1 Jan 2026 11:00
#333 – THE FIRST FOUR from the mighty PANTERA
“I wonder if we’ll get a cease and desist on this episode…”
Generally speaking, whenever someone says “Slayer” or “Metallica”, you think of two veteran thrash bands which both formed in 1981 and both released their debut albums in 1983. This is common knowledge among most fans of both of these bands.
Ironically, there’s another band who follows this exact same timeline of forming in 1981 and releasing their debut album in 1983, yet at the time, they were NOT at all thrashy…not even close.
Most of us know of PANTERA as the brutally heavy, groove metal masters from Arlington, Texas who lit a proverbial fire under the ass of the thrash and heavy music scene in 1990 with their “major label” debut album (with the emphasis, in this case, on the words “major label”) as CFH was actually their FIFTH studio album.
Fifth? Wait a minute…what about THE FIRST FOUR studio albums!? And why are those albums not talked about and celebrated just like all things PANTERA!?
Well, there’s a reason that THE FIRST FOUR aren’t really talked about or acknowledged. Actually, there are probably a multitude of reasons, but the most glaring one is the stylistic difference between their early glam and power metal days and the heavier, grittier era when they truly became the “Cowboys From Hell”.
Remember those awkward Olan Mills pictures you used to take with the family, or better yet, the pictures of you in high school with that absurd, dorky hairstyle that people always like to bring up in conversation? That’s kinda what THE FIRST FOUR ALBUMS by PANTERA were like.
Always remember that “Dokken is better than KISS” and you absolutely have to “pill up before PT”. Find out why “concubine” is a much cooler term than girlfriend, why the stress of having multiple families can be fatal, and realize that most doctors’ definition of “prescription pain medication” is painfully incorrect and a complete waste of a prescription pad.
Get ready to find out which Pantera album came out on Rex’s 20th birthday, which song features Dime on lead vocals, and understand that while we absolutely did not plan for this to be episode 333, it just so happened to turn out that way.
Brace yourselves and get your relaxers ready before you JOIN US as we go back to the 80’s to get a better idea of why one of the greatest metal bands of all time tried to bury their earliest work (and original “not as metal” logo) with THE FIRST FOUR from the mighty PANTERA.
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Show Notes:
(00:01): “Welcome back to the Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, Wisdom Teeth, Dry Socket Podcast…”/ “I am an adult children who refuses to move out…of my own house…”/
Double sided blade…or dildo? / ***WARNING: #
