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!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
Maiden were back in a big way. Though the video game began life with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals, when it was finally released, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith were both back in the band! The ironic thing about this was that neither of them were depicted in the game, though Blaze was!
A 3 CD set, Ed Hunter was the first release with Bruce and Adrian back in the band. A “greatest hits” album and a video game all in one, Ed Hunter was a must-buy for Maiden diehards, especially in the United States where it contained a bonus track: “Wrathchild 1999 (New Vocal Version with Bruce Dickinson)”. Standard versions contained 20 tracks split over one-and-a-half discs, with the tracks selected by the fans in an online poll. We break it down track by track, and compare to the previous “hits” album, Best of the Beast, while also discussing the new track which was also available on a promotional CD single with band art.
As for the game? The last disc-and-a-half of space featured the game and installation software. Harrison got his copy working! He got out a vintage computer and some video capture software, and recorded himself playing and winning the game! We provide a highlights reel from Harrison’s video, to give you a feel for the gameplay and graphics. (Epilepsy warnings will appear when appropriate.)
This release also featured a tour. A big one! Harrison breaks down the setlist, and what tracks from that tour were released in live versions.
Maiden were back…and so is 50 Years of Iron Maiden!
Friday September 5 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube.
7″ of satanic panic? Absolutely, for here is a Papa Emeritus IV “Ultimates” figure from Super 7. These limited edition deluxe action figures offer supreme poseability, lots of accessories, and supreme packaging. But is it worth the $70 that Amazon was asking for this evil doll?
Let’s take a close look at the figure, his accessories and packaging.
Photos and packaging can be seen in above video
The box is a cathedral-like window, which looks great as a backdrop for your figure. Papa can be displayed in his cloaks and mitre, or more simply in a shiny blue suit. He has options for interchangeable heads, and a selection of pop-off hands for either guise. The plain Papa has hands in plain black gloves while the more decorative Papa has hands with skeleton-like designs on them. He has two soft-goods pieces of clothing to dress him up: A vest-like undercloak, and a poseable wire-blacked cloak. Both are intricately decorated. Take care to keep both in excellent condition.
While it is easy to swap out Papa’s parts and clothing for any display option, this is the point at which the figure loses some character. Fully cloaked, his articulation is limited. You can’t lift his arms very high, which makes the “devil horn” hand kind of pointless. He has a hand that can hold his microphone, but it works best with the two-piece mic stand so Papa doesn’t have to lift it. Without the cloak, he can pose much better, simulating his dance moves from the video for “Rats”. His shiny shoes look perfect for this.
Unfortunately, Papa needs at least one head with an open mouth. Otherwise he never looks like he’s singing, which makes the microphone somewhat useless.
Super 7 got a lot right on this figure. The articulation is good enough on the base figure. The paint and details are spectacular, which is important for a premium figure. Not enough attention was paid when it comes to his accessories. Extra hands with varying finger positions are a standard feature now, but keeps like a cheat to include all of them in an accessory count. You can only use two at a time, after all. Instead of so many hands, an alternate “singing head” and perhaps Papa’s staff would be more useful. I’m also quite fond of miniature albums coming with action figures, but Super 7 didn’t ask for my opinion.
If you can get one of these with free shipping or on sale, go for it. Imperfect figures get imperfect scores.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 114: Australian Takeover with Harrison Kopp, Ashley Geisler and Peter Kerr
This special episode was originally scheduled a month ago, but the sad and unexpected departure of Ozzy Osbourne put that show on hold. Tonight, the Australian Contingent reunite to show and discuss new music and new purchases, on Grab A Stack of Rock.
This will be Harrison’s first full hosting experience without Jex Russell. Mike will not be there tonight, as he still needs some time off. He does, however, have a cool guest video to show tonight, of a Super 7 “Ultimates” figure of a certain ghoulish frontman from a charismatic rock band. This is Mike’s very first Super 7 Ultimates figure and it will be your first look at its unboxing and accessories.
Joining the Mad Metal Man will be Ash Geisler from Ash’s Concerts and Videos. Ash has been saving up some new arrivals for this show, and we cannot wait to see what he has in store. He usually has some obscure Australian releases. And, of course, Peter Kerr from Rock Daydream Nation will be on hand with some musical surprises to share. Who knows what this trio of Southern Hemisphere Musical Maniacs will have in store!?
It all goes down, LIVE, tonight! Don’t miss it!
Friday August 29 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
Just a reminder that there will be no episode of Grab A Stack of Rock this week, new or re-run, as Mike prepares for his beloved Grandmother’s funeral.
Grab A Stack of Rock will return soon with more 50 Years of Iron Maiden, more Music & Mental Health, and live episodes.
Mike lost his grandmother on July 30 2025, at the age of 101 years old. He is working on his funeral speech, and will be the only speaker at the funeral. He feels the need to focus on that task, and supporting his family, before he is able to record new episodes of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
In the meantime, he has created a playlist called The Greatest Grandmother, featuring some of his favourite Grandma stories.
mikeladano.com 