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]

Let's summarise quickly - A band nobody really cared about for the previous 4 releases. Change from a glam band into a heavy band. No record company wants to invest, except for 1. It's 1990 with a wave of other big band releases happening or due soon, and some-the-fuck-how these guys manage to open their shoulders and walk their way into the room and demand we better take a listen. And so we have Cowboys From Hell, a new version of the band that metalheads will come to love over the next decade. Dimebag showing us just what he is capable of executing with his guitar (there would be a better superlative but I can't think of one to describe Dimebag). He goes onto bigger and better magical efforts on future releases. This is just a taste. Vinny being the solid back-stop with his drumming. Rex solid with his bass. However for me, as much as this an arrival for the band, it is Phil on vocals bringing the aggression that had people scared to join the circle pit in the years to come. Imagine the riot 'Primal Concrete Sledge' would deliver to the pit. Then have everyone pull out their lighters for the start of 'Cemetery Gates'. This is a band for the fans. In the early 90's we had the short demise of Metal in general. We had the uplift of Grunge and Alternative and then we had Pantera. Enough said!

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.