Pantera - Official Live: 101 Proof

I don't know where to start with this album. For starters I'm not that big of a Pantera Fan. They have done some songs I love, and they really make me want to bang my head. However, I was never angry enough for Pantera.

I own four Pantera albums, and two of them came from subscriptions to mail order CD companies. Official Live: 101 Proof came from my days with Columbia House. I'm pretty sure it was one of my freebies, because I never would have normally bought this album.

This album covers the years of 1990 to 1997, or from Cowboy From Hell to Great Southern Trend Kill. Both of those albums I also own, but I don't own either two that fall in between. I don't own Vulgar Display Of Power, because not many songs really jumped out at me. I never bothered with Far Beyond Driven, because it was way to overplayed by everyone I know.

Like I said, I'm not much of a Pantera fan. And, if you were wondering, the fourth CD I own is a greatest hits collection, which is my favourite album I own from them.

Official Live: 101 Proof opens with New Level, and I'm skipping to the next song already. See one of my biggest problems with Pantera is I don't care for Phil Anselmo's vocals most of the time. He's your typical Metal vocalist that spends more time screaming and yelling into the microphone than he does singing, and that's a bit of a shame. When Phil sings he sounds really good. When he screams he sound so boringly typical. That's also a good way to describe this song.

After that is Walk. This one is from the last album, which is Vulgar Display, but I like this one a lot more. Walk is one of those songs that sounds bad ass, and demands your attention. The only problem I have with this song is how over played it got. The live version is totally kick ass, and is where this album should have started.

It's on to the Far Beyond Driven album for the next live track. Becoming sounds pretty much like a continuation of Walk to the untrained ear. Especially when you aren't giving the lyrics the attention that they need.

There are some Pantera songs that leave me feeling conflicted, and 5 Minutes Alone is one of them. Parts of this song are totally bitching, and have some great riffs. Other parts are boring as shit guitar filler. If the boring parts had been replaced with something more substanial it would have made this song so much better.

One thing I have to say is that Phil works the crowd non stop and really get's them pumped up. Sadly the flip side to go with that is I would be bored shitless at a Pantera concert.

Sandblasted Skin is one of the reasons I'd be so fucking bored. At this point all the songs are already starting to sound the same. Dimebag Darrell plays a riff filled with little augments and artificial harmonics, while Vinnie Paul plays the exact same double bass driven drums, the bass get's lost in the mix and Phil keeps screaming. I've seen Death Metal bands live and they all sounded like this to some degree and after two songs I start tuning out.

Another thing I feel I should mention is that every time I hear Phil open his mouth I just want to smack it shut. Nothing like listening to an ego spouting loud mouth go on and on about how the "Experts say heavy music is dead." Phil please shut up and just scream into the microphone. You don't sound like such a dipshit.

The reason I mention his little dipshit rant is that it leads into, and is meant as introduction to the next song. Suicide Note Pt. 2 is the shittier, overly noisy craptastic hit single that will only ever be heard in your car. I don't know why they used this one instead of Pt. 1. Although slower, the first part shows the band as much more talented musicians than this one does.

War Nerve is another one of those songs that is really good, but has too much useless filler crap in it. I will say that this is one of the more progressive songs from Pantera, but it's loaded with all of Dimebag's typical guitar tricks. It it wasn't for the riff during the verses this might be a much better song.

Song eight marks the end of the first half of the album, and I really wish it was done already. Strength Beyond Strength is just a lot of screaming with basic music thrown over top for flavour. I have no use for this song, and it's the worst one on the album at this point. Thankfully I know that the album will finally start getting better shortly.

A medley of Domination and Hallow make up track nine. This first thing I have to say about this song is that it's about time we finally get to start hearing Dimebag play. He's a great guitarist and can play with the best of them, but most of the time what you hear, at least on this album, is repetitive basic guitar. Not to say that it isn't complicated, or talented, but it all sounds pretty stock for him. This live track marks the beginning of them playing more differentiated music.

This Love follows that up, and continues showing how good this band can really be. It's a slower song, at least to start, but it's rich and full. Then the chorus kicks in, and somewhere in the crowd some asshole just got his teeth kicked in. I say this in jest, because I don't know if that ever actually happened during the recording of this album.

I'm Broken is one of those songs I respect, but don't bother with most of the time. If Far Beyond Driven was their most overplayed album, I'm Broken is their most overplayed song. ZRock played this song to death. I remember there was a point where I was hearing it a minimum of once an hour.

Now when they announce the last song of the night is I'm Broken I should be happy, because the album is supposed to be done. That's what happens after the last song of the night right? Sure, except for the encores. Lucky for me, two out of the three encores are two out of my five favourite Pantera songs. Nothing like having to wait until the end of the night/CD to hear the songs you actually want to hear.

The first song is Cowboy From Hell. This is the only song from Pantera that is a must for me. This was the song that originally attracted me to Pantera and the album of the same title that it comes from was the only Pantera album I owned for years. I enjoy this live version, and I even like the little touch of Cat Scratch Fever Dimebag slips in there.

After that it's on to Cemetary Gates. This is the only other Pantera song that really gets me off, but in a different way. I like that it's not all fast, screamy, and full of guitar noise. It's a well written song, that is worthy of very high praise. I could do without the extra minute of talking at the end of the track.

The live part of the album finishes with Hostile. This is basically them finishing the way they started. Yelling, screaming, a bunch of fast uninspired riffs, and a whole lot of anger being spouted out. All in all not a very impressive ending to a live show.

I have little to no use for this album. The bass is totally buried in the mix, and is constantly hidden in the guitar mix. The drums are so bloody boring I can see why Dave Mustain didn't want to bring Vinnie into Megadeth, only Dimebag way back in the eighties. I've been pretty clear about how I feel about Phil's constant yelling. The only type of saving grace to this album is the limited amount of skill we get from Dimebag. Unfortunately almost all of it sounds the same on here.

Even once the two new studio tracks kick in I'm not impressed. Where You Come From starts off with some potential, but quickly devolves into another very typical Pantera song. One thing I was never able to understand about Dimebag is why he didn't allow his riffs to breathe a little more. It's almost like if he stopped playing he would lose his own tempo. The solo on the song is kind of cool, and I like the breakdown in the mid section, but that's about it.

The album finally ends with the song I Can't Hide. This is some high speed Punk-like thrashing out. I do like this one musically, but only to a small degree. The coolest part about this song is the fact that you can clearly hear Rex on his bass for the first time on this entire album. Although I can't figure out why the song feels like four minutes or more, when it's barely over two.

All in all I just really did not enjoy this album. If this had been the first album I picked up from Pantera it most definately would have been the last. One of this biggest problems with this album is the live production. It's not impressive in any way what so ever, and I find it actually very damaging to the integrity of this band's music. Even if I don't care for much of it.

4/10 - content

3/10 - production

3/10 - personal bias