Once more I had the pleasure of doing a show with D’Arcy Briggs from the YouTube channel @darcyska. A few days ago, D’Arcy asked me if I’d be up to record on a topic of my choosing. My first thought was “movie soundtracks”.
D’Arcy prepared a series of questions for me and off we went! Topics include:
First loves in soundtracks and childhood memories.
Top Five Soundtrack list.
An underrated soundtrack (for Jex Russell).
What makes a good score?
Listening to curated song soundtracks.
Fictional movie band soundtracks.
A recent TV series’ soundtracks.
Has streaming changed how we listen to soundtracks?
Discovering bands via soundtracks, and gatekeeping by the old fans.
While we were at it, we took a good look at some physical CDs, soundtracks from my collection and D’Arcy’s too.
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 22: Brave New World
Special Guest: Davey Cretin from Cretin Classics
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #118
How do you move on from a special interview with former Maiden frontman Blaze Bayley? By going to the next album, of course! After the wildly successful Ed Hunter reunion tour, the new six-man Iron Maiden lineup of Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Adrian Smith and Nicko McBrain were tasked with creating a new Iron Maiden studio album. With new producer Kevin “Caveman” Shirley at the boards (whom they tested out on “Wrathchild 1999” – see Episode 21), the band had to capture their classic sound with modern production and a new three-guitar configuration.
The band toiled away in the studio as fans speculated. Finally we were given a preview of the new Maiden sound on the first single “The Wicker Man”. This was followed by the rapturous release of Brave New World on 29 May 2000. Together, with the legendary Davey Cretin of Cretin Classics, Harrison and Mike break down the album’s 10 tracks in incredible detail. You simply will not find a better analysis of this album anywhere else on the internet.
We don’t just dive deep into the album. As usual, you can expect us to tackle all the live B-sides from “The Wicker Man” and “Out of the Silent Planet”. We will also look at some very rare CD singles, including the elusive remix of “The Wicker Man” with additional lyrics. We will also have a good look at the album and singles artwork, and even a special edition DVD of the Wicker Man movie with Edward Woodward and Sir Christopher Lee.
Before we’re done, Harrison will take us through the Brave New World tour, the setlists and the performances. Expect the level of detail, analysis and pure love that you have come to know from 50 Years of Iron Maiden. It’s all here as we enter the brave new world of the Maiden reunion era!
Friday September 26 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube.
RECORD STORE TALES #1217: When the Fall Starts to Fall
The Equinox has passed us (Sept. 22). All that remains is the clock change (Nov. 2). The Seasonal Affective Disorder remains at bay for the moment. Green still rules the outdoors, for now holding the bleak grey back. Soon, however, this shall change. What challenges will the fall bring?
I think, for the time being at least, I am done doing the live Contrarians on Wednesday nights. It was a key part of my mental health strategy last winter, but like many things it became monotonous. If the Contrarians do return on Wednesday nights this fall and winter, I am not sure if I will participate. It was a healthy form of expression, but I confess that I prefer doing my own thing. It enabled me to meet and work with new friends, which was valuable. It is possible that I may replace it with something of my own in the same time slot, if it is not being used by the Contrarians. We shall see.
My biggest challenge at the moment is what I call the “Monday Crash”. I seem to struggle with waking up on a Monday morning these days. Sometimes I just can’t see to get out of bed, and I end up working from home. The option to work from home does help, but working from the office is infinitely more efficient. My Mondays seem to be an uneasy truce between depression and dedication. This happened through the summer too, but I worry about how fall will effect the battle. Will it sway one side or another?
Back in 2022, my strategy for coping with fall and winter involved sending pictures and videos of Canadian weather to my new friend in California, MarriedandHeels. While it did help for a while, it was not a good long-term strategy. The novelty of taking winter pictures for a far-away friend, for her reactions, was a good idea but it could not last the whole season. I needed strategy that focused on me, and not someone else. I am pleased to say that MarriedandHeels and I are friends again, on normal social media, and have been for longer than we were originally the first time. Unfortunately, she is dealing with her own things today and I can’t base any strategies on her in 2025. I find myself trying to support her, which is not a bad thing.
For the winter of 2025, I am going to try and do some things that we never got around to last year. These ideas included a winter trip to the cottage. That is still in the cards, if the weather happens to line up with a free weekend. Record shopping in the winter is also a must.
Things seem to be going OK. I just got a new PC (though the CD drive is not quite working yet), and 50 Years of Iron Maiden is keeping me busy. It has been an enriching experience. Before we’re done, we’ll have three more guests who have never been on Grab A Stack of Rock before. These things are healthy and keep me from becoming a recluse.
Here we go, lads. Let’s have a triumphant winter like last year. Repeat performance. Let’s go!
Oh, 1988! A new band starring Lenny Wolf from Stone Fury had started his new band Kingdom Come, and the “Led Clones” accusations were rampant! MuchMusic VJ Laurie Brown refers to them as “Kingdom Clone” here.
Antix were an independent hard rock band out of Ottawa, Ontario. They released several records and are possibly best known for “Kick It Up” from the Raw M.E.A.T CD compilation. Check out their Pepsi Power Hour bumper!
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!
August 1991: MuchMusic rarely did phone interviews, but when Lars Ulrich is on a big promotional binge, you take what you can get! Michael Williams, proudly sporting his Fishbone shirt, got to quiz Lars with questions on the new album, and new video “Enter Sandman”, for roughly 10 minutes.
We all knew the next Metallica album was going to be huge. The hype had been building for a year. It was just a matter of the release date.
It’s “the record people say Metallica were always trying to make,” said Lars. Too much of a big deal was being made about Bob Rock, he claims.
“We had Canadian flags all over the studio,” says Lars of the studio vibe with Bob Rock, in answer to Lars’ Danish flag and James’ Star Spangled Banners.
Lars characterizes Rock as someone to bounce ideas off of. He doesn’t really know what a producer does, but had an idea of what he wanted Bob Rock to capture in the studio. The last two months was spent overdubbing and layering; stuff that Lars was not familiar with.
Lars also discusses a massive album release party with 18,000 people at Madison Square Gardens.
Is Metallica finally becoming more “video-friendly”? Watch this legendary interview with Ulrich to find out.
From fall 1988, right before Gene Simmons was set to do his big interview promoting the new Simmons Records label, Pepsi Power Hour host Laurie Brown had Rob Cavestany and Dennis Pepa of the young thrash band Death Angel come in for a quick chat!
Why is there so much thrash coming out of the San Francisco Bay area?
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.
Spoiler Alert! Sven Gali and director Phil Kates won the Best Metal Video at the 1993 MuchMusic Video Awards.
The classic lineup of Dave Wanless, Dee Cernille, Shawn “TT” Minden, Andy Frank and Gregg Gerson were on hand to receive the award and perform the awesome single “Under the Influence” live. With energy and heads-a-bangin’, Sven Gali rocked the studio and the street with ruthless aplomb. Yet the band were humble as they received their honours. Is that Kim Mitchell in the audience?
Teresa Roncon presents the band in this classic MuchMusic video, while Erica Ehm is also present for the proceedings. Check out the other nominees!
mikeladano.com 