25. "Shattered" 3:21 (4.5/5)
Album: Cowboys from Hell
"Shattered" begins with the band playing at blistering fast speeds, then goes into a nice mid-tempo guitar riff. Dimebag is absolutely jamming the entirety of the song, and delivers another great solo. Phil Anselmo's vocals are so impressive on this track, when he hits that high note and sounds like Rob Halford, I lose it. Overall, "Shattered" is a great track.
24. 'Suicide Note Pt. I' and 'II' 4:44, 4:19 (4.5/5)
Album: The Great Southern Trendkill
"Sucide Note Pt. I" is the softest track on the album, but lyrically it's very heavy. The acoustic guitar is used well for a track like this. Phil demonstrates that his clean vocals are still spot on. The chorus is very haunting lyrically and will make anyone realize the serious tone of the track. "Suicide Note Pt. I" is different territory for Pantera and is one of the best moments from the album.
"Suicide Note Pt. II" is a complete 180 with screaming and insane guitar riffing throughout. Dimebag's riffs on this track are absolutely killer. Phil's vocals are extremely heavy and his delivery is insane. Dimebag's guitar solo has some of the weirdest effects I've ever heard. Vinnie's drumming is also very good on this track. Pt. II is the heaviest song from a very heavy record. Click below to listen to both parts.
23. "10's" 4:49 (4.5/5)
Album: The Great Southern Trendkill
"10's" begins with a somewhat sinister guitar riff that is played throughout the track. Phil's vocals are very unsettling on this track because of how soft and heavy they are. The guitar work from Dimebag is suttle, but excellent. The guitar solo is so soulful and melodic, definitely one of his best. Overall, 10's is not the usual in your face hard rocker from Pantera, but it is extremely effective. Click below to listen to the song.
22. "Hollow" 5:48 (4.5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
"Hollow" is a song that reminds me a lot of "Cemetery Gates" off their last album. It's so melodic and heavy at the same time. The guitar work from Dimebag is so soulful and so are Phil's vocals. The guitar solo is as good as it gets. It may be short, but man it's soulful and good. There is a sudden tempo change to a much heavier sound at about the 3 minute mark in the song that really adds to the uniqueness of the track. The guitar riffing during this part is very impressive and Vinnie is really doing work on the drums. "Hollow" is an excellent way to end the album. Click below to listen to the song.
21. "The Art of Shredding" 4:20 (4.5/5)
Album: Cowboys from Hell
"The Art of Shredding" ends the album on a very high note. It's full of guitar shredding all over the place. It is such an adrenaline rush that is full of speed and power. Phil's vocals are also really nice. Vinnie does a great job drumming as well. There are so many guitar riffs that are just fantastic on this thing. Of course, Dimebag delivers with a solo that absolutely must be heard. Overall, "The Art of Shredding" is a great song to end an album.
20. "Shedding Skin" 5:14 (4.5/5)
Album: Far Beyond Driven
"Shedding Skin" begins with another very interesting guitar riff from Dimebag to get you hooked from the song. Then, Phil delivers vocals that are soft and pretty strange, before delivering his typical growling style. The chorus of the song is absolutely fantastic and adds to an already very good track. Lyrically it is dark and unsettling. Musically it has tempo changes and great guitar riffing throughout. The guitar solo is excellent as usual for Pantera. Overall, “Shedding Skin” is an awesome track.
19. "No Good (Attack the Radical)" 4:49 (5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
This track opens with an awesome guitar intro. Then, Phil begins the spoken word vocal delivery style followed by a more aggressive delivery accompanied by a heavy guitar riff. The chorus is both aggressive and catchy. It is certainly one of my favorite choruses from the album. The guitar solo is so unique and just flat out amazing. Dimebag continues to amaze me. Overall, "No Good (Attack the Radical)" is an awesome hard rocking track.
18. "Yesterday Don't Mean Shit" 4:19 (5/5)
Album: Reinventing the Steel
"Yesterday Don't Mean Shit" might sound really corny, but trust me it absolutely rocks. The song begins with an awesome guitar riff that matches many on the album. Then, Phil comes in with his heavy vocals and repeats the song title over and over again in the chorus. This is one of the Pantera pump up songs for sure. This song really sounds like it's straight off of Vulgar Display of Power. which I love. The guitar solo is killer from Dimebag again, and Rex's bass work is excellent while the Dimebag is shredding. Overall, this track is one of the best from the album.
17. "This Love" 6:32 (5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
"This Love" begins with a lighter and somewhat acoustic guitar riff. Then, Phil delivers vocals similar to the style of the vocals on their previous album. Then, the chorus occurs and Phil growls this love repetitively with a very aggressive delivery. There are so many tempo changes on this song that vary from soft moments, to fast moments, to complete headbanging moments. Dimebag's solo on this track is very soulful and terrific. Overall, "This Love" is a fantastic track that varries between aggressive and melodic moments. Check out the music video below.
16. "Medicine Man" 5:14 (5/5)
Album: Cowboys from Hell
"Medicine Man" begins with fade in drums and bass. Then, Dimebag begins to play one of my favorite guitar riffs in all of metal. Phil uses a spoken voice style for the verses in the song and raises it to a high pitched style for the last few words of each verse. During the chorus, he has his usual fantastic vocal delivery. The chorus is catchy and so fun to sing along to. The guitar solo is great. Do you expect any thing less at this point? Overall, "Medicine Man" is severely underrated and is one of my favorite Pantera songs.
15. "By Demons Be Driven" 4:40 (5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
"By Demons Be Driven" is the most underrated track on the album. The opening guitar riff just sounds evil. The chorus sounds so heavy and dark. Phil's vocals are just fantastic on this track. Dimebag jams out the entire song on guitar and Vinnie does what he does on the drums. The guitar solo is unique and different than all the others on the album. This song absolutely rocks!
14. "Drag the Waters" 4:55 (5/5)
Album: The Great Southern Trendkill
"Drag the Waters" has one of my favorite guitar riffs from Dimebag ever. It's a slower tempo track that reminds me of "Walk" from Vulgar Display of Power. Lyrically it is one of my favorites from the album. Phil's vocals are as good as they have ever been from any of the previous albums. The guitar solo is great as expected from Dimebag. Overall, "Drag the Waters" is probably my second favorite song from this album. Click below to view the music video.
13. "Goddamn Electric" 4:56 (5/5)
Album: Reinventing the Steel
"Goddamn Electric" begins with an awesome guitar riff, and then slows to a different nasty riff from Dimebag. The chorus features great vocals from Phil and really catchy guitar playing by Dimebag. The guitar playing on this track is so awesome and really demonstrates Dimebag is definitely not out of touch with his skills. The guitar solo is absolutely fantastic and really is the icing on the cake for this song. Then to make things even better, Kerry King plays a sick guest guitar outro with really unique guitar effects. "Goddamn Electric" is an excellent track full of heaviness and terrific guitar playing.
12. "Becoming" 3:05 (5/5)
Album: Far Beyond Driven
"Becoming" is heavy, lyrically satisfying, and contains great guitar riffing throughout. Dimebag’s guitar effects on this solo are as odd as they get. Rex’s bass work is phenomenal, and Phil has a solid vocal delivery on this track. “Becoming” is one of the best tracks from Pantera yet. To view live performance, click below.
11. "Strength Beyond Strength" 3:38 (5/5)
Album: Far Beyond Driven
"Strength Beyond Strength" hits you in the face right off the bat to begin this album. It’s fast paced, extremely aggressive, and has tempo changes throughout to slower and mid tempos. This track is probably Pantera’s heaviest yet and it gets Far Beyond Driven started off on the right track. The guitar solo effects on this track are as unique as it gets. Like the lyrics in the song state, the whole band declares how they are stronger than all in the music industry.
10. "Domination" 5:04 (5/5)
Album: Cowboys from Hell
"Domination" is fast paced, aggressive, and heavy throughout. It contains many different tempo changes. Howling vocals from Phil that are honestly downright evil at certain times. There are so many different guitar riffs and licks throughout. Dimebag performs an amazing solo that ends with some whamy bar action. Just after the solo, a guitar riff that is made for headbanging is played until the end of the song. "Domination" is certainly one of the best from the album. To view live performance of this song, click below.
9. "Walk" 5:14 (5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
"Walk" begins with a heavy slow tempo guitar riff that will get you headbanging from the start. Then, Phil comes in with his powerful vocal delivery. The song has a great catchy chorus that anyone can sing along to. Dimebag delivers another fantastic guitar solo, while Rex shows off his amazing bass skills in the background. "Walk" may be the most overplayed Pantera song, but it is overplayed for a good reason. Check out the music video below.
8. "Floods" 6:59 (5/5)
Album: The Great Southern Trendkill
"Floods" is one of those atmospheric tracks with an unsettling feel to it that builds to huge peak and then begins to descend after its peak is reached. Dimebag's guitar work during the build up is very clean sounding and builds the groundwork for a great track. Phil's vocals are amazing on this one. Just before the guitar solo Dimebag plays a very heavy headbanging guitar interlude where Phil repeats the word "die" over and over. This solo is looked at as one of the greatest of all time and for good reason, it's absolutely amazing and again proves how great Dimebag is. Then the same haunting head banging guitar riff and vocals are played again before the song calms down again. I like to think the buildup to the song is before the flood, the heavy guitar riff is the beginning of the flood, the guitar solo is the flood itself, the heavy guitar riff is the horrible aftermath of the flood, and the beautiful outro is the new blooming world after the flood. Overall, "Floods" is the my favorite song from the album. Click below to listen to the song.
7. "Revolution Is My Name" 5:15 (5/5)
Album: Reinventing the Steel
"Revolution Is My Name" begins with a haunting guitar riff, then Dimebag begins playing an absolutely insane guitar riff. Phil's vocals are fantastic and really add to an already amazing song. The chorus is one of my all time favorites from Pantera. Rex's bass work is subtle, but very effective. Dimebag absolutely demonstrates his guitar prowess on this entire track. The guitar solo is just so nice to listen to and is one of Dimebag's best. Overall, all of these elements combine to make "Revolution Is My Name" Pantera's best work since their 1994 album Far Beyond Driven.
6. "Cowboys from Hell" 4:07 (5/5)
Album: Cowboys from Hell
"Cowboys from Hell" begins with a guitar riff that we have never heard from Pantera before. It's so groovy and heavy. Phil Anselmo delivers on vocals with a shrieking voice that it is perfect for this style of track. Dimebag delivers one of those signature guitar solos, and Vinnie and Rex are doing their part as well. "Cowboys from Hell" is definitely the breakout song for this band, and proved why they were the cowboys from hell. To view music video, click below.
5. "Cemetery Gates" 7:02 (5/5)
Album: Cowboys from Hell
"Cemetery Gates" isn't the fastest or the hardest track on the album, but it is certainly my favorite. It has maybe the best clean vocals you will ever hear from Phil, one of Dimebag's best guitar riffs, and many different tempo changes throughout. The acoustic sounding guitar also gives the song and album more diversity and increases it's tastefulness. Dimebag Darrell proves that he really is a guitar god with an amazing solo and great guitar playing throughout. When, Phil sings the word gates for the last time it will give you goosebumps, because of how impressive it is. To view music video, click below.
4. "I’m Broken" 4:24 (5/5)
Album: Far Beyond Driven
"I’m Broken" has one of the catchiest and most heavy guitar riffs on the entire album. Phil has screaming vocals that are so aggressive, but done extremely well. The guitar solo is certainly one of the best from the album, as Dimebag absolutely shreds. “I’m Broken” really reminds me musically of their previous record musically with different lyrical content. Overall, “I’m Broken” is a pretty awesome track. To view the music video, click below.
3. "A New Level" 3:57 (5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
The purpose of "A New Level" was to demonstrate that Pantera was on a new level above everyone else in metal. Beginning with another iconic guitar riff, "A New Level" immediately grasps your attention, and doesn't stop with a great chorus, some awesome vocals from Phil, great bass work from Rex, and another amazing shredding solo from Dimebag. "A New Level" really did demonstrate how Pantera was on their own level in metal. Check out live performance below.
2. "5 Minutes Alone" 5:47 (5/5)
Album: Far Beyond Driven
Beginning with a really groovy guitar riff that makes you bob your head, "5 Minutes Alone" gets you hooked from the beginning. Dimebag is absolutely jamming out on this track. His riffs are amazing and so catchy. He also delivers another fantastic solo, Rex delivers a bass line that is just excellent while Dimebag is soloing. Vinnie Paul pounds away on the drums, Phil delivers some of his best vocals he will ever perform, and the whole band is at their best on this track. To view the music video, click below.
1. "Mouth for War" 3:57 (5/5)
Album: Vulgar Display of Power
"Mouth for War" may be my favorite track Pantera has ever released. Pantera showed that they were capable of upping the heaviness that the last record showed. It has a great guitar riff that may be my favorite from the band, Growling vocals from Phil Anselmo, and great drumming from Vinnie on this track. Throw in an iconic solo that demonstrates all of Dimebag's fantastic soloing abilities and you have yourself a metal classic. Check out the music video below.
Well, there's the list, remember these are my 25 favorite, just because one of your favorite songs isn't on here, doesn't mean I don't like it