Official Live: 101 Proof

by Steve Huey

Official Live: 101 Proof hits most, but not quite all, of the high points of Pantera's career ("Psycho Holiday" and "Mouth for War" are two notable omissions), drawing most heavily from Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven. There are also two new studio tracks tacked on to the end to entice the more casual fan who might find a live album redundant; however, Pantera's devoted fans will pick it up anyway, and they won't be disappointed. Pantera packs just as much of a wallop live as in the studio, even if the versions here aren't substantially different (other than a medley of "Domination" and "Hollow"). One warning: Phil Anselmo's amazing streams of nonstop vulgarities in between songs will appeal more to the adolescent fan who finds them a liberating way to vent frustration; others may find them predictable and approaching idiotic. But that shouldn't detract from the music and performances, which are uniformly strong, as fans would expect.