Grab a Stack of Rock / LeBrain Train

The 1002nd Album – S2E3. Blue Rodeo – “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” (Mike Ladano)

I was honoured to be back on Geoff Stephen’s excellent show, the 1002nd album, to talk this time about a special song instead of an album.  I don’t know why I’m drawn to acoustic-based music when I’m with Geoff, but I know he loves a lot of those old Blue Rodeo songs.  I instinctively chose “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” from Five Days in July, a remarkable song from a spontaneously recorded album.  It captures the cold and loneliness of a Canadian winter, yet with the warmth that only acoustic guitars and electric bass can nullify.  But don’t let me spoil it for you.  Here’s Geoff and yours truly with our chat on “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet” by Blue Rodeo.  My favourite.

Merry Rockin’ Christmas: Our Top Five Favourite Christmas Tunes & More on Grab A Stack of Rock

A bright end to a crummy week!  Jen is a trooper once again.  She may have taken a spill again, but as always, she insists the show must go on.  If she didn’t, then we wouldn’t have had this wonderful Friday night to remember.  Thank you Jen.

I need to thank my special co-host and guests tonight.  They all brought the lists, with Roger cheating a little bit (taking a bit from the Harrison playbook) and everyone adding a unique spin.

  • Tim Durling of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions proved to be the expert on all things Bob & Doug McKenzie, which came in handy on my #5 pick.  We also took a look at Tim’s new Y&T book, Down for the Count!  Please, get yourself a copy on Amazon.ca or your local version.
  • Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation provided an Australian pick and a number of familiar favourites.  Check out Peter’s channel for an interview with Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, and many awesome videos.  He is also one of the contributor’s to Tim’s new book.
  • John Clauser of My Music Corner surprised us all with some great picks, some obscure ones, and one very special #1.  I did not see this one coming.
  • John the Music Nut, Clauser’s co-captain, also provided some brilliant and unique picks this evening.  John recently contributed to Tim’s Y&T book as well.
  • Metal Roger went outside the box on a number of picks, and also provided comedy relief for pretty much the entire night!
  • Additionally, we have some excellent lists from Harrison Kopp and Uncle Meat.  These provided some great discussion topics.

As far as physical product goes, we saw some mail-order-only Marillion and a very cool lenticular album cover that I must acquire somehow.

Merry Christmas one and all!  This is the last show before the big day, as the 22nd is a night off for Jen’s birthday.  Don’t worry though – we have a re-run scheduled, of a great show from the summer:  Arkells appreciation with Aaron and Nurse Kat.

Enjoy!

A very special Christmas to my “forever” friend @manda_runs_and_swims.  Write me!

Merry Rockin’ Christmas: Our Top Five Favourite Christmas Tunes & More on Grab A Stack of Rock

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

Episode 44:  Our Top Five Favourite Christmas Tunes

Are you ready for Christmas?  If not, our cast of characters will provide for you the Top Five best Christmas songs that you need to play this year.  We searched far and wide for the best of the best of the best, so please welcome our crew this week:

  • Special guest co-host:  Tim Durling of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions!  We will also be unboxing his latest book, Down For the Count, all about Y&T…who never recorded a Christmas song to my knowledge!
  • Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation
  • John Clauser of My Music Corner
  • John the Music Nut, Clauser’s co-captain and first timer on Grab A Stack of Rock
  • Metal Roger

There will also be surprises afoot!

Grab your egg nog and get ready to party with us.  We’ll bring you a jolly good time tonight.

LIVE Friday Dec 15 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Six Horsemen Bring Their Top Five Metallica Deep Cuts to Grab A Stack of Rock

Metallica deep cuts?  What are the rules then?  Well, rules didn’t matter at the end of the day; we just picked a bunch of tunes we liked a lot.  Your panel was:

We had some brilliant thrashers, a few curveballs…and definitely a couple surprises.  I feel everyone defended their choices ably, however I was the recipient of a bit of roasting in the comments section.  Repeatedly.  Did I deserve it?  Probably.

We also took an “Ask Harrison” question from Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation, and did some very cool unboxings.  There was a bit of “repetition” tonight, but a good time was had by all.  Thank you for watching.

A week off next week — super secret regal recording with Peter Kerr instead!  We’ll be back December 15.

Exploiting Their Supremacy: Top Five Metallica Deep Cuts on Grab A Stack of Rock

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

Episode 43:  Top 5 METALLICA Deep Cuts

It is finally time to do Metallica some Justice!

We planned to do a Metallica show back on May 5, but regular readers know what happened that day (Cinco de Mayo).  I had to cancel, and deal with a former co-host instead.  There always seems to be something getting in the way of Metallica.  This week we lost my dear Uncle Paul, but the show will go on, and I will pay tribute to this great man on Friday night.

Cinco de Listo is back!  We wait with baited (Motor)breath to see what Top Five Deep Cuts our expert panel will be presenting this time!  On hand will be:

We are going simple with the rules.  A “deep cut” in this case simply means a non-single.  There will be lots of complaints I’m sure, but let’s focus on the great songs instead!  Hopefully we will name some tunes you absolutely need to hear.

Will Justice be done?  Our Merry Band of Metal Fans will do out best tonight at 8:00 PM sharp, Eastern Standard Time.

 

A week off next week — super secret regal recording with Peter Kerr instead!  We’ll be back December 15.

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

The Awesomeness of Blaze Bayley – Celebrating 40 years of music with Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Three cheers for the Mad Metal Man!  For over a year of co-hosting Grab A Stack of Rock, he has earned the right to pick his own show topic!  His punch card is full, witness below and see for yourself!  And what did he pick with his full punch card?  He picked Blaze Bayley!  And he doubled down.  Foregoing the rules (again), Harrison didn’t pick a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten.  No, Harrison technically picked 22 songs.  All Blaze or Blaze Bayley-branded versions.

I chose songs from all three eras of Blaze:  Wolfsbane, Iron Maiden, and solo.

Harrison and I only had one song in common.  That means combined we have given you 32 songs to check out.  Harrison and I also provided a lot of context and background to our picks (Harrison more so than I!) and we hope that this episode is in-depth enough for the Blaze diehards.  And we know there are Blaze diehards out there.

We also took a look at some physical rarities:  Two Iron Maiden X Factor Japanese CDs, an X Factor singles box set, two lenticular Virtual XI CDs, a “Holy Grail” live album, one CD that Mike needs, one CD that Harrison needs, and a Wolfsbane cassette.

I sincerely hope you take the time to watch this passionate, insightful episode about a singer that deserves more of your attention, Blaze Bayley.

 

 

Tune in next week as we dive into Metallica!

 

We get (Future)Real with BLAZE BAYLEY (Iron Maiden, Wolfsbane, Blaze)! Top 11 of the Silicon Messiah! Celebrating 40 years of music on Grab A Stack of Rock!

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

Episode 42:  Top 11 of the Silicon Messiah, Blaze Bayley!

This time Harrison’s not here by contractual obligation only.  The Mad Metal Man is in the driver’s seat for one of his favourite artists of all time:  Blaze Bayley!

From his time in Wolfsbane, to his two underrated Iron Maiden platters, and his exceptional solo career, tonight we’ll be talking all things Blaze!  There will be a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten tunes, and as an added bonus, Harrison will break down all the Easter eggs in his amazing Blaze Bayley show art.  How many can you spot?  Leave them in the comments, and check out the show tonight to see if you were right.

Blaze Bayley has two studio albums with Iron Maiden, plus a double greatest hits compilation.  As a solo artist he has released ten studio albums and seven live albums.  Wolfsbane did five studio albums and a number of singles and EPs.  He has toured with Paul Di’Anno, Geoff Tate and Ripper Owens.  There is a lot of music to choose from.

WARNING:  There will be shenanigans.

Blaze Bayley – “Born as a Stranger”, yet sharp as “Steel”!  Long may he reign.  Appreciate the man and the music with us tonight on Grab A Stack of Rock.

 

LIVE Friday Nov 24 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Rock Daydream Nation: Bon Jovi’s Slippery When Wet – Did this album neuter 80s Hard Rock?

Here is the latest in a series of super-secret collaborations I have been working on! Peter Kerr invited me back onto Rock Daydream Nation to discuss Bon Jovi’s landmark breakthrough, Slippery When Wet.  Did this album essentially ruin hard rock for the next four years?  Peter and I took opposing views, though hardcore Bon Jovi fans will be happy with neither of us after watching this episode.

The thing I disagreed with Peter the most on was his assessment of the talents of Richie Sambora.  I encourage Peter to check out some of the tracks I mentioned in this episode to appreciate the talents of the guitarist (and vocalist).

I hope we don’t get killed by mobs of angry Bon Jovi Karens for this video.  Proceed with caution!

Get Up and make it work! Top Five Van Halen Bangers, our dream Best Of All Worlds setlist, and much more!

And the cradle DID rock, for tonight, four rock music fans revealed their Top Five Van Halen bangers.  ‘Twas brilliant to see.  Harrison Kopp was in classic Kontrarian mode as you will see with his list.  The first disqualification in the history of the show!  Harrison redeemed himself later, and his #1 pick was one I was onside with.

The new guy PLA brought with him a love of music that goes back to the teen years.  Jex’s good friend was a blast on the show, and he is welcome back any time.  The wonderful thing here is that years ago, Jex had the foresight to record PLA’s reaction to the Van Halen banger “Get Up” on video.  We ran that video tonight, and it really captured the spirit of what a Van Halen banger does.

We dug deep with deep cuts and hits.  We showed off rare CDs, vinyl, and even a cassette.  I presented my dream Best Of All Worlds setlist.  We discussed the tour, pros and cons, and our panel was mostly pro.  The comments were divided.  Peter Kerr was anti-tour, while Chris P was very pro.

Van Halen praise, love, and appreciation were in plentiful supply on this episode.  Take a glimpse at our collections and please enjoy our lists.  There were a number of duplicate songs, and some brilliant picks.  If you are interested in Van Halen but don’t know where to start…grab a coffee and listen to us blather on all night about a band we really love.

See ya next week.

Tonight: Top Five VAN HALEN BANGERS + Sammy Hagar “Best Of All Worlds Tour” with Jex & PLA!

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

Episode 41:  BEST OF ALL WORLDS!  Top Five VAN HALEN BANGERS with Jex & PLA

 

We’re back!  Harrison and I took a couple weeks off to recharge and work on some other creative projects, but here we are, back in business again with Jex Russell and PLA!  But who is PLA?

PLA is from the YouTube channel PLA Addiction.  He’s a music nut and close friend of Jex.  These guys have been a creative force on YouTube for years and I’ve been wanting to get them together live on Grab A Stack of Rock for a while now.  Tonight we run through our “Top Five Van Halen Bangers”!  Why?  You’ll have to see for yourself tonight, but I’ll drop you a teaser.

The real reason I wanted to get PLA on the show is that a few years back, Jex made a “reaction video” of PLA hearing the Van Halen song “Get Up” for the first time.  After seeing that video, I knew I wanted to get these two guys together on my show to talk Van Halen.  It was a priceless video, and we’ll run it tonight on the show.

We absolutely have to discuss the Sammy Hagar Best of All Worlds Tour with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham!  I will be revealing my dream (buyt realistic) setlist tonight on the show.

Get up and make it work, because tonight it’s Top Five Van Halen Bangers with Jex and PLA!

LIVE Friday Nov 17 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!