It was with great sadness last week that we learned of the passing of Canadian icon Catherine O’Hara. From first seeing her on SCTV as Lola Heatherton and many more great characters, through to Home Alone, Beetlejuice, all of the Christopher Guest films, and Schitt’s Creek, Catherine was part of our lives through every stage.
Please join Dan Chartrand and myself, on OfftheCharts, for our musical tribute to this Canadian treasure. She will be terribly missed by fans and friends alike.
Please join Dan from OfftheCharts and I for this review and unboxing!
RICK HUGHES – Redemption (2025 Deko/Rubicon Japanese import)
Rick Hughes of Sword fame is back with some of his most personal music to date. In short: it rocks!
Highlights:
The Who cover “The Real Me” features Ozzy’s Speak of the Devil band! Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Whitesnake), Tommy Aldridge (Whitesnake) and Brad Gillis (Night Ranger). This smashing version destroys other cover versions you know. Meanwhile, “Someday” is not really a cover of an Aldo Nova song. It is a Rick song he has reclaimed as his own.
There are more guests such as Lee Aaron and Robby Krieger (the Doors), and not one weak song in the batch of rockers, ballads, and soulful swingers.
Check out the video below, where Rick explains the origins of “Someday” while we take a good look at the Japanese CD and compare to the domestic vinyl.
4/5 stars
Episode 136: Collecting Quirks of the Music Nerds
On tonight’s special episode of Grab A Stack of Rock, we welcome back special guest Tim Durling, for a controversial topic: collecting! Every collector has different “needs” and goals. For example, Harrison and I seek a physical copy of every officially released song, and versions of songs, by the bands we collect. Tim has different goals in mind. On deck for tonight’s discussion:
This is sure to be a wild discussion. Don’t miss it tonight!
Friday January 30 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.
I was thrilled to be asked to join my friend John the Music Nut on his channel for the first time ever! John has been on Grab A Stack of Rock, and we’ve both been on Tim’s Vinyl Confessions and My Music Corner among other shows, but this was my debut on his channel and it was really, really cool. John wanted to do Steve Earle’s live album Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator for his series The Live Cut. Since that album was partly recorded in my home town of Kitchener Ontario, I immediately said yes. And then, something cool happened.
After posting the album cover on social media, author Robert Lawson mentioned that he was at both shows recorded for the album, and numerous other Steve Earle concerts too. It was a no-brainer to get him on too, and it’s a good thing because Robert is the star of this episode! He brought with him tickets stubs and merch that you won’t likely see anywhere else. He also has so much insight and relevant stories about the album and tour, that some Wikipedia articles might need some additions and corrections now.
Don’t miss this episode which will premiere Saturday, January 24. This is what John had to say:
On the latest edition of The Live Cut, I am joined by Mike Ladano (Grab a Stack of Rock) and author Robert Lawson as we discuss Steve Earle and the Dukes’ first live album, Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator. Released on September 17, 1991, this album features performances from October 5, 1990 at Centennial Hall in London, Ontario, Canada and the following night at Centre at the Square in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, respectively. Robert attended both of these shows and shares his stories from seeing Steve during this era. What do you think of this album as well as Steve Earle and the Dukes’ music? Please let us know in the comments!
I will be posting my text review of the album on Sunday the 25th!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #135
Scream for me, YouTube! We’re back with our first live Maiden episode of 2026. We try and do the live albums as live episodes, since we love that live show experience so much. With us this time is a lucky owner of the Death on the Road DVD, Mr. Jex Russell! We first saw his copy of the DVD back in June 26 on a special episode on our Maiden collections. That set being such a rarity, we had to get Jex back on board when it was time to talk about it.
The early 2000s were an incredibly busy time for Iron Maiden, and for the first time ever we had two consecutive live albums after two consecutive studio albums. This leads to natural comparisons with Rock In Rio, which also received CD and DVD releases.
Tonight we go all-in for the live album, breaking it down track by track. Harrison and Jex will have their DVD copies on hand to detail us on its contents. All three of us will be live to answer your questions and comments as we go! Don’t miss this special live episode!
Friday January 23 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
Past episodes:
Handy YouTube Playlist:
Good morning! For your entertainment this fine day, please check out Rock Daydream Nation’s epic analysis of Black Sabbath’s controversial Born Again LP. Is this album hot or not? Long time readers know my feeling on this subject. Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame joined Black Sabbath’s otherwise-original lineup to record the weirdest sounding albums in Sabbath history. It could also be their heaviest, most evil sounding album with some of Ian’s most perplexing lyrics ever.
Born Again has been seen in a better light over the decades, but I still receive much mockery when I tell people how high I rank it. Will our panel today agree with me?
Joining Peter and I are a special Rock Daydream Nation YouTube panel featuring Reed Little, John Gaffney (Alchemist of Rock), and Brandon Battick (Disturbing the Priest).
Saturday 17 January at 8 AM EST! Join us!
Episode 134: Have You SEEN This Concrete Blonde Collection?!
This week Harrison takes the hot seat as he helms an episode he’s passionate about! Its Concrete Blonde, featuring the talents of bassist and vocalist Johnette Napolitano! Harrison is taking tonight to show off his “Complete Albums, Super Rare + More”! Both Harrison and Mike focus their collecting on an end goal: getting a physical copy of every officially released version of every track. Has Harrison achieved this yet?
Concrete Blonde are a little off our usual beaten track. The alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1982, broke up in 1994 after scoring some major hits such as “Joey”, and reunited a number of times over the decades. Harrison will walk us through the discography tonight.
This will be a fun episode for the compact disc and physical media collectors! Join us live so we can interact in the comments!
Friday January 16 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode
This week’s bonus episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden falls on a Tuesday. This is a shorter episode, that we wanted to run mid-week.
On 12 July 2005, Sony released The Essential Iron Maiden in North America. As Maiden’s fourth compilation (and third multi-disc compilation), it was interesting for several reasons. First and most obviously, there is no Eddie on the cover. Second, it was released as part of Sony’s Essential series, and we’ll look at another disc from that series for comparison. Third, it is again mostly reverse-chronological, almost like an updated Best of the Beast without the rarities.
We’re calling it the “weirdest” Iron Maiden best of album for these reasons and more. Would you buy it? Have a watch and let us know about this truly un-essential Essential release by Sony!
Past episodes:
Handy YouTube Playlist:
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #133
Buckle up, for tonight is one of the most detailed episodes of 50 Years of Iron Maiden to date! In 2004, Iron Maiden went out on tour, but not to promote a new album. This time (and for the first time!) they were out to promote a video: The History of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days, on DVD. Tonight, we break down the entire contents of the DVD release (including the special features you probably never watched!) and the tour to boot. Yes, this is an episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden as essential as any!
The DVD itself centers on The Early Days, a 90 minute documentary on Maiden history from 1975 to 1983 (the “early days”). It includes interviews with Maiden members you’ve probably never met before, such as Ron “Rebel” Matthews, Terry Rance, Doug Sampson and many more. The history of the band is run down with great care, ending in Dortmund in Germany on the World Piece Tour.
There are four concerts, in various states of completion: Live at the Ruskin (1980), Live at the Rainbow (1981), Beast Over Hammersmith (1982) and Live in Dortmund (1983). Even though we have discussed some of these tracks in previous episodes (including a full episode on the CD version of Hammersmith), we will go through every single track in exhausting detail. Then there are the Top of the Pops and other TV shows to cover! Then, Mike will take you through all the interesting details in the bonus features, such as Steve’s diary and scrapbook. Find out exactly how Steve fired original singer Paul Mario Day, and when!
When this all said and done, Harrison will guide us through the Eddie Rips Up the World Tour, including the setlists and an incident involving Sharon Osbourne. You might have heard about that one! It happened on this tour.
Don’t miss the premiere of this episode, as we always like to interact in the comments! Up the Irons!
BONUS: Tomorrow, January 10, Mike will post his written review of this DVD, never before seen, right here on this site. This review, at almost 3000 words, is for those who prefer to read! Mike never wrote a review of this release back in 2013 when he did his Maiden review series. This is brand new and will not be exactly the same as what we will present in the video. Enjoy both!
Past episodes:
Handy YouTube Playlist:
It has been 40 years since we lost Phil Lynott. To mark the occasion, Tim Durling recruited myself and John the Music Nut to meticulously document our Thin Lizzy CD collections on video, once and for all. While I clearly had the biggest collection (and size does indeed matter), I still need three box sets to “complete” my Lizzy CD collection.
Please join Tim, John and myself as we go through every album one by one, and discuss the history of Thin Lizzy from the beginning right to the John Sykes and Ricky Warwick eras of the band. We have physical CDs to marks several post-Lynott lineups, and loads of compilations and box sets too. A truly comprehensive episode, and probably the best single-episode overview on the Lizzy discography that you’ll find on YouTube. Enjoy!
mikeladano.com 