Maps of Music

Cowboys from Hell (1990)

Where the lyrics of Cowboys from Hell take you, and where it was really made.

Pantera counted this as their fifth studio album, yet the members later acknowledged it as their official debut.

Key places

Recording at Pantego Sound Studio (1990)

Recording site Pantego Sound — The album was recorded at Pantego Sound Studio in Pantego, Texas. The pin uses the city-centre position, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Cowboys from Hell: fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera
• Released 24 July 1990 by Atco Records; the band's first major label album
• First collaboration with producer Terry Date
• Pantera dropped the glam metal style of earlier albums for a heavier sound
• Often cited as one of the first groove metal albums
• Track listing on French Wikipedia: 12 songs, including 'Cowboys from Hell', 'Cemetery Gates' and 'Domination'

Background

• Pantera formed in 1981 under the names Gemini, Eternity and Pantera
• Three albums with vocalist Terry Glaze before Phil Anselmo joined for Power Metal
• The band wrote the album in 1988 and 1989
• Epic and Roadracer showed interest, but the band was pointed toward a more commercial approach
• Atco representative Mark Ross saw the band play after Hurricane Hugo stranded him in Texas
• Atco accepted the band, but they waited six months before recording

Recording

• Recorded from late 1989 to April 1990, according to the album's Wikipedia article
• Sources differ on the dates; bassist Rex Brown gave February to April 1990 in a 2010 interview
• Recorded at Pantego Sound Studio, Pantego, Texas
• Max Norman was first chosen as producer, but he left to produce Lynch Mob's debut instead
• Terry Date was then chosen for his work with Soundgarden, Metal Church and Overkill
• Mixed at Carriage House Studios in Stamford, Connecticut

Cover

• The cover looks like a Western saloon, but it is a 1910 photo of the Cosmopolitan Saloon in Telluride, Colorado, with the band pasted over it
• Phil Anselmo jumped off a bar stool for his shot and needed about ten takes

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

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

• The album sold slowly after its release and did not appear on any chart until 1992
• Pantera's breakthrough album, Cowboys from Hell, is largely driven by the band's powerful rhythm section
• AllMusic praised the record for its forceful riffing and inventive soloing by Diamond Darrell
• Guitar World ranked the album number 11 in its October 2006 list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time

Reappraisal

• Cowboys from Hell is widely considered one of Pantera's best albums, as well as one of the greatest metal albums of all time
• IGN named the album the 19th-most-influential heavy metal album of all time
• Metal-Rules.com ranked it the 85th-best heavy metal album of all time
• Ozzy Osbourne listed it among his ten favorite metal albums in 2017

Records

• The album did not receive platinum certification in the United States until July 1997
• It has since reached double platinum (2,000,000 units) in the United States
• It received gold status in the United Kingdom for sales of 100,000
• It peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart in 1992
• The 2010 reissue reached number 117 on the Billboard 200

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

Trivia

• The band first intended to work with Max Norman, who was known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne
• Mark Ross called his boss the night he saw the band play and urged that Pantera be signed
• Phil Anselmo says he jumped off a bar stool for the cover shot and needed about ten takes
• The 20th anniversary edition came out on 14 September 2010 with a remastered mix from the original analog recordings
• The band's first national tour in summer 1990 supported Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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