Far Beyond Driven

''Far Beyond Driven'' is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on March 21, 1994 in the UK and March 22 internationally by Elektra Records and East West Records. Pantera's fastest-selling album, it peaked at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album was also certified Platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

''Far Beyond Driven'' is the first album by Pantera where the band's guitarist Darrell Abbott is credited as "Dimebag Darrell", having changed his nickname from "Diamond Darrell" soon after '' Vulgar Display of Power'' was released. The Japanese and the ''Driven Downunder Tour '94 Souvenir Collection'' editions contain a bonus thirteenth track, "The Badge", a Poison Idea cover. This cover was also featured on ''The Crow'' soundtrack.

Background

In 1992, Pantera released their breakthrough album, '' Vulgar Display of Power''. Despite the success of the album, the band would begin to experience turmoil in the two years following its release. Vocalist Phil Anselmo was injured with ruptured discs in his back and was suffering from chronic pain from degenerative disc disease. Anselmo began drinking heavily, abusing painkillers and muscle relaxants, and using heroin to alleviate the pain. Anselmo also begin to experience lower back pain, saying, "I think this is one of the first times in my life, man, that I had this thing called 'vulnerability' kick in, and that was a very uncomfortable feeling."

Music and lyrics

The band tuned lower on the album than on previous efforts, with many songs going as low as C# standard. Unlike the bands previous major label albums, many of the songs, such as "5 Minutes Alone", feature double-tracked and layered vocals from singer Phil Anselmo. Several lyrical topics appear on ''Far Beyond Driven''. The track "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" seems to be a reference to the song "Good Friends and a Bottle of Wine" on the Ted Nugent album '' Weekend Warriors''. Anselmo spoke about the track, saying:

Pantera's bassist Rex Brown spoke about "Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills" saying:

Phil Anselmo talked about the song "Strength Beyond Strength", saying:

Speaking about the song "5 Minutes Alone", drummer Vinnie Paul said:

Anselmo explained the meaning behind the song " Becoming", saying:

Anselmo talks about the meaning behind the song "Shedding Skin" saying, "'Shedding Skin' was about me being in my 20s and any girlfriend, lady-friend of mine trying to tie me down at that age, at that particular time," begins Anselmo. "Basically, 'lay off, right now.' A relationship with me? A serious relationship with me at that age? Forget it, fuck off. Really, it's impossible."

Anselmo talked about the song "Slaughtered" saying "I've always had a distorted view of organized religion and I was never more confused than when I was in my 20s and whatnot," Anselmo says about 'Slaughtered.' "And still I like to use a fusion, if you will, of religions and fuck with them, so to speak. And then tear them down and piss all over them or build them up only to tip over."

Anselmo spoke about the song "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks", saying "I think it was a foreshadowing of the fear that I felt of not being the same. ... I know for a fact, I guess, that I dabbled in pain pills and stuff like that because I was miserable, and that's always a friggin' dead end, dead road, a terrible path to take. But at the time, I didn't have any other answers."

The song "25 Years" is about Phil Anselmo's father. Anselmo would later cover the topic, saying:

In the liner notes of the album, all the songs' lyrics are printed apart from the cover of "Planet Caravan". The liner note reads:

Artwork

The original album cover shows a drill going into someone's anus, but the record label rejected it, worrying it would harm sales and would be rejected by stores like Walmart and Target. The band then changed it to a drill put in the frontal lobe of a human skull.

Release and reception

At midnight on March 22, 1994, Pantera launched the release of ''Far Beyond Driven'' with an extensive record store campaign. They traveled to 12 cities in almost five days with MTV documenting their progress. Band members signed autographs, met fans, and promoted the album. The band released "I'm Broken" as the album's first single, which reached #19 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's highest-charting single worldwide. The LP also contained the first cover song on one of their major-label releases—Black Sabbath's "Planet Caravan" which served as the album's closing track and reached #21 on ''Billboard''s Mainstream Rock Tracks and #26 on the UK Singles Chart. By March, the LP had sold over 185,000 copies and had reached #1 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 album charts and Australian charts upon release. It remained on the ''Billboard'' 200 for 29 weeks. Shane Mehling of ''Decibel'', commenting on ''Far Beyond Driven'' topping the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, called it "the first extreme metal record to reach that level of popularity and, in maybe a more perfect world, would have opened the doors for other extreme bands to gain a foothold."

The album received positive reviews. ''Rolling Stone'' gave the album four out of five stars. ''Rolling Stone'' would eventually rank ''Far Beyond Driven'' #39 on their list "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". '' Spin'' wrote in April 1994 that the "quartet has successfully transformed itself into a cross between the older, faster Metallica and today's Rollins Band", adding that "at times, Phil Anselmo is every bit as charismatic as Henry Rollins." AllMusic reviewer Eduardo Rivadavia had a more negative take on the album, stating "''Far Beyond Driven'' may have been Pantera's fastest selling album upon release, but it's hardly their best. In fact, although it shot straight to the number one spot on the ''Billboard'' sales chart in its first week (arguably the most extreme album ever to do so), this incredible feat doesn't so much reflect its own qualities as those of its predecessor, 1992's '' Vulgar Display of Power''."

In November 2011, ''Far Beyond Driven'' was ranked number six on ''Guitar World'' magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994. The album was also ranked at number twenty in ''Guitar World''s "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.

Reissue

On March 24, 2014, a two-disc deluxe edition of ''Far Beyond Driven'' was released to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Disc one is a remastered version of the original album. Disc two is a live album featuring Pantera's set at the 1994 Monsters of Rock Festival.

Tour

Pantera toured South America, and were accepted into another "Monsters of Rock" billing. At that festival on June 4, 1994, the Abbott brothers got into a scuffle with journalists from the music magazine ''Kerrang!'' over unflattering cartoon depictions of drummer Vinnie Paul. Then in late June, Anselmo was charged with assault for hitting a security guard after he prevented fans from getting on stage, Anselmo was released on $5,000 bail the next day. The trial was delayed three times. In May 1995, he apologized in court and pleaded guilty to attempted assault and was sentenced to 100 hours of community service. Pantera continued their tour of the United Kingdom and eventually the United States in mid to late 1994, where the band was opened for by fellow heavy metal bands Sepultura and Prong. The tour of ''Far Beyond Driven'' also took Pantera to Australia and New Zealand for the first time in November–December 1994. The tour ended in March of 1995 with another run through the United States, this time with Type O Negative opening.

Track listing

Personnel

Pantera
* Phil Anselmo – vocals
*Dimebag Darrell – guitars
* Rex Brown – bass
*Vinnie Paul – drums, congas in "Planet Caravan"

Production
* Terry Date – production, engineering, mixing
*Vinnie Paul – production, engineering, mixing
*Pantera – co-production, arranging
*Ted Jensen – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

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1994 albums
Albums produced by Terry Date
East West Records albums
Pantera albums