''Diamond Eyes'' is the sixth studio album by American
alternative metal
Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
band
Deftones
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first f ...
, released on May 4, 2010, by
Reprise Records. It was the first album to feature bassist
Sergio Vega, who replaced original bassist
Chi Cheng. An album tentatively titled ''
Eros
In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...
'' was originally intended to be the band's sixth full-length release following ''
Saturday Night Wrist
''Saturday Night Wrist'' is the fifth studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on October 31, 2006, by Maverick Records. Despite early contributions that were later scrapped, it marked the departure of mainstay Deftones ...
'' (2006), but was not finished due to Cheng entering a coma after a serious car accident that occurred in November 2008, eventually resulting in his death in 2013. The band continued on with Vega as his replacement, and the release of ''Eros'' was put on hold in favor of ''Diamond Eyes'' in June 2009.
''Diamond Eyes'' was a critical and commercial success, peaking within the top ten of the
US ''Billboard'' 200 and several other international charts; it was the band's highest charting album on the ''Billboard'' 200 since their
2003 eponymous fourth album. Four
singles were released from ''Diamond Eyes'':
the title track, "
Rocket Skates", "Sextape", and "
You've Seen the Butcher
"You've Seen the Butcher" is a song by the American alternative metal band Deftones. It was the fourth and final single released from their sixth studio album, ''Diamond Eyes'' (2010). The song memorably uses unusual time signatures.
To support f ...
".
Background
Deftones started writing material for the successor to 2006's ''Saturday Night Wrist'' in early 2007. The band was dissatisfied with the lengthy writing and recording process of ''Saturday Night Wrist'', and wanted to release a quick follow-up record in the same manner as earlier albums such as 1995's ''
Adrenaline
Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and medication which is involved in regulating visceral functions (e.g., respiration). It appears as a white microcrystalline granule. Adrenaline is normally produced by the adrenal glands an ...
'' and 1997's ''
Around the Fur
''Around the Fur'' is the second studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on October 28, 1997, by Maverick Records. The songs "My Own Summer (Shove It)" and "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)" were released as singles with ...
'', which were recorded without the digital audio program
Pro Tools
Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture ( sound design, audio post-produ ...
. Instead, those albums were recorded as just a band "in the room with just our instruments, no other distractions", according to frontman
Chino Moreno
Chino Moreno (born Camillo Wong Moreno, June 20, 1973) is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary lyricist and contributing guitarist of the metal band Deftones. He is also a member of the side-project groups Team S ...
.
The band recorded and completed their
Terry Date
Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ang ...
-produced album, tentatively titled ''Eros'', in 2008, and it was expected to be released in early 2009. However, bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile accident in November 2008, leaving him in a coma and putting the release of ''Eros'' on hold. Unsure if or when Cheng would recover and be able to perform with the band again, Deftones started playing various shows and festivals with Sergio Vega on bass, starting in early 2009. Vega, a close friend of the band, had previously filled in for Cheng during tours in 1999. At this point, Deftones were not sure if they wanted to break up or continue writing and performing music.
In June 2009, Deftones decided to indefinitely put the release of ''Eros'' on hold and start writing a brand new album with Vega.
The band still hopes to release ''Eros'' at some point, but wanted to wait until Cheng was no longer in a semi-conscious state, and they did not feel that it represented who they were as artists or as people at the time. Deftones wanted to make an optimistic record, as opposed to the dark and angry album they had just finished.
''Diamond Eyes'' was recorded in two months with producer
Nick Raskulinecz, who had previously worked with
Foo Fighters,
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pun ...
,
Stone Sour and
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...
.
Deftones avoided using Pro Tools on the album. Instead, they favored writing songs together as a band and practicing them "a million times 'til they were perfect" in order to achieve a more raw and "personable" sound.
Release
''Diamond Eyes'' was originally scheduled to be released on April 27 by Reprise,
but was pushed back three weeks to May 18,
and later pushed forward to May 4, 2010. The latter release date change was possibly due to the album
leaking onto the Internet in March 2010, two months before the original scheduled release date.
The first song from the album, "
Rocket Skates", was available for free download through the band's official website on February 23, 2010.
The song had been included in Deftones live performances starting in October 2009,
and was later released as a limited edition 7"
vinyl
Vinyl may refer to:
Chemistry
* Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer
* Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation
* Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry
* Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
single for international
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
on April 17, 2010, serving as the second overall single. A music video directed by 13th Witness (Tim McGurr) was released on March 9.
The first single, however, was the title track, "
Diamond Eyes". It was released as a single to digital retailers on March 23, 2010. The music video for the song, directed by Roboshobo (Robert Schober), was released on April 13. Deftones performed a live webcast of songs from ''Diamond Eyes'' and answered fan questions on May 4 in
Dallas, Texas
Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...
. A music video for the track "Sextape" was released on September 3, 2010. The video was directed by ZFCL (Zak Forrest and Chad Liebenguth, known for their work with
Foxy Shazam
Foxy Shazam is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 2004. , the band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Eric Nally, pianist Sky White, trumpeter and backing vocalist Alex Nauth, bassist Trigger Warning, guitarist Devin Williams ...
and
Fang Island). On October 28, 2010, Deftones released the official video for "
You've Seen the Butcher
"You've Seen the Butcher" is a song by the American alternative metal band Deftones. It was the fourth and final single released from their sixth studio album, ''Diamond Eyes'' (2010). The song memorably uses unusual time signatures.
To support f ...
", directed by
Jodeb Films. In August 2011, Deftones released the official music video for "Beauty School", directed by 13th Witness.
At just over 41 minutes, not including the pre-order and deluxe edition bonus tracks, ''Diamond Eyes'' is Deftones' shortest album.
Lyrics and themes
After dealing with the tragedy surrounding Cheng's accident, Deftones wanted to create an album with an overall positive and optimistic vibe. Describing the band's state while writing for the album, Moreno stated, "Our inspiration and unity as a band is stronger than it has ever been before and we needed to channel that energy into our music". Noticeably lacking on the album were songs about complaining, hurting or how "life sucks" – common lyrical themes for Moreno since the early '90s.
Moreno described the overall theme of the album as a "positive zest for life", and also said it had "a fantasy vibe" similar to ''
White Pony
''White Pony'' is the third studio album by American alternative metal band Deftones, released on June 20, 2000, through Maverick Records. It was produced by Terry Date, who produced the band's first two albums, ''Adrenaline'' (1995) and '' Aro ...
''.
The lyrics for "Rocket Skates" contained "beautiful yet violent imagery" and were compared to the song "Knife Prty" from ''White Pony''.
Deftones also thought it would be difficult to tour in support of a new album with memories of Cheng attached to it. Commenting on songwriting, Moreno stated:
Reception
Critical reception
Initial reaction to the album from music critics was highly favorable.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
wrote, "Naturally, there is quite a bit of roiling darkness here -- they're
Cure-loving metalheads, it's in their blood -- but there's shade and light, control of texture, with the band deepening rather than expanding."
Jason Pettigrew of ''
Alternative Press
Alternative press may refer to:
Individual publications
* ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine
Alternative journalism
* Alternative media
** Alternative media (U.S. political left)
** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...
'' stated, "Unlike their alleged 'peers' (do they really ''have'' any?), Deftones learned years ago that a whisper can be more terrifying than a scream and power isn't always about BPMs and downstrokes per minute." He also added that ''Diamond Eyes'' "belongs in a pantheon of amazing albums born from tragedy".
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writer Mike Diver was also impressed, and opined that the album "knocks every pretender to the band's throne into the middle of next week". He praised the band for playing to their strengths, and summarized: "''Eros'' is reportedly their excursion into weirdness, while this is a statement of consolidation, a neatly segued set that finds Deftones playing to their well-established strengths."
Writing for Metalholic, Doron Beit-Halahmi said the album was "slated to be a classic in the world of
, this album is just as good, if not better than 2000’s ''White Pony''".
".
BLARE Magazine's Joshua Khan observed "Deftones give birth to a refined sound that makes creations like 'Prince' and '976-Evil' enslaving."
's Mark Shukla likewise explained, "The first four tracks set a blistering pace as churning riffs transition relentlessly into fret-burning breakdowns; all the while Chino Moreno deploying his wounded croon and lacerating howl with an intensity that remains impressively undiminished."
staff writer Nick Greer gave an unequivocally positive review and called the album "better than ''
''". He described the album's sound as "intense and visceral, but introspective and sensitive in ways Deftones have never been before", before finally adding, "I can honestly say it's Deftones' best album to date."
'' stated that while there are moments on the album where Deftones "sound a bit like a band on auto-pilot", many of the other tracks "stomp such limp moments with pleasingly crude riffs that claw and scrape through the verses, then release Chino Moreno's voice into glimmering, menacing choruses."
described the tracks "Sextape" and "Beauty School" as shoegaze.
. ''
'' magazine also placed it as their Album of the Year.
In their roundup of the 25 Best Metal Albums of 2010–2019, the music blog
ranked ''Diamond Eyes'' as the 4th best metal album of the '10s.
Revolver Magazine ranked ''Diamond Eyes'' as the best album of the Decade.
''Diamond Eyes'' was expected to sell between 55,000 and 60,000 records in the U.S. during its first week, based on first-day sales, according to ''
''. The album sold above these expectations, moving 62,000 copies in the U.S. It debuted at No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' 200, making it the fourth consecutive Deftones album to debut within that chart's top 10.
As of October 2012, the album had sold approximately 236,000 copies in the U.S.
''Diamond Eyes'' personnel according to CD liner notes.
;Art and design
* Frank Maddocks – creative direction and design
* John Ross – owl photos
* 13th Witness (Tim McGurr) – band photo
;Production and recording
* Keith Armstrong – assisted
, mixing
* Andrew Schubert – additional engineering
* Brad Townsend – additional engineering
* Tom Whalley –