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by Justin Farrar

Back in 2000, Deftones unleashed an album that still stands as the most singular title in their discography. As with Tool's Ãnima, Sepultura's Roots and Faith No More's Angel Dust, White Pony is the sound of a band engaged in paradigm-busting creativity. The music is experimental and extremely personal, littered as it with Chino Moreno's cryptic poetry ("Back to School (Mini Maggit)" = utterly surreal wordplay) and howling spasms (see the metalcore-tinged "Elite"). What exactly Moreno is trying to say isn't always clear, though he spends a good amount of his time meditating on drugs, alienation, anger, sex, paranoia, violence and all around psychic deterioration. So yeah, White Pony is definitely one of the darkest records alternative metal produced in the post- In Utero era.

Sonically speaking, Deftones adhere to the "everything but the kitchen sink" philosophy. Deliriously dense and complex, every tune is packed with shades of heavy metal, funk, hip-hop and industrial. Not only that, the group's love of alternative rock and electronica (Hum, Radiohead, The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, My Bloody Valentine, The Smiths) informs the hazy, narcotic wash enveloping numerous songs, including "Back to School (Mini Maggit)," "Feiticeira," "Digital Bath" and "Teenager."

At the time of White Pony's release, the concept of fusing metal and alt rock certainly wasn't new. Bands as diverse as Killing Joke, Life of Agony, Quicksand and Helmet were all pivotal in breaking down the barriers between the two worlds. Yet there's something unique about White Pony that sets it apart. Maybe it has to do with the fact that unlike any of those other groups, Deftones have never been considered artists, much less from some kind of underground/subculture. They're more or less meaty bros from California who prove that meaty bros from California can be just as edgy and weird and different as any indie rock band Pitchfork enjoys hyping.

That said, maybe Deftones felt like they had ventured too far out with White Pony? After all, 12 years later and they've yet to release anything quite as stridently anti-commercial. Or, maybe the music was simply a reflection of certain life circumstances the band found themselves dealing with for a short while. If the latter, maybe it's for the better they haven't made another record quite like this one, because whatever it was they were going through definitely wasn't positive.

The Queen Is Dead

The Smiths

This is widely viewed as The Smiths' greatest hour; while this claim may not hold up on a song-by-song basis, the whole album pulses with a special vitality. The Morrissey/Marr team is once again capable of anything but rock cliches -- "Bigmouth Strikes Again" starts like The Stones and ends like a West End comedy, while "I Know It's Over" plays out like the saddest Angry Young Man movie of the 1960s. "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" is a ringing teen anthem that remains intimate, as past heartache is looked upon with wisdom and humor: It's one of the band's most covered songs.

Dirt

Alice in Chains

A sludgy, creepy masterpiece and probably the best record ever to be cursed with the Grunge label, Alice In Chains' Dirt relentlessly explores singer Layne Staley's very real and very disturbing addiction to heroin. Jerry Cantrell's wah-heavy Sabbath riffs trudge through the murk like a brontosaurus and Staley's vocals were never more Morrison-meets-Ozzy.

Closer [Collector's Edition]

Joy Division

Joy Division's second (and last true) album, Closer finds them expanding their innovative guitar rock into a multitude of sonic styles and tempos. The brilliance of songs like "Heart and Soul," "Decades" and "Isolation" (which could've been a pop single) and Ian Curtis' domineering personality serve to make this a strikingly mature work that should've been beyond the grasp of its creators (a fancy way of saying Closer contains that special magic artists can rarely plan for). This remastered edition includes a London concert that is miles better than the one originally included on Still.

Angel Dust

Faith No More

Two years after the freak anthem "Epic" made Faith No More an MTV sensation, they returned with an album that was anything but anthemic. Angel Dust is one of the more challenging albums to ever climb the Billboard. Filtering jagged funk-metal through a neo-Zappa sense of absurdism, F.N.M. produced an album that is dark, menacing and aggressively eccentric. Three tracks in particular -- "Caffeine," "Jizzlobber" and "Malpractice" -- are downright insane. That said, Angel Dust never devolves into cheap-thrills buffoonery -- quite the opposite, actually. It's a truly cerebral masterpiece.

OK Computer

Radiohead

Before the torrent of praise for this 1997 album, Radiohead were far from being one of the world's most revered bands. On OK Computer, they pull out influences as disparate as Miles Davis, Ennio Morricone and DJ Shadow, and flip their focus from inward despair to outward desolation and oppression. With layers of arpeggios, distortion, electric piano, strings, even cowbell, the band take inspiration from the bleakest corners of the collective consciousness and create a haunting beauty. This edition collects B-sides and live cuts that previously were scattered across singles and EPs.

Manic Compression

Quicksand

Though it didn't penetrate the mainstream quite like Helmet's Meantime, Quicksand's second album Manic Compression was pivotal in kick starting the alt-metal movement. The key to the music's impact is the deft manner in which the group fuses Fugazi's start/stop rhythm gymnastics to meaty, New York metalcore. Groove is so important, in fact, that Quicksand have little time for melody. Nevertheless, the many ways they weave their impassioned screamer vocals into their whiplash onslaught adds an anthem-like quality to several tracks, among them "Landmine Spring" and "Skinny (It's Overflowing)."

You'd Prefer An Astronaut

Hum

Hum are a lot like Smashing Pumpkins and Poster Children in how they blur the distinctions between alternative pop and hard rock. As a matter of fact, You'd Prefer An Astronaut is quite influential in this regard; its blend of shoegaze-informed fuzz and bashing rhythms has inspired many an act, including Deftones (who just love professing their love for Hum). The big hit is, of course, "Stars." But there's not a bad track here. The dour "Suicide Machine" (and its half-spoken lyrics a la Codeine) is a particular highlight, so is "The Pod," which just might be the record's heaviest moment.

Siamese Dream

Smashing Pumpkins

If Gish unlocked the door for the Pumpkins, then Siamese Dream kicked it down. When Billy Corgan and Co. unleashed this beast in 1993, it cemented their role as alt-rock superstars, with "Disarm," "Cherub Rock," "Rocket" and "Today" dominating MTV and alternative radio. Reeling from addiction, depression and the pressure of being the "next Nirvana," the band embodied '90s heroin-chic malaise and created one of the decade's finest records, a cathartic mix of dream pop, grunge and prog rock.

Meantime

Helmet

No matter how many nu-metal morons rip-off Meantime, the album's innovative zest never diminishes. When released in 1992, its unremitting succession of proggy grooves and start/stop dynamics sounded unlike anything else in modern rock. That's because Helmet were the first high-profile group to filter all the scuzzy noise-rock released on the Tough & Go and Amphetamine Reptile labels through the hardcore-metal crossover then dominating New York. On top of all this, guitarist Page Hamilton threw in a bunch of arty chops he learned while hanging around the Knitting Factory's avant scene.

The Downward Spiral

Nine Inch Nails

Trent Reznor's 1994 landmark album gets lovingly re-released here, with a second disc of new material. Alternate versions of "Hurt" and "Closer" make what is an already indispensable statement of purpose more than worth checking out. A night of BDSM, or just dancing, is incomplete without Dr. Sex's throbbing soundtrack.

Roots

Sepultura

Roots is a dense and sloppy mess that asks a lot of its listeners. A grand statement addressing Brazil's culture and politics, in particular the plight of the country's indigenous people, the record is packed with sonic experiments and novel touches, everything from "tribal" percussion and down-tuned riffs to industrial crunch and funk-metal breakdowns. Even when the music feels bloated and misguided -- which is rather often, mind you -- Sepultura never stop raging as hard and viciously as they possibly can. Plus, Ross "The Godfather of Nu Metal" Robinson's production is absolutely decadent.

Rage Against The Machine

Nothing compares to the brute force of this album; from the shocking cover to the songs therein, Rage Against the Machine prove they mean business. With an eye toward political activism, Rage's message inspires as much as it exposes. Mixing politics and music is difficult, but this quartet makes it sound natural. This is the must-have album in the band's catalog.

Faith

The Cure

The highly regarded Pornography has the savage sound, but the sparer, quieter, honestly downbeat Faith (it was recorded after the sudden death of one of Robert Smith's favorite relatives) has the better songs, including "The Drowning Man," a neglected beauty. This edition includes a mess of home demos, though only the additional single "Charlotte Sometimes" is essential.

River Runs Red

Life Of Agony

The exemplary River Runs Red, released in 1993, arrived about five years too early. Though Life of Agony emerged from New York's hardcore-metal crossover scene, which was thriving in the late 1980s, the group was more or less laying the foundation for nu metal by blending metalcore, old-school grunge and a little goth. But what really made the band stand out were their slower grooves ("Through and Through") and brooding, epic balladry ("This Time"). These qualities led to a lot of comparisons to Alice in Chains, yet there's something more overtly metal about LoA.

Loveless

My Bloody Valentine

Loveless took years to complete and almost brought its parent label (Creation) down with it. The struggle was worth it though, because the end result is miraculous -- a blend of blistering sound and angelic melody brought to life through Kevin Shields' fervent attention to studio detail and hazy guitar pyrotechnics. "Soon" is the standout club track of the entire shoegazer scene, but Loveless is a near perfect fever dream of a guitar pop record.

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Source Material: Deftones, White Pony