{"id":469450,"date":"2026-02-12T04:23:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T04:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/469450\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T04:23:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T04:23:10","slug":"a-definitive-ranking-of-every-deftones-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/469450\/","title":{"rendered":"A Definitive Ranking of Every Deftones Album"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0Dissected<\/a>, where we disassemble a band\u2019s catalog, a director\u2019s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in the abstract. It\u2019s exact science by way of a few beers. This time, we follow Deftones\u2019 career, from their 1995 debut, Adrenaline, to their most recent effort, 2025\u2019s private music.<\/p>\n

Deftones<\/a> are a rare band who appeal to metalheads and shoegazers alike, offering a sound that\u2019s both heavy and ethereal. And they\u2019re also a rare band who really hasn\u2019t produced a \u201cbad\u201d album, which makes ranking Deftones\u2019 discography a difficult task. Right away, you\u2019ll see that the \u201clast place\u201d album is a very solid effort.<\/p>\n

While Deftones may have emerged out of the nu-metal scene of the mid \u201990s, their musical maturity and sonic evolution over the past 30 years has distanced the Sacramento, California, outfit from others in that category. Now, placing a genre on Deftones\u2019 music seems like a fruitless endeavor, as their sound is really undefinable.<\/p>\n

Led by Chino Moreno\u2019s soaring vocals, and the loud\/quiet dynamic of his talented bandmates, Deftones are perhaps the most consistent \u201cheavy\u201d rock act of the past quarter century. Having tragically lost their longtime bassist Chi Cheng in 2013, Deftones have triumphed in their second act, continuing to release quality albums in recent years.<\/p>\n

With no weak albums in their discography, this ranking resulted in a big debate among its four writers. So, for now, it\u2019s time to be quiet and drive through Deftones\u2019 masterful discography.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Spencer Kaufman, Managing Editor<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: This ranking was updated with the inclusion of Deftones\u2019 most recent album, 2025\u2019s private music.<\/p>\n

10. Gore (2016)<\/p>\n

\"Deftones<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to School of Thought: Gore is perhaps the second best example of why Deftones are as highly regarded as they are. The chief example is, of course, our #1 album, but for an album as good as Gore to rank last on this list speaks volumes about the overall quality of the band\u2019s discography. Like other albums on this list, Gore showcases the dynamic conflict between vocalist Chino Moreno\u2019s dreamier, artsier impulses and guitarist Stephen Carpenter\u2019s heavier desires. At its best, Gore displays why it is precisely that tension that propels the band to its greatest heights, being one of the few bands to satisfactorily transcend the nu-metal label by being so broad sonically and so consistent in quality to make the genre tag feel only occasionally appropriate. But likewise Gore is marred by the occasional muddled tunes and a tracklist that feels more at odds with itself than a coherent statement.<\/p>\n

Gore may be the weakest of the Sergio Vega era that began with Diamond Eyes, but this is still Deftones we are talking about. Tracks like \u201c(L)MIRL\u201d, \u201cPhantom Bride\u201d, and the title track may be lesser versions of similar ideas that appeared on the previous two records, but they still feel like they clobber the hell out of most songs by other groups attempting similar combinations of arthouse synth-led dreamy material with heavy post-hardcore\/metal driven punch. There is no denying that stacked up against Deftones other LPS, Gore is something of a weaker sibling to its more accomplished partners, but on its own it\u2019s still no slouch.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In the House of Fly (Best Song): \u201cHearts \/ Wires\u201d deepens in quality the more time you spend with it, marrying the casual Sade-inspired eroticism of the group with their essential nocturnal heaviness, making it one of their best songs period and a key example of how even on an album where Deftones are not at the top of their game. they\u2019re still very, very good.<\/p>\n

Be Quiet for Now: \u201cPittura Infamante\u201d is an obvious candidate for weakest track on the record. It is not so much that the song is bad on its own as much as it disrupts the momentum of the record, which up until that moment prepares Gore to be comparable to the band\u2019s best efforts. Here, Gore loses steam and never seems to win it back even with its quality back end. \u2014 Langdon Hickman<\/p>\n

Pick up Gore here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to\u00a0Dissected, where we disassemble a band\u2019s catalog, a director\u2019s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":469451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-469450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=469450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/469450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/469451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=469450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=469450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=469450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}