Vinnie Paul Retrospective V - Official Live: 101 Proof & Reinventing The Steel
I've never liked live albums. They usually play as worse versions of the original songs, and this is no exception. There is the "Domination/Hollow" medely, but that's about all they do differently. However, I've always really liked the two studio tracks they threw at the end, "Where You Come From" and "I Can't Hide". Pantera had a batch of B-Sides laying around, like "The Will To Survive", "Piss", "The Badge", these two, "Immortally Insane", "Avoid The Light" and some other covers that weren't spectacular but exist. You could make an album out of them is what I'm saying, and it would have been better than this.
This is the one people tend to say is Pantera's worst album. First of all, that means they don't know the 80's albums exist. Second: Even if this is the worst of their 90's albums, it's not that much below the other four. "Reinventing The Steel" is exactly what the doctor ordered at the time: a solid effort.
The band's existence was in doubt after their singer went full rockstar douche on them, stopped talking to them then almost died on tour. Things weren't much better tension wise but at least they were recording in the same state this time around. This was their first studio album in four years, and it was their first after nu metal had asserted its dominance over the airwaves. The landscape had changed, and Pantera wanted to show they hadn't.
More importantly, they wanted something with no frills. Gone were the wildly experimental bents of "Trendkill" and the self-destructive tendencies that come with trying to make the hardest record possible, especially when 7-string guitars had been introduced into the scene. Pantera went for what they knew they could do well, pure and simple. And it works.
"Hellbound" has been stuck in my head since early July when I first listened to this album. It hasn't left in two months. It's not even three minutes, the chorus almost ventures into blast territory and it's the perfect opener for this. "Goddam Electric" is a bit slow and the lyrics are kinda fanboy-y but it's a head-nodder for sure. I've grown to appreciate it after it's marched through my head for two months as well.
"Yesterday Don't Mean Shit" has a trampling riff that doesn't let up until the chorus, but then Dimebag does that inverted chord shit and makes it heavier somehow. "You've Got To Belong To It" has one of my favorite Pantera riffs: that fucking whammy thing at the beginning and after the choruses. It's just so ridiculous I have no choice but to respect it.
"Revolution Is My Name" might have two of my least favorite metal tropes: lazy references to war and that fucking BEAT. At least the guitar riff breaks up the rhythm a little, but I've always hated that beat. It's the most overused in the genre, ever since "Children Of The Grave". Dun du-du-du dun; du-du-du-du dun repeat forever. That aside, I think this was the perfect choice for the first single: it's catchy, it's got energy and it's got that FUCKING BREAKDOWN. Still might be one of the best breakdowns of all time. It's even got a cowbell in it; how do you compete? I don't even mind Anselmo belting out the most dudebro of dudebro things to say, "What is my name?!" because the song fucking earns it. That's the only thing you can say there; nothing else will do.
Fun fact: "Death Rattle", a song where Phil Anselmo talks about knowing there's no afterlife because he didn't see a light when he was clinically dead, was featured on Spongebob Squarepants in 2001. It's the mid-album dose of thrash a-la "Domination", "Rise", "Slaughtered" and "Suicide Note Pt. 2". The solo section is especially tight, kinda like a lead pipe cinch.
"We'll Grind That Axe For A Long Time" takes the attitude of "We're not sucking up for fame, and we're gonna be here to dunk on posers well into the next millennium!" Of course, this was their last album, so... I remember loving this song at the time, but now it's a little on the "meh" side, but still nice and grindy. It's also less than four minutes so it doesn't outstay its welcome.
Can't say the same for "Uplift" though. This has to be close to the bottom of the 90's Pantera barrel, in spite of a rad mid-section. The verses and chorus are pretty bland and stood up against the rest of their material, this is above "Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills" and not much else.
"It Makes Them Disappear" is a grindy number with the only clean tone guitar on the album, though heavily flanged to make it mystical sounding. It's got some neat twists and turns, but ultimately keeps it right down the middle. It's got booming drums, doomy harmonies from Anselmo and it's tuned to C. Also "It Makes Them Disappear" is an interesting idea precisely because it's never explained. What makes who disappear? Literally or figuratively? (Also, there's an unintentionally censored F word just before the solo. What the deal?)
"I'll Cast A Shadow" became an unwitting epitaph on the band's discography because it's literally about the shadow they would cast on the genre when they're gone. Musically, it's sort of unadventurous, kind of too long for its own good, but it's the last song on Pantera's last album, if they want to take a victory lap with some wah bass and studio banter, a mid section that feels a bit tacked on and...eh, the verses and chorus are good though. I'd still call it a good song in spite of its faults. (Still find the parting shot of "Kiss my ass, Dracula" funny. Out of context, it's like...what? But the band did a song for the Dracula 2000 soundtrack, so maybe there's some context? I dunno.)
It's ironic this album was called "Reinventing The Steel", because they deliberately went back to basics. Pantera needed to put something out to let people know the band still existed. They needed to reestablish, and at the time they did.
But then their tour was cut short when the last few dates were scrapped after 9/11. Then Phil went and did Down and Superjoint Ritual, taking Rex Brown with him. The Abbot Brothers were left sitting around doing nothing for a few years and by 2003 had had enough. They asked Phil what the deal was, he told 'em to fuck off, Rex was torn but decided to stay with Phil and the rest is history. Pantera was over.
Next time, we take a look at a project the brothers were working on waiting for Phil to get his shit together (before and after "Reinventing The Steel") and what was to be the next step in their journey, only to have it cut violently short. Stay tuned.
(P.S.: To close the circle, the album cover is fucking atrocious. I'd put it third worst out of ten, because at least "Projects In The Jungle" didn't have a major label's art department and budget behind it. It's literally a still ripped from the "Revolution Is My Name" video.)
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