Metal Magic

Metal Magic
Studio album by
Pantera
ReleasedJune 10, 1983 (1983-06-10)[1]
RecordedJanuary–April 1983
StudioPantego Sound (Pantego, Texas)[2]
Genre
Length39:37
LabelMetal Magic
Producer
Pantera chronology
Metal Magic
(1983) 		Projects in the Jungle
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[6]
The Daily VaultC+[7]
Metal Forces8/10[8]

Metal Magic is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on June 10, 1983 through Metal Magic.[1]

Like the band's next three releases, it is musically oriented toward a glam/heavy metal sound influenced by Kiss and Van Halen.

The album was released on the band's own label (also called Metal Magic) and produced by Jerry Abbott (under the alias "The Eld'n"), a country music songwriter and producer and the father of Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell (then known as Diamond Darrell), who were 19 and 16 years old, respectively, at the time of release.

Background

Pantera was formed in Arlington, Texas in January 1981. The band was originally named Gemini, then Eternity, before finally settling on Pantera.[9]

Reception

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Eduardo Rivadavia gave Metal Magic a largely negative ranking of 1.5 stars out of a possible 5. He described the album as "exceedingly average hard rock and metal misfires" with only two promising songs in "I'll Be Alright" and "Widowmaker". Furthermore, the album's "strongest asset" even in these early years was Diamond Darrell's guitar playing.[4]

Drummer Vinnie Paul said the album sold around 5,000 copies by 1990.[10]

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original LP.[2][3]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Ride My Rocket"
4:55
2."I'll Be Alright"
  • V. Abbott
  • D. Abbott
3:13
3."Tell Me If You Want It"Terry Glaze3:44
4."Latest Lover"
  • V. Abbott
  • D. Abbott
  • Glaze
2:54
5."Biggest Part of Me"Glaze4:49
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Metal Magic"
  • V. Abbott
  • D. Abbott
4:17
7."Widowmaker"
  • V. Abbott
  • D. Abbott
3:03
8."Nothin' On (But the Radio)"Glaze3:30
9."Sad Lover"
  • V. Abbott
  • D. Abbott
3:27
10."Rock Out!"Glaze5:45
Total length:39:37

Personnel

All credits adapted from the original LP.[2][3]

Pantera is
Production by

References

  1. ^ a b Wiederhorn, Jon (June 10, 2023). "40 Years Ago: Pantera Release Their First Album 'Metal Magic'". Loudwire. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Metal Magic (LP sleeve). Pantera. Arlington, Texas: Metal Magic Records. 1983. MMR1283.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Pantera - Metal Magic (1983 - USA)". Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Metal Magic - Pantera". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  5. ^ Ewing, Jerry (January 15, 2019). "Every Pantera album ranked from worst to best". Metal Hammer. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  6. ^ Popoff, Martin (November 1, 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 258. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  7. ^ Thalen, Christopher (January 10, 2005). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : Metal Magic". The Daily Vault. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  8. ^ Hammonds, Steve (1984). "Pantera - Metal Magic". Metal Forces. No. 3. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  9. ^ "Pantera / Hellyeah's Vinnie Paul Plays 'Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction?'", Loudwire, November 30, 2016, retrieved May 5, 2025
  10. ^ "Hell Bent For Texas". Metal Forces. No. 53. Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England: Rockzone Publications Ltd. August 1990. p. 20–22.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.