50 Years of Iron Maiden: Updated Playlist

Playlist below has been updated.  All episode dates subject to change.  Tomorrow is our 10th episode, not including bonus shorts!

The Contrarians Live: Done With Mirrors

Tim Durling came up with this topic, a nice simple one!  Album covers with reflections on them.  Could be mirrors, could be polished metal, or water!  Whatever the cover may be, if it has a reflection, it’s fair game for tonight.

Tune in live!

THE CONTRARIANS – Done With Mirrors – Wednesday April 9 –  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

 

 

#1181: Ice Storm April! [with Dashcam Video]

RECORD STORE TALES #1181: Ice Storm April!

I think one of the greatest reasons that my seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) has been non-existent this year is the revelation that I can work from home, and when I do it’s not as bad as I feared it would be.  This means if I can avoid driving due to weather, I don’t have to drive.  My work has a good policy on working from home that would give me this flexibility.  After all, when it comes down to brass tacks, the worst part of winter isn’t the weather.  It’s driving in it.  Looking at it from inside is actually kind of fun.

Our spring has been warm/cold off and on, but spring is definitely here.  That means that a few drivers have prematurely taken off their snow tires.  Canadians seem to forget that April can get angry, just when you think it’s all over.  I don’t know why they forget this, year after year.  Perhaps it’s wishful thinking.  Regardless, when that last angry storm hit us on April 3 2025, the lack of snow tires on cars that should know better by now, created an actual perfect storm of traffic chaos.

I was at work that morning, and watched as a wet mix of snow and rain suddenly pelted my car from outside.  Although I should have gone home immediately, I ate my lunch and emailed my bosses that I’d be working from home that afternoon.  I wish I had left 30 minutes earlier, but if wishes were horses…I’d probably still got stuck in traffic.

I watched as a pickup truck in front of me, on only the slightest incline, began to skid backwards.  He veered off to the left, and made a U-turn, unable to go up the slightest hill.  Once I crested the hill, I was met with three transport trucks that were completely stuck in the snow and ice.  I had to carefully navigate the space between them in order to proceed.  The hill got steeper, but I had no problem with my snow tires.

It was nerve wracking and I had my dad on the phone the whole time, keeping him up to date with my progress home; he was so worried.

I saw cars pull over to the side of the road just to brush the accumulating snow off their rear and side windows.  I was luckier.  With my dad’s help the day before, we just finished installing new windshield wipers on my car.  They were more than up to the task.

Lessons learned in the winter of 2025:

  1. Working from home alleviates the anxiety aspect of Seasonal Affective Disorder.
  2. Don’t take your winter tires off until mid-April!

Songs:

Buffalo Crows – “Starlord” from Bovonic Empire

Sword – “Unleashing Hell” from Sword III

Stir of Echoes – “Wild Eye” from Stir of Echoes

Blotto – “Secret Agent Man” / “Metalhead” live at Toad’s Place

Tim’s Vinyl Confessions Ep. 638: What Made Us Get Rush 50?

‘Twas an honour to sit with Rush scholars Tim Durling, Chez Cetra, and Ryan Murphy and talk about this wonderful Rush 50 box set!  You’ve already read my review, but what did these other fine folks have to say about this immersive Rush anthology box set?

Perhaps the most interesting testimony came from Ryan, who initially wasn’t all that psyched about the box set.  His attitude changed when he started digging in.  Why?  You’ll just have to watch and see.  Tim’s words are below.

To celebrate five decades of basically the best music ever, Rush recently released a career-spanning box set: 4 CDs or 7 LPs with a beautiful outer protective box, a stunning book full of information and amazing new Hugh Syme artwork for almost every song included. Ryan from ‪@Rushfans‬, Mike from ‪@GrabAStackofRocK‬ and frequent TVC co-host Chez give our thoughts on the value of owning the RUSH 50 BOXSET.

 

Rock Daydream Nation – Slayer: Reign In Blood – One of the greatest Metal albums of all time?

It is my honour to sit in with Peter Kerr to discuss this thrash metal classic that is outside my comfort zone.  We have had some success with similar shows before, such as the one where I became a Prince fan.  With Slayer’s Reign In Blood, I was faced with an album with unprecedented speed and intensity.  How did I fare?  As always, I immersed myself in the album with repeated plays in different settings.

Check out the show below, and face the Angel of Death on Rock Daydream Nation with Peter Kerr and I!

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 9: Powerslave with bicyclelegs talks music

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 9:  Powerslave

With bicyclelegs talks music

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #97

‘Twas a cool day in both Australia and Canada when three of us braved the scorching desert sands of Powerslave!  Joined by the legendary bicyclegs, Harrison and I took a deep dive into all eight tracks and all four B-sides.  Each time, our guest has picked a personal favourite album and bicyclelegs’ passion for Powerslave is obvious.  Join us for some deep insight into the songs, the lyrics and subject matter, the musicianship and of course the artwork!

As for physical product, we’ll see the vinyl and the new zoetrope vinyl too.  There are some special Reaction figures by Super 7 relevant to the album, and some singles too.

Taking the wheel at the end, Harrison will tell us of the tour, the setlists, and the songs that were played and how frequently.  Harrison is a musical tour encyclopedia, and this is always a highlight of the show.

Don’t miss this awesome episode, and be sure to like and subscribe if you haven’t already.

Friday April 4 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube.

Past episodes:

REVIEW: 58 – Diet For A New America (2000)

58 – Diet For A New America (2000, Americoma Records)

58:  Nikki Sixx and Dave Darling with Steve Gibb (son of Barry) and somebody called Bucket Baker.

It’s a tell-tale sign when a member of Motley Crue names an album after a Vegan health book! This album has no teeth. It also has no songs to speak of.  I guess Nikki and Darling took a random approach to the record, to be really experimental, and that’s cool.  It doesn’t mean the results were any good to listen to though.

It’s been…man, probably close to 20 years since I sold this CD. I did give it a try. I was exploring all kinds of music at the time from Zappa to Prodigy to Miles Davis but this is just loaded with non-songs and electro-techno-crapology.  There was only one song that I liked, which was called “Piece of Candy”.  It’s like…bad Beck, I guess.  I also remember a very lame spoken word thing called “El Paso” which sounded like an outtake from Alex Lifeson’s Victor album — but not as good lyrically or musically.

There is one cover:  “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O’Sullivan.  (Radio Station Girl loved that stupid song.)  There is also a re-released “Song To Slit Your Wrist By”, a Japanese Generation Swine bonus track.

I’ve read some people praising this album for being “different”. No, it’s not different. It’s different from Motley Crue. But, unfortunately, there were a hundred bands peddling this techno-rock-junk at the time.  Does Nikki Sixx chase trends, or not?  Well, here’s 58 to add credence to his theory.

1.5/5 stars.

The Contrarians Live: Greetings from New York

From the mind of Martin:  Album covers with that “New York” vibe.  Picturing the city, or just putting out that New York vibe.  One of my picks went so far off the beaten track, you won’t believe it.  Off by about 2000 years.  Any guesses?

Tune in tonight!

THE CONTRARIANS – Greetings from New York – Wednesday April 2 –  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

 

 

April 1: A Jackass Prank List Show with Chris Thuss [Re-Blog]

I don’t really do prank posts anymore, so instead let’s look back upon April 1 2022, the infamous “Prank Show” on my old show, the LeBrain Train.  The episode was a tad long, as back in the pandemic days we were trying to entertain people who were stuck at home.  It didn’t do well for views, so hopefully someone will check it out today.

This aired on a Friday night, and it was an evening of hilarity, pranks and Jackass appreciation!  Thank you to long time pal Chris Thuss for joining!  For lists, we did our Top Five Jackass Pranks, from the movies and TV shows.

This episode had three main segments:

  1. Stories and reminiscing pranks (Chris is an expert).
  2. The original 2020 prank calls made to the LeBrain Train, which confused the shit out of everyone!
  3. The Jackass lists and appreciation!

As an added bonus, we received prank calls live on the show from some naughty viewer!  And we even had a special drop-in from a certain Meat Man.

 

 

WTF Comments: Sir, This Is A Wendy’s (Eddie Van Halen)

In regards to this YouTube short, @MatChew75 posted the strange run-on sentences below, and then deleted his comment (after sobering up?) a few hours later.

It’s hard to read, so I understand if you just comment “Sir, this is a Wendy’s” and just move on.