Team Sleep

Team Sleep | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 10, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Maverick
• ASIN: B000641ZDQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,132 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #68 in Music > Music Deals > More Titles at Least 25% Off

Track Listings

1. Ataraxia

2. Ever

3. Your Skull Is Red

4. Princeton Review

5. Blvd. Knights

6. Delorian

7. Our Ride to the Rectory

8. Tomb of Liegia

9. Elizabeth

10. Staring at the Queen

11. Ever Since WWI

12. King Diamond

13. Live From the Stage

14. Paris Arm

15. 11-11

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

While the Deftones were racking up millions of album sales around the world and collecting Grammy Awards on the back of their apocalyptic metal sound, front man Chino Moreno was endlessly tinkering away on this side project that seems to owe more to the ethereal-electronic moods of Radiohead. Team Sleep may not add any extra decimals to his bank account but it reveals that the singer is not just another testosterone-fueled crybaby. Working with guest singers Mary Timony (ex-Helium) and Rob Crow (Pinback), plus DJ Crook and Hella drummer Zach Hill, Moreno has made a beautifully crafted album that doesn't employ a single note of distortion or angst without complete intellectual engagement. Really, it's hard to imagine the dude from Papa Roach coming up with a sideways tribute to ivy-league schools ("Princeton Review") or a song inspired by an Edgar Allen Poe poem ("Tomb of Liegia,") --Aidin Vaziri

Product Description

Team Sleep is an artful, experimental, ambient band that is led by frontman Chino Moreno, singer of Deftones, the highly influential, two-time Grammy winning group that has sold over 4 million albums worldwide. With contributions from musician friends and production by Terry Date (Deftones) and Ross Robinson (Cure, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit), Team Sleep's ethereal debut album builds a new fan base for a fresh new band.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Surprising, If You've Been Listening., June 9, 2005

By 

A. Estes (Maine) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Team Sleep (Audio CD)

Well, it took half a decade to come out, but finally, we can all enjoy the debut effort from Team Sleep, the side project of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno. It seems like forever that we've been all waiting for this softer-side of the Deftones to be released. Aside from a little bit of touring and a spot on 2003's "Matrix: Reloaded" soundtrack, it's been a dire situation for those interested. To be honest, with all of the bumps in the road and conflicting news, I am very shocked that I am able to hold this album in my hands and listen to it. But oh, how it has been worth the wait.

If you've been following this project since it's inception -- roughly around the time the Deftones released "White Pony -- you know what to expect here. Team Sleep is, essentially, the side of the Deftones that Chino Moreno can't really express without alienating some of his fanbase. For those of you who enjoy Deftones tracks such as "Teenager," "RX Queen" or "Lucky You": Welcome. This album is for you. Team Sleep is less riff rock, and more emphasis on ambience and electronics. Hell, some of this doesn't even sound like it came from Chino at that. Aside from songs like "Ever (Foreign Flag)" and "Blvd Nights," which will appeal to all or most, this is a very unqiue and challenging experience. Comparisons to The Cure and the Smashing Pumpkins have been made, and even noted as influences, but Team Sleep manage to find their own niche. You never quite know where this album is heading, and that's a good thing.

The most important thing, aside from the fact that this album, even upon first listen, is better than the last Deftones album, is that it was worth the wait. It's definitely different, and it takes a while to sit, but those who have an open mind will be rewarded. Just be warned: This is an album that's more directed at fans of "White Pony." For those who think Chino's vocals go best with Stephen Carpenter's hypnotizing riffs (and I agree), don't go looking for the next Deftones album from Team Sleep.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent., May 10, 2005

By 

J. Cacciola "GWP" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Team Sleep (Audio CD)

Moreno has always experimented with some strange elements in his music, and that has made him different, at least, in my eyes. Being in the mainstream of music with the Deftones, some of those elements haven't been readily accepted by fans of the nu-metal genre. Team Sleep allows him to experiment more freely with personal styles. I think that a lot of his hardcore fans have definitely understood his creativity and uniqueness that has shown through with everyone album he's made. The earlier Deftones albums are unappealing to me, but tons of nu-metal and hardcore fans love them. I'd like to count them as trial and error records and label them under that category. White Pony was really the first record that made them, 'exploring the space', so to speak. You could definitely tell that their influences from great artists like The Smiths and My Bloody Valentine were shining. But the Deftones still maintained their own unique "spacey-heavy" feel. With Team Sleep, Chino sounds like he borrowed a lot from The Smashing Pumpkins, as they have covered "The Aeroplane Flies High" at the few live shows they've done. It also sounds like he's ready to make another Deftones record, with the adding of a DJ (Crook). I still hear The Smiths, even some Radiohead, Garbage, Pinback (of course), and Failure influences on the record.

This isn't the record of the decade, but fans have been patiently waiting for it for quite some time. So, I guess they are expecting perfect execution. Well, they shouldn't be disappointed with the track listing here. "King Diamond" and "Tomb of Liegia" sound like revised versions and remixes of some older Deftones songs where Chino used female vocalists to create conversation-like pieces. I think he likes using them to link songs on the record, showing an alternate side. ("Knife Prty" is one). Another song in particular that comes to mind is "Mx" on Around the Fur. That shares a very similar resemblance to "King Diamond" in my mind, except "King Diamond" is a more mature version of it.

For this "side project", Moreno chose Zach Hill to be his drummer. Now, I'm not a master of any instrument, but if you've ever watched the man play the drums in Hella, you will realize that he's the greatest drummer on the planet. No, I'm quite serious. He's extremely versatile and shows his best on the record. Chino also had Terry Date, who has produced other Deftones record to maintain a similar sound and feel on this one, and it works well.

The singer from Pinback, Rob Crow, makes appearances on this record in addition to Mary Timony on "Tomb of Liegia" and "King Diamond". Crow is the vocalist on "Princeton Review", "Elizabeth", "11 11", and trades off with Moreno on "Our Ride to the Rectory" and "Ever Since WW1". I think that he gives the record even further diversity. Crow provides a softer and gentler side to Chino's intensity.

"Blvd Nights" was my favorite from the demos without the lyrics, and it remains my favorite because of its brilliant intro and build to the chorus. I could listen to that forever. It doesn't have the complexity of some of the others, but it's extremely accessible. The whole album is, actually. There's nothing here that can't be initially enjoyed. There's nothing here that you won't listen to time and again. The beat to "Princeton Review" is entrancing and hypnotically ethereal. The "Natalie Portman" demo has been completely changed - I won't let you know how, though. That's part of the surprise. The demo of "Mercedes" is brilliant, but isn't on here, so I assume it has been scrapped... I didn't hear anything that sounded like it.

Try to find the demos before or after you pick up the album. I think it will broaden your listening experience and give you a perspective on which direction the band decided to take with some of the early demo songs. Some are basically unchanged; some are overhauled; some aren't there. All in all, it's my favorite record this year. It makes no mistakes. It's an intelligent, immensely intriguing and deep record.

Side project: hmm... yes.

Better than A Perfect Circle? Yes.

As successful? We'll see.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I shouldn't like this album but I do, June 5, 2005

By 

Mr John Bowers "The Karmanoodle" (Syndey, NSW, OZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Team Sleep (Audio CD)

Typically this is the kind of album I would hate. I am an ex-metalhead turned Blue-rock, Jazz, prog-rock fan who plays guitar and thinks that just about anything electronic equals zero authenticity. OK, I dont mind a bit of electronic music here and there but I definitely don't take to it like a duck takes to water.

There was really only two reasons why I bought this album, 1. Because of Chino Moreno (like I said I used to be a total Westy Headbanger type) and 2. The album cover seemed kind of tragically cool in a sad, going nowhere kind of way (I have really got to stop making album purchases based on their cover art, totally stupid thing for an otherwise intelligent person to do).

And so I took it home and gave it a spin and sure enough I encountered music that seemed to me to be a dreary, electronic insomniac cure. But like all subtle, nuanced music that creeps up on you like a creeping death chilli dish (You know the kind of meal, at first you say, "Hey, this aint that hot" and then by the end of it your crying and sweating and screaming for yoghurt, "Somebody, anybody, get me some bloody yoghurt, I'M DYING HERE"), it started to grow on me.

Sometimes it takes a confluence of emotion, environment and music to really make a special moment and this happened for me the other day. I was passing over the Sydney Harbour Bridge on an overcast day looking out at the mist over the water, feeling as dreary inside myself as it was outside and I had Team Sleep playing on my discman and it all just came together. The perfect melancholic moment.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that if you are feeling a little sad, if you are feeling a little lonely and it is a cloudy, gloomy day, whack on some Team Sleep and surrender to the groove of melancholy until your ready to slip into something a little more cheerful. You may as well make the most out of your moodiness and make an experience of it.