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

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

From 1980-2005 Roadrunner has dominated the alternative market... why you ask?? Listen to this album - and bear witness unto the greatest and most inventive album of the past few years - bar none. From artists as old as King Diamond, to the new kids Trivium, this album covers it all - you cannot fail to fall in love with the album. Plus you get the DVD too!! So you can SEE your favourite musicians laying down their tracks. All of this for such a meagre price is pretty astonishing, so how can you afford to miss out on a metal classic?! It's not going to be done again, though i certainly wish it would be after hearing this aural delight!

Simply put: buy this album now or miss out on what everyone's going to be talking about for the NEXT 25 years. Other labels whould take notice of the flagbearers of modern metal's most creative and inventive album to date. Roadrunner Records - I salute you!!

The four team captains were Dino Cazares (Fear Factory, ex-Brujeria), Joey Jordison (Slipknot) Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium) and Robert Flynn (Machine Head). Those 4 were all primary songwriters in their own bands. Each teams would consist of a core of musicains-- two guitarists, bassistand drummer-- who would lay down the basic tracks for four original songs written by the team captain. Each song would use a different vocalist who would eventually shape the song. The captain would select a studio for him and all the musicians to work at whilst the voclaist chose whichever studio was convenient for him.

Some songs in my opinion are way better than others, for example Dino Cazares could write killer songs in only a couple of minutes, so he was pretty intelligent when it came to songwriting, Machine Head's Robert Flynn, is a good songwriter I must admit, but I have'nt heard all the songs he's written though. Joey Jordison is a key songwriter for his band Slipknot, I am a very keen Slpiknot fan, and own all their albums (Oh no, bettewr get their live album 9.0 before it's too late!) Matt Heafy from Trivium is someone all youngsters will look up to, seeing he is only a teenager, he is a mind-blowing songwriter, it's amazing talent he's got, at such a young age.

This album reveals all of Roadrunner's history, past and present, by having the earliest signings such as King Diamond, Fear Factory, a couple death metal bands in the past as well, to the recent signings such as 3IOB, Trivium and Still Remains. My most favourite Roadrunner artists on this include the team captains, King Diamond, Keith Caputo (LOA), Matt Baumbach (ex Vision of Disorder), Cristian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory), Andols Herrick (ex Chimaira), Josh Silver (Type O Negative) Tim Williams (ex Vision of Disorder, Bloodsimple) Peter Steele and many others!

This album and DVD is definetly THE METAL EVENT OF THE YEAR, because the artists and songs on this are all groundbrwaking and superb. This album is a must-have for all roadrunner fans (kids out there who just buy Roadrunner Records stuff), and all metal fans worldwide!

~Calum Fairweather (RR fan)