ALBUM REVIEW: Black Stallion – Deftones
How do you celebrate the 20th anniversary of one of rock and metal’s most critically acclaimed albums by one of it’s most diverse bands? Well, in the case of the DEFTONES, you add a fully remixed version of the record that comes bundled with the reissue of their classic record White Pony from the year 2000. Featuring remixes from the likes of Robert Smith, Mike Shinoda and Clams Casino, this new release titled Black Stallion, attempts to push the boundaries of what a DEFTONES record can sound like even further than the original.
With every track from White Pony remixed by a different artist, aside from the original opener Back To School (Mini Maggit), this record is understandably very scattered from track-to-track. Whilst some of the contributors to this project take the angle of adding elements here and there, others change the entire landscapes of some of the tracks. The only real constant found across the record is Chino Moreno’s incredible vocal performance and even that is buried under other elements on some of the tracks. When the artists featured on the album take elements of what makes these songs great and then add their own touches to enhance different aspects, the result is an enjoyable listen for DEFTONES fans. With it feeling like they’re adding to this great piece of music instead of taking away, this presents a fresh take whilst still feeling somewhat familiar.
Many of the cuts on this album show just how versatile the band’s sound is, often stripping away elements and replacing them with more electronics. On the track Teenager, Robert Smith’s version of the song strips it back and puts a lot more emphasis on the very core of the song, resulting in a serene listening experience that shows off the ethereal nature of Moreno’s vocals. Other tracks take the ominous feeling of the original record and stack it with more electronic layers, giving it a more experimental/noise rock feel. Though in some cases this feels like a natural transition for some of the band’s music, this also means sacrificing a lot of the subtlety that DEFTONES are known for. This balance in pulling some elements to the forefront versus replacing them with a wave of electronics fluctuates throughout the record with varying degrees of success.
Other parts of the record make far more significant changes to the source material, stripping almost everything away aside from the vocals. Tracks like Trevor Jackson’s remix of Korea and Tourist‘s remix of Change (In The House Of Flies) relegate the vocals to faint recurring whispers which, in the case of the latter, result in a track that feels entirely different to the original.
On the other hand, Mike Shinoda of LINKIN PARK fame gives the dual vocals of Moreno and Maynard James Keenan the opposite approach, stripping back the elements that surround them to give them even more weight on his remix of Passenger. After replacing the track’s riff with some sweeter, more low-key chords in the verses, the track shifts entirely in the chorus, replacing the distinctive DEFTONES groove with some huge electronic elements that jump in and out as the chorus vocals do. This track in particular shows the strengths and weaknesses of this project as a whole. Feeling like an extension of the original album at first when adding to the track’s subtle atmosphere, the huge electronics that kick-in during the chorus gives the track a very disconnected and distanced feel.
With a different artist’s interpretation on every track, some of the approaches fit very well in the context of the original White Pony. Using electronics to add to the ambience of the original tracks, these new versions feel like creative extensions that pay tribute to the album whilst still giving it a fresh take. At the same time, other tracks can sound almost unrecognisable from the song that came before it, using electronic elements to fully disconnect itself from the original. This results in some of the remixes feeling not all that essential, stripping most of the material away to make room for more electronics. With a wide range of artists collaborating on this project, it’s no surprise that the end result is so varied but there’s enough here to at least peak the interest of long-term fans of this 20-year old classic.
Rating: 6/10
Black Stallion is set for release on December 11th via Reprise Records/Warner Records.
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