Pantera Far Beyond Driven - 20th Anniversary edition

Pantera was formed in 1981 by brothers Darrell Lance Abbott and Vincent Paul Abbott. They started out as a KISS-influenced glam band. They added bassist Rex Brown, and changed their names to Diamond Darrell, Vinnie Paul and Rex Rocker, respectively. They found vocalist Donnie Hart, who sang for a few rehearsals, and then Terry Lee Glaze. With the help of Jerry Abbott, Darrell and Vinnie's father, known as "The Eld'n" or "The Elder" (who was a famous country-music producer, and owned a studio), they put out their first album, "Metal Magic", in 1983. The first three albums in fact were on "Metal Magic Records", and were all self-produced.

1984's "Projects in the Jungle" and 1985's "I Am the Night" followed, with Terrence taking on the name "Terry Glaze" in 1985. They also put out "The Hot 'n Heavy Home Vid" in 1985, a set of live clips and other footage.

A meeting between Darrell and Metallica's James Hetfield turned fateful in 1985. At this point, Darrell had a "wall of glam" in his room, with pictures of Bon Jovi and whatnot. James spit on it, and Darrell, instead of getting angry, joined in. The "wall of loogies" is still there today. This marked a change in the band, as "I am the Night" was far heavier and faster.

When Terry Glaze wanted to stay with the glam sound, his influence in the band diminished. Darrell took over a lot of the vocals live, especially on covers by Metallica and other thrash bands (they also had Van Halen and Keel covers, as well as Anthrax). However, the reason he left the band was due to his father objecting to The Elder having a 1/5 stake in the band (same as a full member) due to his recording and management. When Pantera got signed to Atco in late 1986, Terry left. Jason McMaster (Watchtower, Assalant, Dangerous Toys, Happy Kitties) was offered the gig but declined. Terry was replaced first by David Peacock, and then Matt Lamour. Finally, Donnie Hart was brought back, and an audition was given to Rhett Forrester (Riot), but it turned out Phil Anselmo from Razor White was the final choice. His first gig was January 11th, 1987.

1988 brought the album "Power Metal", their fastest and heaviest yet, and at some point Rex Rocker lost an X. Soon he would lose his last name too, and in 1989, possibly due to an encounter with Slayer's Kerry King on May 18th (a video exists of the jam session, and also a later concert where they played Raining Blood and some Priest covers), they dropped the whole big hair thing. They also phased out the old songs in the setlist and brought in new ones that would appear on 1990's "Cowboys from Hell".

In 1992, Diamond Darrell became Dimebag Darrell, and around then, the band decided to officially disavow any knowledge of their early albums. Phil seems to have the most "fucking hostile" reaction to any mention of the old days, while Dime tended to be more amused than anything else. The "Vulgar Display of Power" and "Far Beyond Driven" albums were released in 1992 and 1994, respectively, and 1996 brought "The Great Southern Trendkill", with guest vocals by Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt. With the additions of 1997's live album, "101 Proof" and 2000's "Reinventing the Steel" the Pantera discography is completed.

This album is the remastered version of the 1992 original one.