The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboy's Vulgar Hits (Remastered)

iTunes Review

In 1992, with hair metal hanging on and Seattle grunge coming into vogue, Pantera ignored all impending trends and released the aptly-titled Vulgar Display of Power, a work that signaled a return to metal’s core values: brutality, precision, and passion. While vocalist Phil Anselmo was the band’s fearsome figurehead, it was the rhythm section that really set Pantera apart. Drummer Vinnie Paul, bassist Rex Brown, and virtuoso guitarist Dimebag Darrell formed a telepathic triangle that served up pulverizing riff after pulverizing riff. Memorized by millions of aspiring guitarists, canonized classics like “I’m Broken,” “Walk,” “Cowboys From Hell,” and “5 Minutes Alone” are a Nineties answer to Sabbath’s “Supernaut” and “Under the Sun.” Even as tensions between Anselmo and the rest of Pantera marred the post-1996 albums, Dimebag continued to deliver unparalleled heavy riffs with “Drag the Waters” and “I’ll Cast A Shadow.” While it would be great to see “Yesterday Don’t Mean S**T” and “The Great Southern Trendkill” here, it’s impossible to nitpick a compilation that provides so much intensity. In “Goddamn Electric” lies Pantera’s eternal credo: “Be protected/ Your trust is in whiskey and weed and Slayer / It’s goddamn electric.”