The first measure of Pantera's "Walk" does it to me every time. I feel chills up and down my spine. It is in my personal Top 25 songs. For me, with 1000s of MP3s on my hard drive, that's prestigious as far as I'm concerned. Anyways, that song is the epitome of heavy metal. Yes, I know Pantera started out as a glam band and I've seen the photos of them decked out in outfits that make them easily confused with the band Poison. But, by the time "Walk" came into my ears the first time, it was something that filled a hole in me that I didn't know was even there. Nearly a decade ago, Pantera's guitarist, Dimebag, was shot on stage. Within the last, oh, couple of years, there's been these swirling rumors that "Pantera" would get back together and that it would be former Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde playing guitar with vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and drummer Vinnie Paul. It seems every couple of weeks, this rumor comes up and, without any shred of doubt, each time, Dimebag's brother Vinnie Paul slams the rumor down. Just today, on Loudwire, there's another interview with Vinnie Paul and yet another slamming of this rumor. I don't think I really understood Vinnie Paul's feelings until he laid it out the way he did in this interview. He asked if Eddie Van Halen was shot, would the fans be asking Zakk Wylde to fill in on guitar and to call it Van Halen?
When I read that, I felt Vinnie Paul's pain that I imagine he feels each time he is asked about this idea. It was not just the chance of a Pantera reunion that was destroyed when Dimebag was shot. That's the easy thing to think about. This was Vinnie Paul's brother who was shot in front of him on a stage, playing music together.
In the interview, Vinnie Paul calls the fans "selfish" for not letting this idea die. And, okay, until today, when I read the interview and read how clearly the idea of Zakk Wylde replacing Dimebag is ludicrous in Vinnie Paul's mind, I would label myself selfish. I wanted to hear the magic of "Walk" being played again by Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown and sung by Phil Anselmo. I wanted to hear that not because I don't respect the tragedy of losing a brother.
I wanted to hear that because "Walk" releases an emotional burden when I listen to the song. Like I said, it's in my personal Top 25. If being selfish is liking a song so much that I thought about my adoration of Pantera's accomplishment with that song - that it could help me through sadness and rile me up when I have felt lackadaisical, then yes, easily, I am a selfish son of a bitch.
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