Little easter egg for you! 🥁 kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qNOVpqWny7K-caM.html

As a lifelong Deftones fan Abe is the key element to their groove.

Those drums never fail to put a smile on my face

It takes a true Deftones fan to obsess over Abe's drumming. Subscribed!

...if I remember right, one of Abe's influences was Stewart Copeland (from the police), and yeah, listening to The Police's first album you can hear a ton of similarities - like, Copeland never ever stops drumming, but it's never overwhelming, he just has absurd dynamic control and tastefully accents everything ("So Lonely" is so good). All with huge punk & reggae influence, which ends up sounding super funky but upbeat (on Police's good songs, at least). I can hear an influence, whether I'm imagining it or not...either way, hell yeah he's a gem of a drummer from that era.

I loved this album so hard when it came out. I was Asst. Manager of a Dominos at the time and my best friends worked there with me and I’d sing to them “Soon I’ll let you go” during the rush right before they were suppose to be off! Good times 😆

The way Chino sings the word “were” almost sounds like a middle-eastern influenced style vocal run. He does that in many songs. His vocals and Abe’s drums are brilliant.

At the time only having adrenaline and around the fur from them, I remember when the whole band comes in for the first time my friends jaws all dropping. A new era for us all. I love how chino selectively uses his breath as part of his vocal delivery, especially in this link is dead. It's like he tells a narrative with his breathing and gives me second hand anxiety from just that part. He keeps growing as a performer. I hope they never stop.

The White Pony drum sound is the elusive sound I am always striving for, but never quite finding. Abe and Terry Date found some once-in-a-lifetime level magic for these sessions.

Looooooooooooove this album so much. It changed my life and perception of music. Went to a show in Vancouver after the release and the opening band was mediocre at best. I asked a friend why we bother with concerts anymore then the Deftones came on and floored us and we knew why. Also met Chino backstage at Vancouver Summersalt fest and had a chance to talk music. Watched from side stage when they did their set and Maynard came out and sang Passenger. Amazing performance. Amazing show.

Still one of the best albums ever!! Saw these guys with Glassjaw the summer this album came out and it is a core memory.

The lyrics of this song make me imagine a some sadistic corrupt female cop torturing to a guy that's caught drunk while he was driving. The cop uses the guy to touch a crime weapon so that he will be found guilty ("She made me touch the machine, new murderer"). The imagery goes very well with the overall feeling of the music IMO.

I love the passage on how Chino does not follow the chords and pushes against them. It was explained very well and it helped me to better grasp the feeling of the song and why it works so well. This song is great, but after your analysis is greater! Thank you for the video, I cannot wait to watch the others about this album 😊

It is Portuguese and your pronounciation at 0:26 is so on point, lol! It means sorceress.

Chino's vocals and Abe's drums just do this deadly dance of drugs and sex; this inebriated, naked, bloody tango in the dark

Thanks for the accurate words and reactions ! I'm also blown away by Abe's drumming... Smooth, crystal clear groove, syncopating yet so straight to the point. Can't praise that man enough.

Maynard James Keenan was brought in as a consultant of sorts for this album. He downplays his role but their sound changed in a good way from this album on. Also, this song was about a dream Chino had about a Brazilian model that had kidnapped him. I’m assuming that’s why he is singing in major, disturbing but pleasing.

"I'm singing in this chord, then I'm singing in this chord" just, the piano and that line with that little pause on the second immediately made me think Ben Folds :P

The term shoe gaze is in reference to the guitar player looking at his pedal board. Controlling the board with his shoes. Great review! Love the deftones!

Subscribed immediately. You share my love and excitement for Abe's drumming (and Deftones in general). Been having a tough couple of weeks and this video instantly put a smile on my face!

Its called a double! Abe's little signature fill that he does alllllllll the time but it never gets old LOVED THIS btw

Your love and psssion for the music is so contagious, I'm here stupidly grinning to myself as I watch you vibing lmao

Huge band!!! I follow them since their first album...I love them and I feel they changed my life !!!

deftones drumming has always been so intricate and well felt out -- he's in the pocket yeah, he has his defined grooves he's settled on, and they get progressively more complicated as the song builds, adding in pickups and the implied notes and ghost notes you feel in the earlier parts, but it all feels so natural and still in the same groove. great stuff.

Everytime I watch your videos analysing music of bands I love, I find we are rocking the same parts of the song. ahahahah

I like how you pointed out Chino's almost jazzy melodic inflections. I've always loved his approach to melody and how it works against the harmony. As you mentioned, he def favors the 2nd degree of the scale, but also the 4th, 6th, and major 7th. Very shoegaze approach in that sense. I also love how, despite being a "metal" band, they don't lean so heavily on that whole minor pentatonic thing. I often wish Tool would take a cue from them and branch out harmonically a bit more.... :P Often, Deftones songs will be dark and eerie and menacing sounding.....yet be primarily in a major key, really leaning into the major 3rd and major 6th and major 7th notes. It gives everything a more sensual and complex nuance that mere minor pentatonic riffery just can't accomplish. Another "heavy" band that does that very well is Jane's Addiction. I think Dave Navaro is seriously underrated as a guitar player and song writer. And he too likes to play metal-adjacent music, but with a more "feminine" sensual emotional feeling. I think that's what really elevated their music, especially in the early days. It gave everything a very mystical sexy vibe. I think the thing both bands have in common is that their music is often very......pretty. Pretty and delicate and romantic and emotionally lush. I love heavier music....but I definitely prefer when that kind of music breaks away from the constraints of the usual Black Sabbath school of harmonic composition. Not that there's anything wrong with that! :) Speaking of heavy pretty music.....how familiar are you with Silverchair? I honestly think they're THE most underrated band to have come out of the 90s. It's too bad....because their run of albums from Neon Ballroom, to Diorama, and ending with Young Modern.....are masterpieces. As is The Dissociatives side project Daniel Johns did after Diorama....an album of distilled pure perfect Beach Boys inspired psychedelic alternative dream pop. ok.....I need to stop. I'm ranting again about things I love lol..... :P

I can't pin down a favourite album of theirs, but White Pony and Gore (wildly underrated) probably have the most rotations. Very excited to hear the rest of your dissections!

All the things. All the damn things. Bravo.

Abe its amazing. Such a musical drumming

I'm getting song requests in the comments so wanted you to know I take requests on the Patreon livestream at the end of each month! October's will be themed for dark/creepy/scary music: www.patreon.com/iximusic

08:46 hahah - love this

Deftones? Yes, please. New subscriber. I would LOVE to hear your take on Cherry Waves off Saturday Night Wrist.

I'm so glad you're doing more deftones videos 🖤

Love all your vids.

Abe is a beast on the drums and a super cool guy. I ran into him at a bar here in Sacramento late last year and chatted with him for a bit.

I'm also hyped for your vocal analysis for Knife Party

one of my favorite starting tracks to an album, holy SHIT.

I am so happy ^_^ thank you!

I know exactly the intervals you're talking about that he gravitates toward. I always thought of that as a signature. It's really dissonant and sounds off key. I always thought of it as the Are you ready? ... The Def Tone.

Amazing album.

Watched a few videos on tool & some other stuff. Really like your composer viewpoint that's different from my drummer viewpoint. Still, it's hard for me to stop thinkin' 'wow what a hottie'.

Great cd. Your well good to be all about them drums. His groove is great and his tone is phenomenal.

Does anyone else do discord in such an ultimately constructively harmonious way? Like plenty of "noise bands" use disharmony to make beautiful music, but I can't think of anything comparable that uses so many harsh and bitter ingredients to such a melodious end. Even NIN is usually using bitter flavors in a pop recipe. Deftones just do EVERYTHING perfectly WRONG and yet it adds up to such a soothful fancy.

Love your reaction

It took me 23 years to figure it out, but whenever I would try and cover their songs on drums, it always felt like something was "off." But then finally, for whatever reason, I learned that he's in-time, but dragging. It's at the *very last* moment before it would be considered off-time. It's like he's super late to the party but he still fits in and has a good time anyways.

This is how you start a album!!!

It is pronounced Fay-Chee-Say-Ruh. It means sorceress or witch

FAY-T-SAY-RA (portuguese word for witch) thats probably how a non portuguese speaker could say (I do speak portuguese). Cheers.

Soooon this will be all overrrr... but no, not really! Lots of great tracks to come 🔥

Feiticeira - Feh-chi-se-ra - Portuguese - A Witch Chino said this song is named after a South American girl It's about being kidnapped and describing the scenario involved from being drugged, ball gagged, thrown in a trunk, photographed, and mistreated by a female captor This could be interpreted as being a BDSM session, but that seems unlikely. Chino's not into that sort of thing in his lyrics, and I clearly listen to too much NIN. Seems more likely he watched Pulp Fiction

I was listening to the smiths and on the song "heaven knows im miserable now" the lead singer ties to hit the high notes "style"

Would love to hear some deftones covers by you!!!

Request: Band: God Loves Underwater Based on your NIN vids I think you would love them. As I recall they put out 1 album in 1993 or so, it was AMAZING, but got lost in the shuffle of so many big name bands of that era. Genre: Industry Rock Check it out. I'm also a keyboard player, I write and produce electronic music like you do and I love NIN, Tool, Perfect Circle, so I'm pretty sure we have similar taste. Keep up the good work, I dig your theory analysis videos. They had a single I think it was called "All Wrong" but the album was solid front to back with really unique music that drew from various genres, clearly talented musicians/vocalists. Gritty harmony vocals and really raw and primal synths and drums.

10:08 Finally somebody pointed this out!🤓

Hey Ixi. Great break down. I'd like to see your take on one of my favourite songs, "Beauty Has Her Way" from The Lost Boys Soundtrack. There's not a lot on it online as it was just a cult song because of the soundtrack. It's a sleeper. Really is a great stack.

Yess!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m gonna say something I’ve always thought, but I’ve never heard from the music community at large. I believe that Adrenalin-Around the Fur-White Pony is every bit as amazing as the growth reached by Radiohead via Pablo Honey-The Bends-OK Computer. Granted though, Radiohead may be ultimately working with more from a music theory angle, the overall growth in maturity riding on a wave of talent is astounding to me. I had just really gotten into deftones a few months before this came out and I was convinced this was the greatest thing I had ever heard outside of ok computer.

Hi. I am also transfixed by Abe's drumming. The snare.. oh my goodness. Lovely video. :red_heart:

Abe and David silveria were my favourite drummers from that era

tremeeeeendo

I just love how Chino sounds like he just met with his molly dealer xD

same, bestie

How ‘bout a breakdown of the time bending Deftones song Diamond Eyes

I always thought Abe Cunningham was the best drummer ever :)

bery nice boice

Funny, i just started getting into this album a month or two ago. To me his vocals are like a torch singer or kinda like the smiths lead singer.

11:20 I’m not sure it’s supposed to be clear what he’s doing there. Mostly bc I think he was going for a note, but missed the mark, but it’s like it could be any note. But ALSO due to its being the fucking Deftones, they were like “no that’s fucking awesome keep that shit in” And they were right.

I can‘t remember who - I think it was Rick Beato who once said in a Deftones analysis regarding Chinos singing style, he is basically singing Rn‘b over metal riffs, regarding his harmonies.

More more more

It sounds like snare, kick and cymbals. Are there no toms in his kit? The snare sounds like a gunshot.

FInally

@iximusic Self Titled next pleeeaaasssseee

Fay Chee Say Ruh

Can we assume based on your previous excellent break downs, that Tool is next?

Ah to be 17 again...

You should react to Crush With Eyeliner by R.E.M.

“She made me touch da machine….”

Where can I listen to your love stream of WP?

The a minor is always just implied though. The bass never confirms it, right?

Wait, where is the 3 hour White Pony music analysis?

3:41 yeah no sorry bye have to digital bath now

Always weird to me that this band gets lumped in with the neu metal scene. To me it sounds more like shoegaze metal.

The poor man's Faith No More.