Pantera- Love'em or Hate'em?

Cafe Society
1

I was going thru my CD collection last night and came across Vulgar Disply of Power. Decided to pop it in the cd player and give it a listen. That is one classic metal album.

They followed it up with the spectacular Far Beyond Driven, which is my favorite Pantera album. The entire album is awsome.

I never really liked Cowboys From Hell because it had too much of Phil trying to “sing”, which is no good for metal.

After FBD though, its like they went down the crapper.

Great Southern Trendkill, IMHO, was not a very good album. It was like they decided to make themselves as redneck-hick as they could. I do know that there are alot of people out there who think it is there best album, but I just never got into it.

Then comes Reinventing the Steel. Not one song on there that I liked.

The live one 100 Proof is a great live CD though. Second only to Nailbomb : Proud to Commit Commercial Suicide as the best metal live album.

These guys were responsible for my progression into “unknown” metal. Keep in mind that I was a freshman in high school when VDP came out. I started out with hair metal in junior high. Then I discovered And Justice For All, which blew my mind. In fact here is the ladder of major albums that changed my metal life

GnR Appetite (7th grade)
And Justice for All(8th grade. SO heavy to me)
VDP(freshman year. Unbelievably heavy .Never heard anything like it.)
Sepultura-Arise(Again, SO heavy. Nothing could be heavier. Slayer didn’t do it for me. Once I heard Dead Embryonic Cells I was floored)
Psalm 69- (sophomore or junior year. So heavy. Just One Fix is still one of the heaviest songs ever made)
Nailbomb-(Senior year. Still one of the top 3 metal Cds of my life)

Then it just gets heavier and heavier from there until you hit the heaviest band of all time, The Dillenger Escape Plan.

But you can see, I never would have gotten past Metallica without Pantera. Those guys are a major influence for all Metal from the last 10 years.

But what happened to them in the lat 3 years or so? Phil is in some shitty bands like Super Joint Ritual and I never hear from Dimebag anymore. He was THE guitar GOD of the 1990’s.

Its a shame. They should get rid of the whole redneck-hick shit routine and go back to brutal metal. Even though they aren’t as heavy to me now as they were when I was yougner, Slaughtered and New Level are 2 of the heaviest songs ever

So does the SDMB lovem or hatem?

2

:confused:

The only Pantera I’m aware of looks like this.

3

Since Reinventing the Steel, I became ambivalent about Pantera. All the Pantera albums on your list that came prior to RTS are, IMO, pretty good.

So, do you think Pantera are now gone for good, thanks to Phil’s assholery? I know the other guys are supposed to have gone off and formed their own band . . . whose name escapes me at the moment . . .

4

Yeah, RTS and TGST are not as good as the others, but occasionally on these you’ll find a gem riff or two (I like “Floods” a lot on TGST, and I also like “Revolution…” and “We’ll Grind…” from TGST).

As far as Pantera in general, I think that Dimebag might be one of the most underrated guitarists of the last two decades, owing to the fact that they played heavy heavy music. In HS, I was all about VDoP and FBD, along with my Metallica (this was before the Load/Reload of Crap dual debacle).

[hijack] Did anyone else hear the rumors that the new 'tallica CD is supposed to be ridiculously heavy? As in, heavier than MoP or AJFA? There was a story on www.intersandman.com that indicated such. [/hijack]

In closing, I really really like Down’s (relatively) new CD, but I don’t know if/when Pantera will be making a comeback anytime soon. I’d be hyped to go see them live (I saw them back in '93 with Biohazard I believe. Amazing, but I was only 13, so no pit for me at that point) if they ever re-group and decide to take it out on the road.

5

I recall hearing about a radio interview that Lars did where he said the new album was going to be extremely heavy. However, Lars has zero credibility in my book right now, so I’ll have to hear the new album before I believe anything he says.

6

I saw them the same year but my show was better. Crowbar, Prong, Sepultura and Pantera. Still the best show I have ever been too even after all these years.

I haven’t heard from Dimebag at all. I will say that he has always been pretty highly regarded, but all the guitar magazines anyway.

I didn’t really like too much about Down. I was never big on Pepper Keanens guitar work. Everytime you hear something he plays it makes me think of CoC, and I didn’t like them.

7

I like Pantera, although thrash generally isn’t my style. CFH would’ve been a great album if they had left off the last four songs. I haven’t heard any of the others all the way through, so I’ll reserve judgment.

As far as Metallica’s next album being heavier…well, Risk was far heavier than Cryptic Writings, but was definitely not the better album of those two. I’m waiting for it, but not holding my breath.

8

I have a weird relationship with Pantera. Even though I considered myself a bit of a “metal-head” for a very brief time when I was younger, they were really the only heavy band that I ever liked.

I saw them back around '97 and it was an amazing show but my love for them was already waning. I never bought (or even heard) The Great Southern Trendkill or anything after that. I guess I could say I still like them in a way - as I’m sure VDoP would bring back some fond memories - but I really have no desire to ever listen to them again. Ever.

9

Gotta agree on the “downhill after FBD” sentiment. Of course, maybe my tastes just changed, but I doubt that quick.
I am also surprised that someone besides me likes The Dilllinger Escape Plan. I admit they are an acquired taste. When I first heard them, I thought it was a joke like Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine” album or something. Damned if they didn’t grow on me though.

10

I liked DEP the first time I heard a sample of their music. Dunno what that says about me.