Pantera

Official Live: 101 Proof (Elektra)
by Scott Hefflon

Man, you’ve got to love Pantera. The onstage tirades about not conforming to musical trends or selling out make the obvious Pantera 101 joke almost unnecessary. (For those of you who weren’t convinced to spend four years of the prime of your life to “earn” [or buy] a very expensive wall hanging, “101” refers to a beginner’s course.) And, in a nutshell, that’s what Pantera is. Pantera is to metal what Ministry is to industrial metal, what NIN is to industrial, and Marilyn Manson is to heavy Goth – it’s the tip of the iceberg, but it’s popular ’cause it goes down easy. Phil still swallows the mic, Dimebag still gets more squeals out of his geetar than anyone this side of Vai, Vinnie still pounds the click track as proficiently as Lars ever did, and Rex still plays the bass. Fourteen live tracks spanning the albums, two new studio cuts at the end. Plus there’s a new home video out there somewhere called 3 (Watch It Go). Not as catchy-sounding as Vulgar Video, but that’s an untouchable classic, a true masterpiece of wacky backstage footage and live rage.
(75 Rockefeller Plaza New York, NY 10019)