about Dimebag Darell

detuned wrote:

Quite a variety of opinions on this topic! I had the pleasure of meeting Dime and Vinnie once, they were super-cool, down-to-earth guys.

Dime as guitarist - Dime was definitely a good guitar player, he was a Texas player...he was influenced just as much by cats like SRV and Billy Gibbons as he was by the Eddie Van Halen school. He had an interesting rhythm tone and wrote some cool riffs. Unfortunately he also over-used artificial harmonics and effects to the point where it started to get in the way of his solos instead of adding to them. In fact it's his solo tone in general that I don't like, too shrill and piercing without enough "meat" behind it.

Pantera (in my opinion): The first album I heard was Cowboys From Hell and I definitely liked that one when it came out, lots of memorable songs, a nice groove (with hints of boogie along with the thrash), Phil was still actually singing part of the time, great rhythm section...they were tight. Saw them on that tour with Wrathchild America and it was a great gig.

But, they got worse with each successive album. Every album after C.F.H. had less and less memorable songs on it. Vulgar was "close" to the same quality but it seemed they were trying to sound meaner and meaner just because that was the "hip thing to do" at that particular moment. Phil's vocals started getting more annoying around this point as well.

Far Beyond Driven...and beyond. The decline continued, a few really cool tracks (although marred somewhat by an over-reliance on effects) and alot of filler. This was the last Pantera album I purchased. I heard The Great Southern Trendkill once and decided there was no way I would ever listen to it, so I never picked it up. Phil's vocals had become "Far Beyond Annoying" and the songs just weren't memorable, in one ear and immediately out the other.

The last time I saw them, they were the opening act for the original Black Sabbath reuinion tour. It was a complete disaster. Phil was so wasted he couldn't sing, he could barely stand up and you could tell the band was fighting. They were sloppy, unfocused and altogether awful. When Sabbath hit the stage they made Pantera sound like The Beach Boys in comparison...

Long post I know. Anyway, what happened to Dime was a tragedy, there's no denying that. But in my personal opinion Pantera was a blip on the radar during the early 90's, they burnt out too quickly and ended up being irrelevant before it was all over.

I agree with most of this as far as Pantera as a band. The thing is the band was under Phil's influence and he was a big punk and hardcore fan where as the other guys were more from the Ozzy, Van Halen school of music. He led them down that road of unlistenable noise. This doesn't mean Dime wasn't good anymore, it just means he was less focused than the earlier years which was his productive time that molded is playing.

I liked him, always have always will. Those who don't have the right to their opinion too.


Cool songs, Cool dude, Cool band.

Rock in peace, Dime

skullsmasher wrote:

Cool songs, Cool dude, Cool band

And a cool beard. Don't forget the beard.