Geococcyx Records

I am into music the same way I am into movies, if not more. If you've read my film reviews, you may notice I go very far to point out the director, the writer, all the actors, the company who published the film, and even the cinematographer just so I can talk about who did such an amazing job--or, alternatively, who owes me $10 and two hours of my life back. The same is true with music, though the only people responsible for the music on the album outside of the actual members of the band is the record label and (on occasion) the notable producer.

Roadrunner Records is one of those labels I've always been able to get behind. Starting as a US-to-Europe import label for metal bands in 1980, they have been one of my favorite labels for years now, something it at one time would have been in contention with Victory Records for if they didn't turn pussy on everyone and signed Hawthorne Heights. In fact, I was a crew member for Roadrunner Records for about two years, promoting shows and seeing some of my favorite acts for free for the cost of passing out some swag. Recently though, my love for Roadrunner has been fading a bit--though not enough to make me stop buying their records--and I feel like I should take issue with it first here.

When Roadrunner Records signed The Dresden Dolls, I was ecstatic. I had met Amanda and Brian at the WBCN River Rave in 2003 and went on to be the founder of the very first Dresden Dolls fan community on the web. I have since met both of them on several occasions and have even walked around my hometown of Gloucester, MA with Amanda Palmer, so while I would not go so far as to say that they are good friends of mine I do have an interest in their dealings. When The Dresden Dolls broke up, I was a saddened by it, I will admit, but at the same time, I was excited for Amanda Palmer's solo album. Now that it's been out for about a year and she is still touring on its success, she is growing tired of Roadrunner Records pushing her around and not letting her continue her artistic career--one that even I will admit does not really fit the Roadrunner image--the way she wants. Luckily, Amanda is a strong-willed woman and she does what she damn well wants with damn good reason, but Roadrunner is holding onto her and still holding her back. The contract she signed with the Dolls set up for a certain number of records to be released with the option to drop her after each. She has asked several times to be dropped (I believe she may have one more record to put out with them, but I could be mistaken) and they have met her requests with constant "no"s and not taking her seriously.

Now, I can appreciate from the company's point of view as to how losing a member of their roster is a bad thing, but Amanda constantly pisses them off by not following their request to re-cut the Leeds United video to show less of Amanda's stomach because she "looked fat", or by making a "commercially useless album" for a solo career. Not only that, but she isn't making them any money. Her only purpose to the label, as far as I can tell, is to draw the crowds they wouldn't be getting for all their metal acts. Amanda went so far as to write an entire song and perform it live about the tale of how she wants to be let go.

As far as their metal acts go, Roadrunner Records could not do any better: Killswitch Engage is one of my all time favorites, Slipknot, Cradle of Filth, Dragonforce, Black Stone Cherry, DevilDriver, Megadeth, Within Temptations. And that's not even mentioning the bands that aren't on the label anymore with 36 Crazyfists, Black Label Society, Coal Chamber, The Misfits, Spineshank, Visions of Disorder, Type O Negative, and other genres like Madina Lake and The Cult. Plus all the others I haven't heard or don't like--but someone out there has and does.

So, minus a few dickhead dealings, the label is pretty solid, and you can't really blame businessmen acting like businessmen.

-Evan "Dez" O'Connor