White Pony is the third studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones, released on June 20, 2000, through Maverick Records.

[7][8] After a break from touring, the band spent four months in the studio writing and recording White Pony with the producer Terry Date, the longest amount of time they had dedicated to an album thus far.

The bassist Chi Cheng explained, "We didn't feel like we had anything to lose, so we made the record we wanted to make."

"[9] Moreno later claimed in a 2020 interview that his decision to play rhythm guitar on the album caused tensions to escalate with the guitarist Stephen Carpenter during the writing process.

I don't think he was too happy about it, to be honest, then [...] I do remember us both smiling at each other when we were sitting listening to the track being made, and the fusing of both our guitars, the sound of it, the way that Terry [Date] produced it.

[11] "Rx Queen" also features vocal contributions from the Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, though he is uncredited.

[15][16] It has also been categorized as an art rock[17] and nu metal album,[18] though several critics also acknowledge that the record moved beyond the latter label.

[22] About "Street Carp", Moreno said: "It's a classic Deftones song, with a rolling riff and some really interesting chords in the chorus.

The vocals are kinda crazy - I'm singing out loud over the top of the music, like (the Smiths singer) Morrissey or something, a cool contrast".

[15] Moreno at first appreciated the support the band received from the label as a result of recording the track,[26] but later declared that he regretted the creation of the song and its placement on the album.

[15] "The Boy's Republic" is a song exclusive to the limited-edition releases of the album, with lyrics about someone desperately seeking redemption, and comes after "Pink Maggit," making it the final track on the limited edition.

However, there are other meanings for the album name, including a sexual reference, as explained by Moreno: Upon release, White Pony debuted at No.

"[citation needed] The edition with a gray cover was released as the initial non-limited version of the album and did not include "The Boy's Republic".

[7] Black Stallion features the full track list of the original White Pony album in order with each song recreated by a different producer with an "electronic, beat-driven" approach.

Dick especially noted the album's "shift into the heavy post-rock, shoegaze spectrum" and contended that, within the span of five years from the band's debut album to the release of White Pony, Deftones had distinguished itself as a band "whose sound no longer fit too comfortably under any genre-specific title".

[2] Similarly, Mike Diver of Clash magazine asserted that White Pony "changed everything – not just for Deftones, but metal as a whole", noting the album's "distinct air of progressive rock" and its ability to weave electronics into aggressive yet reflective songs.

[46] Pitchfork retrospectively noted that White Pony "transcended the dubious genre [of nu-metal] by fashioning a truly new form from post-hardcore, industrial, trip-hop, shoegaze, ambient electronics, and synth-pop.

named White Pony their third best album of the year behind Queens of the Stone Age's Rated R and At the Drive-In's Relationship of Command.

In 2011, Complex Media Network's music website, Consequence of Sound, honored White Pony on a "List 'Em Carefully" installment dedicated to writer David Buchanan's top 13 metal records released between 2000 and 2010, noting that Deftones was one of several acts who "helped usher the popularity of complex structure meets MTV audience".

[51] The Deftones drummer Abe Cunningham commented on the awards night: "All the people were on the ground, on the floor, and we were up sort of in the balcony, we were like, 'We're not gonna win.

[54] All tracks are written by Deftones (Stephen Carpenter, Chi Cheng, Abe Cunningham, Frank Delgado, Chino Moreno) except "Passenger", written by Deftones and Maynard James KeenanPersonnel adapted from album liner notes, unless otherwise noted.