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Rob Halford recommended Cowboys from Hell by Pantera in Music (curated)

 
Cowboys from Hell by Pantera
Cowboys from Hell by Pantera
1990 | Rock
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"I was up in Toronto rehearsing for the Painkiller tour and I saw Dimebag [Darrell, guitarist] on a local TV show and he was wearing a British Steel shirt. They played some clips of their music and it just instantly struck a chord. I jumped into a taxi and went down to the studio where they were recording this show, met him and became good friends. That night they were playing at a club in Toronto, and when I saw them live I was just blown away. After that, Priest took Pantera on tour in Europe and they'd never even been out of America before, but every night they would just stun the crowd. I just knew from the moment that I saw them, they were going to be huge. It's just a really great memory. What they were doing at that particular time was revolutionary. Before Cowboys From Hell, they were finding their way. Like any band, they were just trying to find out who they were and find that spark to make something happen. When I heard 'Primal Concrete Sledge' for the first time, my reaction was to just say, "Oh my god, what is this? I've never heard anything like this before." I got to work with Dime on a song and it was a thrill and a treasure to have that opportunity. The label said that there was a movie coming out, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and asked me if I'd do a song. The one that I came up with was 'Light Comes Out The Black'. I didn't really know anyone locally who was available at the time. I picked up the phone and spoke to Dime about it and he told me to come down to Dallas because they were on a bit of a break. I flew down there the next day and played with him. It was done in more or less six hours and we ended up just sitting around trying to find something else to do with it."

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ClareR (6037 KP) rated Gun Island in Books

May 21, 2021  
Gun Island
Gun Island
Amitav Ghosh | 2019 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Gun Island is a beautifully written story about a rare book dealer Deen Datta, and how his trip to a small island in the Sunderbans sets in motion a series of events that affect him deeply, opening his eyes to the world around him - a world far beyond his own experience. His journey takes in history, folklore, magic, climate change and ecological disasters. We see how climate change has an effect not just on animals, but also on people - causing the refugee crisis and the consequent reaction of Europe - especially those countries who feel they’re most at risk of being overwhelmed by the flood of refugees.

Deen Datta certainly gets around on his journey. From New York where he lives, to the Sunderbans in India, then onto a California on fire and a more flooded than usual Venice. This could have been a book that preached about the perils of climate change, but it didn’t. It did lay the stark reality out for the reader, but this was just as much a part of the story as the relationships Deen has with the people he meets, and his friends. There is a real feeling that Deen doesn’t have a firm identity: he’s detached from his Bengali roots, and he doesn’t fit in to New York either. But I think he does feel a sense of belonging by the end of the book, with the help of his friends. Cinta, a Venetian, is an old friend, and someone who always seems to push him into doing what’s good for him. Then there are his Indian friends, Piya and Tipu who help him to learn new things about himself and the world he lives in.

I loved this book. It ticked a lot of boxes on my favourite themes list: the environment, India, history, folklore, the search for identity. It’s such a thought provoking, magical novel.