Our Music and Mental Health series on YouTube seemed to do some good. We decided to keep going with it. Viewers told us they’d like updates on how we’re all doing, so here’s an update on:
Jen’s health
House issues
Writing Grandma’s funeral speech
The speech is now coming along, and I’ll be proud to post it here after the funeral.
I hope you get something from this video, because when things get hard, sometimes you just gotta laugh.
Click the pic below to get to our Music & Mental Health playlist on YouTube, and check it out.
The Blaze Bayley era ended as swiftly as it began. Two studio albums and a handful of singles were all this lineup produced. Here we appraise the final Iron Maiden album with Blaze at the microphone, the oft-misunderstood Virtual XI.
This episode will prove to be our most controversial to date. Special guest Jake (Not From State Farm) does not hold back on certain topics, especially when it comes to fandom unwilling to accept the new lead singer. As fans of this dark era of Iron Maiden, we will tell you what was great about this album, while hopefully taking a balanced approach. Even so, some will not be happy with what we have to say.
Personal memories of Virtual XI are coupled with the facts and figures. Unlike the X Factor, we do not have 14 original studio tracks to break down this time. Iron Maiden took a leaner approach to songwriting and recording this time, but the two singles (“Angel and the Gambler”, and “Futureal”) did yield a small treasure trove of live versions, something that the previous singles did not. As usual we will look at every single B-side, including the edit version of “Angel and the Gambler”. We will also take a look at the limited edition lenticular cover art, while Harrison will go into detail on the accompanying tour.
Buckle up, metal heads. Tonight we take no prisoners on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
Friday August 8 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 112: Music & Mental Health II with Johnny Metal and Mike
This special live episode is a sequel to last month’s mental health episode called Ask Jex Anything. In this installment, Mike and Johnny Metal return to the cottage, live, to discuss new developments and updates. Returning to work after a mental health leave can be daunting, but we’re going to go there. Mike is also dealing with the death of his beloved grandmother, and all the complex feelings that arise from that.
Music will always remain important when we talk about mental health. When Mike first started experiencing his own issues, there was a new single out by Motley Crue called “Primal Scream” that seemed to express his feelings after a lifetime of bullying:
When I was just a young boy, Had to take a little grief, Now that I’m much older, Don’t put your shit on me!
What a release music can be! We will also discuss physical activity such as yoga, and other healthy ways to help purge those negative thoughts and feelings. We’ll also share an incredibly thoughtful email from Broadway Blotto, from (of course!) the band Blotto.
This is the first of two episodes today. 50 Years of Iron Maiden will continue in the evening. Look for this in a separate post. We hope you can join us live this afternoon for this very important episode of Grab A Stack of Rock.
Friday August 8 at 3:30 PM EST, 4:30 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
Wildfires are more and more common as the world warms, but this year has been something else.
The sunsets have been alien and unimpressive. The sun appears as a red dot, but disappears before reaching the horizon. You can’t smell or taste the smoke, like you could in 2023, but the visuals are more obvious in 2025. The windmills that dot Bruce County disappear into the distance. The horizon isn’t a clear line, but a blur. The sky is a hazy blue-grey. The water is a shimmery silver. It is like we live on an alien world, or a place from a science fiction dystopian novel.
This is the first chapter I have written since we lost Grandma on July 30, 2025. If she were here, I would show her the photos and videos and ask if she had ever seen the lake like this, in her 60 or so years at Lorne Beach. While I can never ask her now, I feel like the answer would be no. I don’t think she’d ever seen a sky like this on Lake Huron.
Grandma’s funeral will be August 22. I have been asked to speak. I would have wanted to speak even if I was not asked, but now that the task is ahead of me, I am strangely without words. I have things I want to say, but these thoughts are disorganized and jumbled. When I speak at her funeral, I want it to be the best speech I’ve ever given. I have spoken at weddings, funerals, and my Grade 2 English project, but this feels like the most important speech I have had to do yet. What to say?
I wish I could show you the wildfire haze, Grandma. Actually I wish you were there on the weekends like you used to be. I used to drive her to the lake. I would pick the music. She liked my picks. She didn’t even mind Sloan’s 4 Nights at the Palais Royale, which was the exact length that it took to go from her driveway in Waterloo to her cottage. A few weeks ago, we decided to drive to the cottage listening to music she’d like, so we picked the Swingers soundtrack. She loved Dean Martin. She loved Tony Bennett. A lot of our family’s musical inclination came from her side of the family. Though my dad played saxophone, Grandma’s family were the musicians.
I miss talking to her. I used to say she was the only one in my family who understood me when I spoke.
I’m going to have to come up with a heck of a speech for her.
Things you didn’t know about Grab A Stack of Rock summer HQ!
It’s not just about the music and showing off our collections in paradise. It’s also about emergency preparedness! Check out this helpful video in the event you’re ever up in cottage country during a nuclear meltdown.
These kits are distributed to residents within 10 km of the Bruce Nuclear power plant. I thought it would be at least interesting to have a good look inside one!
Join Tim Durling for another one of his channel’s fun features: Music charts from this time in history! This week, Tim goes back 50 years to August 2, 1970. Some interesting charting albums here from the 2001 soundtrack to Black Sabbath’s debut LP. Tim asked me to say a few words about Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath for this episode, so check it out!
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 19: Best of the Beast & Virus
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #111
Iron Maiden’s first official compilation album came at an interesting time. Many bands release such albums after a massive success, to keep capitalizing upon it and keep the artist on the charts. In Maiden’s career, the first compilation came during the dark times of the 1990s, when sales were lower and tickets were not flying out the door. Welcome to Best of the Beast, available in several configurations. There was a single CD (which we ignore for the purposes of this episode), a beefed up double CD, and a Holy Grail 4 LP set with exclusive extra tracks.
Taking a roughly reverse-chronological approach, Best of the Best contained a new single called “Virus”, unreleased live tracks, and the Soundhouse Tapes reissued. Harrison and I cover every single track, what might have been missing, and all the B-sides to the “Virus” single. We also take a deep dive into the artwork for the album, single, and postcards included. The album itself was a deluxe package with plenty of Eddies to enjoy.
Have you decided that you don’t need Best of the Beast because it is “merely” a compilation? Harrison and I will convince you otherwise, tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
Friday August 1 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube.
At long last, it is time for house renovations! We are receiving new windows and doors, as Phase One of this long awaited project. It begins today, July 28 2025.
In preparation for this project, I have dug up and rediscovered some cool treasures. We will be taking a look at more of them at a later time, but for this video, I decided to take advantage of the calm before the storm. Before the dust starts a-flyin’, let’s have a quick look at some fun re-discovered items in the Grab A Stack collection.
Please join Tim Durling and myself for this deep dive into Night Ranger’s fabulous 2014 album, High Road. This is a really special CD to me, with some great tracks including the title song, “I’m Coming Home” and “Don’t Live Here Anymore. Jack Blade, Brad Gillis, Kelly Keagy, Joel Hoekstra and Eric Levy really made a special album with this, and a pinnacle of the reunion era if you asked me.
Tim is doing this series of deep dives to celebrate his new book, Sing Me Away: The Night Ranger Album Review. You can get it on your local Amazon and check out an analysis of every Night Ranger album from a panel of experts. Including me!
Check out this episode of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, which will premiere later today.
For the love of the Ozzman, friends gathered together to mourn and celebrate the unique talents and charms of one John Michael “Ozzy” Osbourne.
Peter Kerr stated, if you walked up to an average person and asked them to name one icon of heavy metal, they’re likely to answer “Ozzy Osbourne”. As a founding member of Black Sabbath, whose 1970 debut is generally credited for creating “heavy metal”, Ozzy was on the ground floor as the voice and face of the founding fathers. Ozzy deserves far more credit than we could shower on him in just 80 minutes.
Joining me was Peter Kerr from Rock Daydream Nation, his fellow countryman Ash Geisler, and Jake (Not From State Farm) in his live debut on Grab A Stack of Rock. Each of us brought parts of our collections and stories of the ways in which Ozzy impacted our lives. We also had a special video clip from Uncle Meat, on Ozzy’s effect on his life trajectory.
Each of us had some stacks of Ozzy rock to show. Ash had some cool radio broadcast stuff and some interesting early CD pressings of Sabbath classics, not to mention a rare early Sabbath single in a picture sleeve. Peter and Jake brought their Diary/Blizzard box sets, and some favourite records. Mike provided Japanese imports, box sets, bonus tracks, and stories of discovery.
Peter came to us with some perspective from Bob Daisley, who he interviewed on Rock Daydream Nation. Ozzy’s vocal prowess in the early days was emphasized, and we also addressed that final concert that everyone is still talking about.
We ended the show with Uncle Meat’s performance of “Fairies Wear Boots”, with his old band Heavy Cutting.
On a sad note, we also paid tribute to a cast member of the Grab A Stack Gang that we lost this week. Yes, we didn’t just lose Ozzy, Hulk Hogan, Malcolm Jamal Warner, and Chuck Mangione. We also lost the beloved, fan favourite Gimley the Cat. I said a few words for Gimley, who was always by Rob Daniels’ side on his every appearance. I am sorry for your loss Rob.
Thank you for joining us on this very special episode of Grab A Stack of Rock. Next week: back to 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
mikeladano.com 