In an attempt to find new rock music from my favourite era of rock and metal stretching from the 1990s to the early 2000s, I stumbled upon Deftones’ 2011 compilation album, “Covers.”
“Covers” was released on April 16, 2011, and was limited to 5,000 copies in vinyl record format and included covers like “No Ordinary Love” and “Milk,” recorded as far back as 1995 following their first tour.
Deftones had covered songs from bands like The Cure, Drive Like Jehu, The Cars, The Smiths, Lynryd Skynrd, Helmet, Sade, Jawbox and Duran Duran throughout their career.
Creative Process Behind “Covers”
The covers were a product of the band letting loose and having fun playing cover songs after their recording sessions. Moreover, In an interview with Metal Sucks, Deftones’ drummer, Abe Cunningham, explains how the compilation came to be: “These were songs that we enjoyed, but that maybe would catch people off guard. They might not expect that shit from us, something like Sade.”
Alluding to their cover of Sade’s “No Ordinary Love,” which exemplified their range as a metal band covering an R&B song.
Later in the interview, Abe describes the covers as just another way for them to have fun with their music and show their love for songs they liked: “About choosing the songs, we all do. We always try to do a little something different for covers. We all are music lovers, and we listen to absolutely everything. Just have fun with it.” Selecting what song to cover in a “pretty damn democratic” process, he says.
Album Tracklist and Original Artists
The album featured 11 covers recorded between 1995 and 2011:
- Drive – The Cars
- Caress – Drive Like Jehu
- Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
- No Ordinary Love – Sade
- Savory – Jawbox
- Do You Believe – The Cardigans
- Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Ghosts – Japan
- The Chauffer – Duran Duran
- If Only Tonight We Could Sleep – The Cure
- Sleep Walk – Santo & Johnny
Deftones Range and Raw Musical Ability
This album was a perfect way for the band to show off their creative and raw abilities while playing music they enjoyed. It showed their range and ability to adapt and integrate songs into their metal music style.
Strong elements of metal music are drawn out in the songs, like heavily distorted guitar and throaty vocals.
Their ability to adapt songs to their style is expertly displayed in their cover of “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths, a soft rock song supported by a tender acoustic guitar. The band turned the song into a fuzzy guitar and vigorous vocals metal rendition while carrying the original yearning feeling The Smiths brought across.
In the 11-song tracklist, “Sleepwalk” and “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want” alone make the album my favourite compilation of covers.
