Deftones

Whether opening with "Back to School" or closing with it, the various versions of Deftones' third full-length get the same point across: this is an artistic masterpiece. Breaking the California quintet out of the nu-metal association, eerily urgent yet tender slow-burners "Change (In the House of Flies)," "RX Queen" and "Digital Bath" are the engaging valleys to crushing peaks like "Feiticeira," "Street Carp" and "Passenger" (featuring Tool's Maynard James Keenan). With gorgeous atmospherics throughout ("Pink Maggit" is a must), Deftones' finest hour is both eclectic and compelling.

Passion arises in the space between tenderness and brutality, where the longing to
succumb meets the impulse to control. Rock & roll expresses these paradoxes, often
without much forethought. But some artists do tackle them head on, in music that not only
feeds primal hunger but tries to unravel it. White Pony is that kind of effort. The Deftones
have always skirted the arty edge of hard music. They've long been threatening... More >