Band:	Pantera
Album:	Official Live: 101 Proof
Style:	Groove metal
Release date:	August 01, 1997
A review by:	Deadsoulman

01. A New Level
02. Walk
03. Becoming
04. 5 Minutes Alone
05. Sandblasted Skin
06. Suicide Note Pt. II
07. War Nerve
08. Strength Beyond Strength
09. Dom/Hollow
10. This Love
11. I'm Broken
12. Cowboys From Hell
13. Cemetery Gates
14. Fucking Hostile
15. Where You Come From [new studio track]
16. I Can't Hide [new studio track]

The first live album of Pantera was recorded in 1997 during Tourkill that has followed the release of The Great Southern Trendkill. This live, released in summer, has gone more or less unnoticed. And the least I can say is that it's only fair. This album could [and should] have been entitled 'Live from the toilets'. It could have been great, it could have kicked ass, it could have reproduced on stage all the energy that some songs like 'Walk', 'Strength Beyond Strength' or 'I'm Broken' had in studio, but hell no, the sound is so poor that you don't hear anything but an infamous sound mess. And yet, Phil 'I sing in a yoghurt pot' Anselmo and his mates seem enthusiastic, the crowd follows the band, the setlist is good, but maybe a few overdubs or a real producer [without insulting Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell] would have been necessary.

The worst tracks are probably the most violent two: on 'Suicide Note Pt2', the whole band is off the mark, and on 'Fucking Hostile', the crappy sound does not allow to hear the famous riff. Only one track dissociates itself from the rest: 'Cemetary gates'. Ok the sound is still no good, but this song is really wonderful and the arrangements are even better than on Cowboys From Hell. And how cool it is not to hear the glam-rock voice of Anselmo on it... Good stuff, unfortunately blocked between 'Cowboys From Hell' [the worst version I've ever heard] and 'Fucking Hostile' [see above]. Finally, the disappointment you feel at first when you see the setlist is lacking in tracks like 'Mouth For War', 'Rise', 'Slaughtered' or 'Psycho Holiday' changes into relief. You say to yourself: 'Luckily I don't have to take anymore!'. After all, the two good points are the studio bonus tracks, 'Where You Come From' and 'I Can't Hide', two cool tracks that could have been on Vulgar Display Of Power.

To sum up, this Official live is a real massacre, it sounds like a bad bootleg. If you want a great live by a thrash band, pick up Iced Earth's Alive in Athens.

Highlights: Cemetary Gates, Domination/Hollow