In the time before time, there was a major record label that was considered the endgame for any metal band. Long before budget cutbacks, layoffs, consolidation and even Napster, Roadrunner Records modeled what became the pattern for many of their smaller, more agile peers in the industry, the defining difference being a niche zone of marketable metal and rock. Spearheading the careers of bands like Obituary, Deicide, Slipknot and Hatebreed, while at the same turn gleaning hit singles from the largest rock acts of the past two decades.
Any industry insider would quietly explain that the millions of Nickelback albums sold helped to make room and board for the up and comers, and those whose gold records were equal to or less than one. Then the game changed, we all saw it, we all downloaded till our hard drives were full of crappy 96k rips of Coal Chamber songs, but the record industry fought with every inch of their legal departments trying to reinvent the business model that greed and hubris built for decades. Most labels can’t take a slight curve, let alone pivot on a dime.
So now it’s time for an old standby, the compilation! XXX: Three Decades Of Roadrunner Records is a collection of the label's history in metal and rock, and that history is storied, even charmed to a point… but soiled in the end. The track list does feature some of the best music from the last thirty years, but simply compiling songs together in this way without compelling new content shows the lack of understanding of how consumers digest music in 2013. If most people don’t have the already platinum albums from this four disc comp, then why would they buy it as a whole with a bunch of other crap? At least they tried something interesting with Roadrunner United, bringing artists from different eras and styles together to create new music.
They attempt adding pieces of interesting content, like the quotes from founder Cees Wessels, and the legend Monte Conner, and historically their roster impresses even the most cynical, but really this wastes the time of anyone in a record store. If you are going to download Cynic’s track “Veil of Maya”, buy that whole album, or Death’s Symbolic, even the remaster will satisfy… but not another back catalog, no thought money grab. Roadrunner, if you wanted to impress us this $40 retrospective would come free of charge with some huge fanfare fitting to how we hold your legacy in min;, way to keep it mediocre.
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