Cowboys From Hell is not Pantera's first album, despite what these (predominately) DFW area natives would have you believe. As any Google or Wikipedia search will reveal, Cowboys was preceded by a total of four independently released albums dating back to the early 1980s, most of them done in a glam metal style with big '80s hair and prominently featured synthesizers. It wasn't until their fourth release, Power Metal, and the addition of new vocalist and Louisiana native Phil Anselmo, that the band's style moved confidently in the direction of the overdriven groove metal for which they are now well known. Since signing with a major label and issuing this 1990 heavy metal classic, the band has worked to close the doors on their previous hair metal and spandex existence, declining to discuss or acknowledge their earlier efforts which nevertheless live on as bootlegs, with actual authentic original copies now commanding premium prices in the second hand market. In 2010, a deluxe, remastered version of this retroactively designated "debut" album was released in celebration of its 20th anniversary. How does it compare to the original 1990 release?
Cowboys From Hell
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Primal Concrete Sledge
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Psycho Holiday
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Heresy
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Cemetery Gates
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Domination
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Shattered
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Clash With Reality
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Medicine Man
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
Message in Blood
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
The Sleep
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
The Art of Shredding
Original 1990 CD release
2010 Rhino/Atco 20th anniversary remaster
And the winner is:Original 1990 CD release.
The levels on the remaster are utterly ridiculous. I find the fact that this was issued by Rhino - a company which has spent decades building a reputation for high quality re-releases of vintage material - to be deeply troubling and a worrying harbinger of possible things to come. Cowboys From Hell is a prime example of an album that didn't need to be remastered. The original still sounds great today, and lacks the added compression of the anniversary release.
