Pantera official live is my first ever pantera cd that ive bought. and it was nothing like i expected. When heard my first Pantera song, "Becoming" i thought :confused:. It was nothing but pinch harmonics which i personally am not a fan of if they are over used.
Next up, a couple of months later, i heard "I'm Broken" at my friends house and was blown away. Today, I decided to go out and buy official live. And my god.. why didn't i earlier??
I'll start by track listings, as that seems to be the common way.
I wasn't actually going to do this, because i figgured that everyone has heard most pantera songs, but i thought about it, and maybe there are people like me who having heard one in their lives, so here you go.
1. New Level (4.24)
It starts off with the crowd chanting "PANTERA! PANTERA!" then just a roar of screems. Then Dime comes in with a haunting pick slide and into the song. Hard and heavy Pantera style, the song is chunky and full of true metal. Not one of my favorites but still nice to start off with. 5/10
2. Walk (5.50)
With no time wasting, (except for a quick pause to hear the crowd screeming their hearts out), Pantera's raunchy guitars and drums pump out a massive intro. But all of a sudden everything stops, and you hear Phil announce, "ima tell you something right the fuck now! You see those cameras?, we're filmin' for the fuckin' home fuckin' video man! Now take it from the verse. 1, 2, 3.. and then back in with the rest of the song.
Perfect for a second course.. 8/10
3. One thing I've noticed in alot of live albums, is that when they're edited, alot of talking in between the songs have been edited out. Well, not with this. At the end of "Walk", Phil gives a little speach about how fucked up commercialism is, and how he loves everyone hating it. Then announces the nest song, "Becoming. (3.59)"
Now as i said before, i never used to like this song, but it grows on you, expecially if you're not used to this kind of music. Pantera shows off its hard metal genes with hard guitars and screaming lyrics. 7/10
4. 5 Minutes Alone (5.36)
When phil announces this song, the crowd almost die with excitement. You can really feel the anticipation they are getting just waiting for the song to start. Chunky palm mutting, slow drumming, and raunchy lyrics, this song makes you feel like getting up and trashing your home and everything in it. Definately easy to get hooked to, 9.5/10
5. Sandblasted Skin (4.29)
Not one of my fav's as its a bit too full on for my taste. It seems like there's too much going on and hard to keep up with. But if you are into that, then you'll probably love it. In my opinion, 3/10. But for metal heads, probably 6/10
6. Suicide Note Pt. 2 (4.20)
Stopping for a couple of minutes just to get the croud geered up some more, Phil preaches about heavy metal music being alive and kicking, and the croud just going off, he announces that this is the drummer, Vinnie Paul's, dream, and they go into "Suicide Note Pt. 2". Again it seems like there is too much going on in this song, and its too hard to follow. Once again, 3/10. 6/10 for hard core metal heads.
7. War Nerve (5.21)
You can hardly hear the music over the noise of the croud at the start of this. Hard rocking beats that seem slow but heavy at the same time. You really cant listen to this album sitting down. You cant physically sit down, and put it on, you have to be up and walking round or jumping or killing something or something! And this song proves it. 8/10
8. Strength Beyond Strength (3.37)
Without time to breath, Phil announces the bands trademark nickname, "THE COWBOYS FROM HELL" and rips into "Strength Beyond Strength". Again, slow but heavy, you can just close your eyes, and feel everyone moshing around you. You can see yourself looking up at the band, watching Dimebag Darrel rocking back and forth on his wah pedal, and just feeling the adrenallin rush through you. 7.5/10
9. Dom/Hollow (3.43)
Finally it's Rex's turn to start off a song, with chunking bass lines, giving time for Phil to announce the songs, before Dime jumping in with a massive solo and winning the croud's hearts with chunky palm muted powerchords. Cutting "Dommination" and "Hollow" in half was a great idea for something new for the fans. 8/10
10. The Love (6.57)
Slow fingerpicking, obviously a croud favorite, the song starts slow and moving. It seems like you're in for a melody, a big change from the other songs on the album. But dont be fooled easily, with a roaring scream and a massive drum-roll, the heaviness is back with a wailing chorus. (You can actually hear the croud chanting "THIS, LOVE!!", over the top of the band. Its amazing.) Then back into a slow, melodic verse again. 7.9/10
11. I'm Broken (4.27)
Phil almost makes the croud cry when he says things like, "until the next time we see you.." but quickly yells, "I'M HAVING SOME FUCKIN' FUN!! THIS IS I'M BROKEN" and so the song is played. It's funny, ive always hated live albums because of the sound being so shitty, but with this, the croud and the enthusiasm that the band gives, is breathtaking, and makes you wanna be there. Or at least imagine that you are. This song proves, that once again, Pantera are not a band to be taken lightly.
12. Cowboys From Hell (4.35)
Ok I have to confess that i was so anxious to hear this song that i downloaded it off kazaa about 1 week before i bought this album. And so when i did buy Official Live, i skipped to this song straight away, just to hear the quality. And in the words of Phillip Anselmo, "FUCKIN' AYE!!!" Coming back out for an encore, the crowd goes off when they hear the words, "We're takin' over this town". Dime comes in with the most memorial guitar riffs ever heard. And before you know it, the song is in and you're jumping around your living room with your granny.
13. Cemetary Gates (7.53)
Slow fingerpicking causes a chain reaction once again with the crowd roaring for their idols. The melodic change is good in this song, and even when the guitars turn distorted and the drums come in, the song still holds a sence of peacefulnes and melody. Expecially with Phils vocals. Instead of just screaming, he's actually singing. 9.5/10
14. Hostile (3.56)
Geering the audience up for the final songs, Anselmo wont stop until he's gotten the crowd's final answer..., what do they want to hear??? :evil: Back again with screaming vocals and hard beats, the band wont let the croud stop for 2 seconds to breath, let alone keep up. 7/10
15. Where You Come From * (5.11)
As two bonus tracks, the band include studio recordings from May '97. With clear pumpin action, if you close your eyes, you can still feel the crowd around you, screeming their hearts out. 5/10
16. I Can't Hide * (2.16)
A punky kind of feel with streeming bass licks, the drums are fast and less-meaningful. The whole song has a punk type feel which is ok at first but gets old quickly. 4/10
Ok well, i give the album 8/10. All the songs seem to connect perfectly, and with flawless spirit.
My first reveiw, please tell me what you thought of it.
ciao
