Deftones, "White Pony," Maverick. The Sacramento quintet could be the band to revive rock's moribund metal flank. They can get as loud as the next head-bangers, but they also leaven their power-chord mushroom clouds with vocal harmony and tender melody. (Marc Weingarten)
Eminem, "The Marshall Mathers LP," Aftermath/Interscope. The rapper puts on disc all the forbidden thoughts and scandalous scenarios that accompany adolescence and just watches the fallout. The creative advance is in the way he weaves more autobiographical elements into the lyrics. (Robert Hilburn)
