The All-Star Sessions

If this sounds like an awkward name for an album, that's probably because it's far from what could ever be considered traditional.

Album: The All-Star Sessions
Artist: Roadrunner United

This one takes some explaining.

In 2005, Roadrunner Records wanted to celebrate their 25th anniversary. To do so, they embarked on this ambitious, ridiculously inventive project. See, there were these four "team captains" that were chosen to lead 57 artists from 45 past and present Roadrunner bands, and produce/contribute to/oversee the album's 18 tracks (Joey Jordison, Matt Heafy, Dino Cazares & Robb Flynn).

If this sounds unique, just wait until you hear the record itself. Words cannot describe how entertaining it is to listen to hardcore punk and heavy/nu/thrash/death metal songs put together by musicians from vastly different groups. For example, a song featuring ex-Misfits vocalist Michale Graves also features Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D'Antonio among others.

Some standout tracks include;
• I Don't Wanna Be (A Superhero)
• No Way Out
• The Rich Man
• Army of the Sun
• In the Fire
• Enemy of the State

In true All-Star spirit, if you intend on listening to this album in its entirety (which I strongly recommend doing), keep track of which songs you liked the most, and then at the end go to Wikipedia to find out which one of the four "captains" was in charge of each particular song you enjoyed. Tally up your results and see who came out on top for you.

For me, Robb Flynn was the victor, defeating Matt Heafy and Joey Jordison by the slimmest of margins, and leaving Dino Cazares in the dust.