Far Beyond Driven

Far Beyond Driven is the seventh album by heavy metal band Pantera. The album was released on March 15, 1994 through East West Records. It is considered one of the most extreme albums ever to debut at #1 in the US.

The album’s original artwork (a drill bit impaling an anus) was quickly replaced with a new image, depicting a skull impaled with a drill bit. Copies of the original version with the banned artwork are now quite rare and fetch high prices in record stores and in auctions.

Far Beyond Driven took Pantera’s music to an even heavier and more extreme style than on previous releases; settling for a continuous, slow chugging, mid-tempo groove throughout the album. Much of the shift was due to Dimebag Darrell’s more down-tuned and heavier sludgy playing style.

Anselmo’s lyrics on the album were far more personal than on the previous albums. Songs such as ‘Becoming’ and ‘25 Years’ appear to be about Philip Anselmo’s early life.

In the liner notes of the album, all the songs’ lyrics are printed apart from the cover of “Planet Caravan”. The somewhat defensive liner note reads:

“This is a Black Sabbath song off of the Paranoid album. So don’t freak out on us. We did the song because we wanted to. It has nothing to do with the integrity of our direction. It’s a tripped out song. We think you’ll dig it. If you don’t, don’t fucking listen to it. Thanks. On behalf of the rest of Pantera, Phil Anselmo ‘94”.

This was the first Pantera album with Darrell being called “Dimebag Darrell” and not “Diamond Darrell,” although in Vulgar Videos he is referred to as “Dimebag”.