Vulgar Display of Power is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera.
Released on February 25, 1992, through Atco Records, it was the band's second collaboration with producer Terry Date, after having worked with him on their breakthrough album Cowboys from Hell (1990).
[5] In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked Vulgar Display of Power 10th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time'.
[11][12] The album was produced by Terry Date, who specializes in the rock and metal genres and had worked with the band on Cowboys from Hell.
[11][12] Before Date came in to work on the album, the band had demoed three tracks, "A New Level", "Regular People (Conceit)" and "No Good (Attack the Radical)".
[11] After being in the studio for two months, Pantera were invited to open for Metallica and AC/DC at the 1991 Monsters of Rock free concert in Moscow's[11] Tushino airfield on September 28, 1991.
[11][18] In turn Pantera felt they had an opportunity to fill a gap; they set out to make the heaviest record of all time.
[11][18] Darrell had played the riff for "Walk" during a soundcheck while Pantera was touring for Cowboys from Hell and the rest of the band loved it.
[16] A popular rumor stirred up by Vinnie Paul was that the man on the cover was paid $10 a punch and was hit in the face a total of 31[25] (Rex Brown claiming 32)[26] times to get the right picture.
[32] To promote the album, Pantera toured with Skid Row and Soundgarden giving them the opportunity to perform in front of a mainstream audience in the United States.
[19][39] "By Demons Be Driven" appears in the 2015 Academy Award-nominated film The Big Short; actor Christian Bale is seen performing along to the song on drums, which he learned for that one scene.
[31] Disc two is a DVD featuring six songs from Pantera's set at their 1992 Monsters of Rock performance in Reggio Emilia, Italy.
[42] He also said that while the album stacks the best songs at the beginning, the riffs and sonic textures are more consistently interesting than those used in Cowboys from Hell.
[42] Janiss Garza writing for Entertainment Weekly said that it was "one of the most satisfying heavy metal records since Metallica's early-80s cult days".
[46] She also praised the album's two ballad tracks, "This Love" and "Hollow", stating "their tough edge slashes painfully through deep introspection about personal relationships".
[46] Reviewing the 20th anniversary reissue, Michael Christopher of The Phoenix rated the album 3.5 out of 4 stars stating, while the bonus track "Piss" does not match up to the rest of the material, the groove that flows through the original record is the muscle behind what mattered most.
[52] She noted that "Piss" does sound oddly out of place on the reissue, but the release is worthwhile for the DVD showcasing the band's dynamic live performance.
[62] In the week ending May 20, 2012, the album re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at number 48, taking the total sales to 2,177,000 copies.
[56] The album's fourth single "Walk" gave the band their first top 40 UK hit when it peaked at number 35 in early 1993.
[74]The song "Walk" has been covered by a number of bands and artists, including Avenged Sevenfold,[75] Leo Moracchioli,[76] Disturbed,[77] and Breaking Benjamin,[78] among others.