Vulgar display of power

I spinned it today for the first time in over a decade. What an album. It brings back so many souvenirs. The pantera t-shirts era...

Man, i've grown old.

I don't think it has aged as well as CFH but it was a heavy album with some good tunes.

LOVE this album. It was easily the heaviest thing I'd ever listened to and liked at the time. And it was the 69th CD I ever bought. Haha. I remember that because 69 is a funny number as a teen. Haha.

VDOP 10/10
CFH 9.5/10

Vulgar is an amazing album and Hollow is still my favorite song by Pantera.

7thSaviour wrote:

VDOP 10/10
CFH 9.5/10

CFH 10/10

Vulgar 8/10

Troublezone wrote:

I don't think it has aged as well as CFH but it was a heavy album with some good tunes.

Agreed.

The production is one of the best things about it. Crushing for that time it was released!

Temple of Blood wrote:

Troublezone wrote:

I don't think it has aged as well as CFH but it was a heavy album with some good tunes.

Agreed.

The production is one of the best things about it. Crushing for that time it was released!

I just think there is some filler on it unlike CFH which was consistant all the way through.

I loved Vulgar Display of Power. Though I must echo some of the others here and say that I dig Cowboys From Hell even more...

ryanmetalman wrote:

I loved Vulgar Display of Power. Though I must echo some of the others here and say that I dig Cowboys From Hell even more...

CFH had a perfect mix of actual power metal singing mixed with fun, heavy riffs. Vulgar was more hardcore inspired vocals and the riffs were heavy but a little less memorable imo.

Cowboys is definitely the better of the 2. That said,Vulgar is a good release and Hollow is probably the best song on it.

Utter Garbage. "Power Metal" was pretty good, better than them trying to rip off "Slaughter in the Vatican".

Great album but CFH is better.

It's a good album, and "Walk" was the song that got me into them, but like most people I prefer Cowboys From Hell or even Far Beyond Driven.

troublemagnet wrote:

Utter Garbage. "Power Metal" was pretty good, better than them trying to rip off "Slaughter in the Vatican".

Expected response. I'm no Exhorder expert, but nothing I've ever heard from them sounds like Pantera, at least not to warrant all the claims of Pantera ripping them off. In fact, Slaughter In The Vatican is way too thrashy to even be compared to Vulgar Display. And The Law, funnily enough, came out the same year as Vulgar Display.

The only real similarity, in my opinion, is in the vocals.

Some people judge music solely on the vocals, so you can see why those allegation still persist.

Eyesore wrote:

LOVE this album. It was easily the heaviest thing I'd ever listened to and liked at the time. And it was the 69th CD I ever bought. Haha. I remember that because 69 is a funny number as a teen. Haha.

I graduated from high school in 1969.

bgast1 wrote:

Eyesore wrote:

LOVE this album. It was easily the heaviest thing I'd ever listened to and liked at the time. And it was the 69th CD I ever bought. Haha. I remember that because 69 is a funny number as a teen. Haha.

I graduated from high school in 1969.

Jeez. I was six from the tadpole stage in 1969.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Some people judge music solely on the vocals, so you can see why those allegation still persist.

But are they justified? Phil was partially singing that way when Exhorder put out their first demo.

Eyesore wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

Some people judge music solely on the vocals, so you can see why those allegation still persist.

But are they justified? Phil was partially singing that way when Exhorder put out their first demo.

I think the allegation is true for the vocals/lyrics but not any of the rest of the music.

It's not like Halford wasn't emulating Robert Plant and Ian Gillan so what is wrong with having strong influences, especially in the earlier years? The band as a whole is not a carbon-copy of EXHORDER, no matter how you slice it.

Actually if I remember right, Phil stated at that time that he was an Exhorder die-hard fan and wanted Pantera to sound like them and that he'd even sing for Exhorder if offered. So that's probably where the Exhorder comparison comes from and still looms.

But I love Vulgar. It floored me when I heard it the first time.

Vulgar is one of the few Pantera albums I consistently go back to and enjoy immensely!!!

Quote :

The only real similarity, in my opinion, is in the vocals.

I agree... because Dimebag was a much more dynamic and versitile player than the Exhorder guys.

Pantera always seemed too 'new school' for me. I could have misjudged, but a lot of my prejudices from college still haunt me, and I can't make myself listen to those guys.

I like Pantera - However, Cowboys From Hell is easily their best album. Perfect mix of melodic vocal lines and catchy delivery, with bonecrushing riffs and some nice solo's. It features some of my favourite Pantera songs including the title track and "Cemetary Gates". Vulgar Display of Power is a great record as well, but doesn't really have the same greatness as Cowboys. Still, two very good albums. That's all the Pantera I need, I have no interest in the others, although I do have a coupla' songs. Drag The Waters and 5 Minutes Alone are good songs.