Thank you to Logan and Sidney for having me on for a Halloween celebration on their channel. I was asked to pick a song, and as you can tell by the title, I went with Ghost: “Danse Macabre”, from my favourite Ghost album Prequelle.
Doing this afternoon’s show enabled me to make more use of my costume this year: Khn de Poitrine! If you watched Grab A Stack of Rock last night Oct 30, you saw my mask and outfit. (Thanks to Jen for the help putting it together.) The opportunity to use it again was too good to pass up!
Slogans Rock & Metal Extravaganza is playing Halloween themed tunes for a couple more hours. Go have a listen and enjoy some picks from Uncle Meat and Dan Chartrand as well.
Thanks everyone for watching and commenting on my getup.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 166: Top 5 “SCARY” Concept Albums! With Rob Daniels
Please welcome back to the show Robert Daniels of Visions In Sound! Little did he know he was setting us up for quite a challenge. But here we are at Halloween 2026 and we have our lists ready. Five rounds, ten concept albums: our “scary” picks for 2026! Join us as we count them down and discuss why we picked these records and what made them “scary!”
As an added bonus, Mike will be debuting his 2026 Halloween costume. And no, he’s not dressing as Harrison this time…
Join Rob and Mike for an epic pre-Halloween party. We love hearing from you in the comments!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 165: Top Ten Horror Movies
It’s been a long time since we’ve done this, but Alex and Uncle Meat are back tonight to talk horror movies. It’s the first of two Halloween episodes we have coming!
Tonight it’s a very simple Top Ten list from all three of us. We will have some physical product in the form of DVDs and soundtracks. We also have a bonus list: top ten horror favourites from Australian madman Peter Kerr!
Not much else to add, except this is guaranteed to be a fun hangout with three friends talking about scary films. Join us live in the comments!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 164: KIX: Top Ten Songs with Alex Winter, Keith Searock and David Alpizar
Alex Winter is back! This time the Alexploitation main man is in the hosting chair. For some of our guests, including Alex and Uncle Meat, it is their first time hosting a show. Grab A Stack of Rock is proud to be their first. First of many, we hope.
Alex has chosen the underappreciated KIX as his band. You may recall that a few years ago, guest writer Holen reviewed the first five Kixstudioalbumsrighthere. Now it’s finally time to honour the Maryland quintet with their own dedicated episode of Grab A Stack of Rock.
Alex has recruited two newcomers to the show! Keith Searock, who has joined us in the comments many times, is on the panel. David Alpizar, whom I have worked with on Grant’s Rock Warehaus, is joining our crew for the first time. Welcome to the cast, gentlemen!
This crew of rock veterans will count down their top ten Kix songs tonight. Get it while it’s hot, and don’t close your eyes! Tonight there’s gonna be a rock & roll overdose, with KIX!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 163: Defending KISS: Psycho-Circus with Peter Kerr and bicyclelegs
Mike is off for a couple more weeks, so this Friday, Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation is taking over!
30 years ago, the original Kiss reunited for the tour of the year. Of course, the very next question fans had was: will you make a studio album? Kiss dodged that for a while, before they announced their reunion album with Canadian producer, Bruce Fairbairn, who resurrected Aerosmith from the dead. But was he the right kind of producer for Kiss?
Psycho-Circus erupted in fall of 1998 and fans were split.
Tonight, Peter Kerr and his special guest bicyclelegs will defend Psycho-Circus from all the hate.
It’s not a small task. The album has issues including minimal Ace and Peter, glossy production, ballads, and plagiarism. I don’t envy these two men.
At the end of the show, Peter will graciously allow me to say a few words about Harrison and the future of Grab A Stack of Rock, and 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
Tune in tonight for what may prove to be an impossible task. Let’s see what the fellows have to say about one of the most controversial Kiss albums of all time, and that’s saying a lot!
We were promised our photo in 72 hours, and we got it in under 24.
What this photo doesn’t show is the gentle chit-chat with John Cleese.
He also shook my hand twice which I thought was kind. Check out the entire experience below!
REVIEW
A once-in-a-lifetime experience was had on Oct 3 2026 in Kitchener, Ontatio. It was over in a flash, so I had to document it live as soon as I got home, from Not Dead Yet: John Cleese and the Holy Grail at 50.
Last Christmas, my mom said “When will I ever have the chance to meet John Cleese again?” And so for $374.75 each, she bought three VIP tickets. One for her, one for me, and one for Dr. K. With hindsight I wish she also bought one for my dad. Not only would he have loved the show, but I think he would have lost his mind meeting Mr. Cleese at the end of it.
The show began at 7:30, but we were there well early to get a couple drinks and enjoy our front row seats. The stage was bare except for a big screen, a table, two chairs, and stuffed bunny rabbit.
First, Mr. Cleese was introduced to a standing ovation. He graciously thanked us all for coming to watch this film that he started writing in 1974. Then, the film began. It was the extended version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I believe that they ran the wrong version of the movie. Mr. Cleese specifically said that it was supposed to be a version that he himself edited, removing the Three Headed Knight scene. That scene was in fact shown, as well as the “GET ON WITH IT!” bits from the extended version. A minor slipup.
After the film, an 86 year old John Cleese returned for approximately an hour of Q&A with the audience, wearing bunny rabbit slippers. Some questions were great, some less so, but being a total pro, Mr. Cleese’s answers were also entertaining and interesting.
The thing that surprised me the most was how much Mr. Cleese loathes the last 10 to 15 minutes of Holy Grail, which was assembled by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam without his (and presumably the others’) input. “It doesn’t make sense!” said Mr. Cleese multiple times. And here is the main takeaway that we got from the John Cleese Holy Grail at 50 Q&A: Writing is #1 for him. Performing, comedy, commentary are all second. He says they did 13 drafts on A Fish Called Wanda‘s script before it was good enough. Holy Grail’s ending was not written, made no sense, and he really dislikes it. He also dislikes the Three Headed Knight scene, and wanted it edited out. The scene was kept because Eric Idle’s knight, Sir Robin, had nothing to do after they split up.
He discussed many projects including a new comedy on cannibalism. He also revealed what inspired the famous Python “parrot” sketch: a used car that Michael Palin bought and tried to return.
Mr. Cleese praised the talents of Kevin Klein, and make fun of Michael Palin’s “horribly boring” travel show multiple times. He reserved sincere praise for his old writing partner, the late great Graham Chapman. He was clearly a special man. The whole show was very warm, and simply delightful.
And then we met him!
Check out the video below, recorded while still on the high of meeting John Cleese and having this wonderful experience.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience was had on Oct 3 2026 in Kitchener, Ontatio. It was over in a flash, so I had to document it live as soon as I got home, from Not Dead Yet: John Cleese and the Holy Grail at 50.
Last Christmas, my mom said “When will I ever have the chance to meet John Cleese again?” And so for $374.75 each, she bought three VIP tickets. One for her, one for me, and one for Dr. K. With hindsight I wish she also bought one for my dad. Not only would he have loved the show, but I think he would have lost his mind meeting Mr. Cleese at the end of it.
The show began at 7:30, but we were there well early to get a couple drinks and enjoy our front row seats. The stage was bare except for a big screen, a table, two chairs, and stuffed bunny rabbit.
First, Mr. Cleese was introduced to a standing ovation. He graciously thanked us all for coming to watch this film that he started writing in 1974. Then, the film began. It was the extended version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I believe that they ran the wrong version of the movie. Mr. Cleese specifically said that it was supposed to be a version that he himself edited, removing the Three Headed Knight scene. That scene was in fact shown, as well as the “GET ON WITH IT!” bits from the extended version. A minor slipup.
After the film, an 86 year old John Cleese returned for approximately an hour of Q&A with the audience, wearing bunny rabbit slippers. Some questions were great, some less so, but being a total pro, Mr. Cleese’s answers were also entertaining and interesting.
The thing that surprised me the most was how much Mr. Cleese loathes the last 10 to 15 minutes of Holy Grail, which was assembled by Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam without his (and presumably the others’) input. “It doesn’t make sense!” said Mr. Cleese multiple times. And here is the main takeaway that we got from the John Cleese Holy Grail at 50 Q&A: Writing is #1 for him. Performing, comedy, commentary are all second. He says they did 13 drafts on A Fish Called Wanda‘s script before it was good enough. Holy Grail’s ending was not written, made no sense, and he really dislikes it. He also dislikes the Three Headed Knight scene, and wanted it edited out. The scene was kept because Eric Idle’s knight, Sir Robin, had nothing to do after they split up.
He discussed many projects including a new comedy on cannibalism. He also revealed what inspired the famous Python “parrot” sketch: a used car that Michael Palin bought and tried to return.
Mr. Cleese praised the talents of Kevin Klein, and make fun of Michael Palin’s “horribly boring” travel show multiple times. He reserved sincere praise for his old writing partner, the late great Graham Chapman. He was clearly a special man. The whole show was very warm, and simply delightful.
And then we met him!
Check out the video below, recorded while still on the high of meeting John Cleese and having this wonderful experience.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Bonus Episode: More Adventures in Epilepsy
Wish Jen luck everybody! She’s in Toronto for a two week stay as they study her brain, to figure out where those seizures are coming from. She doing well, and tonight we have a special bonus episode to talk about our Adventures in Epilepsy.
This isn’t the first time: Exactly six years ago today, we did our first Adventures in Epilepsy episode with guests. That episode was prompted by a bad fall where she broke her arm. Tonight’s mini-episode is inspired by her hospital stay. It’s not easy having all those electrodes and sensors glued to your head! Tonight we’ll catch you up on all this and more.
Not to be a downer episode, we end it with lists of famous people who suffered from seizures. You’ll be surprised at some!
A Rock Daydream Nation Panel Show! Tim Durling (Tim’s Vinyl Confessions/The Contrarians), Michael Ladano (Grab a Stack of Rock), Dan Chartrand (Off the Charts) and Peter Wicks (Wixxyleaks).
This one surprised me. These two ZZ Top albums are often considered a pair, with one superior and one inferior. Our panel provided some surprises and a lot of fun over this hour! I surprised myself and changed my mind a couple times. Check out the show!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 162: Operation: Mindcrime III [Geoff Tate] Review/Rant with Tim Durling
Q: What do Geoff Tate and Helix have in common in 2026?
A: They both made their new studio albums frustratingly hard to buy physical copies of in Canada.
Tim Durling from Tim’s Vinyl Confessions is tonight’s guest host, and he’s gonna tell you all about it!
Geoff Tate won the performance rights to Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime I and II as part of the settlement made for the Queensryche band name. Tate has always taken pride in his rock opera epic, and so expanded the series to a trilogy with his new solo album. Interestingly enough, Operation: Mindcrime III is not a third part to the story. Instead, it is a re-telling of the first album, but from the perspective of the evil Dr. X.
Tim will tell us about each of the songs, and the experience of just trying to buy a copy in Canada. Get ready folks – for a price he’d do about anything, except mislead you about Operation: Mindcrime III. Is it any good, or is it the proverbial weak link in the trilogy? Find out tonight, on Grab A Stack of Rock with your host, Tim Durling!
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