Grab a Stack of Rock / LeBrain Train

Bicyclelegs: Marillion – Favourite Song From Each Album – Pt. 1: 1983-1995

I am so excited to appear on Bicyclelegs’ excellent YouTube channel for the first time!  To talk about Marillion is just an extra treat for me.

Bicyclelegs approached me a few weeks ago and asked if I’d be interested in picking my favourite song from each (studio) album.  Immediately I agreed.  Considering the depth of the discography, he decided to split this into two episodes.  This is part one:  the EMI years.  Four albums with Fish, and four albums with Steve Hogarth:

  • Script for a Jester’s Tear
  • Fugazi
  • Misplaced Childhood
  • Clutching at Straws
  • Seasons End
  • Holidays in Eden
  • Brave
  • Afraid of Sunlight

I found myself changing my lists up to the last day, but I think I’m happy with how this turned out.  What you will find in this show is a lot of love for some great songs, a little bit of history, and a lot of great music.

Here is what Bicyclelegs had to say:

Welcome to another episode of Favourite Song From Each Album. In this series we look at the catalogue of an artist and pick our favourite song from each studio album chronologically. Today Mike Ladano from Grab A Stack Of Rock joins me to talk Marillion and pick our favourite songs from the first 8 studio albums (the EMI years). We will come back in a month or two’s time to cover the rest of the catalogue. Enjoy!

 

All Five MAD MAX Films Ranked on Grab A Stack of Rock with Two Australians and One Canadian (Harrison Kopp, Peter Kerr & Mike Ladano)

Harrison promised us rarities, and so he gave us rarities!  From some cool Steelbook DVD, Blu-rays and 3D issues of films, to replica cars and comic books, Harrison brought the goods.  The coolest of his collection is his high-end replica Mad Max interceptor, in limited edition dirty deco, to duplicate its appearance in Mad Max 2 (#221 in a limited edition of 2000).  Harrison is clearly a passionate fan, and his Mad Max collection is quite impressive indeed.  He even had his own custom Lego version of the interceptor to show.

As for the lists:  they were not as controversial as I expected, but there were some surprises.  Peter and I had lists most in common, but what did not come as a surprise was that all three of us had the same #1 film in the Mad Max franchise.

We offered a fair share of critique, but mostly praise for George Miller’s post-apocalyptic saga.  Certain moments in films were singled out for observation and analysis.  We discussed the soundtracks, the visual effects, some controversial CG elements, and of course, the performances of the cast.

If anyone knows the deal about that weird mannequin head strapped to Angry Anderson’s backup, let me know.  I had my own theory which I shared in the show.

Thanks for watching, and if you didn’t, you can catch the show below.

Next week:  interview with ex-Helix drummer Archie Gamble!

Ranking all five MAD MAX Films on Grab A Stack of Rock with Two Australians and One Canadian (Harrison Kopp, Peter Kerr & Mike Ladano)

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 77:  Ranking the Mad Max Films

“Witness!  I am your redeemer. It is by my hand you will rise from the ashes of this world!”

Please welcome back to the show, Peter Kerr and Harrison Kopp from Rock Daydream Nation!  With two Australians and one Canadian, we hope this will be the most comprehensive (or, “Kopp-rehensive”) Mad Max list show on YouTube.

For the physical media crowd, Harrison promises RARITIES!

Tonight, we rank all five films in the Mad Max universe:  Mad Max, Mad Max 2 (“The Road Warrior“), Beyond Thunderdome, Fury Road, and Furiosa.  I have immersed myself in the Mad Max films, watching the first three twice each in preparation.  Expect a deep analysis and hearty appreciation with a fair share of critique.  If you think you know what will happen tonight…you don’t!

Will Peter Kerr escape the Wasteland intact?  Will Mike Ladano emerge from the Thunderdome as victor?  Will Harrison Kopp go rogue like Furiosa?  Find out tonight for an awesome show that will defy your assumptions.

 

Friday November 8 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Rock Daydream Nation: ELP – Brain Salad Surgery – First Time Listener (AKA “out of my comfort zone!”)

Out of my comfort zone indeed!  This show has been a long time in the making.  I first bought my deluxe edition of Brain Salad Surgery by ELP many months ago, strictly for this show.  Peter gave me several weeks to absorb it.  Then I was gifted an addition week of preparation when I found myself sick to my stomach the night we were scheduled to record.  (Nerves, food poisoning, or both?)

Now you finally get to see the fruits of our labors.  Did I ever “get” ELP?  Find out by watching this episode of Rock Daydream Nation!  Peter’s description is below.

Rock Daydream Nation is joined by Mike Ladano (Grab a stack of Rock) in a special episode of “out of my comfort zone” where we select one record out of a genre that we don’t usually follow and provide our thoughts with 2024 ears, This weeks choice is ELP Brain Salad Surgery.

The Contrarians Live: Album Covers with FIRE & EXPLOSIONS tonight at 7:00 PM EST!

Last Wednesday on the Contrarians, I was absolutely blown away to hear my favourite writer, Martin Popoff, say the words “Mike is a great addition to the show.”

Thank you Martin.  I hope this week I live up to everybody’s expectations!

For those keeping track, this is my fourth week in a row on the Contrarians.  The subjects thus far have been:

I tend to go off the beaten track and focus on artists or albums that have never been on the Contrarians before.  I will be doing that again this week, with some more Canadian picks and some albums that are not in the rock genre at all.  Begin the guessing.

THE CONTRARIANS – Album Covers with Fire and Explisions – Wed. Novermber 6 – 7:00 PM EST

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Holy Grail CDs, Live Bootlegs, and Music DVDs from the Kollection of Kopp

A true throwback to the early days of Grab A Stack of Rock, and a showcase for the Mad Metal Man.  That was Friday night on Grab A Stack of Rock.

Harrison showed us several CDs that Mike wants to add to his collection, including a 2 CD edition of Alice Cooper in El Paso 1980, Iron Maiden bootlegs with Paul, Bruce and Blaze, Black Sabbath with Ian Gillan, a Bruce Dickinson single, and many more.  Harrison also had a rare Nintendo NES video game soundtrack on 7″ vinyl, and possibly the only Arkells CD in all of Australia.  (We just don’t know!)

I miscalculated the length of tonight’s show.  I expected it to run an hour.  I invited some surprise guests to welcome back Harrison after his long absence, and so we were joined by Peter Kerr, Johnny Clauser, and Jex Russell at the one hour mark.  Thank you guys for joining us on this special night.

Mike also had some CDs to show off, such as Prince, Paul Stanley, ELP, King Kobra, and Faster Pussycat.  However, storytelling was his main role.  The Sultans of Ping FC and the Arkells featured into two stories.

Thank you for watching and see you next week on Grab A Stack of Rock for our Mad Max movie ranking!

CDs, Vinyl & More: The Mad Metal Man Returns to Grab A Stack of Rock on this Random & Chaotic Friday

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 76:  The Mad Metal Man Returns!

Long have we waited!

The Mad Metal Man known as Harrison has been on sabbatical since February of this year.  Though he did return last week to pay tribute to Paul Di’Anno (in epic fashion), we had a proper return episode planned for him.  And here it is!  This is Harrison’s official return to the co-host seat.

 

Two years ago, in October of 2022, I messaged Harrison out of the blue* and asked him if he wanted to go live that night.  Fortunately he said yes, and here we are celebrating his second anniversary on Grab A Stack of Rock!  We didn’t have a name or a theme song for that first show, but here we are today still going strong.  It started out as an easy, casual show where we just grabbed stacks of music and showed it off for the audience.  It’s evolved since then to include lists and deep-dives.

I missed the mighty Mad Metal Man very much during his absence.  The show is only better when he is on board: our very own rule-breaker, and historian of live concert setlists.  Tonight Harrison will show off some metal that he has acquired over the past few months.  We will also have an “Ask Harrison” question for his special return!  This will be a classic “random & chaotic”** episode of Grab A Stack of Rock!

Friday November 1 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

 

* This is only half the story.  There was an ulterior motive.

** A CD collector named Jamie Wolansky claimed our show was too “random and chaotic” for him to watch.  Let’s wear that as a badge!

The Contrarians Live: YELLOW Album Covers tonight at 7:00 PM EST!

A sequel to last week’s show!  Last Wednesday, we covered brown album covers.  This week we’re following that up with yellow album covers!  I will be joining the Contrarians LIVE tonight at 7:00 PM EST for this excellent topic idea.  Each of us has ten picks.  The final panel is TBA but I will be with at least the following people:

  • Grant Arthur
  • John “Johnny Homework” Clauser
  • Jamie Laszlo

40 unique picks for yellow cover art.  Yes, we will see Stryper.

THE CONTRARIANS – Yellow Album Covers – Wed. October 30 7:00 PM EST

 

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions Ep. 571: Sammy Hagar Deep Dive #3 (Musical Chairs)

To coincide with his new book RED ON BLACK: The Listener’s Guide to Sammy Hagar, Tim Durling and I took a deep dive on album #3:  Musical Chairs.

Here’s what Tim has to say about this episode:

“@GrabAStackofRocK‬’s Mike Ladano joins me for this look through Sammy’s third album, his second to be released in 1977. For the most part, we agree on this one. Be sure and subscribe to Mike’s channel for great content.“

This is the last show recorded at the cottage in 2024, in front of a nice fireplace.  I unboxed my copy of the book on this show.  Buy your own by clicking below!

Purchase RED ON BLACK: The Listener’s Guide to Sammy Hagar.

Rock Daydream Nation: Van Halen with David Lee Roth: Best Song, Worst Song, Every Album

“One of the best shows I have EVER been a part of!” – Mike

“It’s definitely a top shelf RDN show for sure!” – Peter

The pleasure is always mine when I get to be a part of Rock Daydream Nation.  I absolutely love Peter’s show; it challenges us and it entertains you.  This was a relatively easy show for me.  All I had to do was listen to Van Halen all week, and pick my favourite and least favourite songs from the Roth albums.  That’s it!  Beats workin’!

Tim Durling joined us for this amazing showcase of tunes, with some surprises.  What was clear is this:  least favourites are all but irrelevant.  They’re all favourites to different degrees!  I learned that I tend to gravitate to the more melodic side of Van Halen.  Meanwhile, Peter was able to glean some meaning behind some of Roth’s lyrics.

Top shelf RDN is right.  Top Jimmy would be proud.