Track by Track thoughts on Saturday Night Wrist
posted February 28, 2008, 5:31 am | Log In To Post Comments | 
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Tags: Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist
D, you inspired me to give this album a true listen. Usually when I listen to an album for review I'll do track by track notes. These are my track by track notes on this album.
Hole in the Earth- first single (?), chino sounds strained, 6/8, insanely simplistic chorus arpeggio. "hole in the earth" producer-word-choice, easy to reach high notes on those syllable sounds. three phrases of 6/8 for each time the intro riff is repeated, sounds like an awkward attempt at an odd time signature. what is the ending riff all about? sounds like a pantera knock-off riff. Decent melodies, monotonous song, awkward ending.
Rapture- syncopation makes it sound like another awkward attempt at a strange time signature. vocals attempt to throw back to original harder sound but he can't seem to reach that level of intensity anymore. actual attempts at an odd time signature seem more like they're drawing the phrase out rather than actually using an odd time signature, 6/8-9/8, would sound better 6/8-4/4. Okay attempt at old-school deftones songs, time signatures sounded awkward
Beware- simplistic (in a good way) melody in the beginning. thoroughly enjoyed lead-in to chorus creates tension that would be beautifully relieved in a decent chorus, minor second. interesting key choice, C#min, i iii progression, reminiscent of old deftones style. first chorus vamps on second chord for too long. entire song is based upon a 2 chord progression. Key choice was unique, simplistic song, enjoyable vocals in chorus
Cherry Waves- sounds like chino doesn't know what key to sing in, doesn't resolve the tension he creates in his melodies. ends most verse melodies on fourth degree of Dmin, awkward. Vocal melody doesn't fit the key at all, melody can be minor or major whereas the instrumental is clearly and heavily minor
Mein- awkward, skipped it a bit over halfway through
Up up down down left right left right a b select start- reminiscent of my feelings towards "Lucky You" on self-titled release although I don't feel this song would be as appropriate for soft-core porn as "Lucky You." I didn't get into Deftones for their post-rock sound, that's all i've got to say about that song. They don't do post-rock well
Xerces- boards of canada-esque start. sort of a-sexual melody (could be minor, could be major, sounds more major) in a clearly mellow and eventually minor song. again, chino sounds strained. again, tension not resolved in vocal melodies except in the chorus but even then only the first phrase, sounds like he has to clear his throat in the second half
Rats!Rats!Rats!- this is where I stop listening. same issue as Rapture. Can't reach the intensity he once had in those screaming portions. I almost feel that if the quality of recording was lower he'd sound better. Listen to "Minus Blindfold" for real Chino screaming
Ultimately I would rate this album a whopping 2/5. Nothing beats old Deftones and as Chino gets fatter and fatter, is voice gets worse and worse. I understand some strain being purposeful and necessary to achieve a certain sound but the amount of strain in Chino's voice is too much. Also, musically tension is also a very useful tool and was clearly purposefully implemented within this album. However, tension without resolution at some point simply makes for an awkward sounding track. If you want to hear what I'm talking about, play a I V vi chord progression. In a commonly used key such as G major that would be G major, D major, and E minor. The three chords sound decent together if you're not in a major key signature, but since you are, ending with E minor sounds like an awkward ending. Hence why those three chords are only half of Freebird's long chord progression :-P
I'm going to stop now. I'm starting to sound like a jerk. Maybe I just have too much of an idealistic sense of the old Deftones that I grew up listening to and idolized. Maybe I am disappointed that the skinny Chino that I thought looked so cool when I was a kid got fat and awkwardly so and I'm just a shallow individual when it comes to my idols. I don't know. Either way, I stand by my distaste for post-White Pony Deftones material.
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Deftones Deftones = Metallica Load/Reload
Deftones Saturday Night Wrist = Metallica St. Anger
