Deftones: Adrenaline [MAVERICK]

Why you'll love it

This Maverick pressing was made in the Netherlands, with Terry Date's production mastered at Sterling Sound. It's the record where Deftones first set loud against soft, with "7 Words," "Bored" and "Engine No. 9" still in the set lists decades on.

This edition

• Pressed in the Netherlands
• Mastered at Sterling Sound

About the album

Before they were anybody's favourite band, Deftones were three skateboarding friends from C. K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento. Stephen Carpenter liked heavy metal, Chino Moreno liked Bad Brains, Depeche Mode and the Cure, and Abe Cunningham played drums in Carpenter's garage from around 1988. Chi Cheng joined on bass, and by the time Maverick signed them they'd been playing these songs for years.

They cut the album fast at Bad Animals in Seattle with Terry Date, and Moreno sang everything live in the room with the band, into a hand-held Shure SM58. That's why it hits so hard: "Bored" and "Nosebleed" lurch and crash, "Lifter" and "7 Words" ride crisp, chopping guitar, and Moreno slides from a croon to a scream in a single breath. Frank Delgado, later a full member, adds touches to "Minus Blindfold" and "Fireal."

Kerrang! called it impressive and heard it falling somewhere between Quicksand and Tool. Deftones toured it relentlessly with Korn and White Zombie and even opened for Kiss, which is a fairly loud way to introduce yourself to the public.

Also at Kops: more Deftones on vinyl · browse Metal

Tracklist

Listen

On Maverick (cat# 527707-1), a reissue of the 1995 album.