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. Cowboys from Hell 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.

Recorded from late 1989 to April 1990, the album was the band's major label debut after four albums released on independent labels. The album's style was heavily influenced by thrash metal, in particular Overkill and their album The Years of Decay.

Upon its release, the album sold slowly and did not chart until 1992, but has since gone on to be certified double platinum in the United States. It has received widespread acclaim since its initial release, and is today regarded as one of the greatest and most influential metal albums of the 1990s and of all time.

Background

Pantera formed in 1981, switching between the names Gemini, Eternity, and finally Pantera. During their early years, the band failed to find much success, despite being popular in the underground in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. The band would release three albums with vocalist Terry Glaze before eventually recruiting Phil Anselmo for their fourth album, Power Metal.

The band began to write what would become their fifth album, Cowboys from Hell, in 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.</blockquote>

Atco Records accepted but the band had to wait a six month period before they commenced recording at Pantego Sound Studio in Pantego, Texas.

Writing and recording

Accounts vary as to how long the recording sessions of Cowboys from Hell lasted. Bassist Rex Brown stated in a 2010 interview with Metal Hammer that the recording sessions took place from February to April 1990; Pantera then proposed Terry Date to produce the album on the strength of his work with Soundgarden, Metal Church and Overkill, the latter of whose latest album at the time The Years of Decay had influenced Dimebag Darrell's guitar tone, as well as the band's transition away from glam/traditional heavy metal to thrash/groove metal.

According to Love It Loud, Pantera "adopted a new sound and attitude, the writing of what would become Cowboys from Hell saw the band exploring darker subject matters, whilst the guitar would be notably heavier." Influences and inspirations to the making of the album, as well as its musical direction, included Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Overkill, Faith No More, King's X, Soundgarden, Minor Threat, Mercyful Fate, Savatage, and Voivod. 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), while the last tracks to be written were "Primal Concrete Sledge" and "Clash with Reality".

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-minute power ballad that would be the first song to show both their diversity and Anselmo's vocal range"; 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.

Touring

Pantera toured for nearly two years in support of Cowboys from Hell. The band embarked on their first national tour in the summer of 1990, supporting Exodus and Suicidal Tendencies. In 1991, Rob Halford performed with the band onstage, which led Pantera (along with Annihilator) to open for Judas Priest on its first show in Europe. They also opened for bands like Skid Row, Sepultura, Fates Warning, Prong, Mind Over Four, Morbid Angel, White Zombie and Sanctuary, and co-headlined a North American tour with Wrathchild America.

As far as specific charting, Cowboys from Hell peaked at number 27 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart in 1992; in March 1995, the album entered the Swedish Charts at number 46.

Reissue

On September 14, 2010, a 20th anniversary edition was released with a remastered mix from the original analog recordings. The expanded edition features a bonus CD of previously unreleased live recordings and the Alive and Hostile EP. The deluxe edition features an additional third CD with the previously unreleased demo track "The Will to Survive" (parts of the song were later used in the song "This Love"

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.

Critical reception and legacy

thumb|The album was praised by [[Ozzy Osbourne. In 2017, he listed Cowboys from Hell as one of his ten favorite metal albums.

They said of the album:

AllMusic said of the album:

The album was ranked number 11 on the October 2006 issue of Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time. It was ranked the 85th-best heavy metal album of all time by Metal-Rules.com. IGN named Cowboys from Hell the 19th-most-influential heavy metal album of all time. It is also credited as "defining" groove metal.

Track listing

Disc 2: Expanded Edition bonus CD

Disc 3: Cowboys from Hell: The Demos

Only available on the 'Deluxe' and 'Ultimate' editions of the album.

Cowboys from Hell: The Demos

The demos were recorded in 1989 and re-released on Black 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".