In 2004, Roadrunner Records founder Cees Wessels called a meeting. The man who had started the label in Holland in 1980 wanted to mark its approaching 25th anniversary, and he was looking for ideas.
“There were all the usual suggestions for books and documentaries,” says Monte Conner, at the time the label’s Senior VP of A&R and someone who worked for Roadrunner from 1987 to 2012. “But in typical Cees fashion, he went, ‘Go broke or go home.’ He wanted to do something big.”
It was Monte himself who hit on the biggest idea of all: an album featuring brand-new songs written and performed by an all-star line-up of Roadrunner musicians past and present. And it was Monte who was tasked with turning this epic undertaking into reality.
The project, christened Roadrunner United, spawned 2005’s All-Star Sessions album, a one-off gig and a live record/ DVD. It was more than just an anniversary celebration - it was confirmation of the place the label had carved out for itself at the centre of metal culture over the previous decade. he seed for Roadrunner United was planted by Mark Palmer, who ran the label’s UK office. He suggested enlisting a group of ‘name’ Roadrunner musicians to record a single to mark the label’s anniversary. Monte Conner liked the idea, but figured they could take it further. Monte: “I thought, ‘Why don’t we make it a full-blown album?’ The closest thing I could think of was the Probot record, where Dave Grohl wrote a bunch of songs and got in a guest singer for each track. I was, like, ‘Let’s do that, but on an even bigger level.’” Dino Cazares (Fear Factory): “People loved Roadrunner Records. If you
