Pantera: "Ковбои из Ада" альбомының тарихы

the album

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 sessions for Cowboys from Hell took place throughout 1988 and 1989. 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. 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. 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: Vinnie 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. 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; the acoustic intro was written last by Brown. Diamond 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.

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 on Billboard in 1992, two years after its release. The album did not receive platinum 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 as gold status in the U. K. for sales of 100,000. As far as specific charting, Cowboys from Hell reached No. 27 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart in 1992, and in March 1995, entered the Swedish Charts for one week at No. 46.

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.

[[File:OzzyChangingHands02 20 2010. jpg|thumb|The album was praised by Ozzy Osbourne. In 2017, he listed Cowboys from Hell as one of his ten favorite metal albums. 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.

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.