Comments on: ROADRUNNER’S MONTE CONNER TALKS STONER ROCK

By: WINTER IN EDEN

WINTER IN EDEN — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:15:14 +0000

HI MONTE. MY SPACE WINTER IN EDEN HAVE A LISTEN TELL US WHAT YOU THINK THANK YOU.

By: Blake

Blake — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:21:24 +0000

I remember reading a guest column Connor did in “Scream” magazine back in ’93 where he reviewed demos. He did a great job and drove home the importance of originality. Why buy a band called Hideous Corpse that sounds just like Morbid Angel (one of the demos he reviewed) when you can just go get the real thing? True.

Many of the bands on RR do have their own character. Say what you will about Devildriver or Dragonforce (or even Nickelback), but when they come on, you can tell it’s them even if you don’t like them. They signed Opeth because no one sounded like Opeth. They signed Killswitch Engage for the same reason.

I think that was Connor’s point — why sign several bands out of a genre that all sound the same, when you can pick one that’s doing it their own way? Nothing I’ve heard from that genre has really turned it on its ear yet. Not that I don’t like it, but I see his point.

By: mr lun

mr lun — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:01:00 +0000

will never understand how people jizz themselves over the sword.

By: Blackthorned

Blackthorned — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:57:50 +0000

I think right now Roadrunner have some fantastic PR people working for them – from my experience they simply work harder than the PRs for other metal labels. But they choose to bestow this gift on some pretty risible bands, Madina Lake being an example that springs to mind.

It’s been disappointing hearing their new signings for the forthcoming year, so is there a lack of new talent? Hmm. I respect what they have achieved in the past but this is a label that seems to be chasing the teen market with the new acts it’s nurturing. The most talented bands on the label now seem to be those that were established before they joined the roster.

By: neurone

neurone — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 11:19:40 +0000

scott reeder from kyuss almost joined– and played bass on tour for– tool ; adam jones of tool played extensively with the melvins ; king buzzo of the melvins was in fantomas with mike patton ; mike patton made an awesome EP with the dillinger escape plan ; the dillinger escape plan toured with– and lost drummer chris pennie to– coheed and cambria ; taylor hawkins played on a coheed and cambria album ; taylor hawkins and dave grohl are the core of the foo fighters ; dave grohl was temporarily in queens of the stone age .

By: ceth

ceth — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:12:02 +0000

yeah, there was a time way back when that if a record had Roadrunner printed on the back you knew almost without a doubt it was going to be something good to listen to even if you had never even heard of it….not these days.

By: j-rock

j-rock — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:50:09 +0000

Point is that Nickelback money isn’t funding fuck-all towards emerging or on the fringe acts.

By: j-rock

j-rock — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 09:46:32 +0000

@ Tyler, we basically made the same point with RR past alum and yes it is a business, but as us retards as you were as quick to distinguish us could give 2 fucks about how Nickelback perpetuates the sale Opeth or whoever’s sales. The point is that once mighty RR isn’t the standard of metal it once was. If getting with the times means accepting Nickelback funding Devildriver is business and business is just that. The fact is that some of us remember when it was a music first label that took chances that paid out in some outstanding albums. So unless you are somehow gaining a profit from the homogenization of this label i can’t see how you can argue in it’s favor. Fuck knows she ain’t what she used to be in terms of quality groundbreaking metal which used to keep their lights all the same as Nickelback.

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 07:55:31 +0000

To the people bashing Conner, I feel compelled to remind you of all the work he’s done with killer metal bands. Sepultura, Cynic, King Diamond, Fear Factory, not to mention all the “best of” collections.

Roadrunner is the biggest metal label out there, sure they’ve signed a few bad rock bands in the last couple of years, but that’s necessary. Nickelback may suck but the money earned by them goes into financing good bands.

It’s called the music business for a reason. It’s a business retards. You can’t keep making music if you don’t make money.

By: j-rock

j-rock — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:18:19 +0000

Lil’ Wayne moves units so why not sign him? Fuckin Prick

By: j-rock

j-rock — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:08:03 +0000

There is no denying that Roadrunner while prospering via Nickelback’s and to a lesser degree Slipknot has taken a nosedive in quality. I grew up in the 90′s when the Roadrunner records symbol on the back of an album stood for a symbol of groundbreaking quality. There were so many seminal metal albums that were released through RR. Which makes it all the more heartbreaking to know that the the man behind many of those albums ‘( you know what records i’m citing) only passion as of now seems to be the bottom line

I hate you Monte Conner.

By: The Sword

The Sword — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 03:54:26 +0000

I bet Roadrunner will sign the Sword after the smaller guys have developed it and worked really hard to break the band. Then they will sign them and act like they did all the hard work.

Take a chance on a new band. It is a business and you have to make money to keep the lights but get some balls.

By: Motoghost

Motoghost — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:36:39 +0000

Whether Roadrunner has Nickelback or not, their the biggest sell out label ever. I say this as fan of artists like DevilDriver, Dream Theater, Opeth and a few others all of whom are signed to RR bu that doesn’t mean I don’t hate the label. If Roadrunner is remembered as anything, they can be remembered for being the label with most reissues ever printed! haha. Most of those fat checks they get is because of stupid best-ofs and reissues of CD’s!

By: monte connor is gay

monte connor is gay — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 02:32:25 +0000

why don’t they ask this guy about his favorite numetal bands that polluted our ears for a good part of the last decade?

this dickhead has no cred.

By: \m/Eluveitie\m/

\m/Eluveitie\m/ — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:08:12 +0000

@ Conduit

The last 20 decades huh? According to Bon Scott, rock was born in 1955…not 1809…

By: goatlady

goatlady — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:48:15 +0000

You people saying “fuck Roadrunner” are looking at it all wrong. There ARE good bands signed to Roadrunner, and if they didn’t have Nickelback making them serious money they wouldn’t be able to sign and record bands that essentially don’t make much money – it’s a freaking business.

By: fester

fester — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:53:37 +0000

Word to that. Especially sad that a label which broke so many pioneering death metal bands in the early 90′s has come to this — some bald motherfucker in a sportcoat and a turtleneck talking about ‘commercial viability’. Nickelback. seriously. Any rock and roll band with the slightest bit of integrity should avoid this type of label like the plague. Forget your pipe dreams of advances and per diems. That’s fucking toy poodle shit, and those days are gone anyway. Work your shitty job, pay for your own recording (or do it your damn self), then get in the van and tour. This is rock and roll, not showbiz, and yes, the two ARE different. To give even a moment’s consideration to ‘accessibility’ or ‘commerce’ represents an appalling misunderstanding of the function of art. It’s bad enough when it’s an A&R — hell, it’s this guy’s job — but when this shit-eating, associates-degree-in-business-administration-and-marketing terminology invades the lexicon of musicians (which of course it has), it truly denigrates the discipline. Fucking offensive. Let the big labels put out orchestral music, pop-country and adult contemporary, and let them keep their greasy hands the fuck off my rock and roll.

By: CarlosRamirez

CarlosRamirez — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:40:01 +0000

Blood Ceremony in 2009!

By: dthrasher

dthrasher — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:31:54 +0000

“After looking over the Roadrunner lineup and then reading this statement about having cool bands that move units I can say fuck this label. And fuck this callous record company asshole.”

As someone who buys 99.9% of their music in cd form to this day, I fully support stealing any music put out by roadrunner. Seriously, fuck this label and the amount of effort they put into making music stale and unoriginal.

By: Conduit

Conduit — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:13:39 +0000

I think stoner rock’s a pretty limiting term to describe someone’s music. To differentiate it from other rock because it’s got a fuzzy tone, groove, and a whole lot of “Yeaaaaaah”s is stupid. This record label dude sounds like he’s spewing to me if he doesn’t give any love to Sleep and thinks Wolfmother are more popular because they have…. acoustic elements. Are you kidding me? I’m pretty sure it was the catchy Led Zeppelin ripoff single with a “hot” lead singer. And Monster Magnet? I put them right next to Kyuss as a key rock group from the last 20 decades. He is right on one account though, there is basically Kyuss and by extension QOTSA, then Fu Manchu, then a watering down of them all.

It’s really god damn unfortunate hardly anyone makes great rock records without rehashing the same grunge/stoner/desert rock style. Even still, they are ready to be made and keep coming. Torche’s last two albums, Sasquatch II is fantastic, the latest QOTSA was perfect, and more and more keep coming. Why anyone thinks its unpopular is beyond me. Grindcore is unpopular, stoner rock is listened to by all kinds of people who would never ever EVER try out an extreme metal band.

After looking over the Roadrunner lineup and then reading this statement about having cool bands that move units I can say fuck this label. And fuck this callous record company asshole.