Grab a Stack of Rock / LeBrain Train

🅻🅸🆅🅴 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 16: Live At Donington & A Real Live Dead One

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 16: Live At Donington & A Real Live Dead One

A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 episode

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #106

Scream for me, YouTube!  Harrison and Mike will be live Friday evening, July 4, for our next episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.  This period is a busy one in Maiden history.  The 1992 Fear on the Road tour resulted in a live album, 1993’s A Real Live One, which contained no overlap with previous live album Live After Death (ignoring Maiden England for this comparison).  The point was value, but was that a good idea?  The intention was always to follow it with A Real Dead One, but Bruce’s announcement that he was leaving Iron Maiden in 1993 put the dampers over the whole affair.  After Bruce had played his final show and was diving into making his solo album Balls to Picasso, Iron Maiden released a double live Live at Donington to commemorate the significant 1992 live gig with Bruce in the band.

There was also a VHS release of Bruce’s final show called Raising Hell, but we will tackle that subject in the next live episode.  For this week, we are covering 4 CDs of live Maiden, plus all the B-sides.  That means you’re getting A Real Live One, A Real Dead One, Live At Donington, plus the live singles for “Fear of the Dark” and “Hallowed Be That Name”.  Every song – that is how we do it here on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Artwork is an interesting subject to tackle when it comes to these albums.  Derek Riggs was back after a one-album absence, to provide artwork on A Real Live One and A Real Dead One.  Donington was issued with a simple white “bootleg” cover, the Maiden logo stamped in black, and no booklet.  Some consider this release to be an early form of an “official bootleg” release.   All these albums were reissued in 1998 with some changes.  A Real Live One and A Real Dead One were combined into one, and Donington was given actual cover art this time by Marillion artist Mark Wilkinson, featuring a demonic bat-Eddie 1992 concert goers would recognise from the show.  Mark will reappear in this series down the line….

Harrison and Mike will attempt to digest all of this live Maiden tonight, live.  Join us in the comments!

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

TWO SHOW WEEKEND! 50 Years of Iron Maiden, and the return of Jex Russell on Grab A Stack of Rock 🅻🅸🆅🅴 !

I am pleased to announce that Jex Russell is returning to the Grab A Stack of Rock live arena this Saturday morning.  In addition to that, Harrison Kopp and Mike will still be doing Episode 16 of 50 Years of Iron Maiden on Friday night, at our usual time.  Here are the details.

Friday July 4 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.: Grab A Stack of Rock Episode 106
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 16: Live At Donington & A Real Live Dead One
Mike and Harrison will tackle FOUR CDs of live Iron Maiden…live!

Saturday July 5 at 8:00 A.M. E.S.T.: Grab A Stack of Rock Episode 107
Ask Jex Anything! Music and Mental Health
Jex Russell returns to Grab A Stack of Rock for his first full live episode since fall 2024. Jex has had a lot of “Where have you been?” questions and he is eager to answer. We’ll be talking about music, mental health, and the importance of taking little moments for yourself. Mike will talk about his own journey with a chapter of his tale that he has never told before.

Don’t miss these two crucial live episodes of Grab A Stack of Rock!

Find us on YouTube!

 

 

HAPPY CANADA DAY! Top 11 Canadian Bands (Unknown Outside Canada)

Please join Jex and I today for a repeat of a personal favourite episode from both of us.  This was our 2023 Canada Day celebration, which I am running again today at 1:00 PM EST (July 1, 2025).  When Jex and I did this show originally, it happened to fall on June 30.  I am happy to run it on the actual date of Canada Day in 2025!

If you missed this episode, it was a really special one.  For Canada Day, Jex and I dug through our collections of physical media to present what we think are the Top 11 Canadian Bands that are less known outside Canada.  It was a very popular episode and a great way to re-launch Grab A Stack of Rock list shows.  (You can even see a remnant of the ill-advised “heels era” in Harrison’s art if you look closely!)  Most importantly, this episode showcases a whole bunch of bands that you really need to check out.

Thanks Jex Rambo Russell for a terrific Canada Day celebration.  We wanted to list 11 Canadian bands that we thought you should know.  I think we did a sweet job of it, with plenty of really cool “Show & Tell” on vinyl, cassette and CD.  Loads of rarities and obscurities here to check out, and a music video as well.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!  Below you’ll also see a graph of the cities from which the listed bands originated.  Hamilton won handily!  Check out the show and see who, what, and where!

Tuesday July 1 at 1:00 PM EST, 2:00 PM Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube.  You can click the graphic below to jump to YouTube.

 

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Collections! Stories! Maiden on Vinyl, Bottlecaps & More!

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:
Collections! Stories! Maiden on Vinyl, Bottlecaps & More!

With special guest Aaron “Mr. Books” KMA and Jex Russell

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

Originally run:  June 16 2023.  Now edited with new content.

This special bonus episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden may be an old show from 2023, but most Maiden viewers never saw it, so I re-edited it and we’re running it again!  This episode was a special fun one that we did with Aaron “Mr. Books” KMA, showing off parts of our Maiden collections.

Aaron, being Mr. Books, had one of Bruce Dickinson’s novels on hand.  He also had a near-mint collection of Trooper beer bottle caps, and a rare Iron Maiden menu from Toronto.  Harrison tended to focus on CDs.  He had some rare bootlegs, including a DVD.  For myself, I was eager to show off my Maiden vinyl collection at the time, including coloured vinyl, picture discs, some sealed records, and much more.  Early on, Jex Russell showed up just to crash the party!

Speaking of books, we also took a look (for the very first time) at a Maiden book that features Mike himself.  Chances are, you’ve never seen this book before.  You definitely have never seen it on 50 Years of Iron Maiden before.

This was the infamous night that Jen had a seizure, fell, and almost broke her jaw.  I’ve edited most of that stuff out but some remnants remain.

Friday June 27 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 15: Fear of the Dark

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 15:  Fear of the Dark

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #105

In the spring of 1992, Iron Maiden returned with new music, less than two years since No Prayer for the Dying.  Album #2 for Janick Gers, and final album (for a long time) with Bruce Dickinson.  It was also the final production before retiring for longtime Maiden compatriot, Martin “Black Knight” Birch.  An historic album, significant in the discography, but of mixed reception.  We tackle Maiden’s direction(s) on this album, the first of the “grunge era” which found bands like Iron Maiden with diminishing sales.  We also had to address the new artwork by Melvyn Grant, the first Maiden album cover without Derek Riggs.

Eeeeewhhh-ZACH!  Maiden began to explore current events in their lyrics, along with some different musical directions, from ballads to Zeppelin-like dirges.   Were they chasing trends?  Harrison makes some arguments for this, while Mike bluntly states what he likes and does not like about each of the 12 album tracks.

There are more than just the 12 album tracks to discuss:  a variety of B-sides are included, such as covers of Montrose, Budgie and Chuck Berry songs.  There are comedic novelty songs (plural!) for fans only, and there are live tracks, plus one rare remix.  We tackle all of them.

As usual, Harrison discusses the tour, and how many of the songs were actually played live.  You can count on us to give you a complete picture of every era of Iron Maiden, and Fear of the Dark is one that makes for good deconstructing.  You can also count on our honesty, and Fear of the Dark is an album that divides fans…again.

Tell us what you think tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

 

Friday June 20 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

BONUS!  We also unboxed Martin Popoff’s new book HALLOWED BY THEIR NAME: THE UNOFFICIAL IRON MAIDEN BIBLE in a bonus episode earlier this week!

 

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Unboxing Martin Popoff’s Hallowed By Their Name: The Unofficial Iron Maiden Bible

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Unboxing Martin Popoff’s Hallowed By Their Name: The Unofficial Iron Maiden Bible

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

Welcome to a special “teaser” episode!  At long last, Martin Popoff’s Unofficial Iron Maiden Bible, called Hallowed By Their Name, has arrived at Grab A Stack HQ!  Check out this monstrosity in the bonus video below.

This is a gorgeous book, and heavy as the metal it represents.  Looking much like an actual hardcover bible, this book covers the entire 50 year history of the band, with loads of full colour pictures and 666 fully loaded pages.

Check out the unboxing video and let’s look forward to talking to Martin about this incredible book in the future.

Video is up now!   Enjoy on YouTube.

 

 

 

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist:

The Contrarians Live: Huh?!? Album Covers that Send the Wrong Message

After a couple weeks off, I’m back on the Contrarians live show tonight to talk about…what, exactly?

The idea here is to find 10 albums covers that send the wrong message musically.  Maybe it’s a heavy album that looks too soft, or vice-versa.  Maybe it’s a studio album that looks like a compilation.  Perhaps it’s a record that looks like it’s from another genre.  Join the usual suspects tonight to have a look at our picks!

 

THE CONTRARIANS – Huh?!? Album Covers that Send the Wrong Message – Wednesday June 18 –  7:00 PM EST

My Contrarians appearances to date:

  1. Nicknamed Album Covers
  2. Minimalist cover art
  3. Brown album covers
  4. Yellow album covers
  5. Albums with Fire and Explosions
  6. Spaceships! Aliens! Robots!
  7. This Album Cover is Hell!
  8. Toys & Games
  9. Dreaming in Stereo:  Beds & Sleep on album covers
  10. Favourite Bands…WORST Album Covers
  11. They Swapped Covers!
  12. Great Album Covers From Bands We Despise
  13. Top 10 NWOBHM Covers
  14. It’s A Piece of Art!
  15. Compilation Kaos!
  16. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Hipgnosis!
  17. Amped Up!
  18. Packaging Fails
  19. Where’s the Band?
  20. Slippery When Wet
  21. Greetings From New York
  22. Done With Mirrors
  23. Eyes Without A Face
  24. Rock Out With Your Clock Out!
  25. Album Covers You Can Hear
  26. Album Covers You Can Smell
  27. Huh?!? Album Covers that Send the Wrong Message

Bicyclelegs: Marillion – The Sequel To Success: Clutching At Straws (w. Mike Ladano)

As promised, I have returned to Bicyclelegs’ excellent YouTube channel for a THIRD round of Marillion.  Last year, we discussed our favourite songs from each studio album from 1983 to 1995.  Then, we covered the rest! This time,we take a deep dive on what some consider to be the best of the original Marillion four:  Clutching At Straws.

This episode is available now!

 

Welcome to The Sequel To Success! In this series we will be looking at the album that came after a huge album for an artist and discuss whether the follow up was a success or failure both artistically and commercially. Today Mike Ladano from Grab A Stack Of Rock joins me to discuss Clutching At Straws by neo-prog legends Marillion. This was the follow up to their platinum selling (in the U.K.) album Misplaced Childhood which had also produced the hit singles Kayleigh and Lavender. We go through the album track by track, analyse where it succeeds (and maybe where it doesn’t) and discuss what came after (in this case, quite a lot!).

Adventures in Epilepsy – Special Re-Formatted Episode – Tonight Jun 13 7:00 PM EST

Originally broadcast on Oct 2, 2020 as two streams totaling 2 hours and 12 minutes.  This new version has been re-focused down to a perfect 50 minute show.

In October of 2020, right in the thick of the pandemic, Jen had a seizure at a local fast food restaurant.  She fell and broke her arm.  We decided to make that week’s episode of the LeBrain Train all about epilepsy awareness.  While we did our best, we had technical difficulties that night, and the episode didn’t turn out like we hoped.

It’s funny to go back and watch live streams from five years ago.  So much has changed since then.   The original 2020 show was split into two live streams as some viewers reported that the Facebook feed was freezing, so we stopped and re-started.  Additionally, the original show was live and off the cuff, and was interrupted several times.  This new edit has all the epilepsy content in one stream.  As such, Adventures in Epilepsy episode has never been presented as one cohesive video before.

Hear all about missing out on a free U2 concert, having to leave movies and shows early with no refunds, and nearly walking into traffic!  Also hear the lighter side of seizures.  We learned early on, if you can’t laugh at these things, you’re doomed.

Join us tonight as we educate and illuminate living with epilepsy.  Though a lot has changed since 2020, the experiences remain raw and true.  Health has improved since then, which we also touch on with additional narration recorded in 2025.

Jen herself appeared in this episode, as good a sport as any.  Good friend and author Aaron Lebold joined the show that night to discuss his own experiences with epilepsy, which he seems to have grown out of in his adult life.  Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound and Kevin Simister from Buried On Mars also joined the show at the end to say hello.  Though most of their parts were cut to shorten and focus the episode (some unboxings and other outdated content were cut), we always appreciate their support.

Check out this special re-amplified episode tonight at 7:00 PM EST on the Grab A Stack of Rock live streams.

Top three musicians with epilepsy

1. Prince.  The royal single-monikered one was born epileptic and suffered a lot of taunting at school.  He obviously came a long way from there

2. Adam Horovitz.  This Beastie Boy is sensitive to flashing lights, which I am sure they use in their stage show.  It certainly didn’t seem to hold him back from massive success.

3. Neil Young.  He was medicated for epilepsy as a child, but didn’t like the side effects of the meds, which can go all over the spectrum depending on you and your meds.  Neil chose to make lifestyle changes instead, and has lived without medication since!  And, obviously, rocked the world.  Good on you Neil.

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 14: No Prayer for the Dying featuring Reed Little

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 14: No Prayer for the Dying

With special guest Reed Little

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #104

Change.  Though nobody could predict what the 1990s would bring, for hard rock and heavy metal, changes were afoot.  In Iron Maiden’s case, the changes began with No Prayer for the Dying, the first album since the debut without Adrian Smith on guitar.

Enter:  Janick Gers, former Gillan guitarist, but more importantly, an alumni of Bruce Dickinson’s Tattooed Millionaire band.  Even with a familiar face on board, Iron Maiden were bound for change.  Shorter songs.  Less progressive elements.  Stripped back music, artwork and stage show.  And one massive hit single.

Harrison, Mike and special guest Reed Little came at this album with different perspectives.  Therefore, more than any prior episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden, our opinions differ from one another.  This makes for a rousing, fun episode!  As an added bonus, we have some 1990 Nicko McBrain footage talking about how feels about the “new” album.

As usual can you expect Harrison to go through the tour and setlist in detail.  We will also discuss the four single B-sides:  “All In Your Mind”, “Kill Me Ce Soir”, “Communication Breakdown” and “I’m A Mover”.   We will also appraise the cover art, both the original and reissue Derek Riggs paintings.

Holy Smoke, I can’t believe we have already finished the entire decade of the 80s and are moving into the 1990s!  Be sure not to miss this important episode, and the changes to follow!

Friday June 6 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

Handy YouTube Playlist: