As one of the first alt-rock groups to alternate heavy riffs and screamed vocals with ethereal music and hushed singing, California's Deftones left plenty of imitators in the dust. For proof, just listen to B-Sides & Rarities — a collection of 14 import-only B-sides, covers of songs by Helmet, Duran Duran and The Cure, unreleased mixes and acoustic rarities. Particularly noteworthy are the smoldering versions of Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man" (complete with fuzzy vocals and a guitar solo that the Van Zants would be proud of) and "No Ordinary Love," made popular by urban-pop goddess Sade, crackles with sensuality — a term typically not used to describe Deftones music. That said, most voyagers on the Sea of Tranquility will want to skip past the ugly rap song "Black Moon."
As with Deftones' own music from four albums released between 1995 and 2003 (this collection serves as a worthy stopgap while the band is reportedly recording its next CD), there's an uneasy, serrated edge to these performances. It's almost as if you're waiting for some type of tragedy a to unfold during the course of any given song. Singer Chino Moreno can go from a whisper to a wail to a whine in less time than it takes to kick the shit out of a bass drum. And the noisy four-man orchestra behind him specializes in textured aggression while also managing to display abundant versatility. Plus, the fact that even a collection of oddball songs like this can hold together for more than an hour says more about Deftones than many of the band's late-century contemporaries have managed to say during an entire career.
B-Sides & Rarities comes with a DVD that features vintage footage of Deftones through the years, interspersed with all of the band's music videos. This collection is recommended for both fans and newbies.
Track Listing:
1) Savory
2) Wax and Wane
3) Change (In the House of Flies) (Acoustic)
4) Simple Man
5) Sinatra
6) No Ordinary Love
7) Teenager (Idiot Version)
8) Crenshaw Punch/I'll Throw Rocks At You
9) Black Moon
10) If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
11) Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want
12) Digital Bath (Acoustic)
13) The Chauffeur
14) Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away) (Acoustic)
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