they're all great musicians, and they can make some great music, but I really, on this particular album, I think it should have stayed in the oven a little bit longer. I think it was a little bit undercooked. Next up on the list is number seven, Saturday Night Wrist. This is actually, I do really enjoy this album. This was probably them at, when recording it, they were not on the best of terms with each other, like from what I've heard as far as recording Saturday Night Wrist, they just could not get along. They were at each other's throats. It was just a really bad vibe in terms of recording the album. Now, I think there are a lot of great songs, and there's a lot of experimentation on it. There's one song in there that's very different. It's almost just like a straight electronic song called Pink Cell Phone that they did with, and I'm forgetting her name right now, but she was in the band Giant Drag. And it's hilarious. That is a song I'll still go back to, just because it's a good song, but the end of it is just hilarious, because she's obviously improv-ing at the end of that song, but again, it is kind of all over the place tonally. You know, it's almost too experimental, to be sure, but not a terrible album, but not one of their best either. Next up, number six, is their self-titled album. Now, this one came out right after White Pony, which a lot of people consider to be one of their absolute best. And White Pony is a very varied album as well, and I think this one was, their self-titled album was almost kind of a paint-by-numbers exercise. Like, it didn't really try anything new. The songs aren't good. Songs aren't very enjoyable. This is another one that I'll go back and listen to. I can listen to that album the whole way through and not skip a song. I don't know if I would give it a 10 out of 10 as a review, but I enjoyed the whole album. But again, some of the songs are not... they could be stronger in terms of songwriting, developing them a little bit more. But not a terrible album by any stretch. Number five is going to be Koi No Yokan. This one is definitely kind of... it's a trippier album, and it's got some really heavy moments, and it's got some very mellow moments, which I think kind of boated to what they were going to do on the album they recorded after Koi No Yokan. Again, I enjoyed this album, the production on it's great, the songwriting is strong. There are some songs in there that I just don't care for, like one of the singles they released, Leathers. Like I was just not impressed by that song. But it is a very strong album in terms of songwriting. You know, they really kind of seem like they were running on all cylinders on that album, which is nice. But again, not one of my favorites. Number four, I think most people will be surprised by this one. It is White Pony. Again, this is probably the one where most people who were not aware of the deftones before this album, this is where they became aware, which I understand how that can kind of shape your opinion of the album. And while it is a great album, songwriting is great. They were trying some new things on this album that was very different from the last two. But my biggest complaint about this album, and I know you've heard me say it about a couple of them so far, I don't really care for the production on this album. To me, it's kind of grating. To me, it's, while I like the album and I think the songs are strong and I think the songwriting is great, it's kind of like Metallica's Injustice For All for me. Like the production just isn't there. There's a couple of songs where the production works, but there's a lot of them where it doesn't. So, again, not a terrible album, that's why it's number four on this list, but not my favorite, not anymore by any stretch. Now, we're up to the top three. At number three, it's their second album, Around the Fur. This really kind of took what they were doing on their first album and really pushed it to its absolute limit. I think this is, to me, this is where the Deftones found their sound. On AdreNlin, you could tell they were searching, but on Around the Fur, man, they got it and they nailed it. Like, it was pitch perfect on this album. The production was great, songwriting's great, the performances were great. And this is another one where I can listen to it from start to finish and not skip one song. It is a thoroughly enjoyable album. Now, I know my next two are probably going to be quite controversial just because of the albums that they are. At number two, the Deftones' mellowest album up to this point, Gore. This is one of my absolute favorites. Tonally, throughout the album, it is very, very consistent. And I think that's, you know, for some people, that's a plus and some people, that's a minus. You know, it's very much a mellower album than anything they'd done previously. It was more of the mellow stuff than it was the heavy stuff throughout the entire album. And that's, for me, I think that's why it's one of my favorites. I think it was them playing and writing and recording at their most mature. So I think it's an absolute masterpiece. Now, for number one, I'm going with Diamond Eyes. This is another one that there was some tumultuous time before this album. They had just lost their bass player. He had gotten into a bad motorcycle accident. And this is, they had been recording an album with him before he got into the accident, and then started to scrap that and started recording this one after that. And I think that Diamond Eyes is an absolutely beautiful album. Again, another one from start to finish. If I was going to give any album that I listened to a 10 out of 10, it would be Diamond Eyes. Not a bad song on the album. The production's great. It's just a phenomenal album from front to back. I highly recommend, if you have not listened to the Devtones, listen to Diamond Eyes. That shit will hook you. And with that being said, I think that we are going to go ahead and wrap up this episode for February. I think next time around, I might be doing a gear review. It's actually going to be throwback gear review. But we'll leave that for the next episode. If you want to reach out to us, you can reach out to us. We have a Facebook page. You can check us out on ddrpodcast.com. We actually have a Mastodon instance as well. It's just me on there, so that's all you'll find there. That's at social.ddrpodcast.com. We also have an owncast website, which is like Twitch. I haven't live streamed there yet. Might do that next time around. Who knows, but we'll see. In any case, thanks for listening. See you next time.
Ep. 27