Don't let the title fool you this post isn't about Travis Tritt (maybe someday, just not today). Nope, its not about him I just ganked his title. Today I'm talking about Pantera. Pantera has plenty of Uber-fans, people that know the minutia about the band, members, and music. I'm not one of those people. I came to Pantera rather late in the game. For me Pantera was one of those periphery bands. I had always heard friends talking about how incredible they were but just never got around to trying them out. In edition to that I don't ever recall hearing them much on the radio. I probably could have identified Cemetery Gates as one of their songs but that is about it. The first time I really remember hearing Pantera still didn't do them justice. A buddy of mine that I jammed on guitar with played me the intro riff to Cowboys from Hell (CFH) and the main riff to Walk. Now if you know Pantera these were probably some of your first Pantera riffs too. I would guess your experience was better then mine. Played through a 15 watt amp by a high schooler Walk just doesn't have the same power, go figure. Two things really led me to discovering the band. The first was that for I while I was playing the guitar regularly (not well mind you, just regularly) I kept hearing about this guy named Dimebag. You can't really be immersed in guitar culture to any real extent without picking up on the Mount Rushmore statues that Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell held in Rockdom. As a result I looked a little further into the band. This led me to find the actual recordings of the few songs I new. When I heard the real version of CFH I was impressed. I loved the intro and would try to play it over and over on my guitar. Still I was only partially sold on them. After I wore out CFH I decided to look up the other song. To illustrate how little I knew about the band I commonly called the song Respect Walk (listen to the lyrics you'll know why), instead of Walk. That is the song that went along way to selling me on these guys. The first time I actually heard Pantera perform Walk I was floored. My emotions are easily influenced by music. Music can easily pick me up, calm me down, clear my head, get me pumped, or any number of other things. Music is a major fuel for me. When I heard Walk that first time it took me to a place I had never been before. That song is like a sonic cocktail of Adrenaline and Testosterone. When I heard that song I felt like I was ten feet tall and bullet proof. I remember thinking this must be what being a super hero would feel like. I found a copy of that song and wore it out. Eventually a friend of mine who is a Pantera Uber-fan told me to stop listening to the song and listen to some of there other stuff because he was getting sick of hearing it so often. I took his advice and picked up their greatest hits cd. The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboy's Vulgar Hits is a fantastic collection for the casual fan. It has all of their hits as well as new song or two, comes with a DVD of all their videos and is the perfect way to find out what the band is about. Some of my favorites are I'm Broken (my current favorite Pantera song), 5 Minutes Alone, Mouth for War, and their cover of Uncle Ted's Cat Scratch Fever.
