Music Post: Reinventing The Steel by Pantera


Continuing the trend of albums that spelled doom for a band. 

Reinventing The Steel isn't well loved by many Pantera fans. Most of them complained that the album felt disjointed and very slap dash, but I disagree. I think RTS is one of the best Pantera albums ever released and it was released during a very tumultuous time when Phil Anselmo and the Abbott brothers both despised each other. Putting all that aside though: RTS works because of that tumultuous relationship. This was also around a time when Phil and Dime were both neck deep in addiction (Phil with heroin and Dime with alcohol). Some of their best live shows came near the end, the lyrics became less juvenile and more interesting as well. 

RTS isn't party music. It's music for a band dealing with issues and each other's behaviors. I feel like if Dime lived that maybe we would have gotten something even better, but that would never come to pass due to Dimes death. I would recommend people to listen to the original album pressing over the remaster, but either version works. If you love Pantera and you want to give the album a try I would say go for it. It's their heaviest outing and one of the best final albums of any metal band imo. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Music Post: Pink Floyd's Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81

Image
One of the best live albums based on one of the best Rock Operas of all time: The Wall.  There isn't much you can say that hasn't already been said about Pink Floyd's The Wall. A genuine labor of love for Roger Waters that pulls from his own life and from the life of former bandmate Syd Barrett. The story tells of rockstar Pink and him spiraling into his own world where he builds walls from the traumas that he's faced in life from losing his father during WW2, to having an overbearing mother, abusive teachers, and a loveless marriage. Pink is a tragic figure even as he unravels and Roger does a great job of making you empathize with him. The whole band is firing on all cylinders as well and the live variations of the songs lose none of the power of their studio counterparts.  I would even say that this is probably the definitive way of listening to The Wall and I would recommend listening to both the studio album and this one too. Some people can be split on what they p...
Read more

Music Post: Pinkerton by Weezer

Image
Ah yes the redheaded step child of Weezer's discography. Also one of the best albums they've ever recorded and one of the albums that unfairly gets the 'incel' label thrown at it by jaded men and women who don't understand nuance or complexity.  When I first listened to Pinkerton I was a casual listener of Weezer. Heavily dislike their later stuff and stuck more to their early work, but Pinkerton was different amidst the Blue and Green albums. Pinkerton was meaner and leaner and had this sense of self despair and self loathing. It was Rivers and CO at their most vulnerable and self destructive which worked wonders and resonated deeply with somebody like me who was going through my own personal turmoil.  This is an album that you don't throw on for a party or to impress that one girl who you think will go far with you due to your immaculate taste. And that's exactly why I love it so much. It's the tatted up girl with big, fake tits and bleached blonde hai...
Read more

Music Post: Lovelife by Lush

Image
 Ah yes. The album everybody loves to beat Lush up over. The one where they dropped all pretenses of being strictly Shoegaze. And I think it's fucking great honestly. Love this album and I really don't see why people hate it so much, but we're territorial creatures and terrified of change as history has proven time and time again.  I think this album has been looked at more appraisingly compared to when it first released and the song Ladykillers does a great job of setting up the tone and feeling of everything else. I think this is Miki at her best vocally and I think the band sounds tighter than ever which started with Split. It's a britpop album with teeth and it's easily Lush best sounding album out of the four they've released.  I can't pick a single song and would say the whole album is great and worth a listen.  https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpUk7UtN5Cwg7a3r-bWwc7rtYgUMvKSVU&si=fSfYuN5Qn_We4_fg Here's a playlist of the full album. 
Read more