Maps of Music

I Am the Night (1985)

Where the lyrics of I Am the Night take you, and where it was really made.

This album was never issued on CD by its label: every CD version that followed was a bootleg copied from the vinyl or tape originals.

Key places

Recording and mixing at Pantego Sound (1985)

Recording site Pantego Sound — The album was recorded and mixed at Pantego Sound in Pantego, Texas. The point is placed at the town's center, so the exact studio building is not marked. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• I Am the Night: third studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera
• Released August 16, 1985, through Metal Magic Records
• Made available only on vinyl and cassette
• Later CD releases were bootlegs transferred from the vinyl or tape originals
• Last Pantera album to feature lead singer Terry Glaze
• Ten tracks, including "Hot and Heavy", "I Am the Night", "Valhalla" and "Forever Tonight"
• Cover artwork shows a figure that a Metal Hammer writer found amusing

Background

• The band released four studio albums between 1983 and 1988
• The four were Metal Magic (1983), Projects in the Jungle (1984), I Am the Night (1985) and Power Metal (1988)
• The album remained largely dominated by glam metal
• Some heavier and faster tracks, such as "I Am the Night" and "Down Below", hinted at the change to come
• Vocalist Terry Glaze left the band after an internal dispute
• Phil Anselmo replaced him, and the band took its definitive form with him
• "Down Below" was later re-recorded with Anselmo for Power Metal

Recording

• Recorded and mixed at Pantego Sound, Pantego, Texas
• Producer Jerry Abbott is the father of Diamond Darrell and Vinnie Paul
• Abbott also produced Metal Magic, Projects in the Jungle and Power Metal
• Personnel: Terrence Lee (vocals), Diamond Darrell (guitars), Rex Rocker (bass), Vinnie Paul (drums)

Cover

• The cover shows a panther-themed figure
• Discogs notes it as the last Metal Magic era album with a panther cover
• Metal Hammer's Simon Young questioned the cover's concept in print

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Pantera is an American heavy metal band formed in Arlington, Texas, in 1981 by the Abbott brothers, guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul.
• The band started as a glam metal act and was originally named Gemini, then Eternity, before settling on Pantera.
• Rex Brown joined on bass in 1982 and Phil Anselmo became vocalist in 1986, forming the best-known lineup.

Members

• The best-known lineup was the Abbott brothers with Rex Brown and Phil Anselmo.
• Dimebag Darrell was shot and killed on stage in December 2004; Vinnie Paul died of heart failure in June 2018.
• Currently the band features Phil Anselmo, Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante.

Career

• The band pioneered and popularized groove metal in the 1990s with Cowboys from Hell (1990) and Vulgar Display of Power (1992).
• Far Beyond Driven (1994) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
• Pantera disbanded in 2003 and reunited with a new lineup in 2022, touring the world since.
• The band has sold around 20 million records worldwide and received four Grammy nominations.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic gave the album two and a half stars out of five
• He wrote that Darrell's guitar playing makes the band's growing pains easier to bear

Reappraisal

• The album is generally not held at the same level of esteem as some of Pantera's later releases
• Metal Hammer put the album cover on its list of the most hilariously ugly rock and metal album covers

Records

• The album sold more than 25,000 copies
• That figure was considered high for an independent release
• "Hot and Heavy" was released as a single and promoted with the band's second music video

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Metal Hammer's Simon Young said the cover figure does not match the night of the title, joking about the ideas meeting behind it.
• Discogs notes that an official music video was made for "Hot and Heavy".
• Discogs notes that track A4's full title is "Darrell Goes to the Movies".
• The French Wikipedia article credits Jerry Abbott, the father of Diamond Darrell and Vinnie Paul, as producer.
• Metal Hammer included the cover in its list of ugly album covers.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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