DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME YOU HEARD THE ALBUM?
Richard Christy, Charred Walls of the Damned, The Howard Stern Show
I think the first song off of Vulgar that I heard was “Mouth For War” on the old heavy metal radio channel Z-Rock on AM Radio in Kansas City. I was totally blown away by the heaviness of it, especially the guitar riffs and the drum sound. I remember being a senior in high school and trying to practice drums along to that song and when the vocals first kick in there’s an odd time drum beat that to this day I still can’t figure out what the heck is going on time-wise, it’s incredible! Vinnie Paul is THE MAN! I was fortunate enough to see Pantera open for Skid Row in the summer of 1992 near Branson, Missouri and to this day it’s still one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Phil came out on stage with a massive fake joint right out of a Cheech and Chong movie and I thought that was about the most awesome thing ever! Sebastian Bach passed a joint down to the crowd during Skid Row’s set and my buddies and I got to take a puff off of it! It was right around the time that Bill Clinton said he didn’t inhale, but we sure as the hell did!
Scott Ian, Anthrax
I don’t remember specifically the first time I heard it but it would’ve been right when it came out as I was already a fan from Cowboys.
Chris Broderick, Act of Defiance, ex-Megadeth
I bought it when it first came out. I was so excited to see what they came up with after Cowboys From Hell that I had to have it immediately!!! It did not disappoint, It was heaver and had a little more groove to it. This CD took me on my own path to heavier music.
Carlos Cruz, Warbringer
I first heard “Mouth for War,” “Walk” and “This Love” on the Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys Vulgar Hits!” release in my freshman year of high school, 2004. I’m glad I then came to find what I think are even stronger album tracks like “A New Level,” “By Demons Be Driven” and “Hollow” when diving into the album.
Marzi Montazeri, Marzi, former Philip H. Anselmo & the Illegals, Superjoint Ritual
Having been friends with Darrell since teenage years I had heard all of Pantera demos for all of their songs way before they were on records. The CFH record in all it’s different demo stages to the final cut for example but Vulgar, I didn’t have a peep at cuz they were on the road after CFH and they never stopped so when they came to play Houston I went to hang for soundcheck which really was tradition and that’s where I first heard “Walk!” Right then the thrill started and it followed to the bus where Darrell invited me on to check it out in it’s entirety. It was their first bus and you could sense the strength and their rise as a band from the days when they played local clubs regularly to now bigger and better venues And so he takes me to the back lounge and puts in the cassette. I never talk when someone is sharing music with me, especially Darrell. I remember absolutely being blown away but I kept my cool and looked up a hand full of times to just give a nod of awe and respect to him but I waited till the end to tell him that he had done it again! He somehow went to the next level after CFH! So then he says “here take it!” It was a flat mix, not mastered at all, but you could hear the songs clearly. I went back to my garage apartment and blasted it till it was show time. I remember Darrell saying “you gotta see what Phil got” and he took me to see Philip and he says “show him!,” and that’s when Phil pulls his shirt up and shows me his then-brand-new tat on his stomach. I mispronounced it and we all cracked up. Then I walked with them to the backstage area where they were about to take the stage. Dime says” here play it,” and mind you I was tripping hard and I was like ‘man your action is super high!’ While they were playing “Walk,” Rita was explaining what Phil had wrote about and it was just so powerful and overall one of the most killer experiences of my life!
Poia and Urlo, Ufomammut
“It was 1992, at the beginning of a decade in which mainstream was rock and heavy again, after the easy pop of the eighties and before the autotune vocals era. We saw “This Love” video at the TV and we became fans as soon as this almost soft love song turned into a precise, heavy and brutal musical aggression. Later we listened to the entire Vulgar Display album at the very high volume it deserved in the powerful car hi-fi system of a friend. Heavy metal was finally really really heavy, without any dragon, armors, zombies, black leather, spikes and glitters.
Colin Young, Twitching Tongues
“This Love” is not only my favorite song on this record, but one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s the first shining example to me of a ballad that is as ridiculously fuckin’ hard as it is melodic. Nothing makes you want to dish out a beating with tears in your eyes like the pit part in this song.
Catastrofiend, Kill the Precedent
I ran to Tower Records to buy it, and rushed over to my “metal” friend’s house. He had never heard of Pantera, and hated it. He just stared at the stereo like a confused dog. I, on the other hand, was blown away, and couldn’t believe that anyone into metal wouldn’t be instantly hooked. Of course a few years later the same guy ended up worshipping the band. The album definitely was ahead of its time.
Bobby Mansfield, The Drip
Vulgar was my first Pantera album. I remember finding the CDwithout a case. At the time the heaviest music I was into was Metallica. The moment mouth for war blasted through my stereo I was blown away. I immediately went out and started collecting the rest of the albums.
Matt Iacovelli, Rozamov
My neighbor Jimmy Tsai was into metal and he had Cowboys from hell and Vulgar Display of power on cassette. I remember the cover for sure. We listened to both tapes and i was more into Dr Dre than anything metal but it set in motion a curiosity in Pantera and metal in general. Fast forward 2 yrs and my little step brother borrowed Far Beyond Driven and Vulgar Display of Power on cd. We listened to those cds so much they wore out! For 2 teenagers it was perfect aggressive yet safe music.
Dalila Kayros, Syk
When i was 14 i started to watch ‘sgrang’ and when I saw the “Walk: video, I totally went mad with that sound and harsh attitude. I started to understand what a ‘metal’ band is!
Joseph Michael, Witherfall
