Diamond Eyes

Album: Diamond Eyes (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track and second single from the Californian Rock band Deftones' sixth studio album.
  • Diamond Eyes is the first Deftones release since bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured in an automobile accident, leaving him in a coma. Sergio Vega, the former bassist of post-hardcore band Quicksand, subsequently stepped in. Kerrang! asked vocalist Chino Moreno if he wrote about Chi on the album. He replied: "Of course there're a few lines inspired by Chi but I'm clever enough not to write about him directly. If anything it's a celebration of my friend and a really positive twist on where we are right now. It's a little more fantasy orientated but inspired by nightlife, feeling alive and being grateful for everything you have. It's good, positive stuff. It's about the underbelly of the world and about going out and living. I like to think of it as a record you could put on when you're ready to go out, and as a soundtrack to everything from that point of view until the sun comes up."
  • This song contains plenty of enigmatic imagery. Moreno told Spin Magazine about the lyrical direction that this track and the rest of the album takes: "I've been wanting to record a fantasy album like White Pony, where the lyrics are less, 'This is my life and this is what we're going through.' It helps take us away from reality. I don't like listening to people's problems - I like music. Music has been smothered with that complaining since the early-'90s. It gets old. Instead of going to the opposite side of the spectrum and listening to Black Eyed Peas, which is just straight silly, I choose to listen to more instrumental music. I do very little singing about myself on this record. I love songs where I can totally take myself out of being human. I can sing about really odd things, and they don't necessarily have to pertain to me at all. It paints a picture. Those are the kind of lyrics I grew up with - like the Cure. Really visual images and no storytelling."
  • Robert Schober, also known as Roboshobo, directed the song's music video. He has also helmed clips for Metallica and Mastodon. The video finds the band performing on a black soundstage as tiny pieces of broken glass float around Moreno.
  • Moreno explained to Spin magazine how the addition of Sergio Vega affected the record. Said Moreno; "It brought us closer together than we've been in a really long time. Musically, we were really clicking, and Sergio really fits with the band. But he's a different type of player than Chi; Chi plays with his fingers, Sergio plays with his pick. We're just appreciative that we're still alive and able to make music. The recording process was very different - we didn't use Pro Tools. We wrote each song in a practice place and played them a million times 'til they were perfect. That approach goes back to our earlier days, and it's a lot more personable. We work better when everybody's together - and the songs benefit."

Comments: 1

  • Jon from Enumclaw , WaThe best song on the album and one of the best Deftones songs ever!
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