Pantera

Far Beyond Driven

Not recommended for people who HATE Metal Music

Review Score:

(10/10)
Because: PANTERA ARE THE K-I-N-G-S OF HEAVY METAL! Forget KoRn and Limp Bizkit, Pantera's where it's at. Metallica started in 1983 but then Pantera released a record on that same year, so Pantera have been around for awhile. With Far Beyond Driven, they prove that they can go heavier than Cowboys. Cowboys was great, Trendkill was really heavy and this is excellent, but still, Vulgar is best. Now, if I had to pick a favourite, it would be Good Friends & A Bottle Of Pills, followed by Becoming and Strength Beyond Strength. The stumbling blocks for me are, 25 Years, Shedding Skin and Planet Caravan. Also, listen to the live CD, and if you go through the entire of Becoming on there and they'll do the Outro to Throes Of Rejection at the end of Becoming, heading into 5 Minutes Alone, and again in I'm Broken when they do the end of By Demons Be Driven(on Vulgar). Here's the favourites.

Good Friends & A Bottle Of Pills(10 Stars)
Becoming(10 Stars)
Strength Beyond Strength(10 Stars)
I'm Broken(9 Stars)
Slaughtered(8 Stars)
5 Minutes Alone(8 Stars)
Use My Third Arm(7 Stars)
Throes Of Rejection(7 Stars)
Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks(7 Stars)
Shedding Skin(6 Stars)
25 Years(5 Stars)
Planet Caravan(4 Stars)

1)Strength Beyond Strength: Every Pantera album starts HEAVY! This is NEW Pantera right here people. You wait for Trendkill people, you'll be banging into a coffee table, mark my words, MARK MY WORDS! Every Pantera album starts with a very heavy guitar (except Cowboys and Trendkill whick Cowboys starts with a semi-soft guitar and Trendkill with an ear-splitting scream and guitar, bass and drums). I did enjoy the live version(Official Live: 101 Proof), and I was blown away by it. This is my 3rd favourite. 10/10.

2)Becoming: Now, this is my 2nd fav on this CD. Starts out really thrash, with the opening drums. Then as the song goes on it gets better. This is one of the songs that wouldn't have landed Far Beyond Driven on the no.1 album at it's debut date if it wasn't in. It's very good, but I like the live version better. 10/10

3)5 Minutes Alone: This is the "Walk" of Far Beyond Driven. It's pretty good. I'd say that although there are 5 better songs, it's still an AMAZING song. Well, I've got nothing else much to say about this song. But, it's good. 8/10

4)I'm Broken: I love this song. It starts with an interesting guitar, and the lyrics are outta sight. They performed this song live, and then they ended I'm Broken with the end of By Demons Be Driven, but that's the live version. The studio version's pretty good. I think that this song would've been better if they did the ending they did in the live version. Oh well, still one of the best on the album. 9/10

5)Good Friends & A Bottle Of Pills: My favourite song. Although most people think it's an awful song, I respect that, but I don't think so. Lyrics about Phil's girlfriend and stuff. The chorus is so cool, Phil screaming like a madman and also laughing over it. I just love it. Although it's the shortest, it's the best. 10/10

6)Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks: Now, this is a song that changes it's tempo very drastically, and it drags on for 7 minutes. Now, Cemetery Gates I don't mind being 7 minutes, but I hardly know this song. It would've been better if it was below 25 Years in length. Well, it gets redeemed thanks to Dimebag with another ripping guitar solo. Not bad. 7/10

7)Slaughtered: Very good opening bass line from Rex and then Vinnie Paul and Dimebag jump into it. A personal favourite of mine. It even outshines 5 Minutes Alone. The entire song is hevy, not one second has even a semi-soft sound. 9/10

8)25 Years: One of the 3 stumbling blocks. I mean, it drags for 6 minutes, and I really don't like the beginning. Basically, the song only gets good when it gets to 4:40 all the way to the end. Still, it's not the worst. 5/10

9)Shedding Skin: Another of the bad ones. Although it's not that bad, it still isn't that good either. Hard to say that it's the worst song, so I won't say it. But there are some highlights of the song. 6/10

10)Use My Third Arm: Without a doubt, the heaviest song. I mean, this has the most insane intro in Far Beyond Driven(Well, except for Strength Beyond Strength and Becoming)and it's just non-stop metal from there. Right in your face. 7/10

11)Throes Of Rejection: This isn't bad at all. It's pretty good actually. The whole song is great. And at the end comes a repetitive guitar tune that just happened to be played at the end of Becoming on the live CD. I'm not displeased, it's worth a listen. 7/10

12)Planet Caravan: Now, this is the worst song on the album. A few reasons. 1. They didn't give us the lyrics, 2. It's too WEAK, and 3. If they were gonna do a Black Sabbath cover, I wish they could've done Paranoid itself, or Iron Man, or even War Pigs. Oh well, at least we actually got a Black Sabbath cover song. It's better than the Black Sabbath version. 4/10

Well. That's FBD for you. Wait 'till Trendkill, you won't regret it. Get that, Cowboys, and Vulger too. Try to get the live CD as well.

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