PHILIP ANSELMO: 'There Ain't Nobody Like Me'

PANTERA/SUPERJOUNT RITUAL frontman Philip Anselmo recently spoke to Metal Edge magazine about the influence he has had on fans as well as other bands.

"There wasn't even anyone with a bald head in bands in my fuckin' day, in metal bands at least," he said. "If you think about it, there really fuckin' wasn't. Now everybody's bald, and now look how many motherfuckers have beards and mustaches. You know, like the kid from GODSMACK [presumably referring to Sully Erna—Ed.], he dresses like me. He's been in my fuckin' laundry. He's still a good kid, he's a nice kid, but he's been in my fuckin' laundry basket, motherfucker."

When asked what he thinks set him apart from most musicians, Anselmo said, "There ain't nobody like me, at all. Not since day one. And you'll get that coming through life a few times. There's Mick Jaggers, there's Robert Plants, there's Rob Halfords, there's Bruce Dickinsons, Ozzy Osbournes, and shit like that. Lump me in with the Ozzy Osbournes. I always felt that PANTERA was in a way similar to BLACK SABBATH, not sounding the same really at all, but in the route that we took in people's hearts. We never had this big radio hit. SABBATH never had a gigantic radio hit, and still they would pull that hardcore motherfucking audience and they were not afraid to bring any band on tour. They made bands like VAN HALEN by bringing them on tour. Towards the end of SABBATH's career, I think even everybody felt that change in them, like they were not cutting the standard with how intense rock 'n' roll was getting with bands like VAN HALEN, and shit like that. They weren't as fresh as they used to be, and they disbanded. Well, I've always told myself that I don't want to become the old man onstage. I wanted to keep it new until the day I fuckin' croak."

Asked if that was the case with PANTERA, Philip said, "With PANTERA, I just felt that we had done the ultimate of what we could really do, and as far as touring and all that shit for me, in arenas and shit like that, yeah, we could have done that for a whole lot longer, and we could still do that. But you know, I had been there, and I lived through that side of things, and yeah, it's its own thing, it's a unique feeling in itself to play in front of that many people and what-not, but it's better for me to play in front of a smaller audience, a more intimate audience. It feels better. I'd rather play three sold-out nights in a small fuckin' place than one sold-out night in a big, fuckin' giant place."