I was honoured to be asked to join Grant and company for his ongoing Bon Jovi series – Convert the Critic. Our task was to convince Grant on two latter day Bon Jovi albums: Crush and Bounce. I had all my albums and singles ready, and I also listened to some demos from the Bon Jovi box set 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can’t Be Wrong. Grant was open minded and listened to all of our arguments. Grant’s panel:
Grab A Stack of Rock
The Parish of Rock
The Elder of Rock
David Alpizar
Yes it was another “Of Rock” episode on Grant’s Rock Warehaus! A good time was had by all, some good songs were discussed, and some cheesy lyrics were dissected. Thanks for watching if you caught it live, and if you didn’t, you can catch it below!
RECORD STORE TALES #1223: The Creative Process and Why I Love Editing (The new and improved Grab A Stack of Rock show intro video)
Funny thing about creativity: Sometimes size does matter.
The size of your canvas, that is.
I love editing videos, and my pet project for three years now has been the theme video for my YouTube show, Grab A Stack of Rock. In those three years, I have created over 100 revisions. I have spent countless hours at my deck working on them. My old PC’s fans used to groan in protest when loading the files.
Ever since the old LeBrain Train days, I wanted an opening theme song video that include every guest who had ever been on the show. When we started over from scratch, that was still my goal. Now we have had 50 guests and the old theme song video was getting cramped. Tim Durling extended it a long time ago by looping a chorus, so I came to him for help once again. Creatively, Tim added a guitar solo to extend the song’s length even further. Modestly, Tim said “It should be apparent to anyone listening that a professional guitar player I am not, but it sure was fun.” Hey man, it’s good enough for rock and roll, and it gave me a much larger canvas to play with.
When I had the much shorter video, it was always painful for me to edit when we had a new guest to add to the show. What do I cut, in order to fit the new person in? There were some parts of the video that were synched to the song and were set in stone – Paul Shortino’s cameo, for example, my laugh at the end, and so on. I love editing; it is one of my favourite parts of the creative process. I can sit and edit all day and not realize how much time has gone by. I always pay for it later in cramps.
Thanks to Tim and this ever-expanding song I now have more canvas, and I’ve been playing with it even more.
“It needs more Dan Chartrand,” I said at first, and so I added more Dan, and just for kicks, more Jex too. Game Show Host Jex, with the jacket.
There was also one shot in the original video that always bugged me. It’s one of the oldest shots, but it is from a Christmas show that included Brian Richards as a guest – his only show as a guest. But it was a static shot and always stood out for that reason. It hasn’t looked right for a long time, so I took this opportunity to replace it with a moving shot of Brian waving. I also wanted more Nurse Kat, since she did two episodes with us, and more Archie Gamble since he did three. In a fun happenstance, I got one shot of Archie synched up to the chorus, so it looks like he’s singing Grab A Stack of Rock. I also wanted more Davey Cretin, so a chose a shot from our Brave New World episode that has me holding stacks of Maiden during the chorus.
I hope this brief glimpse of a day’s work gives you an idea of why I love working on editing videos. There is almost always something you want to fix, but the process of doing so either becomes so impossibly tedious that I say, “That’s it, this work is done.” Not done – abandoned!
I have been working in the video medium, as an amateur, for 36 years. I like editing to music. I like placing my edits at key moments of songs, or at least with the beat. It gives me a framework and enhances the visuals. I’m obviously just a hack; this isn’t a “how-to”. I’m just expressing what I love and why I drink my coffee until it is stone cold, sitting here trying to perfect that magical “final” edit.
And then I wait, because now I can’t wait for the next guest to arrive and be added to the showcase.* We still have several more to come!**
One day I’d like to do some more animation, but that is mostly an outdoor summer activity for me. For now, I will continue to enjoy doing this for myself, because at the end of the day, nobody else notices all the minute little tweaks and changes I make to my passion projects.
*We’ve already added Lana Teramae, and another new addition, Bob Cesca, will join us this week on 50 Years of Iron Maiden.
**Two more guests are coming on 50 Years of Iron Maiden: Ryan Murphy from RushFans, and D’Arcy Briggs from darcyska. We also have plans with author Robert Lawson, and an interview with a musician that I am not ready to disclose.
Written by Mike Ladano, Jen Ladano, and Tee Bone Erickson. Recorded and performed by Tee Bone, guitar solo and remix by Tim Durling
Blaze Bayley
Harrison Kopp
Mike Ladano
Eric “Uncle Meat” Litwiller
Aaron KMA
Tim Durling
Rob Daniels
John T Snow
Marco D’Auria
Grant Arthur
Brian Richards
MarriedandHeels
Kevin Simister
Dr. Kathryn
Jen Ladano
Grace Scheele
Jex Russell
Spencer “Spenny” Rice
Nurse Kat
Peter Kerr
John Clauser
Erik Woods
Jason Drury
Pierre-Luc Allard
Len Labelle
Reed Little
Metal Roger
John the Music Nut
Mike Slayen
Pete Jones
Todd Evans
James Kalyn
Angie Moon
Ryan Gavalier
Chris Preston
Dan Chartrand
Glen “Archie” Gamble
bicyclelegs
Davey Cretin
Melissa Nee
Sidney Cini A
Ashley Geisler
Martin Popoff
Bert Blotto
F Lee Harvey Blotto
Bowtie Blotto
Broadway Blotto
Jake Not From State Farm
Bob Cesca (Camp Chaos)
Lana Teramae
and (briefly) Max the Axe
Plus Daisi the Dog, Gimli the Cat (RIP) and Galadriel the Cat
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 123: Happy Halloween – Top 5 Band Costumes & A Tribute to Ace Frehley
With Mike, Harrison, Johnny Metal and Rob Daniels – IN COSTUME!
Happy 3rd birthday to Grab A Stack of Rock (Oct 28 2022)! We have a special show tonight. Not only do we have an excellent panel of returning guests, but we have a fun, Halloween-themed gimmick-laden episode to satisfy! And of course, for the physical media crowd, we will have lots of CDs (rare, imports) and some music merch to look at!
The show topics tonight are three:
1. Our panel will be dressed in costumes! Some many be dressed in two costumes!
2. Mike will run down his top Ace Frehley songs of all time, from his Kiss, Comet and Solo careers. Knowing Mike, expect deep cuts and non-album tracks.
3. Top Five Band Costumes from the panel. Any band, any costume qualifies. Literally anything from the matching Beatles suits to Gwar.
Don’t miss this special episode, coming to you LIVE on YouTube. Join us in the comments – we love to interact! Best of all, we plan to be done in time for you to catch the World Series game tonight.
Friday October 31 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
Earlier in 2025, I was sent a new drone to test. I was very excited to receive my U11Mini 4k drone from Ruko, but struggled to keep it flying straight. I crashed it once in the summer. I thought my issues were due to user error, weather, or bad calibration. I didn’t think it was due to a faulty drone. I tried it once more in early October. The flight started well enough, but I lost control of the drone during the return. It started veering to the left and losing altitude. I managed to bring it back to the beach and land it in the sand, but I thought for sure it was going to hit the water or trees.
I figured three strikes and you are out – I didn’t plan to fly the Ruko again, despite its awesome 4k camera and ability to hold a level image even if the drone is flying on a 35 degree angle. I packed it up. My dad talked me into changing my mind.
“Why don’t you just contact their customer support?” he asked.
“Because this drone was a free review copy,” I answered simply. “I did the review and gave it a passing mark.” As a creative individual, I like to make my own videos, and edit them how I please. Working with Ruko, they encouraged me to film different landmarks and objects from the drone. I prefer working independently on my videos, so I didn’t really want to go back to them. Yet, my dad was right. What harm could come from submitting a ticket for customer support?
Ruko came through. All they asked for was the flight log for the most recent video where I encountered troubles. You can see in the video below, I flew fine and straight for the outbound flight. Upon my return, the drone started veering off to the left, and losing altitude. I could not control it, but barely managed to land it in the sand without hitting the water, rocks, or trees. Ruko had a look at the flight log and determined that it was not user error. They offered to send me a new drone!
“Just the bare drone,” they said, and I agreed. I didn’t need new batteries, a new case, or a new controller. Just the drone itself.
Two days later, there was a parcel! And it wasn’t just the bare drone. It was the whole package – cables, case, batteries, controller, and everything else you need. I now had two complete drone sets, one that didn’t work and one that was brand new out of the box!
The only unfortunate thing is the time of year. I let Ruko know that in Canada, it was fall turning into winter, and the window for good flying days was over. They said “no problem”.
While I still have not had a chance to test the new Ruko drone, I can give their customer service a 5/5 star rating. Fast, hassle-free and helpful. Hopefully I will get a chance to fly again before the spring. If not, thank you Ruko and we’ll see you next year!
John Clauser is back with his Monday Night Metal chat! Tonight we will be telling ghost stories! Halloween is near and spooky season is upon us! All of us will take turns telling some fun stories that are not too dark. Just right for your hot chocolate by the screen tonight.
Joining Johnny this episode:
Dan Chartrand from Off the Charts
Sidney Cini from Slogan’s Rock and Metal Extravaganza
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 122: The End Continues with Uncle Meat and Dan Chartrand
In September of 2024, Marco D’Auria, Dan Chartrand, and Uncle Meat joined us to celebrate 40 years of This Is Spinal Tap. This comprehensive and loving analysis needed a followup episode once the sequel, The End Continues, had come out. Now it has, and we have all seen it. Dan and the Meat are back tonight to discuss the sequel, and the sequel soundtrack! Tonight we’re gonna rock ya tonight!
Though we have not had 40 years to study up like we did last time, we have done our homework and will be addressing the below topics and more:
What were your hopes and fears going into this movie?
Where and when did you see it?
The new drummer – our impressions.
Favourite scene.
Favourite cameo / callback.
Soundtrack thoughts: New songs, old songs, and CD vs the movie.
The big question: Did it live up to the Spinal Tap legacy?
Please join us live tonight in the comments. There will be blood to let!
Friday October 24 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
Thanks Chipster PR for this brand new Coney Hatch CD sent by an unusual courier! This new remastered 2 CD anniversary edition includes the original album, with hits like “Monkey Bars” and “Hey Operator”! It also doesn’t exclude the three bonus tracks from a prior edition, but also includes 10 tracks live at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland 1982.
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 24: Eddie’s Archive and Edward the Great
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #121
Post-Brave New World, Iron Maiden were back on top. With the struggles of the 1990s well behind them, Iron Maiden forged forward with new releases such as Rock In Rio, Edward the Great, and Eddie’s Archive. Rock in Rio was a double-live, the likes not seen since last Bruce was in. We covered this in our previous episode. The latter two were Iron Maiden collections aimed at two very different groups of fans.
Edward the Great was a “hits compilation” aimed at new fans. As a single disc compilation, it was limited by its length, and an interesting selection of tracks. As a whole, it offered nothing besides new artwork for the seasoned Iron Maiden fan. They were advised to save their money and buy the massive, limited edition Eddie’s Archive instead.
The Archive was a generous six-disc collection of three:
Discs 1 & 2 – BBC Archives. We covered the first four songs in this set on our debut episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden, so we won’t be tackling these again tonight. These discs span professional BBC recordings from 1980 to ’88.
Discs 3 & 4 – Beast Over Hammersmith. Episode 6 of 50 Years of Iron Maiden was dedicated to this double-live album, so there is little need to repeat our praise.
Discs 5 & 6 – Best of the B’Sides. We already critiqued all of these songs on the relevant albums, so our commentary here is focused more on value to the fan.
Mike and Harrison will break down the above releases, including Edward the Great, and have lots to show as well. The goodies on display include two complete Eddie’s Archives: One pre-ordered and delivered back in 2002, with rear sticker still intact, and one “Archive of Theseus” that Harrison will explain the origins of.
This magnificent metal episode is brought to you by the letter E, not to mention Mike and Harrison. Please check out the premiere tonight if you can! We love to interact in the comments section.
Friday October 17 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. Enjoy on YouTube.
When I was in grade eight, I nicknamed myself “Ace”.
I think the reason I picked Ace as my favourite Kiss member (and therefore favourite rock star) back then was twofold. It didn’t have anything to do with the music. I didn’t know what songs he wrote, and I didn’t hear any of the songs he sang for a short while. Early in my Kiss fandom, I picked Ace because of his cool silver makeup, and the spaceman theme. I was a science fiction kid looking for my next thrill now that Star Wars was over. It was Kiss.
Frehley’s guitar playing wasn’t complicated, but it was impossible to duplicate. Kiss know that: they tried. Any Kiss fan worth their salt can easily tell the difference between Ace and his final replacement, Tommy Thayer. Tommy was the next best thing, but he didn’t have that chonky, gnarly feel that Ace poured into every solo and every rhythm track.
Ace’s style was based on the pentatonic blues scales of the classic rock bands he loved. His rhythms, double tracked with a Les Paul and a Fender, was the foundation of the original Kiss sound. His solos, blazing and breakneck, were squiggly delights of power. I loved Ace.
When I got my first Kiss albums in September of 1985, I had yet to hear his voice. When I finally did on Dynasty, I loved it. Ace’s voice had a smooth, commercial sound that Gene and Peter’s did not. I loved “2000 Man” and “Hard Times”. Especially “Hard Times”, because the lyrics gave a glimpse of the childhood of the Bronx boy named Paul Frehley.
Ace’s first post-Kiss solo album was finally released in 1987, and I was immediately on board. My sister bought Frehley’s Comet for my birthday that summer. I loved the album: “Rock Soldiers”, “Into the Night”, “Calling To You”, “Fractured Too”…I played it back to back all summer. I dreamed of Ace opening for Kiss on their upcoming Crazy Nights tour. Hah! As if that would happen.
Ace’s premature loss is tragic, but what is most tragic is that Kiss refused to allow him back on stage with them during their farewell tour. By now we have all learned that life is too short to not reconcile with our friends and loved ones. Kiss never did and now they never can, and that is a tragic loss too.
On September 25 2025, Ace fell in his home studio. He suffered bleeding in the brain, and was taken off life support on October 16. Kiss fans worldwide steeled themselves for the news.
I hope Ace is not just remembered for the classic Kiss songs he wrote and played on. I hope attention is paid to his solo albums, from which you could build an absolutely killer boxed set. Tracks like “Insane”, “Juvenile Delinquent”, “Trouble Walkin'”, “Space Invader”, “I Wanna Go Back”, and “Mission To Mars” should all be given just as much attention as “Rip It Out”.
The first original Kiss member to fall was Ace Frehley. That is a sad landmark. Let us remember him not for the feuds, the drama, or the negative words that Gene and Paul bandied about too often. Let’s remember Ace for his charisma and most of all, his music.
A quick update as we head into the final cottage weekend of the season. Grab A Stack of Rock will roll on with some great content this winter and into 2026, but changes are afoot.
mikeladano.com 