Saturday Song To Get Stoked To.

I kind of stole this from Metalsucks, but I figure I'll kick off my blogging career with some inspired plagiarism. Every Saturday, I will share a song that has been rocking around on my iPod with everyone out there on the Interwebz.

In case you haven't noticed from the title of my blog (an awful attempt at a pun), I'm a huge Deftones fan. So there's no better way to begin this weekly feature than by posting the second single from 1997's Around The Fur: "Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)." I bought this record in elementary school, and this song has remained one of my favorites. It's a smooth, hard-rocking song that beckons memories of the late 90's rock scene; the comforting tone of the song is a nice counterpoint to the menacing swagger of "My Own Summer (Shove It)," the first single off Around The Fur. The opening riff is instantly recognizable, and it carries the song along with Chino Moreno's soft, inspired singing. The lyrics don't convey a story as much as they do a certain feeling, which is something that can be said for nearly all of Moreno's lyrics. Chino's gentle singing doesn't belie the meaning behind the song (see: "Digital Bath"). I've always felt that this song is about finding someone and leaving everything else far behind.

Deftones has continued to defy genre classifications and hone their signature sound through the years. White Pony (2000), driven by the singles "Change (In The House Of Flies)" and "Digital Bath," put the band at the top of the rock scene by going platinum and distancing Deftones from its so-called nu-metal peers. Ten years and two solid records later, the band released Diamond Eyes (my 2010 record of the year), a powerful statement and return to form that further established Deftones' place as one of the most popular and respected mainstream rock groups left in the game.

Here's the video for "Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away)."

Oh, and since I'll be seeing Deftones in Atlanta next month, I've included a live video of the same song. They're an incredible live act, and this video captures that perfectly. I hope you enjoy both.