Oh dear this is the first Pantera album Metal Magic from 1983. Anyone reading this will probably be aware of Pantera’s 90’s and 2000’s albums and sound, but this is the band in its infancy. I’m going to be honest its a little cringey but we all gotta start somewhere.
The album starts of with “Ride My Rocket” which sounds suspiciously like Kiss’ “Detroit Rock City” If you haven’t heard Pantera like this, it will come as a shock. Once you get past that shock there’s some catchy glam metal tunes here layered in copious amounts of cheese. The second song “I’ll be Alright” ups the pace a bit and fits right up there with Priest or Raven. It boggles the mind to think that at this time lead guitar player Dimebag (The called “Diamond” Darrell) was only 16. The dude was already a great up and coming guitar player, and to be fair the lads wrote some good songs, they were just nothing like the Pantera we know now. “Tell me if you want it” really reminds of me Priest / Kiss again, but again at this point I think most musicians are just emulating their hero’s.
Something else that spins me out is that this came out right after Metallica’s Kill em All, and probably before anyone else in the big 4 had put out anything.
Anyway back to the album, we’re about 5 songs in and I’m finding myself really getting into it. There is something really addictive about this. The lyrics are pretty cheesy as to is the song “The Biggest Part of Me” but there’s plenty of chances to see the where Dimebag evolved and how he evolved as a guitar player. The dude was bordering on being a bona fide shredder at 16.
The vocals, handled by Terry Glaze, are actually pretty cool. They’re more in the Kiss vein but the rawness of this recording really lets his vocals shine through, this guy can do those 80’s glam metal vocals without much at all (if any) studio effects on his vocals.
I actually think Pantera had some serious potential with this sound as well. The band could have used maybe another year in development but these are pretty cool songs. Also the album cover is very budget, I’m assuming it was just someone they knew that could kinda draw a bit. But it would have potentially put people off it.
The song “Widowmaker” is really cool too, I wonder if coming from Texas hindered these guys. I really think if they’d had access to playing the sunset strip they would have gotten a lot bigger a lot faster.
“Nothin’ on (But the Radio)” and “Sad Lover” are more layers of cheese but hey, you’ve either listened this far and you like it or you’ve given up by now.
Look, over all the album is pretty cheesy but there’s some great riffs and even as a glam band these dudes are already showing serious potential. Like I said before just a little more time spent developing these songs and maybe not having been stuck in texas, Pantera could have had a career in glam metal!
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