HELLYEAH's VINNIE PAUL: 'This Is The Best Lineup We've Ever Had'

May 8, 2014

Jeff Cavanaugh of SaraBozich.com recently conducted an interview with former PANTERA and current HELLYEAH drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

On HELLYEAH's forthcoming fourth album, "Blood For Blood", due out June 10:

Vinnie: "The first two records were kind of experimental for us — songs like 'Alcohaulin' Ass' or 'Hell Of A Time' — those kind of songs would never fly in our previous bands, but they were really fun for us to write and fun for us to tour. We kind of got that out of our system and when we got to 'Band Of Brothers', we really wanted to get back to our metal roots and really put out a record that I think was the first record that sounded like what people expected from us. Then when we got to the new record, 'Blood For Blood', it was just an extension of that."

On the departure of HELLYEAH guitarist Greg Tribbett and bass player Bob "Zilla" Kakaha and addition of Christian Brady and Kyle Sanders, respectively:

Vinnie: "When we finished the Gigantour last August, we really felt like we had turned a corner and really captured our fan base. We wanted to get right into the studio and start working on the fourth album. Once we got in the studio and started working, it just became really apparent to us that Bob and Greg didn't have the same focus that we did, and they had some personal issues that were not going to allow us to keep moving forward and make the record that we wanted to, so we parted company with them. Myself, Tom [Maxwell, guitar] and Chad [Gray, vocals] wrote the record and it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to us. I think this is the best lineup we've ever had and the best record we've ever had. We just feel really great about where we are at."

On the possibility of PANTERA one day being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame:

Vinnie: "There's so much stuff in there like Madonna and stuff that's not rock and roll and never has been — there's barely any metal in there. Honestly, I don't think PANTERA will ever be nominated for it … much less inducted. If it were to happen, it's kind of like the Baseball Hall Of Fame or the Football Hall Of Fame — there's only one of them in the world and it would be a great honor to be a part of it."

Read the entire interview at SaraBozich.com.

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