Pantera

This is very good for a PanterA album, one of the better of the six released with Phil Anselmo (including "Power Metal"). The reason I give this album only 3 stars is because I feel that the album is already practically completely represented in "Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits", PanterA's greatest hits album. Everything you need to own from this album is on there. All the "PanterA essentials" as one may call them. "Mouth for War", my personal favorite song from this album is already on "FBtGSCVH" as well as the signature hit single "Walk", and the thrashy semi-ballad "This Love". The only song on there not available is "F*cking Hostile" whihc I suggest you purchase and download right away as you ARE misssing outnot having that song.

If you're trying to have every PanterA album in a collection, then this album is for you. If you like loud as hell, balls to the wall, pure thrash metal in it's rawest, loudest, most extreme form, then buy this album, however I simply believe this is already summed up in "Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits".

Overall: This is a kick-@$$ PanterA album andI'm nott saying it isn't, I'm simply typing what a CD review SHOULD be: "a fan's response to an album that includes heavy comparisons and contrasts with other albums of the same band's discography".

Thanks for reading and I encourage you to get out there immediately and purchase both "F*cking Hostile" as an mp3 and then out it on a blank CD as well as buy "Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' VUlgar Hits" if you don;'t already have both of them. Also, the latter is great for any PanterA collector, Beginning Pantera fan, or DIehard PanterA fan as it includes a DVD that features a bunch of PanterA music videos and some live footage, as well as a brief biography of the band's career, AND, some of the baddest, most awesome, excellent, Kick-@$$ songs PanterA has ever written! Purchase both today!

Screw "Vulgar Display of Power", byuy them instead!

When it comes to sheer bone-crushing ear-shattering turn-your-brain-into-jello no holds barred savage power, THIS is it! At the same time, the music is precise, the band members play absolutely tight, the equipment setup is near perfect and the energy levels are through the roof.

This is my absolute favourite metal album of all time. Almost every song is a masterpiece of song writing, musical talent and raw unbridled power. Incidentally this is my best pick-me-up album when I'm feeling down.

To me, the only other Pantera songs at this level of awesomeness are Floods, domination, cowboys from hell, 5 minutes alone, and war nerve.

Sick of listening to the garbage churned out by metallica and the likes, I turn to "classics" like VDOP - it is simply perfect, brilliantly composed and executed.

Dimebag RIP :( Miss you.

This was the best of all Pantera's work, I love all the albums but this one hands down is the best. I would rate this album with Slayer's South of Heaven, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Metallica's Master of Puppets, or Anthrax's Among the Living!! This is real metal raw and in your face, the way it should be!! There's a lot to love on this album Phil's piss & vinegar vocals, and Dimebags (R.I.P.) skull crushing guitar work. Mouth for War, Walk, and By Demons Be Driven will having your grinning in sinister delight!! Grab a copy of this album, and let your aggression flow!!

This is pantera's masterpiece the best metal of the 90's.If you love metal trust me this is the one you should truly get every song punches your face away especially Walk!You could be into death/trash/metalcore/extreme metal or any kind of metal except nu metal screw that stuff,and you will love this if you call yourself metal listen to this!

Vulgar Display of Power followed the album Cowboys From Hell. Cowboys is a great album. It's kind of an intro to what Pantera is all about which has to be respected. But to me, when Vulgar came out I was entering me Senior year of high school so I was 16/17 at the time and I remember buying this on cassette tape when it came out. It was a warm day and I rolled down my windows and popped in VDOP.

The first song with the double bass drums of Mouth for War pushed my rear speakers to the limit. I actually had to re-wind the beginning because I couldn't believe what I was hearing. No other metal tape pushed the limits of my speakers like that before. I wasn't even past the first sone and had to listen to it again.

I was so impressed by the album being a heavy Metallica/Megadeth/Danzing guy at the time, I had to drop this nuclear bomb on my friends. Well, it spread like a cancer and all my friends who heard it ran out and bought it as well.

The grunge scene cripped the metal scene greatly which sucks, so for me Vulgar Display of Power is the apex, yes the apex, of when HEAVY METAL reached it's greatest point. Other albums such as Metallica's Black Album (1 year earlier), Megadeth's Symphony of Destruction, and Danzing III: How the Gods Kills all came out around the time of Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power.

Black Sabbath, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, Danzig, Suicidal Tendencies were all metal greats. Pantera helped carry metal to the top of the mountain with this album (VDOP). To me things haven't been the same since. Yea, we have bands like Korn, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Disturbed, System of a Down, Soulfly, etc...but it will be a long time before we see metal greats again. I heard talks were just starting over e-mail with Phil and Dimebag about patching things up and maybe playing again as Pantera after their bitter break-up. It's unfortunate some douche bag with a gun had to murder Dimebag. The guy obviously had issues and blamed dimebag for Panter'a break-up. If the guy had a clue they were in the starts of trying to work things out for a possible re-union. Now that will never happen. Seems every nut has a gun these days. Music like Pantera is about getting together at shows with people going through the same B.S. of life. We all have stress, issues, anger, etc. and music is suppose to be the release for that. Your not suppose to act it out in the form of violence.

Anyway, great album. I would rank Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath best metal album of the 70's, Metallica's Master of Puppets best metal album of the 80's, and Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power as the best metal album of the 90's. RESPECT - WALK - ARE YOU TALKING TO ME!!?

So basically i've listened to every Pantera album millions of times ...... and for some reason iam on amazon buying this cd again for the 50th time ........ probally because its the best pantera album thats all i gotta say

how this album has only 4/5 star rated is F$CKED UP , when it comes to best pantera albums people alway say cowboys from hell or vulgar display of power and far beyond driven , now those are awesome cds but this album doesnt get merely the cred it should get. this is one heavy album w/ not a single skip able track , the stand out songs are 10s drag threw the waters and one of panteras best songs floods , it's the best song on the cd and phil vocals are perfect but my favorite part of this song is at the end where dime plays this watered down guitar riff its a perfect way to end the song. anyway if you don't already own this cd then get it , I rate it a 10/10

Back in the spring of 1992, I roamed the streets of the rough and tumble Fan District of Richmond, Virginia in a Vulgar Display of Power "Stronger Than All" t-shirt looking to fight anyone I could find. Ok, that's utterly preposterous. I've been in two fights in my life, both in 8th grade, a bizarrely combative year. First, I tangled with lanky Raymond Byrd who inexplicably stuffed a discarded cigarette butt in my mouth during a walk home from the bus stop, touching off an unlikely street brawl that culminated in Raymond running home to his mother and his trombone case lying discarded in the gutter. Then, a few months later during a two-week Boy Scout hike through the New Mexico wilderness, in a Lord of the Flies-like moment, I engaged in a bout of fisticuffs with a fellow scout who went by the terrifying sobriquet of Pee-Wee.

So, I'm really not a fighter, don't know why people resort to it. For me, listening to Pantera at high volumes is usually enough to sooth the savage beast within. At a time when the creative peaks of Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer were coming to an end, Pantera offered a new, angrier thrash sound for those of us who needed their metal ever heavier. Cowboys From Hell was a promising effort suggesting new metal giants had arrived, and Vulgar Display of Power subsequently delivered on that promise inspiring mayhem in moshpits across the country. I remember attempting to find a spot in the middle of the Roseland Ballroom in NYC before a concert during the Vulgar Display tour to avoid getting caught in a mosh, only to find that the entire ballroom became a violent moshpit with the first note. Ten seconds into the opener, `Mouth For War', I had traveled 100 feet involuntarily and lost my favorite hooded sweatshirt. Somehow Far Beyond Driven managed to be even heavier than Vulgar Display and by 1994 Pantera had solidified their status as the heaviest mainstream metal band in the world.

The summer of 1996 brought the release of the disturbingly heavy The Great Southern Trendkill, an album that commenced with Phil Anselmo emitting the sort of guttural bellow previously found only in the more underground world of death metal. At the time, the unthinkable happened and I suddenly began to regard Pantera as too difficult and pointlessly noisy. I gave up on The Great Southern Trendkill after just a few complicated listens. I listened to At the Gates and Entombed - I wasn't afraid of death metal, I just couldn't accept Pantera as death metal poseurs. The transition seemed forced to me (ironic since Pantera had ascended to fame by quietly transitioning from glam to thrash metal nearly a decade earlier). Over time, the The Great Southern Trendkill went missing from my music collection, and I barely noticed.

Years passed. I got into In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and Opeth so you know I still enjoyed, in fact `needed', the heavy stuff. Then, a few years ago, I was clicking around on Amazon and came across The Great Southern Trendkill. The cool cover art suddenly made me hungry to re-evaluate it and when I saw that it could be had for cheap, I took the plunge and bought it. Listening to it for the first time in years, I was blown away by the heaviness. What seemed forced nearly a decade earlier, suddenly struck me as genuine. Darrell's dizzying array of riffs were as strong as on any Pantera album, Phil seemed angrier than ever, sometimes troublingly so. The opening title track is a riveting pledge to avoid following the nu-metal trend emerging at the time Trendkill was released. It is almost never a good idea to write a song about media coverage (if you need an example, I submit "Get in the Ring" by Gn'R for your consideration), yet "War Nerve" works, and works well at that. "Drag the Waters" is sinister and brutal, like being dredged through a gator-filled bayou hanging on by your fingernails from the back of a pilot boat. And the intensity continues at a consistently high level all the way through to the end, marked by the cheery "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin".

In summary, The Great Southern Trendkill is Pantera at their darkest and heaviest, a stunning combination, and an album that seems only to get better with time. Based on its Amazon reviews, Trendkill seems to receive less respect from fans than any other prime-era Pantera release, but if you haven't listened to it in a few years, it might be time to give it another chance. We all know Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven are classic metal albums, but ignore The Great Southern Trendkill at your own peril. Since I `rediscovered' it, Trendkill has been my favorite Pantera album. And I haven't been in any more fights since I purchased it either.

by far my fav from the cowboys from hell it was actually the first pantera cd i heard and to be truthfull it scared the s**t out of me the first time i heard it had to be a funny sight it was the first cd i had with screaming in it it was a little different at first took a little getting used to i was listening to bands like pearl jam and smashing pumkins at the time but it kept growing on me and eventually grew to be one of my all time favorites something about that cd never gets old my favorite songs on it are "living through me(hells wrath)(suicide note part 2)and(10s)but there all good so if you havent checked this cd out get it you will not be disappointed

p.s.the title track is the best song ever for a bad day those of you who have heard it know what im talking about

I made the mistake of not buying this album when it was released (bought it in '00), though I was there for the releases of their previous three albums (though not *technically* their first three). Please read my next statement carefully: This is *the* most consistent album from start to finish this side of CFH that this band produced....period. No, the production isn't as polished as FBD, etc., but that fact simply doesn't detract from anything. If you've ever told anyone that Pantera is anything other than Metal, you're simply wrong, and always will be. I don't worship Pantera, but credit must be given where it is due: Darrell came up with some of the best Metal riffs of all time, and there are many who hate Pantera that probably wouldn't have much of a problem with that statement. Yes, there are guys who are more technical than Darrell was, but I really can't think of anyone who combined feel with technicality as well as he did. Yes, I'm from Texas, but that really doesn't slant my opinion in this case. Anyway, enough of my banter...on with the review by song.

1. The Great Southern Trendkill 9/10 - Kicks off with the big Phil scream, and then kills it with a simple-but-great power groove riff. As everyone has said, the outro/solo section is classic Darrell.

2. War Nerve 7/10 - Though a good song, I've never been a huge fan of this one. The main riff through the verses is nothing special, but the band is always tight, and it's played with a good feel

3. Drag the Waters 8/10 - Yes, this one's also very simple, but has that great Southern sound for which Darrell is known, and yes, Phil is more singer/less screamer on this one.

4. 10's 7/10 - This is a good ballad with a relaxed feel and pace, but didn't move me very much. It's still a nice break in pace, and I personally like it this way.

5. 13 Steps to Nowhere 9/10 - The verse riff is one of Darrell's most underrated moments. Vinnie locks in with a nice triplet feel on the kit, and the song slams from start to finish.

6. Suicide Note Pt.I 8/10 - Another slow break, and a very nicely done one at that. As others have mentioned, the feel borders on Country, though it's never blatant. Phil's vocals are well done, here.

7. Suicide Note Pt.II 8/10 - This is a huge/great contrast from Part.I, and is pulled off extremely well. I'm a big Thrash fan, so breakneck tempos, when done well, are my thing, and though this isn't great, it's still very good.

8. Living Through Me 9/10 - The verse riff for this song is the very definition of "Great Simplicity", and the chorus section is classic power groove. The middle section, which is a breakdown, is an interesting (if not cool) section that's not the norm for these guys, but works nicely with this tune. The main riff alone makes this a Headbanger's classic in my book.

9. Floods 8/10 - There's not much to say here that hasn't been said already. It's a well done ballad with a signature Darrell solo...nuff said.

10. The Underground in America 10/10 - I can't emphasize this enough: This is, without any question, the most underrated Pantera song of all time, and it baffles me as to why this one isn't highly rated in most other reviews. The collection of *great* riffs in this song should be enough to send you on a banging frenzy. The opening riff has one of the more menacing feels of any riff I've heard, and only gets better once the crunch kicks in. The verse riffs are hard for me to explain (I'm a drummer, not a guitarist, so forgive my ignorance), but it seems as though one guitar track is keeping the root note, while the other is moving a half step between two other notes in the scale. I'll never forget first hearing the riff itself; it's played without vocals in the 3 video. I looked at my buddy and said, "What f**king song is that???!!!" (remember, I initially skipped buying this album). The next riff is, of course, the refrain riff used for Sandblasted Skin, and it's a great one. This type of bending riff was done first by Exhorder, and perfected by Darrell. (yes, Pantera definitely took a huge page out of Exhorder's book, but they're simply a better band as a whole, though Exhorder's collection of riffs is a fantastic one as well, and is HIGHLY recommend...see: Slaughter in the Vatican). The song then goes into another triplet feel section, which is yet another banger, and the support section for the solo. The solo isn't really a classic by any stretch, but, yet again, has that great southern/bluesy feel. From there, the song kicks back for a quick visit to the opening riff, and then builds tension beautifully for the payoff, which is.....

11. Sandblasted Skin 9/10 - Though the song itself is not even close to complex, its feel with the main riff sells it completely, and is a perfect finish to a great album.

If you're like me, and skipped buying a Pantera record after Far Beyond Driven, you owe it to yourself to go out and pick this one up. Reinventing the Steel *also* has some of Darrell's best riffage on it (see: "It Makes Them Disappear" and "Revolution is My Name"), so pick that one up if you haven't already. Let me sum it up for you this way: If I were offered a choice between two double-album packages; one which included Vulgar Display of Power & Far Beyond Driven, and another which included The Great Southern Trendkill & Reinventing the Steel, I'd have a *very* hard time deciding, though I lean slightly towards the latter. Yes, it's that good.

Cheers, and happy listening!

This alum sees Pantera update fro their 80s hair metal into a more tight metal outfit. Singer Phil looks Amish. Pantera is a Christian band.

When I first heard about this band I didn't think
they were going to be that great. When I heard
Cemetery Gates on the radio I couldn't believe
that a band this heavy could be so melodic.
Dimebag as he was known to some played with
fierce passion. These guys wouldn't qualify
as boyscouts but their music can't be ignored.

I'm a professional guitar player so I listen to
music differently from others. As a professional
and a fan I'd say Dimebag was a premire player
in the heavy metal field. He also loved his fans,
that's why he gave his all when he played.

His untimely death was a shock and I'm sure he's
missed by millions of people.

Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell" is one of the greatest and most influential albums in the history of metal. When you look back at all the bands influenced by this album between 1990 and now, it's pretty amazing. But, influence aside, this album is just generally awesome.
We got Phil Anselmo on lead vocals, who can go from a deep, distorted growl to a high-pitched wailer of a note! Vinnie Paul is definitely an impressive drummer who adds some great fills and rhythms to the songs. Rex Brown mostly stay low-key but his basswork runs smoothly through the album.
Then there's the guitarist: Dimebag Darrell. A legend of our modern time, taken away from us far too young. But as for this album, he really shines here, ripping out some blazing riffs, melodies and solos throughout the entire album. Here's what I think about some of my favorite songs on an album that shattered metal!
"Cowboys From Hell" has a great build-up of an opener, and kicks out some great, heavy riffs, full of infectious grooves, and a great guitar solo, along with the shout-a-long chorus to boot.
"Primal Concrete Sledge" is the thrashiest song on the album, and only lasts 2:13. With the fast-paced, low, chugging guitar riffs, pounding drums and a Middle Eastern-tinged guitar solo, this is a great one. Plus, it features some of Phil's fastest singing around.
"Psycho Holiday" is the complete opposite of "Primal Concrete Sledge", adding an incredible amount of funk and grooves, it almost sounds like Metallica combined with Red Hot Chili Peppers. Bouncing, heavy riffs, polyrhythmic drumming and a guitar solo that lasts for a headbanging minute, this is sure to please all metalheads.
"Heresy" is another song in the thrashier vein, with more wild and high-pitched vocals from Phil and fast, chugging riffs, mixed with great drumming.
"Cemetery Gates" is a beautiful, Southern-rock styled ballad-turned-rocker with melodic acoustic passages, some beautiful singing and then hardcore screeching by Phil, an eerie electric riff and an amazing guitar solo. A definitely masterpiece.
"Domination" is a cross between fast grooves and chugging melodies, with one of Dimebag Darrell's greatest guitar solos and awesome verses sung by Phil.
"Shattered" is another song in speed-metal territory, with fast, complex riffs and some of Phil's greatest upper-range singing around. A real feast for a thrasher!
"Medicine Man" has some cool basswork, a catchy groove and deep singing by Phil, along with another signature heavy chorus!
"The Sleep" is the second epic-ballad-turned-rocker, after "Cemetery Gates". Featuring an exotic chord strum, dark, horror-themed lyrics and more deep, melodic singing by Phil, like on "Cemetery Gates", this is another great one!
"The Art of Shredding" closes the album with some more great riffage and a grooving bassline, high-pitched screaming from Phil and a somewhat random frenzy towards the end, that rocks out until the end.
As you notice, I didn't rate "Clash With Reality" or "Message In Blood", because I really don't listen to those two much, even though they're still great songs. Well, to summarize my review, if you want a great metal album with lots of talent, grooves and songwriting, "Cowboys From Hell" is a great choice. Thanks for the time, and peace.

The first time I heard Pantera was in late 1990 early 1991, the song was Cowboys From Hell, I thought wow these guys are pretty intense. I then heard Cemetary Gates, this song blew me away and I had to go buy the album. When I bought this album I was truly impressed and enjoyed it very much. Looking back at Pantera's discography this album was by far not their best, but Pantera was still a work in progress. If you want to check out Pantera you should start with Cowboys so you can hear the progression of their work. The title track, Primal Concrete Sledge, Psycho Holiday and of course Cemetary Gates are the standouts on this CD and you will notice that this is the last Pantera CD to feature Phil Anselmo's Rob Halford like vocals. After Cowboys, Phil stuck with his dinstinctive deep gravely sound.

ook elvis was great at what he did right sure why not then a bunch of years later the wonderful band called pantera now they had a few demos with a difrent singer he wasent that good so they hired phil this cd started heavey metal like elvis started rock n roll people didnt like it but it was the kids who loved that is why this is the first heavey metal cd to date not inckluding thoese 80s thrash band but woell by this cd if u are metal head like myself

The last CD from and epic metal band! Grab this while you still can! A metal must have!

This has none of the feeling power or talent of the past albums. All the other Pantera albums are fantastic, they should have let this garbage sit in the recycle bin.

Reinventing the Steel is the last studio album by popular groove metal band Pantera. It reached #4 on the Billboard Top 200 charts, #8 on the Top Canadian Albums chart, and #5 on the Top Internet Albums chart. The album's fifth track, "Revolution Is My Name", reached #28 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks.

Reinventing the Steel contains lyrics mostly about the band itself, as on "We'll Grind that Axe for a Long Time" (where the band members tell about how they've kept it "true" throughout the years, while many of their peers "sucked up for the fame") and "I'll Cast a Shadow" (about Pantera's influence on the genre). There are also songs about their fans, like "Goddamn Electric" and "You've Got to Belong To It." The band members dedicated Reinventing the Steel to their fans, whom they viewed as their brothers and sisters.

Reinventing The Steel (2000.), Pantera's fifth recognised studio album (their ninth if you count their four album releases during the 1980's which the band now totally disregards)

Pantera are a band never to shy away from their own musical direction no matter what was the `done' thing in music at the time. From the time when Pantera evolved themselves into the heavy, brutal and uncompromising band we've known them to be (i.e. `Cowboys From Hell' era onwards) the band provided a new benchmark for a generation of heavy metal. Following the released of their excellent 1996 album `The Great Southern Trendkill', the band took somewhat of a break from the creative album-making process. Inner tensions may have suggested overwise however Pantera still had more metal to power to their audience. `Reinventing The Steel' was released in 2000, after a four year hiatus and surged to #4 in the Billiboard 200 chart. Pantera were back and were ready to dominate for one last time...

`Reinventing The Steel' picks up where the band's previous albums left off. After more than proving themselves with previous album releases, Pantera keep the standards high with this disc which is another hugely powerful record. Their sound here still has that intense no-frills nature to it; Dime's riffs have that hard edge to them as ever and Phil Anselmo belts out another stunning hardcore vocal performance. The band are as sharp as ever in the face of musical trends at the time which leaned ultimately towards nu-metal. `Reinventing The Steel' is very much an album for the fans as the band dedicated the album to all the fans who had stuck with them through the years. `Goddam Electric' is a prime example of this gesture. Indeed the band have a little more of an upbeat outlook on this album and set many themes around their great career and the times they have passed through. `We'll Grind That Axe For A Long Time' carries that message, says thanks to the band's fans and a middle finger to those who always try to write Pantera off or those band's who have strayed away from their direction in search of fame. `Reinventing The Steel' is an extremely refreshing listen as it stands as a true serving of metal at a time when good quality heavy metal was hard to come by. Although I don't think this album is quite as heavy as it's predecessor `The Great Southern Trendkill', this album still has plenty of juggernaut riffs and pounding melodies.

`Hellbound' is a short opener to get the album underway. A rather sonic intro gives way to an intense Pantera staple with a particularly fast and thrashy chorus. `Goddam Electric' is one of the album's highlights. A brisk distorted verse gives way to a slower, plodding but really heavy chorus that has some infectious grooves and guitar fills. The band are on the top of their game on this track. `Yesterday Don't Mean Shit' keeps up the ante with some excellent guitar melodies and galloping riffs. Phil Anselmo makes his point very clearly on this one - not that he doesn't usually anyway! `You've Gotta Belong To It' is another impressive song with plenty of riffs that mix pounding chords with screaching melodies. The song as a particularly atmospheric interlude. `Revolution Is My Name' is much slower and foreboding with a particularly gripping chorus line. Dime gives a great solo in the middle of the track that sounds absolutely fantastic. Theres some awesome harmonies also.

Vinnie Paul's drumming gives an urgent start to `Death Rattle' before we're treated to more excellent riffs and a demonic chorus. `We'll Grind That Axe For A Long Time' is true Pantera in lyrics (mentioned above) and style with a punchy chorus and powerful verse grooves. `Uplift' is another good track, with the rhythms set by a definitive drum line. A stripped down verse makes a cool variation, with Phil belting out the vocals with no backing. `It Makes Them Disappear' is a longer track with a suspense-like intro. The grinding feel is excellent, as is the guitar solo but the track could do with a bit of variation as it progresses. `Ill Cast A Shadow' is Pantera closing another fantastic album in style. A hellraising intro, an intense verse and chorus that'll raise the hairs on your neck.

`Reinventing The Steel' is an album of 100% metal and is more than fitting as Pantera's final album. Sadly the band would split in 2003 due to longstanding tensions in the band. Vinnie Paul and Dimebag would go on to form Damageplan and release more great metal but tragically Dime was murdered on stage playing for Damageplan in late 2004. For me and many others, he was one of the great metal guitarists, a musician of amazing technical ability, power and flair who will be sorely missed in the music world. This album is the final offering for a band that have left an untarnished legacy of kickass metal that defined a new generation in the genre. Enjoy the vocals, enjoy Dime's musical brilliance, enjoy the music from the legendary band Pantera.

R.I.P. Dimebag Darrell

MY RATING: 8/10

Sadly, this would be the last studio album that Pantera would give us, as Dimebag and Vinnie would leave to form Damageplan (RIP DIMBAG). Its a damn shame that things had to end here, because with "Reinventing the Steel" Pantera was showing us that they were taking thier muscianship to the next level. Not only is the the best Pantera album, both musically and lyrically, its the smartest. Gone were the mistakes made on Far Beyond Driven and Southern Trendkill, as they step it down a notch on heaviness, and become more musically creative. "It makes them Disappear" is prove alone of the bands creativity. Wait until you hear Dimebags solo. Its a blues infused Riff that shines and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Even though I love "Vulgar Display" for its sheer brutality, I love "Reinventing the Steel" even more for its creativity. I encourage you all to listen with an open mind, and if you really listen to everything that is going on, everyone is in perfect harmony. Its always a damn shame when bands go out with great album, cause we never get to hear what the next one could have been like.

I bought a copy of this album when it first came out in 94. Almost 15 yrs later, it still sounds riveting and fresh. This truly is an uncompromising masterpiece in hardcore heavy metal. The music has enormous amount of aggression, rhythmic energy, power and anger, all wrapped up in a great sound editing/mastering/overall production. The musicianship shown by each member and the band as a whole is utterly tremendous and puts to shame other hardcore metal bands that are less disciplined in execution. Sloppiness plaguing in hardcore metal could no longer be an excuse after Pantera.

The follow up to Pantera's masterpiece, Vulgar Display of Power, this begins with the thrash and groove inspired "Strength Beyond Strength" and after the first three tracks the album seems a bit heavier than its predecessor. The band does a good job of varying tempos throughout, so the album rarely seems to drag on in monotony. Phil Anselmo also tries some new things with his vocals, which have taken on a somewhat more brutal tone. Unlike the higher screams from their earlier albums, and the raspy yell from Vulgar, he occasionally (on "Slaughtered," for example) uses a lower growl, which borders on a more extreme metal vocal.

While the album certainly isn't weak, it does lack that certain something that they achieved on Vulgar, where almost all of the tracks were noteworthy. On this release we find a number of strong tracks, but no real killer material that leaves you wanting more. The grooves aren't as strong as they're capable of, and the material, overall, is just not as amazing as I expect having heard on Vulgar what the band can do. Good...but not a great one.

The first four songs of this release are classic relentless Pantera. Strength Beyond Strength, 5 Minutes Alone, and Becoming are some of Pantera's best work. If this is true then why do I give it only 3 stars? Probably because after the opening 4 songs, I don't find anything else on this album that memorable, with the exception of their cover of Sabbath's Planet Caravan. I can put in Cowboys From Hell and Vulgar Display and listen all of the way threw over and over, however, midway through this album I grow a but tired and generally take it out to listen to something else. It's not that those songs are necessarily bad, just not as memorable as previous Pantera tunes. Of course if your a Pantera fan, this album is well worth buying, but if you don't own any of their albums start with Vulgar Display Of Power and Cowboys From Hell...

I have been a Pantera fan for years and when I bought this it did not leave my cd player for at least a month. I still get this out regularly during my travels and I still get the same feeling I did when I first heard it. The evolution of Pantera is evident here. There couldn't have been a better bridge between the "Vulgar Display" and "Trendkill" records. The only band to ever give me the goose bumppy shivers upon first hearing them other than Pantera is Freaklabel. If you like these guys you will LOVE Freaklabel's Monolith for sure!

Far Beyond Driven (1994.), Pantera's third recognised studio album (their seventh if you count their four album releases during the 1980's which the band now totally disregards)

Pantera's emergence as a major force in the world of heavy metal in the early 90's a very much right `in your face' affair. The band was able to breakthrough into popularity with an amazingly powerful and brutal style which got people listening without fail. Pantera's distinctive groove metal style that incorporated the heavy thrash metal of the `80's with elements of hardcore and some punk was defined to perfection on the band's second album `Vulgar Display Of Power'. The uncompromising and technically brilliant riffing of Dimebag Darrell, the screams of Phil Anselmo and the brutal rhythm section of drummer Vinnie Paul and bassist Rex were winning over more and more metalheads day by day. However, how much further could Pantera go with their ultra heavy music. In 1994, upon its release, `Far Beyond Driven' debuted at number 1 in the Billboard 200 album chart...

...And never before had an album quite so heavy and powerful flown its way straight to the top of the charts. `Far Beyond Driven' catches Pantera exactly where their previous album `Vulgar Display Of Power' left off. It is very much the album which consolidates Pantera's definite brand of metal with pure heaviness, plenty of downtuned riffs and intense grooves. It is overall, a very strong album with plenty of great arrangements. However, this album is weaker than its two predecessors which I find are more impressive the songwriting department. It is a testament to Pantera's strength and depth as a band that this is the weakest of their first three albums yet it is still no short of excellent. As said the album backs up the innovations of `VDOP', it just occasionally lacks that extra spark on some of the albums songs meaning the album is not quite up to the 5* quality of its predecessors. Still, all of the band members are in fine form throughout the album. Dime (who from this album onward actually is referred to as Dimebag Darrel as opposed to Diamond Darrell) is masterful as always both with riffs and solos. Some of his finest riffs and melodies are on here - who can forget the main riff to `I'm Broken' or the opening melody to '25 Years'! Phil Anselmo further develops his distorted, heavy styled hardcore vocals on this album giving greater intensity to the music. The production of the album is also top notch. I've found with all of Pantera's major label releases that they've always had great production - all of the instruments and vocals sound clearly defined, energetic and crisp. As said earlier, this album was number 1 hit for the band and full credit to them for making such a level of impression. These guys achieved it without at all selling out and they always stuck to their own direction. I salute you!!

Pantera's third serving of intense groove metal opens with `Strength Beyond Strength'. It is a high energy and low pitched opener with some express paced verse lines. The middle section is slower with a powerful grinding feel; Dime plays out some great melody lines. `Becoming' is one of my favourites off the album. An excellent opening riff with shrieking guitar notes paves the way to a bloodcurdling chorus with crunching chords. `5 Minutes Alone' is slower with some great instrumental melodies. The verses are classic Pantera with low punchy chords coupled with Phil's aggressive growls! `I'm Broken' contains one of Dime's best riffs setting up a great song. Dime often makes himself sound like two guitarists in harmony during his solo. `Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills' is an interesting experimental track - it is a bit fillerish but still has some nice bass and drum grooves. `Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks' is a sprawling epic with plenty of abrupt tempo changes. Theres some atmospheric moments although I feel as though the track could do to be a little shorter than its 7 minute run time.

`Slaughtered' opens with some scratchy riffs and classic Vinnie Paul double bass kicking. An uncompromising Pantera staple. '25 Years' has a brilliant intro melody which caught my ears instantly. This long song is a moody affair with plenty of mellow riffs and grinding bass lines; an excellent track. `Shedding Skin' has some great catchy rhythms and some unusual clean guitar interludes. Phil Anselmo mixes up a good mixture of hardcore vocals with some powerful cutting whispers. `Use My Third Arm' is another good track with lyrics about the police and the law misusing force. It contains more deep riffs with some surprising dissonant chords thrown in. The band often fly into some racing sections with thrashing beats. `Throes Of Rejection' opens with a signature Dime guitar melody over pounding bass. The chorus on this one is especially floor shaking when Phil screams `REJECTION!' The band then decide to round things off with a Black Sabbath cover `Planet Caravan'. I personally love this Sabbath track and I think the band do a fantastic job with the cover.

`Far Beyond Driven' continues Pantera's brutal metal style excellently. Although not their strongest work, this is still a great album with plenty of stellar songs I'm sure you will want to play back again and again. After keeping the aggression at full pelt with this album, the band would then go on to experiment a little and get even heavier! with their follow up `The Great Southern Trendkill', an underrated Pantera album which I would really recommend. That aside, going back to this album, `Far Beyond Driven' is further essential listening from Pantera. Like all of their other albums, I couldn't recommend this one more highly!

R.I.P. Dimebag Darrell

MY RATING: 8/10

They "Took over this town" with the first track to the album. every track following assaults the listener with their hostile aggressive sound that made them loved by metal fans on a global scale. unfortunately this also caused a crazed fan to jump on stage and shoot and kill the guitarist at a show in cincinnatti ohio but pantera will live forever as one of the most powerful rock bands of all time.

I started to listen to Pantera in 2003,probably a little bit before the band broke up.I really like to listen to them more than other metal bands.This greatest hits cd really has a lot of really great tracks from their past recordings.This cd has a diverse sound from the early Metallica inspired "Cowboys from Hell" to "Reinventing The Steel",which became more of a heaver sound.My favorite songs are "I'm Broken","5 minutes alone","Walk" and my all time favorite is "Mouth for War".Their is a lot of great songs, but it also came with a dvd which shows their music videos for most of the popular songs and live stuff.


I thinks they should of done what Alice in Chains did and release a box set with live and rare songs.Some of their songs are not include like "Domination","F****** Hostile","Primal Concrete Sledge","Clash with Reality"and come on "Floods",is one of best guitar solos ever.The album is great if you like Pantera and do want to buy of their separate cds this collection has not all of their best work,but it still has a lot of superb metal songs.

Pros: great metal songs,great guitar solos,superb drumming and loud vocals

Cons: should of made a box set

No es un mal disco pero tampoco es verdaderamente lo mejor de Pantera. Si quieren lo mejor de este grupo compren sus primeros 2 CD'S!!! Especialmente "COWBOYS FROM HELL". Pienso que este ha sido su mejor trabajo!. "THE BEST OF" solo ofrece dos canciones de "cowboys" y deja afuera favoritas como "PRIMAL CONCRETE SLEDGE" Y "PSYCO HOLIDAY" de su primera producción "COWBOYS FROM HELL". Aparte de esto, aparecen muchas canciones del disco "REINVENTING THE STEEL" (que en mi opinión no son muy buenas) y mi favorita de ese CD, "HELL BOUND" no esta incluida. Por el lado positivo incluye 2 canciones que originalmente habian salido en recopilaciones con varios artistas. "PLANET CARAVAN" (De Nativity In Black) y "Cat scratch Fever" (De el soundtrack de Detroit Rock City) que son bastante buenas! (aunque no el estilo de pantera). Mi recomendación seria comprar "COWBOYS FROM HELL" y tal ves "VULGAR DISPLAY OF POWER" en ves de "THE BEST OF".

Why be hateful of this greaest album? Sure, there could be better songs that represent what Pantera meant to us, and what it still does, but you can't really expect it to please everyone. Why not recognize it for what it is, and appreciate the music that we were so blessed to recieve from Pantera? The Dvd in itself is worth getting this, so why get upset, and say it isn't what you want? Stick to what you like, and stop printing bad reviews. -Maddawg.

As said so many times nefore, this album is missing some excellent songs however it's still worth the price and contains the "Pantera Essentials". Considering there are some rarities on here that can't be found on their studio recordings, you should buy this and Pantera's three best studio albums: :Cowboys From Hell","Vulgar Display of Power", "Far Beyond Driven".

Personally though (for those of you that care) I would have liked to have seen "Domination", "The Sleep", and "Psycho Holiday" from "CFH", "New Level", "Rise", and "F'n Hostile" from "Vulgar", "War Nerve" and "Floods" from "Great Southern Trendkill", and "We'll grind that axe all day long" from "RTS"

BUY THIS TODAY

the cd i ordered arrive before the time that was set and in perfect condition

This album brings back a lot of nostalgia for the early nineties when I listened to Pantera pretty much every day. I just put this disk back on rotation, and over a decade later I still can't believe how good this band was. There will never be another Pantera, and no one today even comes close in my humble opinion.

I'd have to agree with the majority of reviewers for this disk who have commented on the high quality of the live recordings. Dimebag and Vinnie Paul sound extremely tight (of course), Rex's bass comes through pretty well, and Phil's voice is devestating. If you are a Pantera fan, and never got a hold of this one, I highly recommend it.

This album rocks! It grabs you by the throat from the opening song and does not let go till it ends! The playing is brutal and spot on. Alselmo sounds great. This is a must have for Pantera fans. A truly great live album!!

I found this album in 1999 at my local recordshop on the "sale wall", it was cheap, real cheap and I remember that I had heard the Cowboys from hell riff a couple of year before and loved it... I bought the album and goddamn I would never be the same.. From Phil`s first grunt on new level i was hooked.. The live version of new level and Walk is far better than the studioversions, and so is the case of the other songs... This livealbum really shows how fu..ing good this band was, and how heavy they were... If you don`t own this album, you need to get, and get it fast..

The CD has a very good list of songs from Pantera's repertoire. However the recording quality leaves something to be desired. I've purchased live albums from other bands that sounded almost as good as the original recordings. I've only listened to the CD in my car stereo, but had to do adjustments on the Bass, Treble and Mid-range to get a decent sound.

Before they were the most awsome heavy metal band ever, Pantera was one of the most awsome Hair/Glam metal bands ever. This is the best album of early Pantera, especially with Phil Anselmo as lead vocals. P.S.T. 88 is the best song the album. If anyone even bothers to read this, please tell me the line that Diamond Darrell says at the end of P.S.T. 88 (before everyone breaks out laughing).

Pantera

Power Metal (1988)

Review: After a fateful meeting with James Hetfield, Diamond Darrel wanted Pantera to get heavy. "I Am The Night" in '85 was still glam, but wanted to get metal. Getting better. Now after hiring new vocalist Phil Anselmo, Pantera wants to achive an excellent level of metal.

They did it. Despite the corny looking cover picture, this is actually really decent. The previous Pantera albums were heavily glammed up, but here Pantera ditched almost all of that and replaced it with fast and high paced drumming, excellent bass, intricate thrash riffs, and metal vocal shrieks. This isn't Power Metal, no, this is a re-awakening. Phil's vocals here are intense and the shrieks are just right. Phil really had what it takes back then and it shows! Diamond's leads are just killer. Every lead here is definetly worth it alone. Listen to the thrash riffing in the tune, one of my Pantera favorites, "Over and Out". Pantera delivers all out excellent thrash. It's all out menacing. There are a few glam moments here, but are so few and far in between. With tunes like "Over and Out" and "Death Trap", Pantera got their wish to be metal. Even in the final tune "P.S.T. '88", Darrel sings here and had a pretty decent voice.

Overall, Pantera's soul searching came to a near end here. It wasn't till two years later when Pantera reached their pinnacle and finally found themselves. I Highly recommend Power Metal. The only shame is that Pantera ingnored this just because of the silly picture. This is an excellent album!

Pantera is a band that needs no introduction. They were one of the mainstays of mainstream metal in the nineties, and certainly deserved their success from endless touring and hard work. But there was something amiss, a badly kept secret that they were holding in and denying. Yes, they used to be a hair band. Their first three albums were influenced by everyone from Kiss and Judas Priest to Megadeth. Terry Glaze had a very Vince Neil-esque way of singing. The music was good, but it wasn't enough to be world class. Enter Phil Anselmo who introduced them to even heavier pastures. They weren't "quite there" as in Cowboys from Hell (and their Exhorder influenced groove metal) but they certainly knew how to thrash. Their 1989 album, Power Metal, is not only their most underrated release, its probably one of the most underrated albums of all time.

Why? It has all the hallmarks of the genre that befits the album's name.

Halford-esque screams? Check.

Megadeth meets Testament style thrash breaks? Check.

Awesome double bass drumming? Check.

Shred solos from our sadly departed Dimebag? Check.

In fact, I would dare say, its my favorite album by the band. I am not exaggerating when I say this, its their catchiest and also their fastest until the Great Southern Treadkill.

The music varies from more Priest like moments, to the aforementioned thrash influence. In short, its definitely a power metal album. It begins with "Rock the World" where Anselmo has an eerie similarity with Geoff Tate. "We'll Meet Again" is my favorite soloing from Dimebag, period.
The music can almost serve as Painkiller-era Priest- minus two years. Its no secret that Halford admired Pantera, I would almost speculate that he told the guys in Priest to play like this album, which culminated in their classic opus, Painkiller. The album ends with the silly, but heavy as hell PST 88- a song which features Dimebag on lead vocals.

So why does the band deny this album? Why hasn't it been remastered or reissued? Its hard to say. Certainly, the nineties "image" that was becoming in vogue post Cowboys From Hell is in sharp contrast to the still slightly "glam" image they have on the cover. Ironically during the first tours for Cowboys, they still played a few songs from this album.

I also think that maybe they thought if they revealed this album, people would search out the much more mediocre first three (well I am the Night certainly has its moments).

Whatever the reason, its criminal for them to sit on such good music. If you can find a copy, pick it up immediately, because its one of the greatest power metal albums of all time.

I would say its time for a remaster, reissue and rerelease. With the popularity of power metal influenced music (everything from 3 Inches of Blood to Trivium to Arch Enemy to Dragonforce), its time a label picked this up and did the proper treatment with it.

I read in some other review that this album's music style was a mix of early Metallica and Judas Priest. Well, there may be some truth in that, but the quality of the riffs and melodies has a much lower standard than with the 2 abovementioned bands. I find little of interest here. 3 of the songs are almost good, the rest is below average heavy/thrash metal. A disappointing album.

This is an awesome late 80's glam metal L.P., in the style of Keel, STryper, Ratt and Bon Jovi. This is the last great Pantera album before they decided to drop melody from their repotoire. Great guitar work from Mr. Diamond Darrell.

I have no idea why this has relatively high reviews. I like David Allan Coe and Pantera (to a much bigger extent), but my initial instinct was that this would not mix well. However, I decided to give it a chance because I like both of them and I have heard alternative country with punk influences that worked pretty well. I thought if any people could make this cohesive, these would be the ones.

Nope. It sounds worse than I could have possibly imagined. David Allan Coe sounds awful. He is off-key, lazy and sloppy sounding. The same can be said for the band. It seems and sounds like they aren't used to playing that slow, so they don't do it well.

Too bad dimebag didn't collaborate with Hank Williams III. Wouldn't that have been a much more interesting mix?

Typical of the Abbott brothers they came out with something new, heavy and that takes the standard conception of metal in a new direction, much like `Cowboys...' did long ago. Songs like `Time', `Nothin to lose' and `One Night Stand' are brutally heavy, and the others show the true talent of Dimebag, Vin and Rex as metal musicians. Seriously - these guys could've made a CD with Tony Bennett at vocals and it would've probably been just as powerful and brutally heavy.

I have bought over 50 CDs in first 3 months of 2008, and this is by far one the best.

Anyone who doesn't "get" what these guys are doing here should stick to their pubescent idea of metal and go buy some CDs with pentagrams on the cover so the music will feel 'heavy' for them. Anyone who's been a Pantera fan from the beginning should love this!

RIP Dimebag - you never knew me, but you are with me everyday via the huge legacy you've left all of us with your unique and beautiful music. You are truly missed.

This is a complete waste of time. Coe can not sing in key or hold a tune. It is a disgrace. Good guitar but there must be better ways of receiving Dime Bag excellence than to have to sit through this load of nonsense. Give your money to your cat to chew on - it would be better spent than buying this CD.

At first, I thought this was album was as good, if not better than a lot of Pantera albums. Instrumentally, it is very good, but the more I listened to it, the more David Allan Coe got annoying: the lyrics more so than the singing. This is a good addition for Dimebag fans, not so much for DAC or Pantera fans.

I haven't heard this album but I used to work on Vinnie Paul's cars. One day he brought it in an had about 6 CDs with different versions of "Cowboys Do More Dope". It was a pretty entertaining song. This was probably around 2000.

Being a all-time fan, this disc covers all and some...... If you don't have this and a metal head for life, GET THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a great CD, has all of my favorite songs from their CD collection.
The only thing that kept me from giving 5 stars was in the description the review stated that it contains 2 CD's but there is only 1. I would have loved to had the songs on the 2nd CD and that kept me from giving 5 stars.