Customer Reviews

All Star Sessions (W/Dvd) (Slip)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I felt that the CD is good overall but there are some stinkers. The songs The Dagger, The Enemy, Annihilation By The Hands Of God, Independent (Voice Of The Voiceless), Baptized In The Redemption, and Constitution Down are all solid and deliver. The songs Tired 'N Lonely, No Way Out, and I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero) just flat out suck. All the rest are mediocre/tolerable, the more I listen to them the better they get. This CD is definitely worth checking out. Here is a list of all the band members in each song.

1. "The Dagger" vocals - Howard Jones (Killswitch Engage) rhythm guitar/vocals - Robert Flynn (Machine Head) rhythm guitar - Jordan Whelan (Still Remains) guitar solo - Jeff Waters (Annihilator) bass - Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory) drums - Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

2. "The Enemy" vocals - Mark Hunter (Chimaira) rhythm guitar - Dino Cazares (Asesino) solo/acoustic guitar - Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) bass - Paul Gray (Slipknot) drums - Roy Mayorga (ex-Soulfly)

3. "Annihilation By The Hands Of God" vocals - Glen Benton (Deicide) rhythm guitar - Matt DeVries (Chimaira) rhythm guitar - Rob Barrett (Cannibal Corpse) guitar solo - James Murphy (ex-Testament) bass - Steve DiGiorgio (Testament) drums - Joey Jordison (Slipknot)

4. "In The Fire" vocals - (King Diamond) lead/rhythm/acoustic guitars - Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium) lead/rhythm guitars - Cory Beaulieu (Trivium) bass - Mike D'Antonio (Killswitch Engage) drums - Dave Chavarri (Ill Nino)

5. "The End" vocals/lead guitar - Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium) rhythm guitar - Dino Cazares (Asesino) bass - Nadja Peulen (ex-Coal Chamber) drums - Roy Mayorga (ex-Soulfly) guitar harmonics - Logan Mader (ex-Macine Head) keyboards - Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly)

6. "Tired 'N Lonely" vocals/piano - Keith Caputo (Life Of Agony) rhythm guitar - Matt Baumbach (ex-Vision Of Disorder) rhythm guitar - Tommy Niemeyer (The Accused) rhythm guitar - Acey Slade (Murderdolls) solo/ harmony guitar - James Root (Slipknot) drums/bass - Joey Jordison (Slipknot)

7. "Independent (Voice Of The Voiceless)" vocals - Max Cavalera (Soulfly) rhythm guitar/guitar harmonies/ keyboards - Robert Flynn (Machine Head) rhythm guitar - Jordan Whelan (Still Remains) solo - Jeff Waters (Annihilator) bass - Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory) drums - Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

8. "Dawn Of A Golden Age" vocals - Dani Filth (Cradle Of Filth) lead/rhythm guitars - Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium) rhythm guitars - Justin Hagberg (3 Inches Of Blood) bass - Sean Malone (Gordian Knot) drums - Mike Smith (Suffocation)

9. "The Rich Man" vocals - Corey Taylor (Slipknot) rhythm guitar/keyboards - Robert Flynn (Machine Head) rhythm guitar - Jordan Whelan (Still Remains) bass - Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory) drums - Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

10. "No Way Out" vocals - Daryl Palumbo (Glassjaw) guitar/bass - Matt Baumbach (ex-Vision Of Disorder) drums/ bass - Joey Jordison (Slipknot) synths - Junkie XL

11. "Baptized In The Redemption" vocals - Dez Fafara (DevilDriver) rhythm guitar - Dino Cazares (Asesino) guitar solo - Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) bass - Paul Gray (Slipknot) drums - Roy Mayorga (ex-Soulfly)

12. "Roads" vocals - Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) keyboards/backing vocals - Josh Silver (Type O Negative)

13. "Blood & Flames" vocals - Jesse David Leach (Seemless) lead/ rhythm/acoustic guitars/vocals - Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium) rhythm guitars - Josh Rand (Stone Sour) bass - Mike D'Antonio (Killswitch Engage) drums - Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative)

14. "Constitution Down" vocals - Kyle Thomas (ex-Exhorder) rhythm guitar - Matt DeVries (Chimaira) rhythm guitar/trade-off solo - Rob Barrett (Cannibal Corpse) intro solo - James Murphy (ex-Testament) trade-off solo - Andy La Rocque (King Diamond) bass - Steve DiGiorgio (Testament) drums - Joey Jordison (Slipknot)

15. "I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero)" vocals - Michale Graves (ex-Misfits) lead/rhythm guitars - Matthew K. Heafy (Trivium) rhythm guitars - Justin Hagberg (3 Inches Of Blood) bass - Mike D'Antonio (Killswitch Engage) drums - Dave Chavarri (Ill Nino)

16. "Army Of The Sun" vocals - Tim Williams (Bloodsimple) rhythm guitar - Robert Flynn (Machine Head) rhythm guitar - Jordan Whelan (Still Remains) bass - Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory) drums - Andols Herrick (ex-Chimaira)

17. "No Mas Control" vocals - Cristian Machado (Ill Nino) rhythm guitar - Dino Cazares (Asesino) harmony guitar - Souren "Mike" Sarkisyan (Spineshank) harmony solo - Andreas Kisser (Sepultura) bass - Marcelo Dias (ex-Soulfly) drums - Dave McClain (Machine Head)

18. "Enemy Of The State" vocals/keyboards - Peter Steele (Type O Negative) rhythm/acoustic/slide guitar - Steve Holt (36 Crazyfists) bass - Dave Pybus (Cradle Of Filth) drums - Joey Jordison (Slipknot) keyboards - Josh Silver (Type O Negative)

Wow. This is such a great album. Track breakdown as seen by me:

The Dagger - 5/5 - Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage adds his voice to this track which I think is great. Starts heavy and doesn't stop.

The Enemy - 4/5 - Got a kind of Static X vibe to it. I like the vocals by Chimaira's Mark Hunter. Also guitar and bass heavy drums go together very well.

Annihilation by the hands of God - 5/5 - Not the usual style of Metal I listen to but I really like this track. Sung by Deicide frontman Glen Benton who growls out this tracks awesome lyrics. Love the drums by Joey Jordinson of Slipknot, guy is a god when he's got the sticks in his hands.

In the Fire - 4/5 - Also not my usual metal style. More old school vocals but I like it. Matt Heafy of Trivium rips on the guitar while legend King Diamond wails.

The End - 5/5 - This is the first song I heard when I heard about this album, was on Roadrunner's website. songs gives you the chills. Trivium front man Matt Heafy does it again.

Tired n' Lonely - 3/5 - More of a alternative rock style song with the vocals by Life of Agony's Keith Caputo. Still like it though.

Independant - 4/5 - After 2 contrast songs it's right back into the heavy stuff. Great song. Cavelara of Soulfly's voice really shines on this song.

Dawn of a Golden Age - 1/5 - I'm sorry I just don't like Dani Filth's voice. He creeps me out. Have listened to this song many times and it gets better toward the middle of this song where during the chorus he loses his goth wail but I still usually skip this one.

The Rich Man - 4/5 - Would have given this a 3 but Slipknot/Stone Sour front man Corey Taylor belts this one out. Got the Stone Sour style light singing then into the Slipknot style screaming. Good stuff.

No Way Out - 3/5 - A punky/emo style song here. Not really a fan of this. Would have gotten a 2 if Jordinson wasn't behind the drums.

Baptized in the Redemption - 5/5 - Back into heavy we go. Awesome song. Fafara of Devil Driver puts his vocals behind this one and its a great one.

Roads - 3/5 - Two man ballad with vocals by Opeth's Kerfeldt and Type O Negative's Josh Silver behind the keyboards. Like it but usually skip it unless im in the mood for a slower song with some classical background.

Blood and Flames - 5/5 Ex-Killswitch Engage singer Jesse Leach sings with the man Heafy on the axe. I really like this song with Leach's older style high and low singing.

Enemy of the State - 2/5 - Slow wierd song sung in I'm guessing...Swedish or German or something? Too lazy too look it up so if it's English I'm sorry...im just retarded. Usually a skip unless I'm in the mood for a slow one.

I don't wanna be a Superhero - 5/5 - GREAT song. Ex-Misfits lead singer Michael Graves adds his punk style vocals to who else but Heafy's guitar which turns into a punk/metal mix which is very pleasing to my ears.

Army of the Sun - 5/5 - Had never heard of Bloodsimple until I looked them up after hearing Tim Williams vocals on this one. LOVE this song, slow start then into a thrashy ballad style song. The end where it goes from talk singing into full thrash shredding is great.

No Mas Control - 4/5 - Ill Nino's singer Cristian Machado puts his latin style singing behind this one switching from english to spanish while hes singing this one. Good stuff.

Constitution Down - 3/5 - High and low vocals again from Floodgate's Kyle Thomas but in a narrower range then Leech's on BLood and Flames. Still strong.

Overall this is a great album from possibly the greatest metal label on the earth Roadrunner. To have such talent collaborate and make music like this is every metal heads dream. This cd will stay playing until my ears bleed. Metal forever \m/

When I found out they were reissuing some of the best albums from some of their best bands on their roster, I knew there was a little more to Roadrunner Records planning to celebrate their 25th anniversary. They were planning something huge. 4 team captains, 56 musicians from 44 different bands, 18 original songs, 1 slamming record. Although at first you might think after reading the info, "can't happen." Well, check for yourself. By no means a compilation album, this is a true account of 25 years of musicians that have been apart of the roster past and present. This is amazing, amazing stuff.

Cheers, may you guys at the label keep signing killer bands and putting out amazing metal and rock for years to come.

Either you love or you hate Roadrunner Records. You hate them, because they release "Limited Editions" of CDs you just bought a month after the original is released (curse you Roadrunner for cheating me out of two 'limited' Killswitch albums! Curse you!!!). You love them because they do cool stuff like this.

If you are familliar with this CD, you know the concept. 57 artists from 45 former/current bands on the label come together to create an album of music. The captains were picked, and the bands were formed together.

The biggest thing happening for this album is that it was actually able to be pulled off. Not only is that a testament to the record label, but to the musicians involved- showing that these guys care about thier craft, and each other. This, in turn, gives the listener 18 high quality tracks.

Any lesser of a label would have had 12 hastily thrown together songs- poorly produced, with song crafting thrown to the wind. Not here folks. Each track works as if the makeshift band playing them actually had been together for eons. They work as a unit (although it's revealed in the included DVD that some sessions were phones in- probably due to time constraints) to craft songs worthy of big name releases. Give this CD to an unknowing listener and tell them with a straight face the concept of this albums. Watch as thier jaw hits the ground.

I also would wish you good luck in trying to convince them.

Back to the album, another strong point is it's sheer variety of generes it covers. Here, you have metalcore, death metal, acoustic, straight up metal, doom metal, etc. Don't let my overuse of the term 'metal' fool you, as each of these tracks are far from similar. But by all intents and purposes, this is primarily a metal album.

You can hear each artist's influence on each song. "Dawn of a Golden Age" sounds like a Cradle of Filth track- while the booming "Enemy of the State" would fit well on a Type O Negative album. The guitar work in "No Mas Control" makes it sound like Fear Factory with a different singer. "The Dagger" would make a killer Killswitch track.

In fact, I wish Burton from Fear Factory could have made it on this album, as he is one of my favorite metal vocalists. But that's just me.

Yet again, another highlight of this album is that you might end up digging songs you thought you'd never like. I'm not a death metal fan, but I found myself enjoying "Annihilation by the Hands of God". Likewise, I'm not a...uh...whatever you would classify "No Way Out" as fan, but that is a track I enjoy.

Production values are superb- as expected from a Roadrunner release. No special gimmicks here, just straight up instruments recorded without fault and tarnish. Each musician and vocalist come out loud and clear...especially loud.

Let's talk songs, and there are alot to talk about.

The album starts absolutely strong with "The Dagger". A pickslide and a headbang worth riff immediately sucks you in, teamed by Howard Jone's stunning vocals.

"In the Fire" is a good power meta-ish song, with some great variants in the riffery.

"Dawn of a Golden Age", probably on the top three tracks here is an expertly crafted song. It's written with Dani Filth's trademark picturesque lyrics- and it's help along by an excellent structure. The drumming here is absolutely mindblowing- the breakdown at 3:16 is absolutely dizzying. Even if you're not into this type of song, just listen to it for this one part. One of the musical highlights of the albums.

"No Way Out" is...uh, well I dunno. Funky? Glitzy? Fun? Whatever it is, I love it. It is hands down catchy. This song unfortunately has gotten slammed because it is far from metal (a testament to some of the idiotic fans this label has). I can't put my finger on what makes this song great, maybe the infectious vocals, the riffs, the drumming, bass. I dunno. I just love the track.

"Blood and Flames" is just godly. This is something you might wanna blast while cruising down the highway. Or maybe have playing while getting involved in a bar fight. A nice bluesy rock song that starts out somber and picks up heavy is what you have here. Think metalcore gone Zeppelin. Oh did I mention that the godlike Jesse Leech sings on this? That's all I have to say (for those not in the know, Jesse has RANGE. He can sing with the best, and can scream with the most brutal).

"I Don't Wanna Be (A superhero)" is a nice bite sized punk song, but think The Offspring instead of The Misfits.

"No Mas Control" is great for Christian Machado's vocals (although I haven't heard an Ill Nino song prior to this writing) are great, and he flawlessly switches up between English and Spanish, giving this song a special kind of flair. This sounds like a Fear Factory song, and as eluded to, I am a hige fan of the band- so this song was right up my alley.

Weak tracks? None, really. I have my tracks that I don't like solely because I'm not into that particular kind of song- like "Roads"...where I'm not too big of an acoustic fan (although I do like other band's acoustic performances on other albums), but none that lessened my enjoyment of this CD at all..

All in all, if you are a metal fan, you need this album. It's a shame no one has thought of this before- but done by another label, could this have been pulled off as flawlessly? It would be awesome if Century Media did something like this. Imagine an Arch Enemy/Children of Bodom/Nevermore/Shadows Fall mix up.

Even if you hate and spit on everything that Roadrunner stands for, you should check this out. This almost...almost makes up for thier "Limited Edition" knack, although I did nail them by waiting for Nymphetamine's LE. I'm on to you Roadrunner, I'm on to you.

Every time I listen to this CD, my life improves. I am in absolute awe of this album and I never thought that I could love anything this much. Oh my god, sweet christ, I can't even believe it.

Three and a half stars

I am a huge fan of Roadrunner Records, and not a fan of compilations/tribute albums/soundtracks. Needless to say, I was a bit hesitant when I first heard of this anniversary collection, but when I heard the concept/process behind it, I was quite intrigued.

And what you end up with here is a disc of some great tracks, and some tracks I'd rather not hear again in my lifetime. Let's get this straight, you would be much better off first spending your money on recent Roadrunner artist's individual albums. Soulfly, Opeth, Machine Head, Fear Factory, Trivium, and even Slipknot, who I'm not a huge fan of, have released Roadrunner albums which blow this CD away.

Having said that, I know that most of you metalheads out there probably have these albums, and if that is the case, then it is definitely worth your money to check this out for the music and the collector's appeal.

At its strongest points, Roadrunner United demonstrates why this label was, and continues to be such an important player in the landscape of metal. "In the Fire", led by King Diamond is a great melodic thrash piece with soaring solos, the traditionally dynamic Diamond vocals, and manic drumming. "Dawn of a Golden Age" brings some much needed extremity to the album in the form of heavily melodic black metal, and while I am not a big fan of the genre, I love the composition and riffage of this brutal track. "Baptized in the Redemption" is another standout track with fierce vocals and blistering ryhthms. "Roads" is a slower-acoustic track, but with the incomparable Mikael Akerfeldt leading the way with the vocals, and well-composed instrumentation including some classical violin, this is one of the highlights on the album, even if it only clocks in a little over two minutes. The traditional hard-rock/metal sound of "Blood and Flames", and infectious neck-breaking thrash of "Constitution Down" round out this album's bright spots.

The rest of the tracks can be described along the range of "good, but not memorable" to "outright lame and unfit to be on a metal release." As for the latter description, the silly and uninspired pop-punk "No Way Out" and Velvet Revolver clone "Tired N' Lonely" will never convince me that they belong on an anniversary collection for an important metal label. And sorry, the completely forgettable "The End" sounds more like something you would hear on VH1's top 20 countdown rather than on the extremely diluted, yet at least heavy metal themed Headbanger's Ball.

Aside from these abysmal tracks, the others are certainly worth a spin, but with such great material released in the metal world this year (Opeth, Nevermore, Soulfly, God Forbid, YOB, Pelican, Arcturus, Between the Buried and Me, The Black Dahlia Murder, Biomechanical, Cephalic Carnage, Meshuggah, Gorod, Yyrkoon...ok, I think we get the point) I predict that I will only throw this CD on for the standout tracks mentioned at the beginning of the review. Again, if you have yet to pick up the slew of great metal albums released this year, I would suggest making that your priority. For the rest of you headbangers, pick this one up for its historical significance and for the truly spectacular instances when this brilliant, and mostly successful, idea really hits the mark.

I loved the idea when i first heard about it, the 4 team captians with musicians from bands that have graced the roadrunner label. So I bought the CD the day it came out which was a week ago yesterday and I haven't taken it out of my CD player its rare for me to find a CD like that. There are a few tracks I dont care too much for like the Dani Filth track, the music is amazing on it I just don't care too much for his voice. Some of the Stronger tracks are, The Enemy, Annilation By The Hands Of God, The End, The Rich Man, and Blood and Flames. Those are just key tracks but the whole CD is amazing.

When I first heard of this all-star album I was really excited to see what would come of it..........and let me say if you love metal this album is for you. 18 songs with 18 singers. From extreme metal to pop metal and in between. Great variety as you can hear the different styles of guitar,bass and drums blend together on this monster of a compliation. Wait there is more.......a bonus dvd....yes.... a behind the scenes look at how this all came together. With interviews from the team captains down to the players and engineers. WOW....I am totally floored. Now I bought mine from Best Buy and it came with this dvd. Hopefully all will receive it when they buy the cd.
Amazing stuff in each track. You will be happy you picked this gem up..........so metalheads..........WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!

This album ROCKS.

What an excellent mixture of superb artists. There are a few parts that only require the smallest amount of macarone to complete the transformation of Cheese of Death - but other than that, this is a kick ass album.

The bonus DVD that comes with the CD is excellent... giving us all an enlightened peek at who's what and what's when and when the whats are who.

With some killer guitar playing from the likes of Jeff Water (Annihilator).... oh yeh - make sure you check out the blast drumming from Mike Smith (Suffocation).... that dude is pure molten metal

GO BUY THIS CD NOW

From the long standing history of the Roadrunner label comes this great idea to make a compilation that includes artists from many of their past and current artists. From that group of 50+ artists comes an 18 track CD that is dressed to impress, with alot of the talent that has made metal what it is today. From King Diamond and Type O Negative, to Trivium and Still Remains, Roadrunner boasts one extravagant roster of musicians and music writers. The four captains were absolutely impressive.

Although, Rob Flynn stayed more on the thrash and heavier metal side of things, captains Dino Cazares and Joey Jordison sported much more far ranging tracks (from a mid-nineties alternative to death metal). Matt Heafy's tracks were absolutely impressive to hear. He wrote a track in the style of King Diamond, a black metal masterpiece that made me say "huh? Whoa!", a southern hard rock style track (with a rather unimpressive Jessie Leach fronting), and a very unique, almost Pennywise sounding track. I give huge props to teams Heafy, Jordison, and Cazares for adding a hell of a lot to listen to.

I am a fan of the much heavier stuff on the CD, so I focused more on tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13. Come to find out, the whole CD is equally impressive. There is one track that I have a really big problem with, but its purely political and doesn't destroy the fact that the track was well written and that it is only the opinion of the people who wrote it, and whatever audience they were attempting to cater to. Anyway, this CD is one of the greatest ideas ever invented by a record label. Plus, it turned out to be one great CD. I think that is enough to spend your hard earned money on it.

I think that Century Media needs to take a hint from this idea. Think of the bands they would be putting together; Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, God Forbid, Watch Them Die, Soilwork, Lacuna Coil, the mighty Shadows Fall, Candiria, and so many others. Are you listening CM. Or, here's another idea...since Century Media and Roadrunner cross so many paths on the road, why not combine their best metal acts for something like this. Just a couple of thoughts. Anyway, buy this CD, BUY IT NOW!!!