The All Star Sessions [CD + DVD] [CD+DVD]

The idea was that Roadrunner Records needed something to celebrate their 25th anniversary that showed the great diversity, history, and most of all quality present on their roster. A simple 'best of' cd, or a boxset with a few classic releases, wouldn't be enough. So the idea of gathering together the cream of the Roadrunner crop from the past 25 years to write new songs, was born.

It was decided that 4 'team captains' were required, who would decide on who else they wanted to play/sing on their tracks. Each has a different vocalist, which makes for one hell of a varied listen! The captains were chosen to represent the past, the present and the future of Roadrunner Records. The 4 chosen were:

Robb Flynn (Machine Head)
Joey Jordison (Slipknot)
Dino Cazares (ex-Fear Factory)
Matt Heafy (Trivium)

Once the songs were written, the vocal tracks recorded, everything was set for the release of an awesome collection of music!

1. The Dagger (Robb Flynn, Howard Jones (Killswitch Engage)) - This, as you'd expect, has a very 'NWOAHM' feel to it, with the screamed verses and hooky, melodic choruses. This also features vocals by Robb, and these two fit perfectly, two of modern metal's greatest vocalists on the same track. One of my favourites off the album.

2. The Enemy (Dino Cazares, Mark Hunter (Chimaira)) - Starts out melodic, but soon kicks in hard! If you've heard Chimaira you'll know what to expect. The lyrics are hate-filled and the vocals furious.

3. Annihilation By The Hands Of God (Joey Jordison, Glen Benton (Deicide)) - Kicks off as it means to go on, with a typical Deicide style roar, followed by an extended drum fill. Heaviest track on the album in my opinion, and one of the best.

4. In The Fire (Matt Heafy, King Diamond) - This song has a very classic feel, I'm impressed with Heafy's ability to write such a track. The vocals are what make this song though, with King Diamond's unique style meaning that while it may take a while to grow it'll likely end up as one of your favourites!

5. The End (Dino, Matt Heafy) - A little confusing, being as it features vocals from Matt Heafy, but it was in fact written by Dino! The first single, and it's very radio-friendly, with it's melodic intro and vocals, and clocking in at 3 and a half minutes long, but don't hate it for it's wide appeal. A good track.

6. Tired N' Lonely (Joey, Keith Caputo (Life of Agony) - Although it's written by their drummer, this would never appear on a Slipknot album! Not being familiar with Life of Agony, I wasn't sure what to expect, but to me he sounds like Scott Weiland here. A catchy chorus as well!

7. Independent (Voice of the Voiceless) (Robb, Max Cavalera (Soulfly)) - Heavy. Very heavy! Max is an awesome singer and it shows here, imagine Machine Head crossed with Soulfly and you know what to expect.

8. Dawn of a Golden Age (Matt, Dani Filth (Cradle of Filth)) - The blastbeats and vocals here make this quite obviously a black metal song. Not to everyone's taste maybe, but a good example of the variety in Matt's songwriting ability.

9. The Rich Man (Robb, Corey Taylor (Slipknot, Stone Sour)) - A distorted news report starts this song which provides a break of sorts in the album. Soft singing in the verses, slowly ascends to a vitriol-fuelled chorus. A very good song.

10. No Way Out (Joey, Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw, Head Automatica)) - Another melodic song from Joey here, I give him credit for not producing a set of identical songs. A good song, with all clean vocals, providing something of a break in this album.

11. Baptized in the Redemption (Dino, Dez Fafara (Devildriver, ex-Coal Chamber)) - Normal service is resumed, with this relentless song. Unstoppably heavy, if it's ever played live, a good song to mosh to!

12. Roads (Josh Silver, Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth)) - An unusual song, being that it isn't written by any of the team captains, but by Josh Silver of Type O Negative. A beautiful acoustic song, no thrashing guitars or blastbeats here, something different.

13. Blood & Flames (Matt, Jesse David Leach (Seemless, ex-Killswitch Engage)) - A soaring, epic song, albeit with a classic headbanging riff in there as well. Probably my favourite on this album.

14. Constitution Down (Joey, Kyle Thomas (ex-Exhorder, Floodgate)) - Some impressive drumming by Joey sets this track off, a pretty heavy song, with good vocals. Not one of my favourites, but it's still good!

15. I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero)(Matt, Michale Graves (ex-Misfits) - A punk song effectively, and an enjoyable one at that. Short and fast, with quality singing. Just basically a great song!

16. Army of the Sun (Robb, Tim Williams (Bloodsimple, ex-Vision of Disorder)) - A cracking song, with impressive vocals. Again pretty radio-friendly, being just shy of 4 minutes long and with a very modern sound.

17. No Mas Control (Dino, Cristian Machado (Ill Nino)) - All of Team Cazares' songs are heavy, and this is no different. Energetic vocals, a quality song to jump around and mosh to. If you like Ill Nino you'll like this!

18. Enemy of the State (Joey, Peter Steele (Type O Negative) - Slow, epic, crushingly heavy, with Peter Steele's apocalyptic singing style very obvious in the choruses, and evil-sounding verses. A dark, amazing piece of music.

Overall, there really is something for all fans of metal. Records like this don't come along very often, and this is not to be missed. 5/5

The 4 captains (Matt Heafy - Trivium, Rob Flynn - Machine Head, Dino Cazares - ex-Fear Factory, Joey Jordison - Slipknot) have done well to call in a vast array of roadrunner artists, past and present. Every artist is really at the top of their game here, resulting in some amazing musicianship - notably solos on "The Dagger" and "In The Fire", Jordison's drum work on "Annihaltion By The Hands Of God" and Max Cavalera's trademark growl on "Independant (Voice Of The Voiceless)". Generally the quality of music on offer here is excellent, with far more tracks being enjoyable than those disappointing. Every listener who looks to Roadrunner for quality metal will find a lot to smile about on this CD.

Something really striking about this album is the range of stlyes catered for. Loosely branded under "metal", the album in fact covers everthing from Death to Thrash, from Old Skool Riffage to borderline Punk (think a heavier version of Bad Religion). Yet the variety is perhaps the weakest point. Unless you're music taste is far more eclectic than anyone I've ever met, the album won't quite satisfy. The CD doesn't quite "flow" the way an album should, and you will find yourself skipping the weaker tracks to return to those that do stand out.

A note on the DVD is certainly in order - this isn't one of those pointless add-ons given to encourage sales. The 4 main films (each about 15 minutes) follow each captain into the recording studio, with interviews and footage of recording. To see such a range of artists all working together and having fun at the same time is enjoyable TV, and interviews with participants such as Max Cavalera and Glen Benton are often interesting and amusing. And being able to watch the musicians doing what they do best is, at times, utterly awesome to behold - the aforementioned guitar work particularly shines.

So in the end it will come down to each listener to rate this album as they see fit. There will undoubtedly be a huge range of opinions, but this album comes highly recommended nonetheless. As for the term "groundbreaking", technically it does apply. Nothing like this has been attempted before, and for that Roadrunner deserve their credit. But groundbreaking connotes true greatness, which this album just falls short of. However, I don't want to put people off of buying the CD. It is superb, and in places truly excellent. The DVD especially is worth a purchase. And with 18 tracks, all very definitive, this album can be listened to again and again, without fear of getting bored. It'd have 4.75 stars if amazon would let me do that.

At first I was slightly weary of this album. After all how much effort were these people going to put into these tracks when they didn't directly benefit their own bands? Well the answer is a great deal of blood, sweat and tears. Instead of coming out with a slew of filler tracks rolled out just to make the record company happy, which this album could have so easily become, every musician has given 100% to make some of the best tracks ever to be thrown into the metal and rock spectrum.

This album is so hard to fault. Every single track makes you stand up and take notice. But then again it's hardly surprising with inspiration coming from some of the most archetypal bands of the past two decades.

If you've ever owned a Fear Factory album, ever loved one of those tracks by the Misfits, nodded you head to a Glassjaw song, then this album will satisfy you no end.