Nice try even if a little predictable
With the recent joint collaboration between E.M.I. Music Australia and Century Media Records, the pair's first venture together (With the sole aim of breaking the ice here in Australia) is the double album compilation effort Metal For The Masses. There's not a real lot of thought needed to figure out the concept behind Metal For The Masses, with E.M.I. (Who represent the first disc) providing the album with their vast back catalogue of past metallic glories, while Century Media Records (Who tackle the album's second disc) bolster the collection with their strongest collection of both former and current artists to showcase the current state of metal.
As you would expect, E.M.I. have assembled a selection of tracks from old favourites such as Megadeth (Symphony Of Destruction), Alice Cooper (A live version of Poison), Whitesnake (Still Of The Night), Queensrÿche (I Don't Believe In Love), Scorpions (Rock You Like A Hurricane), Saxon (747 (Strangers In The Night)), Hawkwind (Silver Machine), Deep Purple (Highway Star), Manowar (Battle Hymn) and D.A.D. (Sleeping My Day Away), as well as throwing in a handful of tracks from the heavier acts the label has dealt with in recent years, including Hell Is For Heroes (Sick/Happy), Velcra (Big Brother), Thousand Foot Krutch (Move), Amorphis (Evil Inside), Satyricon (Fuel For Hatred) and Otep (Blood Pigs).
As for the Century Media Records side of things, the track listing on Metal For The Masses pretty much compiles the best of what the label has to offer these days, with acts as diverse as Lacuna Coil (Heaven's A Lie), the now defunct Sentenced (Ever-Frost), Dream Evil (An edited version of The Book Of Heavy Metal), Iced Earth (The Hunter), Nevermore (Final Product), The Haunted (All Against All), Arch Enemy (Nemesis), Dark Tranquillity (Lost To Apathy), Shadows Fall (What Drives The Weak), God Forbid (Chains Of Humanity), Mercenary (11 Dreams), Nocturnal Rites (Fools Never Die), Machine Men (Falling), Turisas (Battle Metal), Strapping Young Lad (The radio edit version of Love?), Naglfar (And The World Shall Be Your Grave) and Old Man's Child (The Flames Of Deceit).
Although coming across as an excuse to announce and showcase the two label's working partnership, Metal For The Masses is a solid enough compilation, if a little predictable and lean on the previously unreleased side of things.
(E.M.I. Music Australia)
