Line #109 Music/Pantera


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pantera_5910.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The Cowboys from Hell.\
3	Left to right: Rex Brown, Phil Anselmo, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell.]]
4	[floatboxright:
5	Influences:
6	+Music/{{Anthrax}}, Music/BlackSabbath, Music/BlackFlag, Music/{{Darkthrone}}, Music/{{Exodus\|Band}}, Hellhammer, Music/IronMaiden, Music/JudasPriest, Music/{{Kiss}}, Music/{{Megadeth}}, Music/{{Metallica}}, Music/{{Motorhead}}, Music/SaintVitus, Saxon, Music/{{Slayer}}, Music/TedNugent, Music/VanHalen, Music/{{Venom}}, Music/ZZTop
7	]
8	[floatboxright:
9	Related Acts:
10	+Rebel Meets Rebel (Dime, Rex, and Vinnie)
11	+Damageplan (Dime and Vinnie)
12	+Down (Phil and Rex)
13	+Hellyeah (Vinnie)
14	+Superjoint Ritual (Phil)
15	+Arson Anthem (Phil)
16	+Music/{{Necrophagia}} (Phil)
17	+Kill Devil Hill (Rex)
18	+Child Bite (Phil)
19	+Scour (Phil)
20	+Phil Anselmo and The Illegals (Phil)
21	+Down (Phil)
22	]
23	->''"Can't you see I'm easily bothered by persistence?\
24	One step from lashing out at you...\
25	You want in to get under my skin and call yourself a friend?\
26	I've got more friends like you, what do I do?"''
27	-->-- "'''Walk'''"
28
29	Pantera was one of the most popular and influential HeavyMetal bands of TheNineties[[note]]although this is the period where [[GrowingTheBeard they made their definitive sound and essence.]][[/note]], from Texas. [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Starting as a]] HairMetal [[OldShame band]], they changed their style after replacing original singer Terry Glaze with Phil Anselmo in 1987. They disbanded in 2003 after a long period of infighting, and any hope of a reunion was dashed after the murder of guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott in December 2004. In the years afterward, Anselmo and Brown occasionly floated the idea of a "tribute" tour where they and Vinnie would play with various metal guitar luminaries standing in for Darrell, but a combination of Vinnie not wanting to play Pantera songs without his brother and his holding one of the strongest grudges in heavy music squashed those plans, which were then permanently dismissed when Vinnie died in June 2018.
30
31	However in 2022, Anselmo and Brown announced that they would be reuniting to perform a tour in 2023, with Zakk Wylde and [[Music/{{Anthrax}} Charlie Benante]] taking the roles of guitarist and drummer respectively.
32
33	!!Discography:
34
35	Note that up to ''Cowboys from Hell'' are considered, in general consensus, CanonDiscontinuity (even by the band).
36
37	* 1983: ''Metal Magic''
38	* 1984: ''Projects in the Jungle''
39	* 1985: ''I Am the Night''
40	* 1988: ''Power Metal''
41
42	Albums after the [[NewSoundAlbum change in style]]:
43
44	* 1990: ''Cowboys from Hell''
45	* 1992: ''Vulgar Display of Power''
46	* 1994: ''Far Beyond Driven''
47	* 1996: ''The Great Southern Trendkill''
48	* 1997: ''Official Live: 101 Proof'' [Live Album]
49	* 2000: ''Reinventing the Steel''
50
51	Band members: (All former)
52	* Phil Anselmo: lead vocals (1986-2003)
53	* [[StageNames "Diamond"]] (pre-1992)/[[StageNames "Dimebag"]] (post-1992) Darrell Abbott: guitars, backing vocals (1981-2003; died 2004)
54	* Rex Brown: bass, backing vocals (1982-2003)
55	* Vincent "Vinnie" Paul Abbott: drums, percussion (1981-2003; died 2018)
56	* [[StageNames Terry]] Glaze: lead vocals (1982-1986); backing vocals (1981-1982); rhythm guitar and keyboards (1981-1986). Credited as "Terrence Lee", starting with ''Projects in the Jungle''.
57
58	----
59	!!"RE! SPECT! TROPES!":
60
61	* AbusiveParents: Phil had a pretty rough childhood due in no small part to his physically and emotionally abusive father, which provided the inspiration for songs like "25 Years."
62	* {{Angrish}}: Anselmo sounds like he's losing his mind in "Good Friend and a Bottle of Pills". By the final section he's launched into an [[AtomicFBomb Atomic]] ClusterFBomb, nothing resembling coherence left.
63	* AntiLoveSong / BreakupSong: "This Love"
64	* TheBandMinusTheFace:
65	** Pantera is an example of a band that benefited from this trope, as Terry Glaze became [[invoked]]ThePeteBest and the group became more successful with Phil Anselmo as the singer,
66	** Dimebag, Rex Brown and Vinnie Paul released an album called ''Rebel Meets Rebel'', with vocals and lyrics provided by country singer Music/DavidAllanCoe.
67	* BandOfRelatives: Well, Dime and Vinnie were brothers to say the least. Dime did not want to join Megadeth without Vinnie in the late 80s and Vinnie did not want a Pantera reunion tour without his brother.
68	* BlasphemousBoast: "Becoming" has a couple examples, such as "to rise beyond Jesus" and "I'm the Un-Lord."
69	* BookEnds: "The Great Southern Trendkill" album is started with a TitleTrack. "Sandblasted Skin", which is a final track of this record, is started with Phil screaming "The trend is dead!!!"
70	* CallingTheOldManOut: A particularly vicious one in "25 Years."
71	* CarefulWithThatAxe:
72	** ''Fucking... fucking... fucking... FUCKING HOSTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'' It's so loud, there's a feedback whistle on the mic after he's done. Darrell laughingly recalled in a ''Guitar World'' interview that the first time he played that song for his father (a record producer), his dad told him, "Son, people are gonna think something's ''wrong'' with the record and take it back."
73	** Some high-pitched screams appear at the end of "Drag The Water".
74	* CelebrityCameo:
75	** Dozens of their fellow metal musicians show up in their home videos. Music/SkidRow, Music/SuicidalTendencies, Music/{{Megadeth}}, Music/{{Anthrax}}, Music/MarilynManson, [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]], Music/TypeONegative, and many more.
76	** Seth Putnam of Music/AnalCunt does backing vocals (screams) on a few tracks on ''The Great Southern Trendkill''.
77	** Also, Dimebag played on several songs on the last three Anthrax albums before his death (Phil also guested on ''Killing Box''). This led many fans to call their collaboration "Panthrax."
78	* ClusterFBomb: Most their songs contain ''at the very least'' one f-bomb. If they don't have it in studio, it'll be tacked in live. Check the ''Official Live'' version of "Walk".
79	* CoverVersion:
80	** "Electric Funeral", "Hole In The Sky" and "Planet Caravan", all of these by Music/BlackSabbath.
81	** "Cat Scratch Fever" by Music/TedNugent.
82	** The Pantera home videos also feature clips of them performing "Grinder" by Music/JudasPriest, "Cold Gin" by Music/{{Kiss}}, and "Raining Blood" by Music/{{Slayer}}.
83	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBBePX7-PrE "Seek and Destroy"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fx2uQZ5mTQ "Whiplash"]] live with Music/{{Jason Newsted}} of Music/{{Metallica}}. [[FunnyBackgroundEvent And Rex chilling by the amps.]]
84	** "The Badge", originally by HardcorePunk group Poison Idea, as featured on the soundtrack album to ''Film/TheCrow''.
85	* DarkerAndEdgier: Initially they were a HairMetal band that was heavily influenced by bands like Music/VanHalen, KISS, and Judas Priest. But in 1986 Music/{{Metallica}} released the album ''Master of Puppets'' and Slayer released ''Reign in Blood''; these groundbreaking thrash metal albums inspired Dimebag, Vinnie, and Rex to move the band in a darker and heavier direction. Original lead singer Terry Glaze did not agree with the change in style and left Pantera. Phil Anselmo was hired as Glaze's replacement, and the rest is history. Then they managed to do it again, this time with the whole album of ''The Great Southern Trendkill''.
86	* DayInTheLife: The Pantera home videos are a compilation of footage (mostly taken by Dimebag and his assistant Bobby, with a camcorder) of Pantera while they're out on tour and performing other official functions. It provides a candid behind-the-scenes view of what the Cowboys from Hell are like when they're not onstage. Pretty much everyone who has watched the videos agrees on this: those guys would have been ''fun'' to party with.
87	* DeadpanSnarker: Phil can be this at times. Check out his "tour" of his tent in Russia from the ''Vulgar Video'' DVD.
88	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their glam metal albums from TheEighties are, of course, a no-brainer. But 1990's ''Cowboys From Hell'' also has some of this. The songs are a bit more restrained and "playful" than on later albums, and it's the only one of their canonical albums to use standard tuning (the remaining four would be tuned a quarter step down).
89	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: "Floods" from ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' is about a great flood that destroys mankind.
90	* EpicRocking: "Cemetery Gates," "This Love", "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks", "Suicide Note," "Living Through Me (Hell's Wrath)", "Floods", "It Makes Them Disappear", "Avoid the Light".
91	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "The Underground in America" fades into "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin".
92	* FlashInThePanFad: Mocked in "The Great Southern Trendkill".
93	-->Buy it at a store,\
94	from Creator/{{MTV}} to on the floor\
95	You look just like a star,\
96	it's proof you don't know who you are
97	* AGodAmI: "Becoming" is described from this point of view.
98	* GreatestHitsAlbum:
99	** ''Reinventing Hell''. (2003)
100	** The {{Word Salad Title}}d ''Far Beyond The Great Southern Cowboys[='=] Vulgar Hits'' (2003) includes two songs not featured on the standard editions of their proper albums: One is an original, "Immortally Insane", and the other is a CoverSong, "The Badge". These were not new songs; ''Immortally Insane'' was on the ''WesternAnimation/HeavyMetal2000'' soundtrack and ''The Badge'' was on the import of ''Far Beyond Driven'' and was also on ''Film/TheCrow'' soundtrack.
101	** In 2010 the album ''1990-2000: A Decade of Domination'' was released. This greatest hits album actually features ''less'' tracks than previous greatest hits album. The reason for this is so that the album could be sold at UsefulNotes/{{Walmart}}, which refuses to sell music albums with the "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content" label, so the album omits some of Pantera's more profanity-laden songs.
102	** In 2015, yet another greatest hits album was released. This one was called ''History of Hostility''.
103	* GrooveMetal: Considered one of the pioneers of this subgenre, although the heavy, stomping riffs of ''Cowboys from Hell'' were heavily influenced by the Metallica albums ''Music/RideTheLightning'' and ''Music/MasterOfPuppets''.
104	* HardcorePunk: Phil being an avid punk rock fan, which influenced his lifestyle.
105	* HarshVocals: Phil codified the gravely shout that would become popular with metal bands from the 90s onward.
106	* HeavyMeta: ''"Goddamn Electric"'' and ''"The Art Of Shredding."''
107	* IAmBecomingSong: "Becoming", obviously
108	* InitiationCeremony: Joining the Pantera crew requires this, as seen in ''3: Watch It Go''. A new roadie is required to drink out of a bottle with a bachelorette party-style "dickie sipper" straw for a week or else he's out.
109	* LastNoteNightmare: "Suicide Note Part 1" and "Suicide Note Part 2." Part 1 has a 12-string acoustic guitar, lack of drums, and Anselmo mildly contemplating suicide via slashing of the wrists... Which leads into Part 2, the trademarked Pantera sound, and Anselmo screeching about suicide.
110	* LighterAndSofter: Though "softer" might be a stretch, ''Reinventing The Steel'' is definitely less negative and gloomy than ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' and ''Far Beyond Driven'' were.
111	* LongRunnerLineUp: Type 3 from 1989 to 2003.
112	* MachoMasochism: Phil encourages the listeners of "5 Minutes Alone" to ''headbang on broken glass''.
113	* ManlyTears: In the wake of Dimebag's death, Phil Anselmo posted a video online in which he pays his respects to his former bandmate. About halfway through the video he breaks down and starts crying.
114	* MrFanservice: Phil, depending on who you asked. Mostly to do with him being the youngest member, muscled as all hell and fond of going shirtless. Rex probably counted too, being the most conventionally attractive member of the band.
115	* MetalScream: Phil Anselmo is prone to this, such as in "Cowboys From Hell," "Fucking Hostile", "The Great Southern Trendkill".
116	* MoodWhiplash: From ''The Great Southern Trendkill'', "Suicide Note Pt. I" is a morose acoustic ballad while "Suicide Note Pt. II" is extremely heavy, chaotic and aggressive.
117	* NewSoundAlbum: ''Cowboys from Hell''.
118	** ''Vulgar Display of Power'' can be seen as this to an extent, as it perfected the formula set by ''Cowboys'', and introduced the downtuned guitars the band would use for the rest of their career.
119	** Even ''Power Metal'' can be counted as this. While it was part of their "glam metal period," it actually downplayed the glam metal of the previous three albums, and had some songs that leaned more towards thrash metal, hinting at the DarkerAndEdgier direction they would take on their subsequent albums.
120	* TheNineties: Their GrowingTheBeard period.
121	* NoodleIncident: Whenever Phil is questioned about the lyrics to "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills", all he'll admit is that they were inspired by a real event. He refuses to speak any further on the subject.
122	* PantheraAwesome: it's in the name!
123	* PowerBallad: "Cemetery Gates", "The Sleep", "This Love", "Hollow", "[[Music/BlackSabbath Planet Caravan]]", "10's", "Suicide Note, Pt. 1", "Floods"
124	* ThePrankster: The guys in Pantera were ''constantly'' pulling pranks on each other, and also on the bands that they toured with. Several of these practical jokes were caught on film and included on the Pantera Home Videos.
125	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "RE! SPECT! WALK!"
126	* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: Many fans have expressed their desire to see a Pantera reunion show, with [[Music/BlackLabelSociety Zakk Wylde]] filling in for Dimebag Darrell. The only obstacle preventing it from happening was Vinnie Paul, who, up to his death, refused to speak to Phil and insisted that "With no Dimebag, there's no Pantera." As of 2022, Pantera has reunited with Zakk Wylde filling in for Darrell and Charlie Benante for Vinnie.
127	* RatedMForManly: Aggressive, riff-based metal with lyrics about rejecting social norms and generally being badass. They definitely qualify for this trope.
128	** They will sometimes subvert this, though, with songs like "Cemetary Gates" and "Hollow." Not to mention several of Phil's songs with supergroup Music/{{Down}}.
129	* RecordProducer: All their nineties albums were produced by Terry Date and the band. (The last was produced by Dimebag, Vinnie and Sterling Winfield.)
130	* ReligionRantSong: "Slaughtered."
131	** "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" is this combined with DrugsAreBad and TakeThatCritics.
132	** "Uplift" isn't technically one, but sneaks a dig at Christianity into its final verse.
133	* SesameStreetCred: Did an instrumental song for an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''.
134	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: As anyone who has seen the Pantera home videos will tell you, these guys ''loved'' to get drunk and party. And their female fans were not shy about exposing their assets on camera.
135	** Pantera's former manager and producer, Terry Date, has mentioned in interviews that if you hung out with Dimebag, you ''would'' be drinking with him. If he offered you a shot and you refused, he'd take it as an insult and make you do two shots as punishment.
136	* ShoutOut: Dimebag Darrell's signature drink, the Black Tooth Grin (which consists of a double shot of Canadian whiskey and a splash of Coca-Cola), is a reference to the Music/{{Megadeth}} song "Sweating Bullets."
137	* SongStyleShift: "Cemetery Gates" starts out with an acoustic guitar, then shifts into an aggressive heavy metal tune. "This Love" goes along the same line, except without acoustic parts - it starts low-key, then the chorus gets aggressive.
138	** "Hollow" is this as well, the first half of the song being a fairly melancholy, soft, acoustic number, and the second half involving rapid fire guitars, and lots of shouting.
139	** Let's not get started with "[[SurprisinglyGentleSong Suicide]] [[HellIsThatNoise Note]]"
140	* SpotlightStealingSquad: The band's road crew and management get ''more'' time on the home video releases than the band, and got a lot more recognition during gigs than probably any other band's road crew. In particular, one-time head of security Big Val developed quite the cult following (which led to him getting fired ironically, as Rex would state in his bio that it went to his head and he thought he could sell Pantera t-shirts on his own).
141	* StageNames:
142	** Darrell Abbott went from "Diamond Darrell" before ''Vulgar Display of Power'' to "Dimebag Darrell".
143	** Rex Brown was "Rexx Rocker" before that album, and simply dropped it by its release.
144	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: On ''Power Metal'', Diamond does vocals for "P.S.T '88".
145	** Terry Glaze stepped aside [[https://youtu.be/B38uiYpIsbs one show]] to let Diamond double on vocals and guitar for a live cover of [[Music/{{Metallica}} "Seek and Destroy"]].
146	** Pantera's covers of "Seek and Destroy" and "Whiplash" with Music/{{Jason Newsted}}. In the first case, Phil [[VocalTagTeam alternated with Dimebag]] on lines which he had forgotten. For "Whiplash", Dimebag gave him his guitar and did all the vocals himself.
147	* StopAndGo: "Cemetery Gates" and "Psycho Holiday".
148	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: Their cover of "Planet Caravan" by Music/BlackSabbath.
149	** "Suicide Note Part I" from ''The Great Southern Trendkill''. Part II? [[MoodWhiplash Not so]] [[HellIsThatNoise much]].
150	* TakeThat:
151	** "No Good (Attack the Radical)" from ''Vulgar Display of Power'' is an attack on violent racists, specifically referencing the UsefulNotes/KuKluxKlan, among others.
152	** Some of their songs are basically [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "The Reason You Suck" Speeches]] set to music. "Mouth for War" and "Walk" are two prominent examples.
153	* TakeThatCritics: "War Nerve" from ''The Great Southern Trendkill'' directly attacks the media and music critics.
154	* TrashTheSet: They are really, really fond of destroying backstage areas and hotels, as seen on the home videos. Also showed Dimebag taking a sledgehammer to a friend's car just for a laugh (and he could afford to buy him a new one). Darrell was well known in the Dallas area for doing donuts and ramp-jumping ''limousines'', which the rental company didn't mind as he always replaced the damaged cars with a newer model.
155	* TropeCodifier[=/=]TropeMakers: Arguably of GrooveMetal. Whether they or Exhorder are the {{Trope Maker\|s}} is a hotly debated topic in the metal community, and it's very wise to leave that question at that. [[note]] This is pretty much entirely restricted to the fans. The members of both bands are friends with one another, carry mutual respect for each others' work, and think that the debate is stupid and unnecessary. [[/note]]
156	* UncommonTime: The verses of "I'm Broken" are in 7/8.
157	* VillainSong: "[[TitleTrack Cowboys From Hell]]".
158	-->Bad guys wear black
159	-->We're tagged and can't turn back
160	-->You see us comin'
161	-->And you all together run for cover
162	-->We're [[TakingOverTheTown takin' over this town]]
163	* VocalEvolution: Phil started out sounding like a cross between [[Music/JudasPriest Rob Halford]] and "Justice"-era [[Music/{{Metallica}} James Hetfield]] (with hints of a Southern accent). Thanks to the effects of heroin addiction and screaming / growling on a regular basis without any proper technique, his voice became deeper and more gravelly throughout the '90s. This is ''especially'' noticeable when comparing his clean singing voice on older ballads like "Cemetary Gates" to his voice on later ones like "Floods."
164	* WordSaladTitle: ''Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits,'' which of course consists of words from their previous four album titles strung together.
165	* YouTalkinToMe: Played straight, sans gun, in "Walk:''
166	-->[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Re! Spect! Walk!]]\
167	Are you talkin' to me?\
168	Are you talkin' to me?\
169	Are you talkin' to me?\
170	No way, punk!

Context Music / Pantera