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Album Details

• Artist: Deftones
• Album: Around The Fur
• Label: Maverick
• Year of Release: 1997
• ME Rating: Indie Classic
• Reviewed by: hstisgod on 2007-02-02

Sludgy metallic strings blending to the beat of a monstorous melody of percussion and screams. Around The Fur is the blank stare into rock radio of 1997. The opening track My Own Summer (Shove It) cranked up all the Alternative radio stations, and even the airwaves of MTV. But thats just the plastic wrapper, let's open 'er up.

Coming off a strong (strongest to this listeners ears) debut release "Adrenaline", it would have been easy for these SoCal kids (kids at the time anyway) to go pop after a lack of commercial success. But Around The Fur was their most viement middle finger to rock radio, and they were crowned for it. Tracks like "Mascara" have that deep darkness and metal twirl that so few bands could muster. Though one of the slower cuts here, by far the most melodic, and twisting. A daunting slow tick of a guitar stroke beats through out the song. Like the impending doom of the cartoon villain, the slightly stronger chorus bleeds long and painfully. Chino's vocals slowly drag the instrumentals along into a field of empty metal only to set up the next track with out hesitation. The self-titled track, though no longer a mind-numbing screeching rollercoaster by today's metal standards, easily influenced half of Metal today with its teasing in and out moody explosions.

Not long after "My Own Summer", came the stamping of Deftones, for what has turned out to be a blessed career. "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), became the metal pop anthem of this LP. A quick jarring pace, and barely audible but soothing vocals combined for a very large hit, catapulting The Deftones into a large career. In the end, Chino's vocals are mixed to combat one another. First his whispering barely audible, then his golden pipes of growl. Towards the end of the album is truly my favorite tracks like "Dai the Flu", "Head Up" and "MX" bring cuts of deep rhythm which will be etched in your brain for a nice ending flow to the disc. F.Y.I., the last track is thirty seven minutes long, though its not really that strong of a track, its a nice bonus on a great classic metal effort. For the full review... http://www.epinions.com/content_338091609732

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