PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo recently spoke about the band’s iconic studio album “Vulgar Display Of Power” in commemoration of the record’s 30th anniversary.
Speaking with The Pit, Anselmo claims he wrote the initial riff for the album’s killer opening track, “Mouth For War”, before guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott got ahold of it.
Phil said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “When we wrote ‘Mouth For War’, I wrote the main riff and Dimebag [PANTERA guitarist Darrell Abbott] liked it. And it sounded about a thousand times better when he played it. And he made it his own. And everybody — God — they put that song together; we put that song together. I think we knew we had written a pretty good song, that one. And I think the video for its time was unique to look at, groundbreaking, sort of, action-packed, shit like that — so very ’90s-band-like.”
Phil also touched on his expectations for the record upon it’s initial release, saying: “When ‘Vulgar Display Of Power’ first came out, my expectations for how it would do were none. I never had any expectations for any record we’ve ever done. I always felt like if I put an expectation upon it, I’d always get let down. So I just let things happen as things happened.
“Now, the reception of the record and — God — the tours, the tours,” he continued. “The difference in the audience from ‘Cowboys From Hell’ touring cycle to ‘Vulgar Display’ was night and day — truly. But I was surprised at how positive the reception was and all the massive crowds and the fans. That was really the true… Well, that was when people started coming to shows — like, you had to see PANTERA.”