Issue #38: Deftones – Around the Fur

Released:  October 28th, 1997

Recorded:  April – June 1997

Genre:  Nu-metal, Alternative Metal

Record Label:  Maverick / Warner Bros.

Duration:  73:55

Producers:  Terry Date, Deftones

Personnel

Track Listing

Singles

Why Around the Fur is One of My Favorites

When I first began feverishly jotting down albums at the time I conceived of this project, Around the Fur almost slipped through the cracks, which symbolically speaks to the Deftones’ underrated status back in the 1990’s.  2000’s White Pony gained the band a much wider fanbase, and it’s probably the most accessible of these early records, but Around the Fur is still an amazing album, and I’ve got a bit more of a personal connection with it than White Pony.  In many ways, it’s nu-metal at its best.

I had started building a reasonable collection of hard rock by 1997, though I was a bit young to really understand my own tastes, so Around the Fur wasn’t exactly on my radar when it came out.  However, I do clearly remember the days before White Pony, when there were only 2 Deftones albums.  And back then, the Deftones were sort of a natural “discovery” after getting into Korn’s music.  (The fact that Moreno was featured on Life is Peachy’s “Wicked” probably helped.)  In 1998, Limp Bizkit’s “Faith” blew up, and a year later, their second album Significant Other exploded.  By now, Korn’s Follow the Leader with its overt influx of hip-hop had become a sensation as well, and “nu-metal” began to become something of a derogatory label.  (Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory from 2000 made things even worse.)  The Deftones enjoyed success with White Pony but Limp Bizkit was now “next in line” for new Korn fans.

Now when nu-metal first started making mainstream headway, it was both a product of and a reaction to the alternative rock scene.  Frustration and boredom became outright anger, and these artists brought metal with them that reflected their more intense emotions.  For the first years, nu-metal was essentially a fusion of equal parts heavy/groove metal and hardcore punk with a modicum of funk thrown in, and by extension, a pinch of rap.  At this point, we had a heavy, commercially viable genre that did a couple of important things: it distanced itself from the monotony of traditional metal by adopting more conventional song structure, it brought in popular production standards to give it a modern sound, and it connected with its audience through relevant and personal lyrics instead of songs about the fantasy realm of Satan and the Cyclops and Judgement Day.

And had nu-metal stopped there, it would’ve probably settled into a nice little niche with a different name.  And that’s where an album like Around the Fur sits; firmly entrenched in this updated form of the “heavy metal sound” with mainstream appeal.  If you’re willing to bear with my tangent just a little longer, I propose the question; what the hell happened?  Rap.  Rap happened.  Was it due to a spur of the moment choice by Korn to invite Ice Cube to their third album?  Was Limp Bizkit simply on MTV at the right time?  Was the runaway of Eminem’s Slim Shady LP quickly bridging the gap between suburban rockers and inner city rappers?  Maybe a little bit of all of it.

One way or another, nu-metal became the ideal vehicle for rockers who wanted to experiment with rap.  Rage Against the Machine had been doing it for years, the Beastie Boys had always had a punk-like appeal, Aerosmith teamed up with Run DMC back in the 80’s – but for whatever reason, the hip-hop infusion seriously appealed to those who were buying into nu-metal.  The style was copied ad-nausem for a few years and completely oversaturated the market, eventually alienating those who weren’t fond of all this hip-hop in their metal.  Due to the massive popularity of nu-metal after it was imbued with ever-increasing doses of rap, many artists either changed their styles to accommodate demand or simply got lost in the undercurrent.  As a result, we lost a lot of potentially great acts and forever soiled what was more or less good music, though in retrospect nu-metal is starting to gain more respect as its own unique genre.

Around the Fur enjoyed popularity among astute listeners, though it quickly got buried under the wave of “more rappy” nu-metal.  And it’s a real shame, because it’s a hell of a hard hitting album and a great glimpse of what nu-metal might’ve evolved into without all the hip-hop fusion.  The guitars are deep and heavy, the riffs are instantly memorable, the grooves established by the bass and drums are some of the best in the genre, and Moreno’s shift between quiet, almost mumbled singing and full-on, angry-as-hell screaming all make this record something worth hearing.

Even if it is the lead single, I have no problem admitting that “My Own Summer” is my favorite song off the album.  This cut is thick with its roving guitar riff.  It’s slow and lethargic, just like a hot, humid, sticky day where the air is thick and the sun is blinding.  And then when Moreno begins belting out the chorus at the top of his lungs…it’s just damn incredible.  “Lhabia,” a clearly aggressive track, remains a great mystery due to the whispered vocals that have never been official printed.  “Mascara” combines uncomfortably quiet portions with an uneasy, quavering delivery by Moreno, making for a bleak tale of mutual abuse between partners.

One thing that Around the Fur does well is play with soft-loud dynamics as well as slow-fast song structures.  Nearly every track is interwoven with a gloomy melody, and Moreno is equally at home crooning softly but spookily or screaming with bone chilling effect.  “Around the Fur” represents nearly all of this in a single track.  “Rickets” is the album’s heaviest piece with fierce drumming and non-stop guitar.

“Be Quiet and Drive,” the album’s second and final single, really demonstrates the effective use of melody in music this heavy.  The chord progression that underlies all the distortion is almost uplifting, while Moreno’s mumbled words take on an ethereal quality as they float over the dense instrumentation.  “Lotion” sees an utter breakdown of Moreno’s “singing” during the verses that sounds like the disturbed rambling of someone unhinged.  Another understated but pleasant melody finds its way into the refrain.

“Dai the Flu” touches lightly on shoegaze material, feeling a little formless and experimental, and maybe what something from the Smashing Pumpkins would sound like had they hit the scene a few years later.  “Headup” finds familiar nu-metal ground with Max Cavalera’s vocal contributions.  A line in the chorus, “Soul fly,” would later become the name of Cavalera’s own band, Soulfly.  “Mx” closes Around the Fear with another shoegaze-esque piece, followed by hidden track “Damone,” another track that experiments with soothing melodies over harsh guitars similar to “Be Quiet and Drive.”

I didn’t really set out to mini-describe every track, but there was so much interplay I wanted to mention from one piece or another.  Around the Fur has a sort of “aloofness” that not everyone will immediately find appealing; I think it helps keep the music interesting.  Honestly, my favorite thing about the record is the dense barrage of guitars around nearly every turn.  Moreno’s unrestrained screaming and the band’s contrasting melodies are both tied for second.  The Deftones were unquestionably teetering on the edge of greatness with Around the Fur.  I’m not sure that White Pony really represented exactly where I had hoped they would land afterwards, but it does come close albeit at the cost of the more unconventional parts of Around the Fur.  But White Pony is 2000’s, and Around the Fur is 90’s, and as per my premise, Around the Fur definitely one of my favorite albums of the 90’s.

Written by The Cubist

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Written by The Cubist

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I collect as much video gaming paraphernalia as I can get my hands on, especially when it comes to hardware. With over 40 systems including oldies like the ColecoVision and Intellivision, obscurities like the CD-i and 3DO, and the latest and greatest including the Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, and PS Vita, I get easily overwhelmed. Most of the time you can find me firmly nestled sometime between 1985 and 1995 when it comes to my games of choice, but I’m also having a great time seeing what the 8th generation has to offer.

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