Grab a Stack of Rock / LeBrain Train

🅻🅸🆅🅴 Harrison’s Box Sets and Mike’s Whitesnake

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 119: Harrison’s Box Sets and Mike’s Whitesnake

Time for a Maiden break this week, as Harrison and Mike have their ears full of live Maiden preparing for the next two shows!  In the meantime, Harrison has acquired a good sized collection of box sets, while Mike is only one Whitesnake box away from completing his collection of Coverdale’s boxed compilations.  Not much else to say except we will dive deep on some cool collections tonight!

“Ere’s a box set for ya!”

This is possibly the last cottage show of the season, and an indoor one this time due to the early sunset.  Join us tonight live for this special look at some expensive beauties.

 

 

Friday October 3 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.

 

 

My Music Corner: Monday Night Metal 9/29/2025

‘Twas my honour to be back on My Music Corner with Johnny Clauser on Monday night!  Well, to be fair, I invited myself, but it was a free for all, so that’s allowed!

Joining Johnny this episode:

  • Dan Chartrand from Off the Charts
  • Sidney Cini from Slogan’s Rock and Metal Extraganza
  • Jake Not from State Farm
  • Ashley Geisler from Ash’s Concerts and Video Showroom

Johnny asked us all of a series of questions including:

  • How did we discover this online music community?
  • What does the community mean to you?
  • What music death hit you the hardest?
  • What was the last concert that blew you away?

Enjoy this episode!

VIDEO: @darcyska – Why I Love Movie Soundtracks

Once more I had the pleasure of doing a show with D’Arcy Briggs from the YouTube channel @darcyska.  A few days ago, D’Arcy asked me if I’d be up to record on a topic of my choosing.   My first thought was “movie soundtracks”.

D’Arcy prepared a series of questions for me and off we went!  Topics include:

  • First loves in soundtracks and childhood memories.
  • Top Five Soundtrack list.
  • An underrated soundtrack (for Jex Russell).
  • What makes a good score?
  • Listening to curated song soundtracks.
  • Fictional movie band soundtracks.
  • A recent TV series’ soundtracks.
  • Has streaming changed how we listen to soundtracks?
  • Discovering bands via soundtracks, and gatekeeping by the old  fans.

While we were at it, we took a good look at some physical CDs, soundtracks from my collection and D’Arcy’s too.

Check out the video below!

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 22: Brave New World with Davey Cretin

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 22:  Brave New World

Special Guest:  Davey Cretin from Cretin Classics

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #118

How do you move on from a special interview with former Maiden frontman Blaze Bayley?  By going to the next album, of course!  After the wildly successful Ed Hunter reunion tour, the new six-man Iron Maiden lineup of Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Adrian Smith and Nicko McBrain were tasked with creating a new Iron Maiden studio album.  With new producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley at the boards (whom they tested out on “Wrathchild 1999” – see Episode 21), the band had to capture their classic sound with modern production and a new three-guitar configuration.

The band toiled away in the studio as fans speculated.  Finally we were given a preview of the new Maiden sound on the first single “The Wicker Man”.  This was followed by the rapturous release of Brave New World on 29 May 2000.  Together, with the legendary Davey Cretin of Cretin Classics, Harrison and Mike break down the album’s 10 tracks in incredible detail.  You simply will not find a better analysis of this album anywhere else on the internet.

We don’t just dive deep into the album.  As usual, you can expect us to tackle all the live B-sides from “The Wicker Man” and “Out of the Silent Planet”.  We will also look at some very rare CD singles, including the elusive remix of “The Wicker Man” with additional lyrics.  We will also have a good look at the album and singles artwork, and even a special edition DVD of the Wicker Man movie with Edward Woodward and Sir Christopher Lee.

Before we’re done, Harrison will take us through the Brave New World tour, the setlists and the performances.  Expect the level of detail, analysis and pure love that you have come to know from 50 Years of Iron Maiden.  It’s all here as we enter the brave new world of the Maiden reunion era!

 

Friday September 26 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

 

Whitesnake: Ranking the Top 15 Songs of… on Rock Show Critique

It was my honour to be asked on the Rock Show Critique with Joey Suto, to talk Top 15 Whitesnake songs!

Joey and I spoke extensively before the show, about how difficult this exercise was going to be!  We agreed to a few ground rules.  Regardless of where the songs appeared (such as the Snakebite EP), we agreed to stick purely to Whitesnake songs.  No David Coverdale solo.  This definitely excluded some songs I would have liked to include (which we discuss at the end).

This list show turned out pretty interesting.  Of course, I included some B-sides, but Joey and I both had groupings from some albums we think deserve more attention and love.  We clearly had a preference for the classic era of Whitesnake, including the Geffen years.

Check out the show and take a bite of some ‘Snake!

 

BLAZE BAYLEY interview: 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode!

For all things Blaze Bayley, go to BlazeBayley.net.

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:  BLAZE BAYLEY interview

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #117

We cannot imagine a better way to wrap up the Blaze years on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, than chatting with the man himself.  Metal fans worldwide, we present to you Blaze Bayley!

This isn’t just any Blaze interview.  With Harrison and Mike involved, you know we’re going to go deep.  We’re going to respect the man and his entire career, from Wolsbane to Iron Maiden to solo.  A lot of the information we covered won’t be found in mainstream interviews.

In this interview, we cover:

  • Punctuality!
  • Re-recording Wolfsbane as “Live Faster…” and what that means.
  • AI, science fiction, Blade Runner, and technology.
  • “Do, or Do!”
  • A secret, unwritten conceptual storyline to King of Metal, that Blaze reveals here.
  • The Silicon Messiah and the dangers of AI.
  • How “Virus” came be
  • The waist-high snowbanks of Canada.
  • Who the King of Metal really is.
  • The stigma of mental health.
  • Meeting Absolva, and joining forces with the Appletons.
  • And so, so much more.

For us and this series, asking Blaze our favourite questions was the realization of many dreams.  Instead of saying “Do or Die”, Blaze likes to say “Do, or Do”.  This interview was the culmination of us just doing it, for the love of music and the love of Iron Maiden.

Folks, you are in for a treat.  Please welcome Blaze Bayley to Grab A Stack of Rock.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

Coming This Week on 50 Years of Iron Maiden… A Chat with BLAZE BAYLEY

Harrison and Mike are thrilled to announce that this week on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, we have an incredibly special guest:  Blaze Bayley himself, the first Iron Maiden alumni to ever grace the show with their presence.  Thank you so much to Blaze for doing this.

In this interview, we cover:

  • Re-recording Wolfsbane.
  • AI, science fiction and technology.
  • The Silicon Messiah.
  • Virus.
  • Canada.
  • Who the King of Metal really is.
  • Mental Health.
  • And so, so much more.

Get ready this Friday for the premiere of our interview with the amazing Blaze Bayley!  You can find all things Blaze at BlazeBayley.net.

🅻🅸🆅🅴 Music & Mental Health 3 with Dan Chartrand @offthecharts

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 116: Music & Mental Health 3 with Dan Chartrand

The third part of our Mental Health trilogy will be a live show, Friday night as usual, but what will we do differently this time?

Special guest Dan Chartrand will be with Mike as we discuss the challenges of overcoming Seasonal Affective Disorder, and childhood bullying.  Even if it happened 40 years ago, bullies can still have an affect on your behaviour today.  If you ever feel overly defensive, for example, that could relate to old bullies that you thought you have long forgotten.  We will dive deep.

With fall upon us, we’ll also tackle Seasonal Affective Disorder and techniques to deal with it.  This is a ghost that has haunted Mike for many years and though it is an annual struggle, Mike will share what he has learned.

As always, we’ll bring it all back to music too.  Mike will share his favourite music that he plays to feel good when things get him down.  Don’t miss this live episode as we’ll be taking your questions and comments.

Be kind to yourself.  See you tonight.

 

Friday September 12 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.

 

VIDEO: Harrison’s “COMPLETE” Blaze Bayley solo CD collection!

BEHOLD! After much shopping and hunting, Harrison has acquired a “complete” Blaze Bayley solo CD collection. With two caveats:

1. A physical copy of every released song is included – not necessarily every CD that Blaze ever released.  There is one very rare and limited Blaze compilation that Harrison does not have, but has nothing on it that he needs.

2. Blaze has done many collaborations on others artists’ albums that are not a part of this solo CD collection.

To compensate, Mike brought in one Blaze collaboration on the new Absolva album Justice, which features the Appleton brothers from his current band.

Harrison breaks down his collection chronologically, beginning with the amazing Silicon Messiah album, right up to the present day.  Lots of signed CDs here including some very limited rarities.  Check it out!

VIDEO: Hello! My Name is LEGO Blotto! Artwork breakdown!

BEHOLD!  The inspiration and artwork of the Mad Metal Man, Harrison Kopp, knows no bounds.

In this incredible piece of art, Harrison has paid homage to Albany’s greatest band, BLOTTO, in Lego form! This is a first of its kind for the band.

In the artwork you can clearly see the five core members of the band, with their images paying tribute to the “Metal Head” music video (and the Combo Akimbo album in Bowtie Blotto’s case). Their backdrop is a reference to their Across & Down EP, with a crossword puzzle painstakingly made by Harrison. Even the audience members in the photo contain Easter eggs and references to Blotto songs, and maybe even the artist himself.

No AI was used in this image, and only minimal Photoshop was employed.  The lighting itself is made in a very creative and cool way, with physical lights.  Harrison breaks down all the details in the video below. Can you spot them all yourself?

As thanks for creating this art, Harrison has been honoured with the privilege of choosing his own Blotto name.  Watch the video to see what name he chose!