| Cowboys from Hell | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 24, 1990 (1990-07-24) | |||
| Recorded | Late 1989[1][2][3] – April 1990[4] | |||
| Studio | Pantego Sound (Pantego, Texas) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:43 | |||
| Label | Atco | |||
| Producer | Terry Date | |||
| Pantera chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Cowboys from Hell | ||||
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Cowboys from Hell is the fifth studio album and major label debut by Americanheavy metal bandPantera, released on July 24, 1990, byAtco Records. It marked the first of many collaborations with producerTerry Date. This was also the album where Pantera fully abandoned theglam metal style of their previous albums in favor of a heavier sound. It has been recognized as one of the first evergroove metal albums.[7][8]
Writing sessions forCowboys from Hell took place throughout 1988 and 1989. Seeking a record label to release their album, the group received firm contract offers from bothEpic and Roadracer, who had expressed some interest in signing them. However, they were ultimately recommended to music producers with a "more commercial type" of approach, as explained by drummerVinnie Paul.[9] After being turned down "28 times by every major label on the face of the Earth", Atco Records representative Mark Ross was asked by his boss,Derek Shulman (who was interested in signing Pantera), to see the band perform afterHurricane Hugo stranded him in Texas. Ross was so impressed by the band's performance that he called his boss that night, suggesting that Pantera be signed to the label.[4]
Ross on the performance:
"By the end of the first song, my jaw was on the floor. The sonic power of it all — the attitude and the musicianship — blew me away. Basically, you had to be an idiot to not think they're amazing. I mean, how could you see these guys and not think, 'Holy shit!'?"[10]
Atco Records accepted but the band had to wait a six month period before they commenced recording at Pantego Sound Studio inPantego, Texas. Accounts vary as to how long the recording sessions ofCowboys from Hell lasted; bassistRex Brown stated in a 2010 interview withMetal Hammer that the recording sessions took place from February to April 1990,[4] however vocalistPhil Anselmo has also claimed that the album was recorded in 1989.[2][3] Pantera's initial choice as the producer forCowboys from Hell wasMax Norman based on his work withOzzy Osbourne. Norman, who flew to Houston to watch the band perform, initially agreed to work on the album, but right before the recording sessions started, he was offered to produceLynch Mob's debut albumWicked Sensation instead.[11] Pantera then proposedTerry Date to produce the album on the strength of his work withSoundgarden,Metal Church andOverkill, the latter of whose latest album at the timeThe Years of Decay had influencedDimebag Darrell's guitar tone, as well as the band's transition away fromglam/traditional heavy metal tothrash/groove metal.[12][13][14][15][16]
According to Love It Loud, Pantera "adopted a new sound and attitude, the writing of what would becomeCowboys from Hell saw the band exploring darker subject matters, whilst the guitar would be notably heavier."[17] Influences and inspirations to the making of the album, as well as its musical direction, includedBlack Sabbath,Judas Priest,ZZ Top,Metallica,Slayer,Megadeth,Anthrax,Testament, Overkill,Faith No More,King's X, Soundgarden,Minor Threat,Mercyful Fate,Savatage, andVoivod.[1][12][18][19][20] The band recorded a self-produced demo album in 1989 with eleven tracks, ten of which made the album cut ("The Will to Survive" was excluded early in the recording sessions),[4][21] while the last tracks to be written were "Primal Concrete Sledge" and "Clash with Reality".[17]
During the recording sessions, the band chose an unorthodox method: Paul recorded the drum tracks first, then Darrell recorded the guitar, and Brown recorded the bass with the guitars only. This resulted in a tighter sound; slight inaccuracies were fixed by manually editing the tapes.[22]
Love It Loud noted that "the band were feeling confident about their material and themselves, finally feeling that they were making the kind of album they believed in. One key track to emerge during the writing was "Cemetery Gates", a seven-minutepower ballad that would be the first song to show both their diversity and Anselmo's vocal range";[17] the acoustic intro was written last by Brown.[22] Love It Loud also stated that "although they had already recorded four albums prior toCowboys from Hell, the members of Pantera have since acknowledged this as their official debut album, working with a professional producer and a major label for the first time and creating music that was not simply stealing from other similar bands in an attempt to attract attention."[17]
The cover art depicts the band in a quaintWestern saloon. In reality, it is a 1910 photo of the "Cosmopolitan Saloon" inTelluride, Colorado, with the bandmembers pasted over it.[23] Dimebag Darrell is pictured in the center playing guitar, while Vinnie Paul is standing to his right counting money, Rex Brown is leaning against the counter top and Phil Anselmo is shown jumping in the air to Brown's left. Anselmo states that he jumped off a bar stool to get high up in the air and that it took him about ten takes until the cameramen got the shot of the desired style.[24]
Pantera toured for nearly two years in support ofCowboys from Hell. The band embarked on their first national tour in the summer of 1990, supportingExodus andSuicidal Tendencies.[25] In 1991,Rob Halford performed with the band onstage, which led Pantera (along withAnnihilator) to open forJudas Priest on its first show in Europe. They also opened for bands likeSkid Row,Sepultura,Fates Warning,Prong,Mind Over Four,Morbid Angel,White Zombie andSanctuary, and co-headlined a North American tour withWrathchild America.[25] The band eventually landed a billing for theMonsters of Rock festival withAC/DC,Mötley Crüe,Metallica andThe Black Crowes in September 1991, where they played to a crowd of over 500,000 in celebration of the new freedom of performing Western music in the former Soviet Union shortly before its collapse three months later.[25]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [26] |
| AllMusic |  [27] |
| BBC Music | (favorable)[28] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 9/10[29] |
| Exclaim! | (favorable)[30] |
| Record Collector | [31] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [32] |
The album was released on July 24, 1990, and was available on tape, CD, vinyl and a limited edition version (same album but in a long box).
Despite being the band's commercial breakthrough,Cowboys from Hell sold slowly and steadily for most of the 1990s, first charting onBillboard in 1992, two years after its release. The album did not receiveplatinum certification in the United States until July 1997. It has since gone on to attain a double platinum (2,000,000 units) certification in the U.S. as well asgold status in the U.K. for sales of 100,000.[33]
As far as specific charting,Cowboys from Hell reached No. 27 on theBillboardTop Heatseekers chart in 1992, and in March 1995, entered theSwedish Charts for one week at No. 46.
Cowboys from Hell is widely considered one of Pantera's best albums, as well as one of the greatest metal albums of all time. It has been praised by most critics, as it would prove to be extremely influential in the development ofgroove metal in the 1990s. The album is also credited for reviving heavy metal music at a time when it was diminishing in relevance.Cowboys from Hell would inspire a generation of musicians, particularly guitarists.IGN namedCowboys from Hell the 19th-most-influential heavy metal album of all time.[34]
They said of the album:
Along withVulgar Display of Power, Pantera's fifth album is not only considered one of the band's best, but is also one of the defining albums of early '90s metal. The band's chemistry really begins to gel with collective symmetry here, as a pre-Dimebag Darrell (he was known as Diamond Darrell back then) rips the strings of his axe like a rabid weasel, frontman Phil Anselmo following in kind with chaotic vocal utterances, and the rhythm section of Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown keeping the rhythms in check and the whole mess glued together with low end prowess.
AllMusic said of the album:[35]
Pantera's breakthrough album,Cowboys from Hell, is largely driven by the band's powerful rhythm section and guitarist Diamond Darrell's unbelievably forcefulriffing, which skittered around thedownbeats to produce unexpected rhythmic phrases and accents, as well as his inventive soloing.
On September 14, 2010, a 20th anniversary edition was released with aremasteredmix from the original analog recordings.[36] The expanded edition features a bonus CD of previously unreleased live recordings and theAlive and Hostile EP. The deluxe edition features an additional third CD[37][38] with the previously unreleased demo track "The Will to Survive" (parts of the song were later used in the song "This Love"[4] fromVulgar Display of Power) along with demo versions of ten songs from the original album.[39]
The third disc of the deluxe set,Cowboys from Hell: The Demos, was released as a separate limited edition vinyl LP at the same time.[37] It was exclusively available at Metal Club record stores.[36][38] The 2010 reissue of the album managed to reach No. 117 on theBillboard 200 and No. 8 onCatalog Albums, selling 4,200.[40][41]
The album was ranked No. 11 on the October 2006 issue ofGuitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.[43] It was ranked the 85th-best heavy metal album of all time byMetal-Rules.com.[44]IGN namedCowboys from Hell the 19th-most-influential heavy metal album of all time. It is also credited as "defining"groove metal.[27] The album has also been praised byOzzy Osbourne, who in 2017 listed it among his ten favorite metal albums.[42]
All tracks are written by Pantera (Phil Anselmo,Diamond Darrell,Rex,Vinnie Paul).
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Cowboys from Hell" | 4:06 |
| 2. | "Primal Concrete Sledge" | 2:13 |
| 3. | "Psycho Holiday" | 5:19 |
| 4. | "Heresy" | 4:47 |
| 5. | "Cemetery Gates" | 7:02 |
| 6. | "Domination" | 5:04 |
| 7. | "Shattered" | 3:22 |
| 8. | "Clash with Reality" | 5:16 |
| 9. | "Medicine Man" | 5:15 |
| 10. | "Message in Blood" | 5:10 |
| 11. | "The Sleep" | 5:47 |
| 12. | "The Art of Shredding" | 4:18 |
| Total length: | 57:43 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Domination" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 4:55 |
| 2. | "Psycho Holiday" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 5:25 |
| 3. | "The Art of Shredding" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 5:47 |
| 4. | "Cowboys from Hell" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 5:01 |
| 5. | "Cemetery Gates" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 7:05 |
| 6. | "Primal Concrete Sledge" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 3:51 |
| 7. | "Heresy" (Live at Foundations Forum, 1990) | 5:12 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Domination" (Live at Monsters in Moscow, 1991) | 7:05 |
| 9. | "Primal Concrete Sledge" (Live at Monsters in Moscow, 1991) | 3:17 |
| 10. | "Cowboys from Hell" (Live at Monsters in Moscow, 1991) | 4:16 |
| 11. | "Heresy" (Live at Monsters in Moscow, 1991) | 4:59 |
| 12. | "Psycho Holiday" (Live at Monsters in Moscow, 1991) | 5:50 |
| Total length: | 83:10 | |
Only available on the 'Deluxe' and 'Ultimate' editions of the album.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Will to Survive" (demo) | 4:14 |
| 2. | "Shattered" (demo) | 4:47 |
| 3. | "Cowboys from Hell" (demo) | 4:06 |
| 4. | "Heresy" (demo) | 4:42 |
| 5. | "Cemetery Gates" (demo) | 5:19 |
| 6. | "Psycho Holiday" (demo) | 5:09 |
| 7. | "Medicine Man" (demo) | 4:52 |
| 8. | "Message in Blood" (demo) | 4:57 |
| 9. | "Domination" (demo) | 4:45 |
| 10. | "The Sleep" (demo) | 6:15 |
| 11. | "The Art of Shredding" (demo) | 4:11 |
| Total length: | 53:17 | |
The demos were recorded in 1989 and re-released onBlack Friday 2010. Copies were limited to 3,000 180-gram pressings, with the vinyl including the custom cover and demos of the original tracks, as well as the previously unreleased demo cut "The Will to Survive".[45]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Will to Survive" (demo) | 4:14 |
| 2. | "Shattered" (demo) | 4:47 |
| 3. | "Cowboys from Hell" (demo) | 4:06 |
| 4. | "Heresy" (demo) | 4:42 |
| 5. | "Cemetery Gates" (demo) | 5:19 |
| 6. | "Psycho Holiday" (demo) | 5:09 |
| 7. | "Medicine Man" (demo) | 4:52 |
| 8. | "Message in Blood" (demo) | 4:57 |
| 9. | "Domination" (demo) | 4:45 |
| 10. | "The Sleep" (demo) | 6:15 |
| 11. | "The Art of Shredding" (demo) | 4:11 |
| Total length: | 53:17 | |
Note
Pantera
Technical
| Chart (1992) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USHeatseekers Albums (Billboard)[47] | 27 |
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[48] | 46 |
| USTop Catalog Albums (Billboard)[49] | 8 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[50] | 32 |
| USBillboard 200[51] | 117 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina (CAPIF)[52] | Gold | 30,000^ |
| Australia (ARIA)[53] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| Japan (RIAJ)[54] | Gold | 100,000[54] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[55] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[56] | 2× Platinum | 2,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)rolling stone pantera album guide.
| Studio albums | |
|---|---|
| Live albums | |
| Extended plays | |
| Compilations | |
| Singles | |
| Promotional singles | |
| Other songs | |
| Video albums | |
| Related bands | |
| Related articles | |
