Pantera - 'Official Live: 101 Proof' (Elektra), December 2, 2004

Nothing beats a PanterA show. They are the greatest live band ever. I have seen a few and everytime I go to another concert (no matter who it is), I always say, "PanterA has hardly any lights, but their sounds make you wanna scream!" I like this album a lot, and love the live version of A NEW LEVEL (Phil really hits the chorus hard, makes you realize just how angry in life you can become). WHERE I COME FROM is definately bluesey, and it's an ok song, but for my money, I like I CAN'T HIDE. It starts out with a clean bass sound (unlike FAR BEYOND DRIVEN where Rex was as heavy and distorted as Dime's guitars) which one girl I knew mistook for a punk song (1st song I played to her), then unleashes into a fast, hard and HEAVY AS S---! sound! The end is my favorite, since PanterA always seem to have great finales (the greatest being the middle and end skull-crunchers on THIS LOVE, the greatest anti-love song ever!); Phil screams as the band hit short beats/notes...

Even before I read about their concerts online, saw live Pantera DVD's, or heard this C.D., I knew Pantera must put on a great live show. Most loud bands are good live, so super loud and intense bands must be insane. Plus, there are some songs (like "Hostile" and "Walk") that seem tailor made to be played live.I never really liked or appreciated live albums very much. I could never stand the crowd noise and I thought live albums paled in comparison to the band's studio albums. Pantera's "Official Live: 101 Proof" definitely changed my mind about these kinds of C.D.'s. This C.D. is 78 minutes long, so (obviously) Pantera played every song in its entirety, and, in some cases, (thanks to Phil's chatting with the crowd) these songs are longer than the original. About every song is played live as well as it was played on the studio album (no song is butchered). Furthermore, all of the guitar solos and almost all of the original lyrics remain in tact. Finally, the crowd noise is...

Give it a 4 1/2 star rating.Since Pantera has,in fact done what seems like a countless amount of tours,it seems only fitting that they'd finally release a live CD.I've seen Pantera play live something like nine(9)times now and two things I'll say about their live concerts are they know how to hold their fan's attention and one can EASILY get tired just by watching them play.The live portion of 'Official...' runs over an hour.Tunes I liked the best were "Walk","Five Minutes Alone","War Nerve","Domination/Hollow" and "Hostile".There are two new/unreleased cuts here,"I Can't Hide" could get some decent rotation on any good rock n'roll station.Elektra should affix a warning label on the cover of this CD that reads:'In playing this compact disc,the listener should make out his/her will,say your prayers,bend over,grab your ankles and kiss your ugly ass goodbye'.This is a heavy one.