Kingcrimsonprog If you like Pantera, all five of their official studio albums are absolutely essential listening. Out of all the official Pantera studio albums however, Reinventing The Steel is perhaps the least popular, and the one that features least often in countdowns of greatest albums, but this doesn’t reflect entirely fairly on the quality of the album as a whole.

While this album isn’t as instantly accessible as Vulgar Display Of Power or as Zeitgeist-grabbingly important to its time as Far Beyond Driven it is still my honest opinion that any serious Pantera fan should own a copy of Reinventing The Steel.

Reinventing The Steel is certainly a grower of an album; the more that you listen to it, the more that you can get out of it. The standard of musicianship on the album is so high, which should bypass any other problems people may imagine the album to have. Sure, the artwork is silly and off-putting and there aren’t as many big hit singles on it as on other Pantera records but the album is tight, well written and consistent which is a lot more important than these superficial issues.

It could be said, whilst trying not to sound pretentious, that Reinventing The Steel is the musician’s Pantera album. The record may be pretty challenging for casual listeners, as tracks like ‘You’ve Got To Belong To It’ and ‘Uplifting’ twist in and out of each other, turning backwards away from momentum in the blink of an eye and are full of unusual guitar noises and little runs that take four or five listens to even understand. This may be off-putting at first, but really adds to the listening experience on repeat listens, picking out all the little touches and enjoying how the tracks defy expectations.

For people who enjoy Dimebag Darrell’s unique guitar style; Reinventing The Steel is perhaps the album on which he was at his most “Dimebag,” farthest away from sounding like his influences or any specific subgenre and just laying down tracks that were uniquely his and solos that sound utterly specific to him.

Highlights include the very catchy singles ‘Revolution Is My Name,’ and ‘Goddamn Electric,’ as well as the spiteful ‘We’ll Grind That Axe For A Long Time,’ and the astounding a emotionally powerful album closer ‘ I’ll Cast A Shadow,’ which features some of Phil’s best ever vocal performances.

That being said I have come to love each and every song on this record, every individual riff, vocal and beat permanently cast in my memory. Each track fits perfectly beside each other, the running order itself is great as is the song structuring and the majority of the lyrics are strong (although some can be a little cheesy as usual)

The production too is great, you can really hear every single note on the Bass Guitar throughout the whole record, every drum beat is clear and distinct with a good mix on the kit overall and Phil’s multi-layered vocals, while an acquired taste, do sound very good.

Overall; While Reinventing The Steel may be the least popular of the five main Pantera studio albums, it is by no means a write-off and I urge listeners to give it an open-minded second chance and for new listeners to give it a try and not be put off by its comparative lack of praise.

Kingcrimsonprog There is a great deal of hyperbole in the music industry and among fans. Metal music in particular seems to suffer an inordinate amount of over-hyper, and sometimes as a reviewer it can be difficult to stress how good something is without descending into cliches, and as a potential buyer it can be incredibly difficult to get a good idea if a product is actually good, even within a positive review.

I'd just like to say that Pantera's Official Live: 101 Proof album will not melt your face, bludgeon you to death or cause your neighbours to go deaf. It is however; in my opinion, actually one of the best albums ever released within the genre and that anybody who likes metal music should pick up a copy or at least give it a fair try. If you are considering buying it, I'd just like to say that you should definitely go ahead.

Pantera's music is wonderful and much respected within the metal-listening community both for its attitude and musicianship. They are the kind of rallying band that almost anyone can enjoy and their place in metal history as one of the must-listen bands is now forever sealed.

This live album from 1997 captures the band on tour in support of their The Great Southern Trendkill album; the band's penultimate studio release, and consequently features material from all but one of the band's official major label albums. Additionally; the sound is superb, the mix is just right and each member plus the crowd are balanced fantastically to create the all important live feel perfectly.

With a fantastic set list of material from a great band and a good sound this would be a good record that Pantera fans should consider checking out. What elevates Official Live: 101 Proof that bit further into genre-classic territory is the performance, the band put such power and attitude into every song that it is difficult to explain just how very good the album is.

I strongly recommend this album, not just to existing fans of the band but also to newcomers and even to Pantera-skeptics. Without hyperbole I honestly think that every single fan of metal should give this live album a fair and unbiased listen, if only to see if its for them.

UMUR "Far Beyond Driven" is the 7th full-length studio album by US groove metal act Pantera. The album was released in March 194 by East West Records. Upon release the album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and it has been certified platinum in the US. Without a doubt Pantera´s most commercially succesful release. The blue cover artwork that most people are familiar with, which features a drill going through a skull, actually isn´t the original cover artwork. The original cover artwork which depicted a drill impaling an anus was censored by the record company and never made it unto the CD version of the album. The vinyl version ( or at least the vinyl version I´m holding in my hand) features the explicit artwork though.

The music on the album has taken a turn towards a much more groove based metal sound than the style Pantera played on the last couple of albums but the band have also started experimenting with unconventional riffs, various types of aggressive vocals and also some less straight forward rythms. "Far Beyond Driven" features some absolutely infectious groovy metal tracks like "5 Minutes Alone", "Broken" and "Use My Third Arm" ( check out the breakdown in the middle of that song) but also some highly aggressive and at times even brutal tracks like "Strength Beyond Strength" and "Slaughtered". My personal favorites on the album are the rythmically unconventional "Becoming" and the excellent "Shedding Skin" though. The noisy and repetitive "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" and "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" don´t go down well with me. The album ends with a cover version of "Planet Caravan" by Black Sabbath which is a great mellow way to end an otherwise relentlessly aggressive album.

Besides the awfully triggered drum sound on the album I think the production is very powerful and professional. It does lack a bit of warmth though.

"Far Beyond Driven" is an immensely influential groove metal album and probably the most famous and commercially succesful album in the genre. In the years after the release of the album the metal scene would be flooded with imitators and worshippers. Some good, some bad. The point is that Pantera should be credited for being the band that brought the groove metal style to the masses. Personally there are things I really enjoy about this album and things I enjoy less, but viewed upon objectively this is quite a unique album and also a very innovative one, so somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4 star rating is fully deserved. After giving the album one final listen I´ve settled with a 4 star rating.

The Angry Scotsman Pantera's Magnum Opus

Pantera is a band that is hit or miss for me. The "hits" are superb but the "misses" are boring, if not outright bad. However, this is largely avoided on "Vulgar Display of Power". It is Pantera's strongest effort and the crown jewel of Groove Metal. Not sure exactly what that is? No problem, you won't have to wait very long to find out. It kicks in from the very start!

Mouth for War starts with a thundering drum beat, a heavy, groovy riff and continues along at a nice mid tempo pace. Then come in Phil's vocals, being belted out punk intensity. Throw in a Dimebag solo, (a bit melodic and a bit shred!) and end on a thrashy note.

A New Level. Begins with a heavy, spidery riff before kicking into a minimalist thrashy riff. It alternates between these two, again being pushed by Phil's vocals. Some of Vinnie Paul's better drumming. Classic Dime solo, lots of wah and shred!

Walk. Possibly their most famous song, it really does deserve its praise. Built around the songs famous riff, (which really does have a walking feel to it) it's fairly straightforward, but effective. Awesome solo with really sweet bass rhythm under it.

F*cking Hostile. Exactly what the name says, intense thrash! Greatest ending to a song ever!

This Love. A very intriguing song. A heavy metal ballad done only how Pantera could. Melodic and nice, but still has some pockets of extreme intensity though, and some great riffing.

Rise. Very thrashy song, also displays one of the best riffs on the album. Heavy and staccato, it is the quintessential alt metal riff. A lot of thrash and a great solo, yet again with awesome bass backing it up.

No Good (Attack the Radical). Interesting song. Slower, with an interesting this is a really cool song, and the deep talking parts over bass and drums is just awesome. Amazing solo, in my opinion one of the unknown gems by Dimebag. The lyrics, dealing with Phil's views on racism, are also quite interesting.

Live in a Hole. Another slower song with an unusual structure, this has some of the best music by each instrument on the album.

Regular People (Conceit). Really cool song, but a bit samey and uninspired. Though it does have an interesting section after the solo.

By Demons Be Driven. Slower, with heavy, machine gun bursts of riffing this song is good but drags on. Backing vocals are quite good though.

Hollow. Really good song, though reminiscent of "This Love" it's a bit more traditional heavy metal ballad, but still with some heavy and intriguing heavy/clean guitar harmonies.

The definitive work for groove metal, this album is built around Dimebag's riffing, Vinnie Paul's drumming and is pushed along by Phil's intense vocals. The bass is sadly absent, except for rhythm under the solos sometimes. The riffing is heavy, groovy and often staccato but sometimes technical and off the wall. Vinnie's drumming is some of my favorite, more musical then virtuoso. He just lays down some great beats, and his use of double bass in the beats, (instead of in walls) is awesome, and does make the occasional use of double bass feel even more intense. Phil's vocals are essential to the album. More then just screaming, you can feel real emotion behind them. Oh, and lets not forget some epic shred solos!

The songs may be a tad samey, and the album does fall off a bit at the end, (though finishes on a strong note) this is a great album. To the nu metal bands that may have spawned from this, all I have to say is WALK ON HOME BOY!

This is groovy mid tempo thrash at its finest!

Four and a Half Stars

Phonebook Eater One of my favorite Thrash Metal albums, and one of my favorite heavy Metal albums. Every song in here is heaven to my ears, and every time I listen to this my mind is always blown.

What makes this album so special is for sure Phil Anselmo's powerful and amazing voice, and of course the incredible guitar playing of Dimebag Darryl, one of my favorite metal guitarists.

It's hard for a true metal fan not to like this album, since it's perfect, with very strong and powerful melodies, virtuous playing, and some other elements, especially in the semi ballad "Cemetary Gates". Some have called Pantera groove metal, due to their bluesy solos and rhythms, as well as their riffs, obviously influenced by this genre. But we also find many other influences from other metal bands: in "Domination", there is a bit of Testament, while in the already mentioned "Cemetary Gates" we find some Glam Metal in the slow intro, and in the violent one some Iron Maiden ( particularly concerning Anselmo's performance).

Despite all these things, the album has a style of it's own, that made a huge influence on many bands today, making "Cowboys from Hell" an essential listen for any metalhead.