Floods

Pantera, 1996. Solo by Dimebag Darrell.

The long outro solo is Dimebag's most emotional work, whammy-bar dives included.

Unlike many of his off-the-cuff leads, Dimebag treated this solo as a composed, orchestrated piece, stacking and doubling lines in a way he credited to Randy Rhoads. The climax layers high squeals on the G string with harmonized, pitch-shifted squeals from a DigiTech Whammy, pushing the tension up step by step. Afterwards comes the famous outro, built on a wide-stretch add9 chord and set against rain effects, which he re-cut at the last minute during mastering. The combination of screaming lead and melancholy outro shows a gentler, more reflective side of a player known for brutal riffs. Listen for the harmonized Whammy squeals rising in steps; each new step raises the pitch and the tension a notch further.

Floods by Pantera is ranked #40 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Dimebag Darrell and the song was released in 1996. It appears on 13 lists, placing as high as #4 (All About The Rock).

The story of Floods

"Floods" is the longest song on Pantera's 1996 album The Great Southern Trendkill and one of the longest the band ever released, trailing only "Cemetery Gates" and "Hard Lines, Sunken Cheeks" by a few seconds. It is a slow, brooding power ballad that stands in sharp contrast to the album's more violent material, and it gave Dimebag Darrell one of the largest canvases of his career. Its long running time also left room for an extended instrumental outro set against the sound of falling rain.

The central guitar idea is much older than the album. Dimebag had been playing the riff since the mid-1980s, and home-video footage later shown on the Dimevision releases captures versions of it from around 1986. When Pantera assembled the Trendkill songs, the riff finally found a home as the backbone of "Floods" and its long instrumental coda. Vinnie Paul, who co-produced the album with Terry Date, would later have the final say on which take of that outro made the record.

Phil Anselmo's lyric surveys human cruelty, including rape, murder and war, and ends by calling for a cleansing deluge in the spirit of the Genesis flood story. Bassist Rex Brown has said he spent a lot of rehearsal time building his fingerstyle part, which weaves busy fills beneath the guitar and which he counts among his favorite bass lines. Brown described the passage as a blazing solo sitting on a very cool rhythm section, and he credited the extra preparation for making it work.

The album was produced by Terry Date with drummer Vinnie Paul and released by East West in May 1996. "Floods" was not issued as a single, but it became a fan favorite and a showcase for Dimebag's melodic side. An alternate mix of the track surfaced on the album's 20th-anniversary reissue. The group did not perform it live until the 2001 tour, which turned out to be the original lineup's last.

The solo

Dimebag Darrell plays all the guitars. Unlike many of his more off-the-cuff leads, he treated this solo as a composed, orchestrated piece, stacking parts and doubling lines, an approach he credited to Randy Rhoads. The climax layers high squeals on the G string with harmonized, pitch-shifted squeals from a DigiTech Whammy pedal on two-string shapes, pushing tension up step by step; he said he simply experimented until it sounded right. After the solo comes the famous outro, built on a wide-stretch add9 chord he called "the Police chord" and set against rain effects. Dime had tracked that outro late at night on an out-of-tune guitar, so during mastering in New York he re-cut it at the last minute on a borrowed Les Paul through a Korg G3 multi-effects unit, recording straight to DAT while Vinnie picked the keeper take.

Legacy

The solo is often named as Dimebag's finest. Guitar World has ranked it among the greatest guitar solos of all time, and it also placed "Floods" 20th on a list of the best Pantera songs, while Metal Hammer rated it ninth-best in the band's catalog. Classic Rock's Stephen Dalton likened its shifting seven-minute structure to "Bohemian Rhapsody". Rex Brown has called it a blazing solo over a great rhythm section, and the reunited Pantera restored the song to its setlists in 2024 as a tribute to Dime.

Top 10 facts about Floods

At seven minutes, "Floods" is the longest song on The Great Southern Trendkill and Pantera's third-longest recording.
Wikipedia
The main riff dates to the mid-1980s, with performances of it documented as early as 1986.
Wikipedia
Dimebag cited Randy Rhoads as the inspiration for the doubled, carefully arranged approach he took on the solo.
Wikipedia
The solo's climax uses harmonized squeals generated with a DigiTech Whammy pedal on two-string shapes at the fourth and 12th frets.
Wikipedia
Dimebag re-recorded the outro during mastering after realizing the original had been played on an out-of-tune guitar late at night.
Guitar World
Guitar World writer Nick Bowcott got a 5:30 a.m. call from Dime asking for a Les Paul and a Korg G3 by 9 a.m.; the gear was loaned by Sam Ash in Manhattan.
Guitar World
The outro is built on what Dimebag called "the Police chord", a wide-stretch add9 voicing associated with Andy Summers.
Guitar World
Pantera first played "Floods" live on February 1, 2001, in Albuquerque, and performed it 39 times that year.
setlist.fm
The reunited Pantera, with Zakk Wylde on guitar, played "Floods" on February 3, 2024, for the first time since May 20, 2001.
Loudwire
Classic Rock writer Stephen Dalton compared the song's shape-shifting structure to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".
Wikipedia

Live versions

Albuquerque Convention Center (2001) First known live performance, February 1, 2001; the song was played 39 times that year.
Final Dimebag-era performance (2001) May 20, 2001 marked the last time the original lineup played it.
Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida (2024) Reunion lineup with Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante revived it on February 3, 2024.
OVO Arena Wembley, London (2025) Part of the 2025 tour, which included 21 performances of the song.

In our lists

Sources

What guitar was used on the Floods solo?

A dean ml through a Randall amp, with DigiTech Whammy, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Floods rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#40 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 13 of them.

Who played the guitar solo on "Floods"?

Dimebag Darrell played it; he composed it carefully rather than improvising, layering harmonized parts.

What effect did Dimebag use on the "Floods" solo?

He used a DigiTech Whammy pedal to create the harmonized squeals at the solo's climax.

What album is "Floods" on?

It is on Pantera's 1996 album The Great Southern Trendkill.

What is "Floods" by Pantera about?

The lyrics catalog human brutality such as murder, rape and war and call for a cleansing flood like the one in Genesis.

How was the "Floods" outro recorded?

Dimebag re-cut it at the last minute during mastering, using a borrowed Les Paul and a Korg G3 recorded straight to DAT.