Official Truth, 101 Proof

"A tell-all history of the band. . .The most comprehensive insider account of Pantera's rise and fall."―Houston Press "A behind the scenes look at the events that led to the downfall of one of America's greatest rock bands. It's full of conflict, raw emotion and backstage antics." ―Dallas Observer Few heavy metal acts survived the turmoil of the early 1990s music scene. Pantera was different. Instead of humoring the market, the band instead demanded that the audience come to them by releasing a series of fiercely uncompromising, platinum albums, including Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven—two #1 albums that, like Metallica's And Justice for All, sold millions of copies despite minimal airplay. Rex Brown's memoir is the definitive account of life inside one of rock's biggest bands, which succeeded against all odds but ultimately ended in tragedy when iconic lead guitarist Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott was murdered mid-performance by a deranged fan. This is a lucid account of the previously untold story behind one of the most influential bands in heavy metal history, written by the man best qualified to tell the truth about those incredible and often difficult years of fame and excess. "Having witnessed Pantera's rise from metal's favorite Texas bar-band to one of the genre's most towering figures, I found the story from Rex's vantage point to be fascinating. Official Truth, 101 Proof is just one side of that story, of course, but one that's gripping, intimately revealing and passionately delivered with no holds barred." ―Alex Skolnick, lead guitarist of Testament