Category Archives: Pantera

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The Complete Studio Albums 1990-2000 Boxed Set Documents
The Band’s Legendary Studio Recordings;
Set For Release December 11 On CD And Colored Vinyl

New Nine-Track History of Hostility Collection Will Be Available On October 30

LOS ANGELES – With their 1990 album Cowboys From Hell, Pantera debuted their signature sound and invigorated the metal scene while enlisting legions of devoted fans around the world. For the next decade, the band continued to ascend to the top of the music world, earning four platinum albums and, with 1994’s Far Beyond Driven, a #1 debut on the Billboard album chart.

To celebrate Pantera’s raucous legacy, Rhino will release both a new boxed set and single disc compilation. THE COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS 1990-2000, compiled of Cowboys From Hell (1990), Vulgar Display Of Power (1992), Far Beyond Driven (1994), The Great Southern Trendkill (1996), and Reinventing The Steel (2000). Two versions of the collection will be released on December 11, one a 5-CD set and the other a limited edition 5-LP set on colored vinyl.

The LP version of the studio albums box also includes a 7” with two rare, non-albums tracks making their vinyl debut. The first is “Piss,” a song that debuted in 2012 on the 20th Anniversary Edition of Vulgar Display of Power. The second is “Avoid The Light” from the Dracula 2000 soundtrack.

Prior to the release of the boxed set, Rhino will also release HISTORY OF HOSTILITY, a nine-track Pantera primer that includes some of Pantera’s most legendary tracks from all five studio albums. It will be released on CD and LP on October 30.

Philip Anselmo joined Dimebag Darrell, Vinnie Paul, and Rex Brown in 1987 to form a new, harder-hitting version of Pantera. The line-up made its debut in 1990 on Cowboys From Hell. The album’s visceral combination of jackhammer grooves, heavyweight riffs and guttural howls made Pantera heroes to headbangers everywhere. The album went on to become one of the most influential metal albums of all time.

For its hotly anticipated follow-up, Pantera returned in 1992 with Vulgar Display of Power. It refined the heavier-than-heavy aesthetic from the previous album on crushing songs like “Walk” and “Mouth For War,” but also showcased the band’s range on the haunting ballad, “Hollow.” The album was certified double platinum and spent 79 weeks on the charts, longer than any other Pantera album.

The band had its greatest success in 1994 with the release of Far Beyond Driven, still the most extreme album to ever debut at #1 on the Billboard top album chart. Several songs from the album became the band’s most iconic including “5 Minutes Alone,” “I’m Broken,” and their cover of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan.”

The Great Southern Trendkill arrived in 1996 and peaked at #2 on the charts. The platinum-certified album contains some of Pantera’s darkest lyrics (“Suicide Note Pt. 1”) and fastest tempos (“Sandblasted Skin.”) In 2000, the band released what would be its final studio album, Reinventing the Steel. It peaked at #4 on the charts and was certified gold. It features several classic cuts including “Revolution Is My Name” and “Goddamn Electric.”

THE COMPLETE STUDIO ALBUMS 1990-2000
CD & LP Album Listing (Vinyl colors noted)

Cowboys From Hell (White Vinyl)
Vulgar Display Of Power (Red Vinyl)
Far Beyond Driven (Blue Vinyl)
The Great Southern Trendkill (Gold Vinyl)
Reinventing The Steel (Orange Vinyl)

Bonus 7” in LP box:
“Piss” b/w “Avoid The Light” (Translucent Yellow Vinyl)

HISTORY OF HOSTILITY
Track Listing

1. “Cowboys From Hell”
2. “Cemetery Gates” (Demon Knight Edit)
3. “Mouth For War”
4. “Walk”
5. “Fucking Hostile”
6. “I’m Broken”
7. “5 Minutes Alone”
8. “Drag The Waters”
9. “Revolution Is My Name”…

No one ever went to a Led Zeppelin concert expecting the band to open with “The Rain Song.”

It’s a fine tune, to be sure, but the electric charge of a crowd in waiting must be met in kind.

The same applies to the album: Kiss didn’t open Destroyer with “Beth,” for example. And Metallica had the prudence to place “Fade to Black” a good four songs into Ride the Lightning.

Read the countdown and see where Pantera fits in here: http://www.guitarworld.com/top-ten-heavy-metal-album-openers…

Rex Brown wrote the foreward and both Philip Anselmo & Rex were interviewed for the book. And you may recognize the guys on the cover as well. Pick it up at Amazon here: http://smarturl.it/survivalbook or Barnes & Noble here: http://smarturl.it/bnsurvival

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Official Live 101 Proof was released 18 years ago today! You can stream the songs, read the lyrics, find album details, comments on the album from the band and other metal legends on the CFH discography page here: http://pantera.com//live101proof…

From VH1.com: “Sold out.” “Gone soft.” These are phrases we hear when metal bands step a toe in the land of the light. Perhaps inspired by my recent article about heavy bands that took huge left turns with respect to their creative direction, it got me thinking about how much I enjoy when metal bands include something different on an already heavy album: a token curveball among a collection of 100 mph fastballs.

Because it’s coming from a heavy band, I almost appreciate it more when we get a glimpse into the more vulnerable side of genre known for projecting unyielding strength and stoic resolve. Often it affects me more than listening to a folk artist like Jack Johnson where the entire soundscape is sensitive, quiet, and beautiful. I yearn for the peaks and valleys, the yins and yangs.

As I was formulating this list, I had to set up some parameters:

First, what classifies as a heavy band? I could have included Alice In Chains’ “Nutshell”, which is a monumentally popular track, loved by metalheads and normal folks alike. Is Alice In Chains a rock band? A metal band? It’s difficult to say, but I felt that they released a substantial quantity of acoustic, lighter music that it’s basically just part of their sound.

Coming in at #6; Pantera – “Suicide Note Pt. I”

There was a big temptation on my behalf to include “Planet Caravan”, Pantera’s haunting Black Sabbath cover that closed Far Beyond Driven. The more I thought about it, I realized Pantera deserved to be recognized for an original song. Their versatility is really what made them the biggest metal band of their era. Like Metallica before them and Slipknot after, being the top dog requires serious range. Even though “Suicide Note Pt. I” is an acoustic song, it never loses any of the intensity Pantera was known for. Much of it had to do with Phil Anselmo’s vocal delivery, which was as emotive as it was masculine, but never felt forced. From “Cemetery Gates” to “Hollow” to “Floods”, these guys always knew how to paint with different colors. This type of breather in the midst of crushing jams is what was missing from Pantera’s swan song, Reinventing the Steel.

To check out the ariginal article and see the rest of the top 10, check it out on VH1’s page here.…