Deftones - Gore (2016)
I don't really know what my problem is. I'm supposed to like a band like Deftones, but every time I've tried to give them a listen, I can't really find much enjoyment out of them. Deftones get a lot of respect in the community of heavy rock / alternative whatever, so naturally I felt it was my duty to give the band a shot, and this was back when White Pony was released. Even then though, I knew they had a unique sound, but I couldn't quite understand why so many people liked them. I suppose it's that Radiohead curse that seems to happen where a lot of people like it, but for whatever reason, I don't like it. Gore is really no exception to that rule. I got a few tracks into it before I realized that I was just listening to another typical Deftones album, nothing really spectacular or mind blowing showed up, so I just turned it off and went somewhere else.
I really want to like Deftones, honestly, I do. But if they want to convince me that they're a good band, they need to go out of their way and make something creative. They need to go beyond what they're used to and do something memorable for a change. Every album I've listened to by them, I hear the same distorted guitar riffs along with the vocals that don't really belong. I feel the band could do so much more if they switched the vocals to be something a bit heavier, maybe then they'd be able to pass themselves off as perhaps a heavier grunge-esque stoner band, and not just your run of the mill alternative band.
With this album specifically, I didn't even bother finishing it, because I got bored of it and had to turn it off, like I mentioned. But i'm curious to know if there's something I'm missing. Again, this band gets a lot of love from a lot of people in the heavy rock and metal community, so i'm obviously missing something with them. In terms of tracks that I liked? Well, again...I didn't even finish the album, so I can't really say whether any song is good or not. I listened to the first two tracks and decided it wasn't worth it. Maybe i'll go back and listen to it when i'm in the right mood, but for the time begin, to me, it just felt like a clutter filled run of the mill Deftones album with nothing new to bring to the table. Hell, if that's what gets them their success, by all means, keep doing it. Just know that I won't be listening.