PHILIP ANSELMO Talks 20th Anniversary Of PANTERA's 'Driven', Debut Solo Album And 'Rock Stars' (Video)

TV Rock Live conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current DOWN singer Philip Anselmo at this year's Hellfest, which was held June 20-22 in Clisson, France. You can now watch the chat below.

Speaking about the recent 20th-anniversary reissue of PANTERA's "Far Beyond Driven" album, which still stands as the heaviest LP to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard chart, Anselmo said: "I don't think any of us had any idea at all that we would have a No. 1 record or anything like that. As a matter of fact, when I was first told about it, I didn't even believe it. My dad told me. 'Hey, son, your record's No. 1.' I was, like, 'You're drunk.' But then I found out later, of course, it was true."

Anselmo recently told ARTISTdirect.com about the making of "Far Beyond Driven": "I think, at that time, we were all very much on the same page, so to speak.

"PANTERA had a lot of success before I was in the band. When I first joined the band, I was singing fucking tracks on 'Power Metal' after two weeks of being with them. Then, we wrote 'Cowboys From Hell' all throughout the rest of 1987 and 1988. We had been playing those songs live. We had been through a lot up to the point as far as personalities go and getting to know each other.

"Becoming a trusted member and true singer for this band was a process to where I didn't have the rest of the band peeking over my shoulder like, 'What are you writing about?' By the time I got to 'Far Beyond Driven', it was, 'I'm going to write what the fuck I'm going to write.' So, I was very comfortable at the time. I guess the rest of the guys were like, 'Leave Phil alone. Let him do his job.' [Laughs] It felt so fucking natural."

Asked if those "Far Beyond Driven" sessions were particularly intense, Anselmo said: "Well, I knew that's what I wanted. There was a lot of speculation out there about what type of record we were going to make. I definitely had a chip on my fucking shoulder because there was no way in hell I was going to go the fucking commercial route. At the time, I think we were very aware of other heavy metal bands that had found a little bit of fame and taken that 'commercial route,' so to speak, with their music. I very much instilled that there was no fucking way I was doing that into the other guys. I think they were on board quite a bit. It's like when you have a favorite band, you follow their entire career, you wait anxiously to buy their new record, you open up it, you put it on, and it's a letdown. That's a shitty feeling. We knew what our fan base wanted. We were very focused on delivering what our fan base had come to know and come to know of us. A lot of people like to say we did things in reverse. Meaning, we didn't start out this heavy fucking band and get more commercialized. It was kind of the other way around. That was the main focus there. When I laid my vocals on that fucking record, I wanted people to feel the fucking spit on their faces coming out of the speakers. [Laughs] I meant every fucking second."