Metal Magic
Studio album by
Pantera
ReleasedJune 10, 1983[1]
StudioPantego Sound, Pantego, Texas
Genre
Length39:37
LabelMetal Magic
ProducerJerry Abbott & Pantera
Pantera chronology
Metal Magic
(1983) 		Projects in the Jungle
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[4]
The Daily VaultC+[5]
Metal Forces8/10[6]

Metal Magic is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on June 10, 1983 by Metal Magic Records.[1] Like the band's next three releases, it is musically oriented toward a glam/heavy metal sound influenced by Kiss and Van Halen, rather than the groove metal style they became famous for playing in the 1990s. 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 noted country music songwriter and producer, and father of "Diamond" Darrell and Vince Abbott, who were 16 and 19 years old, respectively, at the time of release.

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 Dimebag Darrell's guitar playing.[3]

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original LP.[7]

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

Pantera
Production

References

  1. ^ a b Wiederhorn, Jon (June 10, 2022). "39 Years Ago: Pantera Release Their First Album 'Metal Magic'". Loudwire. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  2. ^ Ewing, Jerry (January 15, 2019). "Every Pantera album ranked from worst to best". Metal Hammer. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Metal Magic - Pantera". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Thalen, Christopher (January 10, 2005). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : Metal Magic". The Daily Vault. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
  6. ^ Hammonds, Steve (1984). "Pantera - Metal Magic". Metal Forces. No. 3. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  7. ^ 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)
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