Power Metal (album)

Power Metal is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on June 24, 1988, through Metal Magic Records. It is the first Pantera album to feature Phil Anselmo on lead vocals, as part of Pantera's best-known lineup which would last until the band's breakup in 2003.

The album signals a shift in a heavier direction and has been described as a "bridge" between the band's original glam metal style and the heavier groove metal sound of their subsequent work. It contains influences from speed and thrash metal while still retaining elements from the band's previous releases. The sound of the album has often been compared to that of Judas Priest, in particular Anselmo's vocals to that of Rob Halford.

Background
In October 1985, Pantera released I Am the Night, the last album with Terry Glaze on vocals. However, in June 1986, tensions arose between Glaze and the band members. He was given a two-week notice, which they hoped would resolve the tension, but abruptly parted ways after that. The band was set to play in Los Angeles on July 24–25, 1986, so they held auditions for a replacement singer. Numerous singers auditioned, most notable Matt L'Amour, Rick Mythiasin, and David Peacock, who all had short tenures with the band until October 1986. At that time, Pantera had started most of the time writing and working on the songs with all of the three short-lived singers as well as Glaze, but only drum, guitar and bass tracks were filled in entirely. Still desperate for a singer that would fit the group's intended heavier style, New Orleans native Phil Anselmo, who the band had met on the road, stepped in to record the album, marking his first appearance with the band. The earliest known tour date with Anselmo on vocals was on November 25, 1986, in Fort Worth, Texas. This would be the band's best-known lineup until their dissolution in November 2003.

Writing
"Proud to Be Loud" was written and produced by Keel guitarist Marc Ferrari and was originally intended to appear on their 1987 self-titled album; however, Keel would not record their own version until Keel VI: Back in Action in 1998. Pantera's version was used as the party song in the theatrical cut of the 2001 film Donnie Darko, credited to "The Dead Green Mummies".

Glaze had originally written some of the band's lyrics but Anselmo changed most of them except "Down Below", with an earlier recording of the song appearing on Pantera's third album I Am the Night (1985) crediting Glaze.

Release and promotion
As the record was close to being finished with Anselmo on the vocals, the band was brought in with a contract with Gold Mountain Records, one of the distributors with MCA, primarily based on the band's relationship with Marc Ferrari on Keel. Gold Mountain Records executive Danny Goldberg felt that the record was "too heavy". Drummer Vinnie Paul stated that the label wanted to "change our style and make us sound like Bon Jovi" which the band refused. As a result, the band was forced to release the album through Metal Magic.

Power Metal was released in the United States on June 24, 1988. As expected beyond limited promotion and the absence of a major label, the album did not chart. The band wrote new material and recorded demos around early 1989 that would later be included in their first major studio album, Cowboys from Hell, on July 24, 1990.

In a Blabbermouth interview with Phil Anselmo in 2013, when asked about possibly reissuing the album, he replied:""No, I've never thought about that. As far as catalogues or re-releases and whatnot, I'm not against it. I think it's an interesting thing to bring up. Matter of fact, I think you're the first guy to ever really ask if that was going to be a re-release, so thumbs up for you. Honestly, if people got past the image and whatnot of the bar-band hair bullshit that was going on in the late '80s, you would pretty much realize that it's a pretty solid metal record all around in the vein of Judas Priest ...""

In a UK Eonmusic interview with Rex Brown in 2021, he stated that the band, including himself, was against reissuing the album, alongside the earlier albums with Glaze. Brown asserted that he did not "want to give any credit where it's fuckin' undue," referring to Glaze. The past four glam albums were not considered a part of their history, and do not appear on any digital streaming service, except the song "Proud to be Loud", was only distributed by Universal Music Group, due to its presence on movie titles.

Critical reception
In a retrospective review, Bradley Torreano at AllMusic awarded Power Metal 2.5 stars out of 5, noting it as being the culmination of the band's first four albums of hair metal. Torreano described it as "an interesting and transitional early effort from one of the most important metal bands of the '90s." He criticized the lyrics, remarking that they are "the biggest problem, showing none of the gutter poetry that [Phil] Anselmo would develop through time and instead reflecting a bland interest in all things 'rock'". He went on to highlight Dimebag Darrell's guitar work, calling it "one of the more charming elements of the band's early sound" and that "he was obviously a very talented guitarist even then".

Asking how Anselmo recalled the album's impressions, he said to Revolver:

"To say I'm proud of it, no, I'm not. But to say that we as a band were still trying discover who the fuck we were and what we could do, that's very evident. I did the best I could, and I think the songs were heavier overall, more attacking."

LA Weekly called it one of Pantera's best albums, "a solid album of 1980s speed metal".

Personnel
All credits adapted from the original CD.