For Week Ending:
17 June 2023

The Offspring - Smash (1994)

[Punk Rock]

By the late-90s bands like Green Day and Blink-182 would help the new generation of pop-punk explode onto the charts and take the music to the masses, but in 1994 punk was still less than mainstream. With labels now looking for the next 'grunge', bands like Bad Religion and Pennywise were starting to cause a swell, and The Offspring were lucky enough that someone at Epitaph Records (founded by Bad Religion's guitarist) decided they were worth pushing. 'Smash' was an album made for the time, overflowing with angsty lyrics and crunchy guitars, but with just enough commercial appeal that every 15 year old got a copy on CD from their grandparents for their birthday that year. Songs like 'Nitro (Youth Energy)' and 'Genocide' exhibited old-school punk chops and credibility alongside the more modern sounding 'Come Out And Play (Keep 'm Separated)' and 'Gotta Get Away'. There was cross-over appeal also, with alternative and metal audiences hearing something in here that they could relate to. Although The Offspring have had a number of good albums over the years (ignoring the last couple), 'Smash' will likely always be seen as their greatest musical statement.

Pantera - Cowboys From Hell (1990)

[Groove Metal]

With this week marking 20 goddam years since the guitar master Darrell 'Dimebag' Abbot left this word in horrible circumstances, it seems fitting to review some of his work. I'd expect the majority of Pantera fans would agree that this band became the biggest thing since sliced bread in the groove metal space with the release of Cowboys From Hell. They in fact had 4 releases prior to this in the 80's which didn't go very far and to be honest, I couldn't name a single song from those efforts. In any case the collaboration of Dimebag, his brother Vinny (the groove master) on drums, Rex on bass and the irrepressible Phillip H Anselmo carrying the vox duties, broke new ground with this release and became a big influence on the metal scene in the years to come. I can't sing the praises of this record enough. From the self-titled first song on the record, there is no mucking around re what they want the lister to experience for the next hour or there abouts - unrelenting, brutal, tight, wizardry that has its ups and downs. By that I mean they can get the listener going crazy when listening to the likes of 'Primal Concrete Sledge' and then only a few songs later bring soulful, and now bona fide classic such as 'Cemetery Gates', which brings us some of Dimebag's greatest work. Forever a legend of a man and forever a legend of a band.

Arist Information
Pantera is an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981 by the Abbott brothers (guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul). In addition to their development and popularization of the groove metal subgenre, Pantera is credited (along with others, such as Testament, Sepultura, and Machine Head) for being part of the second wave of thrash metal scene from the late 1980s to early-to-mid 1990s. Regarded as one of the most successful and influential bands in heavy metal history, Pantera has sold around 20 million records worldwide and has received four Grammy nominations.