After Pantera’s breakthrough album, 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power, was released, there were a lot of expectations for the band’s next record. They delivered big time with Far Beyond Driven, easily the heaviest metal album at the time to debut at #1 of Billboard’s SoundScan era (Skid Row might beg to differ). Now the album will join the band’s first two major label albums in getting a 20th anniversary edition, coming out March 25th on Rhino.
And while the album debuted at #1, it wasn’t a case of the band selling out in any way. Instead of making a more commercial record, it was heavier than anything they’d put out. Kicking off with the one-two punch”Strength Beyond Strength” and “Becoming,” the album really doesn’t slow down until the end, with an acoustic cover of Black Sabbaths’ “Planet Caravan.” The 20th anniversary version will include a second disc, Far Beyond Bootleg, of their show at Monsters of Rock at Donnington in 1994. Here’s the press release in its entirety.
“LOS ANGELES – Pantera reached a major milestone in 1994 when the legendary metal band’s seventh studio album, Far Beyond Driven, debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, becoming the fastest-selling album of the group’s career and its second consecutive platinum release. Not only a commercial success, the album also earned positive reviews around the world for the beautiful brutality of its all-out sonic assault.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of that landmark album and Rhino is celebrating with a special two-disc version that includes a newly remastered version of the album, along with a live performance from the 1994 Monsters of Rock Festival. FAR BEYOND DRIVEN: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION will be available on March 25 for a suggested list price of $18.98. A digital version will also be available.
Following the breakthrough success of 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power – which has since been certified double platinum – singer Philip Anselmo, guitarist Dimebag Darrell, bassist Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul returned in March 1994 withFar Beyond Driven. Following its #1 debut, FAR BEYOND DRIVEN remained on the Billboard album chart for seven more months and many still regard it as the heaviest album to ever top the chart.
Its 12 tracks represented a continuation of the previous album’s relentless musical onslaught with hard-hitting tracks like the first single “I’m Broken” as well as the mosh-pit classics “5 Minutes Alone” and “Slaughtered.” Another standout track was the group’s swirling acoustic cover of Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan,” which became a live favorite when Pantera hit the road to support the album later that year.
Fans already familiar with FAR BEYOND DRIVEN are in for a treat with the second disc of the 20th Anniversary Edition. Dubbed FAR BEYOND BOOTLEG – LIVE FROM DONINGTON ’94, the disc contains Pantera full live set recorded at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Donington, England on June 4, 1994. The 40-minute show comprises nine tracks taken from the band’s three most recent albums including: “Use My Third Arm” and “Strength Beyond Strength” from Far Beyond Driven, “Walk,” “Mouth For War,” and “This Love” off of Vulgar Display of Power, plus the title track fromCowboys from Hell as well as the live staple melding “Domination” and “Hollow.”
FAR BEYOND DRIVEN: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
Track Listing
Disc One – Original Album Remastered
1. “Strength Beyond Strength”
2. “Becoming”
3. “5 Minutes Alone”
4. “I’m Broken”
5. “Good Friends And A Bottle Of Pills”
6. “Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks”
7. “Slaughtered”
8. “25 Years”
9. “Shedding Skin”
10. “Use My Third Arm”
11. “Throes Of Rejection”
12. “Planet Caravan”
Disc Two – Far Beyond Bootleg – Live From Donington ‘94
1. “Use My Third Arm”
2. “Walk”
3. “Strength Beyond Strength”
4. “Domination/Hollow”
5. “Slaughtered”
6. “Fucking Hostile”
7. “This Love”
8. “Mouth For War”
9. “Cowboys From Hell”
