Saturday Night Wrist
Deftones
Saturday Night Wrist
2006, Maverick
7.2
It wasn't until one minute and five seconds into track 3 of the album Saturday Night Wrist that I realized what exactly the Deftones 2003 self-titled release was missing.
Heart.
It is at that moment of the song Beware, and then later moments when the same chorus resurfaces in full, that you come to a true understanding of what you remember the Deftones to have always been about. They have always rocked your face off. But there was always so much emotion involved in every aspect of their sound. Whether its the loud/quiet melodies, the lyrics that not only scream something but mean something, or Chino's ability to do what most "metal" artists cant do...which is SING...and hit real notes; the Deftones have always been able to keep even the people who are least likely to listen to music in their genre entertained.
All of those points were way off target in their 2003's Deftones, the follow-up to the peak album of their career, White Pony. Deftones managed to rock hard, but there was never a point on the album where you actually felt it. Just a lot of noise...good noise in my opinion...but still just noise. I guess this would make Saturday Night Wrist a return to form. It probably would have been more suitable as a follow-up to White Pony.
The album at first seems top heavy, which makes it difficult to focus on the second half. The first few songs are so strong, they command your constant attention. Hole In The Earth, the first single, seemed empty to me at first, but it turns out to be a perfect opener. Each song gets better and stands out more and more with every listen. I feel like this album has to grow on you track by track, but by the time you get to the end, you realize that you got a taste of everything you wanted, and at some point heard echoes of this bands past...along with samples of what may lie ahead.
