"Walk" is a song by American heavy metal band Pantera from their sixth album '' Vulgar Display of Power''. A live performance of "Walk" is included on '' Official Live: 101 Proof'', and the studio version is also on the band's greatest hits album, '' The Best of Pantera: Far Beyond the Great Southern Cowboys' Vulgar Hits!''.

Song information

The

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

for "Walk" is played in a

time signature The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

of 12/8.

Dimebag Darrell Darrell Lance Abbott (August 20, 1966 – December 8, 2004), best known by his stage name Dimebag Darrell, was an American musician. He was the guitarist of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, both of which he co-founded alongside hi ...

played the riff at a

soundcheck A sound check is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance to adjust the sound on the venue's sound reinforcement or public address system. The performer and the audio engineers run through a small p ...

during the tour for ''

Cowboys from Hell ''Cowboys from Hell'' is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on July 24, 1990 by Atco Records. It marked the band's major label debut and their first collaboration with producer Terry Date. This was also the al ...

'' and the rest of the band loved it. Vocalist Phil Anselmo said that the message of the song was "Take your fucking attitude and take a fuckin' walk with that. Keep that shit away from me". His message was aimed at friends that treated the band differently when they arrived home after touring for ''

''. He said "they thought it had gone to our heads, like we've got this rock-star thing embroidered across our faces". The music video was shot at the

Riviera Theatre The Riviera Theatre is a concert venue located on the north side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. About Built in 1917, it was designed by Rapp and Rapp for the Balaban & Katz theatre chain run by A. J. Balaban, his brother Barney Balaba ...

in Chicago. The cover for the single is a screenshot of the band's "

Mouth for War "Mouth for War" is a song by American heavy metal band Pantera. It was first released on the band's sixth album '' Vulgar Display of Power'' and was the first single off that album. It was later released on the band's compilation album, '' The ...

" music video. In 2019, the song was prominently featured in the film ''

Triple Frontier The Triple Frontier ( es, Triple Frontera, pt, Tríplice Fronteira) is a tri-border area along the junction of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, where the Iguazú and Paraná rivers converge. Near the confluence are the cities of Puerto Igua ...

''. "Walk" was included on the soundtrack for the 2022 film, ''

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. It follows Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Eggman from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space stationnamed The Death Egg. Like the first ''S ...

'', and was played during a scene where Dr. Robotnik was attacking Sonic in the Death Egg Robot.

Release

The song was released as the fourth and final single from Pantera's '' Vulgar Display of Power'' album in 1993. The band also released a number of EPs and remixes for the song in 1993, including: * ''

Walk Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

'' * '' Walk Biomechanical'' * '' Walk Live Material'' * '' Walk Cervical''

Reception and accolades

The song is considered to be one of the band's best tracks and is also one of the band's most well known songs to both Pantera fans and casual listeners. The song is the most viewed Pantera song on YouTube, with over 215 million views as of 2022. The song ranked number 16 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. '' Guitar World'' magazine voted the song's

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

the 57th greatest of all time. The song peaked at number 35 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming the band's first UK top 40 hit.

Personnel

* Phil Anselmo – vocals *

– guitar *

Rex Brown Rex Robert Brown (born July 27, 1964) is an American musician. He is best known as the bassist for heavy metal band Pantera, from 1982 to their disbandment in 2003. As of their reunion in 2022, he is the band's only constant member. Brown i ...

– bass *

Vinnie Paul Vincent Paul Abbott (March 11, 1964 – June 22, 2018) was an American musician best known for being the drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Pantera. He also co-founded Damageplan in 2003 with his younger brother, 'Dimebag' Darrell ...

– drums

Notable covers

* Sully Erna, singer of

Godsmack Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, bassist Robbie Merrill, lead guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its form ...

, performed the song with Pantera members which is found on their DVD '' Smack This!''. *

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance ...

's cover of the song was released as a single to promote their live album '' Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough''. It was released as the first single on the album. However, the song was originally recorded for the band's first DVD, ''All Excess''. * American heavy metal band

Kilgore Kilgore may refer to: Fictional characters * Kilgore Trout, a recurring character in the novels of Kurt Vonnegut * Lt. Colonel Bill Kilgore, a character in the Francis Ford Coppola movie ''Apocalypse Now'' * Teddybear Kilgore (AKA Kilgour), a cha ...

covered the song for American wrestling promotion

Extreme Championship Wrestling HHG Corporation, doing business as Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), was a professional wrestling promotion and media company that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as National Wrest ...

, since one of their most popular wrestlers,

Rob Van Dam Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

used both Pantera's and Kilgore's versions of "Walk". *

Front Line Assembly Front Line Assembly (FLA) is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. FLA has developed its own sound incorporating elements of electronic body music and electro-industrial. The band's members ...

sampled the main riff in their 1994 single " Surface Patterns".

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles Pantera songs East West Records singles Song recordings produced by Terry Date Songs written by Dimebag Darrell Songs written by Vinnie Paul Songs written by Phil Anselmo Songs written by Rex Brown