PANTERA’s REX BROWN Names His Favorite DIMEBAG DARRELL Guitar Solo, Remembers How It Brought Him To Tears

Few musicians in the metal community command the reverence of late Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell. As the six-strings honcho whose guitar lines helped shape the heavy metal landscape, writing about Dime‘s influence at this point is a fool’s endeavor. But behind the crushing riffs and incendiary solos was a musician who occasionally doubted his own brilliance. Such was the case with his solo on Pantera‘s rendition of “Planet Caravan”, originally by Black Sabbath — a moment that holds a special place in the heart of bassist Rex Brown.

Reflecting on this pivotal recording in Guitar World, Brown didn’t hesitate when asked about his favorite Dimebag guitar solo. His answer: the hauntingly evocative lead in “Planet Caravan”, a track featured on Pantera‘s 1994 album Far Beyond Driven. However, this iconic solo almost didn’t see the light of day.

For Brown, Dimebag‘s reluctance to embrace the solo underscored the guitarist’s humility and relentless pursuit of perfection: “Dimebag thought it sucked, and I told him to leave it alone, so he comped it and stayed with that one. I was literally in tears.”

In a 2022 interview with Tone-Talk, Brown elaborated on the experience of recording “Planet Caravan”. “We actually learned the song in about 15 minutes. I played fretless bass on it and played synthesizer on it. Vinnie played the bongos.”

But the real magic came from Dimebag‘s improvisational genius. “When he went to play that lead, the first one, I had to leave the room because it was so fucking good,” Brown revealed. “And the way he put those notes together, just off the fly. You know, he always came in with something, but we cut this so quick that, I think we’d gone out to dinner and he just came back and let it let that one have it.”

For Brown, the memory of that recording session remains vivid, a reminder of both the talent and the bond he shared with Dimebag: “It was like… I won’t say Eruption, because that changed fucking everything for everyone. But I will say that it was one of those moments for me, of listening to that and being right next to my best friend who just played it. So I keep that in my heart.”