Pantera Reinventing the Steel |
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 | Tracklist:
1. Hellbound
2. Goddamn Electric
3. Yesterday Don't Mean Shit
4. You've Gotta Belong To It
5. Revolution Is My Name
6. Death Rattle
7. We'll Grind That Axe For A Long Time
8. Uplift
9. It Makes Them Disappear
10. I'll Cast A Shadow
| Ranking: #108 for 2000 | |
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On 20 Lists
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| Summary: Probably Pantera's most underrated album. Sure, it's no Vulgar Display of Power, but at least the band went out on a high note. |
4 of 4 thought this review was well written
Heavy. Powerful. Brutal. Deadly. Pantera.
This is Pantera, probably America�s most important metal band of the 90s. In the past they�ve had tons of success and they�ve had some of their singles actually reach number one on the Billboard status. The band is from Dallas, Texas and they�re basically just a bunch of crazy, drunken rednecks who just love playing metal. And boy, do they do it well. This album was their last and ends their career with a bang.
The band:
Vinnie Paul � Drums
Rex Brown � Bass
Phil Anselmo � Vocals
Dimebag Darrell � Guitar
Hellbound starts the album off right with flanger guitar effects and then the rest of the band enters, setting this album with a not-so-heavy feel, yet. Wait for about fifty five seconds until the band unleashes a crashing fury of low end riffs and great screaming by frontman Phil Anselmo. This song is nice and short, and just gives you a good idea of what is about to come ahead with the album. It�s much heavier than their last release, The Great Southern Trendkill. Now that the band has grabbed your attention, it�s time for a Pantera hit, Goddamn Electric. This song is actually a tribute to the genre of heavy metal. You�ll hear some lyrics that mention bands like Black Sabbath and Slayer, which were some major influences for Pantera. This song also takes a slower and heavy feel during the chorus. This song is one of the album�s highlights.
Yesterday Don�t Mean Sh*t is next, and this song is the fastest the album has seen so far. It�s like a heavy metal roller coaster ride that never lets up. The lyrics are also particularly aggressive, and the riffs are obviously heavy. The guitar solo also sounds great, as does Rex�s bass playing during this part. If you want a song to get you pumped up or you just feel like headbanging along to some metal, give this song a try sometime. You�ve Gotta Belong To It enters right where the last track left off and the guitars during the intro are particularly weird. I think that Dimebag is using a whammy pedal during this part. Aside from that opening riff, the rest of the bands guitar parts annoy me in this song. They just sound awkward and they�re just not fun to listen to. I admire the band for trying a different sound, but it didn�t work out.
It�s time for one of Pantera�s biggest hits and my personal favorite song off of the album, Revolution is my name. It�s pretty much a perfect Pantera song. The riffs are incredibly impressive during almost all parts of the song, the drums provide good beats, the bass always lay down a good groove, and Phil gives a stunning vocal performance. I also like how after every chorus the band changes keys and then goes to a guitar solo before the next verse. It just shows the band�s overall skill and also allows them to break away from the whole verse/chorus/verse/chorus/solo/chorus song structure that some other songs they do use. You should surely give this song a listen if you�re a fan of metal.
Death Rattle is another brutally heavy track that you could kick someone�s ass to. The riffing is always heavy, and the bass is rather prominent during the choruses. The best part of the song is when Phil says �death rattle shakes!� because the riffing and drums during that part sound really great. In case you didn�t know this, a riff from this song was also used in an episode of Spongebob Squarepants. It�s a short and heavy track, good for all you metal heads out there. We�ll Grind That Axe For A Long Time slows the album down for a little while, and gives the band a more badass and grooving feel. The lyrics in this song are really angry and pretty obscene in some parts. The drums have some parts where they shine with some blast beats. I like this song because they changed up the albums with a slower song, but still remaining heavy.
Uplift commences with only a drum beat and guitars, bass and vocals quickly enter in with it. Most of the song is stuff you�ve already heard before in a Pantera song, and most of the riffs seem recycled. The only part of this song that really stands out in my mind is where there are weird effects over the bass and it has a brief little �solo� part, but not that much happens. This is the weakest part on the album. It Makes Them Disappear doesn�t sound like a normal Pantera song in terms of key, because they�ve dropped their strings down really low to make the song sound incredibly nasty, but awesome! This song recovered the album by a long shot, and I�m also glad that this is the longest song on the album, because it is also one of the best. The band also goes back to the slower and heavier feel that they used in We�ll Grind That Axe For A Long Time, and it surely works for them. The solo also sounds great and is the best one on the song if you ask me. Every part of this song is great, and all of you should give it a listen.
If you happen to have Pantera�s greatest hits CD, this last song is one there. It�s called I�ll Cast a Shadow, and is a favorite among all of the Pantera fans that I know. The band retreats back to their fast feel, but still deliver some great sounding and technical riffs. The vocals are probably my favorite part of this song though. Phil Anselmo gives yet another tremendous performance. There are also some parts where double bass drumming is also very noticeable, along with some other great beats by Vinnie Paul. The bass and guitar also have a duel solo part that isn�t like the Pantera you�ve heard before. It sounds really great and I wish they did that in more songs. This is an excellent track and a good way to close the album.
Pros:
--Great guitar riffs and vocals
--There are some good solos
--The band tries a different sound and makes it work
Cons:
--Uplift
--Some of the riffs seem recycled
--Might be too heavy for some listeners
Best songs:
Goddamn Electric
Revolution Is My Name
It Makes Them Disappear
I�ll Cast A Shadow
It�s too bad that Pantera broke up after this album because I really liked their newer sound. If you find yourself to be a fan of metal and you want a new, heavy album to check out, give this a listen. For the most part this is a great CD.
Final Rating: 4/5
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
i havnt heard the album yet, in fact iv only heard "revolution is my name", but on the evidence of that, i think im goin to like it. it took me a while to really appreciate pantera, they were too un-melodic for me to start with, but iv gotten used to that now.
great review btw!
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This is the only Pantera album I havnt entirely heard but what Ive heard is pretty good.
Why exactly don't you like Pantera something vague?
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I have loads of respect for this band, but I've never been able to get into them.
| | | Album Rating: 3
For the most part, I love Pantera. The only problem that I have with them is the fact that they used to sport the whole Confederate flag thing everywhere they were. They made great music, but I don't like racism.
Digging: Saint Vitus - Lillie: F-65 | | |
I really, really do love Pantera from the bottom of my heart. They are just so... primal.
| | | Album Rating: 3
mazz, I totally agree. Pantera reminds me of pissed off gorillas throwing their own feces at each other, it's just that brutal. In a good way.
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Umm... I don't know about the whole Gorilla thing but yea I pretty much agree with you guys. But I do agree with Something Vague in that Phil is not a great vocalist at all.
| | | Album Rating: 3
Anselmo is a great vocalist, one of the best I think. He got a reward because of his vocals but I didn't remembered what type of reward it was, it was a very big one.
Good review but it was a bit boring to me.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
good review, however I very much enjoy Uplift. Its very simple, but I dig it a lot. But Revolution is My Name is one of the best Pantera songs ever recorded.
Digging: Inepsy - City Weapons Digging: Inepsy - City Weapons | | |
Revolution is My Name = best Pantera song
| | | Album Rating: 5
reinventing the steel was a very straight forward album for pantera no experimentation with ballads,melody or the extremes of their trademark abrasiveness.But songs like revolution is your name was so unbelievably good to say this album is a certified classic.I also love the last 2 songs it stands out from the rest with it's dark moody/bluesy type of feel for the good of the RTS.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
All the songs on this album have a certain flavor about them. Very kickass album. I wish they could have made more music.
Digging: Tenacious D - Rize of the Fenix Digging: Tenacious D - Rize of the Fenix | | | Album Rating: 3
there is nothing racist about a rebel flag.
it basically represents "southern pride", I highly doubt dimebag darrell hated niggers
Digging: Ultramontane Northern Winds - kutte hjertet Digging: Ultramontane Northern Winds - kutte hjertet | | |
LIFE WAS CONFUSING BECAUSE OF MY AGE
SHOULD MY EYES OPEN FOR TOMMOROW'S GAINS?
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
underrated
Digging: Marina and The Diamonds - Electra Heart | | | Album Rating: 3.5
Revolution is My Name is one of the best Pantera songs ever recorded.[2]
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
WHEN I DIE
I CAST A SHADOOWWWWWWWW
Digging: Gary Glitter - kiddy diddler Digging: Gary Glitter - kiddy diddler | | |
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