Anyone who saw the breakthrough of Pantera's Vulgar Display of Power as a fluke would be proven wrong in the spring of 1994, when the group's heavy-hitting Far Beyond Driven debuted atop the Billboard 200. Two decades later, Rhino is expanding the LP with a previously unreleased live bootleg.
Far Beyond Driven continued the successful groove-metal formula established since the 1990 release of major-label debut Cowboys from Hell. The late guitarist Dimebag Darrell delivered some of the most monster riffs on six strings, while Phil Anselmo's lyrics turned more introspective than on previous efforts, including lead single "I'm Broken" - which, with a Top 20 U.K. chart placement, is the band's most successful single.
The 20th anniversary edition of Far Beyond Driven pairs the remastered original album with the band's performance at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Donington, England on June 4, 1994. The band's trek to Europe was tumultuous: Darrell and brother/Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul fought with journalists from Kerrang over an unflattering cartoon of Vinnie in the magazine, and Anselmo took on community service after assaulting a security guard at a gig later that month. But the resultant show is as energetic as they come, featuring songs from all three of the band's Atco/EastWest albums.
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Look for Far Beyond Driven: 20th Anniversary Edition on March 25. Pre-order links are not yet live, but the full track list is after the jump.
Far Beyond Driven: 20th Anniversary Edition (EastWest/Rhino, 2014)
Disc 1: Original LP (released as EastWest 92302, 1994)
- Strength Beyond Strength
- Becoming
- 5 Minutes Alone
- I'm Broken
- Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills
- Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks
- Slaughtered
- 25 Years
- Shedding Skin
- Use My Third Arm
- Throes of Rejection
- Planet Caravan
Disc 2: Far Beyond Bootleg: Live from Donington '94 (previously unreleased)
- Use My Third Arm
- Walk
- Strength Beyond Strength
- Domination/Hollow
- Slaughtered
- Fucking Hostile
- This Love
- Mouth for War
- Cowboys from Hell
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