5 Metal Albums We Should Still Crank (And 5 We Should Tank)
9. Crank It! Pantera - Vulgar Display Of Power
Metal? Yes! Magic? Hell yeah! To this day, the lyrics still resonate and the songs still inspire goosebumps. Frontman Phil Anselmo was at his best when he channeled his real-life pain and anger into his lyrics. Regardless of genre, authenticity never goes out of style. Vulgar Display of Power has it in spades.
Released in 1992, Pantera's breakout album (No disrespect to Cowboys From Hell) was reshaping metal while bands like Nirvana were reshaping mainstream rock. Anselmo's self-exposing lyrics in This Love illustrate how metal isn't just anger and violence. It's anger and violence from places of love, fear or regret.
Vulgar Display of Power was Pantera evolved into their final form. Diamond Darrell had evolved into Dimebag Darrell. Rex Rocker became Rex Brown. The group was coalescing into something bigger than four guys playing metal.
Vulgar became Pantera's biggest-selling album. Tracks like Walk and Mouth For War continue to pop up in the current cultural lexicon. From front to back, the album is very listenable. For the uninitiated, good entry points to the album are Walk, A New Level and By Demons be Driven. It was great then. It's great now. Crank it!!!