Pantera : Cowboys From Hell (Expanded Edition)

RISE ABOVE THIS PIT

OF SORROW AND PAIN

AMONG THE FEW 

WE ARE THE AVANT LEADERS

WE'VE GOT TO LIVE

THROUGH THIS 

TROUBLE AND DECAY

 Cowboys from Hell

 is the fifth 

studio album 

and 

major label debut

 by American 

Heavy Metal Band

 Pantera, 

released on 

July 24, 1990, 

by Atco Records.

 It marked the first

 of many collaborations

 with producer

 Terry Date. 

This was also

 the album where

 Pantera 

fully abandoned

 the glam metal style

 of their 

previous albums 

in favor of a 

heavier sound. 

It has been recognized

 as one of the first 

ever

 groove metal

 albums

Writing and Recording

Writing sessions for 

Cowboys from Hell 

took place throughout 

1988 and 1989. 

Seeking a

 record label

 to release their album,

 the group received 

firm contract offers

 from both

 Epic

 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

 drummer

 Vinnie Paul. 

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

 after 

Hurricane 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.

Pantera 

adopted a new sound

 and attitude, 

and the writing 

of what would become

 Cowboys from Hell 

saw the band 

exploring 

darker subject matters, 

while the guitar 

would be

 notably heavier. 

Influences and inspirations 

to the making 

of the album, 

as well as

 its musical direction, 

were 

Black Sabbath, 

Judas Priest, 

ZZ Top, 

Metallica,

 Slayer, 

Megadeth, 

Anthrax, 

Testament, 

Overkill, 

Faith No More, 

King's X, 

Soundgarden, 

Minor Threat,

 Mercyful Fate, 

Savatage, 

Voivod 

and

 then-upcoming band

 Exhorder. 

The band recorded a 

self-produced 

demo album

 in 1989 

which 

featured 11 tracks, 

10 of which 

would make the album cut.

"The last tracks to

 be written were

 "Primal Concrete Sledge" 

and

 "Clash with Reality" 

whilst a song titled

 "The Will to Survive"

 was discarded early

 in the recording sessions.

During 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.

TRACKLIST

CD 1

Cowboys From Hell

Primal Concrete Sledge

Pyscho Holiday

Heresy

Cemetery Gates

Domination

Shattered

Clash With Reality

Medicine Man

Message In Blood

The Sleep

The Art Of Shredding

CD 2

(Alive and Hostile E.P.)

Domination

Primal Concrete Sledge

Cowboys From Hell

Heresy

Psycho Holiday

CD 3

(Demos)

* With These

The Vocals Were Low

in The Mix

So I Cleaned them Up

And Boosted The Vocals Up

And The Music Down Some

Intro

Shattered

 (Demo)

Cowboys From Hell

 (Demo)

Heresy 

(Demo)

Cemetery Gates

(Demo)

Primal Concrete Sledge 

(Just Vocals)

Psycho Holiday

 (Demo)

Medicine Man 

(Demo)

Clash With Reality

 (Just Vocals)

Message In Blood

 (Demo)

Domination

 (Demo)

The Sleep

 (Demo)

The Art Of Shredding

 (Demo)

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