2020

Best of 2020 Part 8: The Final Pathetic Excuse to Squeeze the Last out of this Series

GETTING MORE TALE #871:  The Final Pathetic Excuse to Squeeze the Last out of the “Best of 2020” Series
or, Best of 2020 Part 8

I end this Christmas holiday the best way I can:  spinning Masters of Metal Vol. 2, the very album that started me on this metal journey 36 years ago.  It’s an interesting contrast.  The old cliché, “It was a day much like this one…” doesn’t apply.  It was nothing like this Christmas.  The Christmas of 1984 and my resultant entire life happened because my best friend Bob Schipper came over on Boxing Day to play Snoopy and the Red Baron on the Atari 2600 while listening to Masters of Metal.  If not for that one special social interaction, would I ever have Felt the Noize?  Would I have Run to the Hills while warning of Another Thing Coming?  The kids of 2020 didn’t have the chance for that life changing experience this year.

So in solidarity with my friends and in the spirit of that holiday in 1984, my fellow creators and writers, I give you an R.

This has not been an easy season, but here we are — (here we “R!”) — we made it.  It’s 2021 and our creativity has fuelled us to survive 2020.  I would like to thank every person who has shared the screen with me in 2020 on Season One of the LeBrain Train web show:  Greg, Pat and Brian from Storm Force.  Steph Honde, Brent Jensen, Frank Loffredo, Jennifer, Deke, John, Aaron, Robert, Sarah, Kevin, Harrison, Eric, Geoff, Troy, Max, Mike Kovachik, Aaron Lebold, Mom, Dr. Kathryn, Tyler, Saige and Michael Morwood.  You have been a part of something positive in a year that needed you!

I don’t dare speak of goals or hopes or plans for 2021.  Survival is enough.  In order to continue surviving, I want to keep doing what I do.  In 2020, despite all the crap that we endured, I still managed to do 44 episodes of the LeBrain Train, plus a bonus 45th episode in memory of my Uncle Don Don via his CD collection.  I even finally reviewed every single Judas Priest album, completing a goal from 2012.

Some last minute interesting stats for 2020:  The Top Search Terms of 2020.  Some are oddly specific!

  1. kiss box set 2001 – 43 hits
  2. deep purple sonic zoom series – 37 hits
  3. clairvoyant cover with donington crowd – 27 hits
  4. deep purple made in japan super deluxe – 26 hits
  5. amazon – 20 hits
  6. cd black sabbath live evil digipack – 19 hits
  7. white lion mane attraction – 18 hits
  8. black sabbath born again review – 15 hits
  9. pearl jam 1992 box – 15 hits
  10. deep purple whoosh box set – 15 hits
  11. dokken up from – 14 hits

Well, that’s it for Masters of Metal Vol. 2, both sides done.  My vinyl today sounds better than the old cassette tape in 1984, but I like creating a setting when I write.  Vinyl back in its sleeve, that’s my cue to peace out!  Back to our regular, everyday schedule tomorrow.  If there is one last thing to share with you that I’ve learned, it’s that writing about music online is an interactive experience.  Since contact in our lives is precious, I’ve really enjoyed the collaborations that happened in 2020.  Adversity inspires creativity and you all rose to the occasion.  There was some good creative chemistry in 2020, a precious thing to find, and I hope for more in the future!

 

BEST OF 2020 SERIES

Part 1:  The Year in Review
Part 2:  Sunday Screening – Top Live Streams
Part 3:  Top TV & Movies
Part 4:  Guest Lists from Frankie & Michael
Part 5:  Nigel Tufnel Top Ten Albums of 2020
Part 6:  Iron Tom Delivers the Lists
Part 7:  The Stats of Doooom

Best of 2020 Part 7: The Stats of Doooom

Big thanks to 2020 for making this our most successful year at mikeladano.com yet.  The final tally is:

284,513 hits from 135,708 unique viewers.  This is a massive uptick from our previous best year, 2018, which received “only” 215,440 views.  Thank you pandemic, because that’s what this totally is.  I had no new ideas for 2020; I had given up on “growth”, only for 2020 to come to the rescue with a goddamn pandemic!

One way you can tell this uptick had nothing to do with me:  All the top hits are old, old posts with deep roots on Google searches.

  1. VAN HALEN – Zero – 2331 hits
  2. AMERICAN DAD – Persona Assistant – 2133 hits
  3. #551:  You’re Wrong on Unmasked – 1318 hits
  4. RAINBOW – Rising – 1076 hits
  5. KISS – Alive II (Re-review) – 891 hits
  6. KISS – Kissworld / Re-review directory – 831 hits
  7. TRAILER PARK BOYS – Season 11 – 761 hits
  8. KISS – Unmasked (Re-review) – 727 hits
  9. #425:  The Soup Nazi – 719 hits
  10. #774:  The Original Mustard Tiger – 718 hits

The death of Eddie Van Halen caused October to be our best month ever, and helped push Van Halen to #1 this year as well as contributing to the record hits overall.  The Van Halen Zero review is now the most popular thing I’ve ever written, having been read 12,294 times.

By comparison, the best-read “new” post this year was:

  1. AC/DC – “Shot in the Dark” – 574 views

I guess the message here is:  recycle, recycle, recycle!

Hits by country in 2020:  Top Five usual suspects – the same countries as last year, just in a barely different order!

I already posted the stats for Youtube views on live streams, and I’ve also already done my look ahead at 2021.

What do these stats show us?  The power of both Eddie Van Halen and a worldwide pandemic.  I’m pleased that people chose to read my stuff at those times, but I’d give just about anything to get Eddie and our normal world back.  Since I can’t, I can only tell you this:  I don’t plan on stopping in 2021!  And that’s about all I can say.  2020 taught us that life doesn’t give a shit about your plans.  I had plans in 2021 and they didn’t involve sitting in this little space live streaming.  This time there is no plan except give ‘er.  The universe tends to unfold as it does.

I wish you nothing but peace, happiness and harmony in 2021.  Let’s give ‘er together.

 

Virtual New Year’s Eve on the LeBrain Train! All aboard for the season finale!

The LeBrain Train:  2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano

Episode 44 – Special “Season One” Finale

 

Got nothing to do tonight?  Join the club!  Better yet, join the stream!  This week’s special episode takes place on Thursday December 31.  It will be a drop-in show, meaning folks will drop in and say hello, and read their own Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists.  It will be any topic, from music on down to favourite children’s breakfast cereals.  Several guests so far confirmed.  I have a list planned myself, and it’s a very special one!

Special time:

9:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

 

Best of 2020 Part 1: The Year in Review

Best of 2020 Part 1: The Year in Review

2020 was a learning experience!  I think I can speak for everyone there.  Before 2020 I never heard the phrase “flatten the curve”.  I’ve worn a face mask before, but only in a hospital.  Now I have a collection.  My theory is that Neil Peart was the glue holding the universe together.

“And when the music stops, there’s only the sound of the rain…”

Neil’s death was the first shitty thing that happened this year.  Losing the Professor.  It certainly set the tone for a year a loss.  A year that stole Eddie Van Halen, my uncle Don, and countless more.  We grieve the losses of not just people, but also daily ways of life.

I naively hoped this pandemic would bring us all closer together.  Instead it has divided us…some of us.  Not all.

Community.  My friend Aaron from the KeepsMeAlive is the champion of community, and this year we have seen the community come together like never before.  It warms my heart to see the genuine care that you have for everyone.  We all started just talking about music.  Now it’s something so much deeper, as we are huddled in isolation, but never isolated.

2020 also taught me that there are good people out there that you can count on.  They know who they are.  I’ve had to lean on a lot of people.  A few have had to lean on me.  Point being — we’re still standing!

Going out less meant more time to focus on listening and writing.  While the lists are still coming (stay tuned!), I can tell you that I both bought and reviewed more new releases in 2020, than any other year.  I’m happier with my year-end list than ever before, and I’ve expanded it from a top five to a top ten…a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten, in fact!

This has been a musically rich year.  There is usually one band, sometimes a handful, that defines my year.  My band of the Year would have to be Loudness, even though they didn’t release anything new.  So why “band of the year”?  The reasons are entirely personal, as they should be.  In early 2020, before Covid, I got really sick with a bad flu.  (Or was it Covid, who the fuck knows?)  As sometimes happens, music ran through my head when I was sick.  That music was “Let It Go” by Loudness which led to some deep dives into their discography.  In 2020 I bought and reviewed my first 10 Loudness albums, many from Japan, including a five disc box set.  No band defined my 2020 like Loudness did and I’m glad I got into them when I did.

The road forked with Loudness.  Not only did I explore their discography, but “Let It Go” then led to a left turn:  a deep analysis of the year I first heard that song, 1986.  A really key year in my life.  I wrote a big “1986 Saga” and felt like I had exorcised some ghosts.  Some of the most rewarding writing I’ve ever done in my life.

THE 1986 SAGA

I didn’t stop there, and I dove into another year:  1991.   It turns out people like reading personal history and how music ties into it.

Of course the virus and the lockdown also caused a different fork in the road, this one being the live streaming.  That has been its own reward.  So rewarding that they’ve earned their own lists this year, and I’ll present some for the best shows of the year in the coming days.

As bad as 2020 has been (undoubtedly the worst year in our collective lives), on a personal level it hasn’t been so bad.  People being indoors has driven traffic on the site way up, and this has been our most successful year yet in terms of hits.  But this has been earned: the writing and content on the site has improved with it.  I’ve learned more about personal health and mental health this year and was somewhat more prepared when lockdown began.  I hate to say it because it sounds like boasting, but as much as 2020 sucked, for me personally…I’ve had worse years.

Silver linings.

I feel very fortunate that in 2020, we didn’t lose anyone in my family to Covid.  Not to Covid.  But I did lose people.  Many of us did.  And there is a long way to go before this is all over.  So please, for me:  be safe.  Be smart.  We have to beat this thing and protect those we love.

We can do this.  In the memories of everyone we lost in 2020, please keep yourself and your loved ones safe.

 

REST IN PEACE

Donald Winter

Clifford Michael Woodhouse

Dorothea Daniels

Tina Schipper

Abigail Lobsinger

Neil Peart

Eddie Van Halen

Leslie West

Martin Birch

Steve Priest

Pete Way

K.T. Oslin

Jeremy Bulloch

David Prowse

Alex Trebek

John Prine

Charley Pride

Lee Kerslake

Gerry McGhee

Tommy Lister, Jr.

Ken Hensley

Jason Slater

Chuck Yeager

Fred Willard

Pat Patterson

Frankie Banali

Bob Kulick

Chadwick Boseman

Ben Bova

Johnny Nash

Spencer Davis

Sir Sean Connery

Kirk Douglas

Vera Lynn

Christopher Tolkien

Terry Jones

Reed Mullin

Freeman Dyson

James Lipton

McCoy Tyner

Max Von Sydow

Johnny Yune

Keith Olsen

Kenny Rogers

Joe Diffie

Bill Withers

Ellis Marsalis

Mort Drucker

Brian Dennehy

Little Richard

Betty Wright

Jerry Stiller

Astrid Kirchherr

Anthony James

Bonnie Pointer

Ian Holm

Joel Schumacher

Carl Reiner

Ennio Morricone

Grant Imahara

Regis Philbin

Peter Green

Wilford Brimley

Ben Cross

Justin Townes Earle

Helen Reddy

Mac Davis

James Randi

André Gagnon

Charlie Daniels

Chad Stuart

REMINDER!

Don’t forget tonight’s live stream “Christmas Memories”!  No bad, no ugly — just the good.

7:00 PM E.S.T.
Facebook:  MikeLeBrain  YouTube:  Mike LeBrain

 

 

 

 

 

REVIEW: Sword – “In Kommand” (2020 single)

SWORD – “In Kommand” (2020 Combat single)

For only two bucks, you could be the owner of the first new Sword single in 32 years.  The Quebec band made up of Rick and Dan Hughes, Mike LaRock, and Mike Plant have not released a new song since 1988’s Sweet Dreams.  Yes, that’s all four original members, intact and back for Round Two.  Don’t say nothing good came from 2020!  New Sword — betcha didn’t see that coming.

Sword reverted straight to their trash roots on “In Kommand”, a blitzkrieg of a tune with all the necessary goods:  riffs, chugs, and heavy drum blasts.  It would have been among Sword’s heaviest songs if it was on one of their older albums.  How have they not aged?  Over the course of 32 years, it is usually the singer who has changed the most.  Rick Hughes can still get the job done, even throwing in some screams for old times’ sake.  Incidentally, Mike Plant has never gotten his due as a lead guitarist either, and it’s like he hasn’t skipped a beat since 1988.  If there is only one highlight to “In Kommand”, it is the guitar playing of Mike Plant.

According to Rick Hughes, there is an album coming.  They have Dave Ellefson and Combat Records behind them.  “In Kommand” will have to tide us over until then, but things are sounding good so far.  While Sword albums have always been diverse with an assortment of different kinds of heavy, this track is a good sign.  It means they can still do what the fans expect.  If “In Kommand” is anything to judge by, we have an excellently heavy Sword album in our futures.

3.75/5 stars

Support the artist!  Buy the track, don’t just Spotify!

 

#867.5: Gratitude

This might get emotional here, so hold on to your hats and grab some tissues.

I just wanna say thanks.

In March 2020 the world went into lockdown, and we all dealt with it one way or another.  Now, at least where I am, lockdown 2.0 is looming.  Christmas is coming and seeing my family is a question mark.  I’m not able to see my friends.  Yet in a bizarre twist I’m feeling so connected to everyone.  This pandemic has forced us all to stay home, but instead of moping and watching Simpsons re-runs, together we’ve turned Friday nights into a fun weekly event.

Not that there is anything wrong with Simpsons re-runs!

This first started with just me, talking into a camera and hoping people were watching.  They were.  And they wanted to play along.  Then Uncle Meat came up with the “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten” countdown theme and it was a huge success.  And here we are now!  I had to invest a little money into this, to take it up to the level I wanted.  I bought a new camera, two new microphones, lights, cables (lots of trial and error here), a streaming subscription…several hundred dollars later I’m where I want to be and I wouldn’t have done it without so many awesome humans.

Thank you Eric, my friend of 20-plus years, but soulmate for 40.  I love you, you big stinky Meaty Uncle.

Thank you Derek, also know as “Superdekes”.   It’s hard to believe we never spoke to each other except by keyboard until this pandemic began.  You have become a friend, a collaborator, a creative genius (“Paper Plate T-Bone”) and the facilitator for bringing on some great guests.

Thank you Aaron for being a reliable regular, not to mention 24 years of friendship.  Now we can speak regularly about the music we love!

Thank you Kevin for getting me on Streamyard, and for being a reliable co-host for many weeks now!  Sorry I’ve been mangling your last name for years now, though you didn’t know it until recently!

Thank you Geoff and Sarah for your recent contributions.  I’ll be seeing you both again soon — that’s a promise/threat!

Thanks to Rob Daniels for 35 years of friendship, amazing co-hosting duties, and for bringing your own shows to us every Wednesday and Saturday!  You are weathering the storm like a superhero Rob.  And of course thanks to Gimli who I suspect could actually be the real star of your show….

Thank you John Snow for helping me out multiple times as co-host, and for very cool backdrops every time!

Thank you Harrison for watching on the opposite side of the world, since the very beginning.  We’ll be having you on again real soon for another great list show.  No spoilers!

Thank you Holen, wherever and whoever you are!  Thank you Saige for the amazing LeBrain Train graphics.  Thank you to Tyler(s), plural.  Thank you to my family especially my mom for watching week after week even if you do not care about AC/DC or Van Halen.  Thanks to Chris, Scott, Len, Seb, Michael LeFevre, Lana, Rosana, and Никола́й Черныше́вский for watching regularly.  Huge appreciation to the guys from Storm Force, Steph Honde, and Frank Loffredo for coming on and supporting the show.  Taking the time to come on and talk to us means everything to me.

Frank mentioned that he loved the “DIY” method of what we do.  That’s it exactly.  He gets it.  This is a bunch of stir-crazy friends getting together every Friday night to hang out, geek out, drink coffee (some of us anyway) and talk music together.  On a personal level, it’s me trying to stay connected, but also trying to give back to the community.  I’m not making money on this, it’s happening out of love.  And necessity.  We need to take care of each other.  As a classic introvert, this pandemic has brought out hidden talents.  Not just in me; in all of us.  One of us (not naming names) got kind of sour on the idea of doing interviews a couple years ago.  He had a bad experience.  But this Friday night show has allowed us to have some really great interview experiences together and I’m glad to have been a part of that.  DIY is right.  We have been figuring it out as we go and it keeps getting better week after week.

The worst thing about making thank-you lists is forgetting someone.  I hope I didn’t.  I appreciate every single person who has watched, contributed, left a comment, and or just hung out and watched.  I think we’re just getting started.  Just like this pandemic keeps going and growing and evolving…so will we.

Let’s give’r.

 

 


Friendship live stream 08/28/2020

#863: Masks Are the New T-Shirt

GETTING MORE TALE #863: Masks Are the New T-Shirt

If you have been watching my videos or live streams, I’ve occasionally shown off my new masks.  Now, I don’t wanna get into the whole “issue” of masks.  I just want to talk about masks in terms of music, marketing, and keeping businesses alive in 2020.  No matter your political affiliation (I consider myself unaffiliated and flexible enough to change who I support), then if you are reading this then I think we can all agree on three things:

  1. We love music.
  2. We want businesses to survive in this difficult year.
  3. We need to do things that make us happy, especially now.

I’ve been saying for months:  every band, brand, and icon needs to put out branded masks, pronto!  Many of us are going to need masks for at least the next six months.  I have five Kiss masks currently.  I don’t know how long these things last, especially if you wash them as frequently as you have to, so I assume we’ll all need replacement masks in a little while too.  It makes sense to put out your own branded mask right now.  I love that I can put on a Kiss mask and go out and do my shopping.  It’s like wearing a T-shirt.  In 2020, the mask is the new T-shirt.  Especially in winter time when, in Canada, we will be wearing heavy jackets on our backs like a tortoise shell.  T-shirt weather is far behind us.  Bonus:  though they fog up my glasses, the mask does keep my nose warm in the morning chill.

To Kraft Dinner:  I would love to buy a mask from you that has your delicious cheesy noodles on my face!

To the estate of Frank Zappa:  I’m looking for a mask with his trademark moustache and beard.  Does such a thing exist?

Dear ZZ Top:  You know exactly what I want!  One of those longer “goiter” masks with your beards!

And local clubs, restaurants and businesses:  I would love to be able to buy a mask with your logo or website address on it.  We need to support each other in this time, I firmly believe, and that starts at home with our venues and clubs.

Sceptics might ask me, “Will any of that actually make the life-or-death difference for a business?”  I don’t know.  I didn’t study business or economics in school.  I just know that I am (somewhat) in a position to help (a little bit), and…I have to try.

I practice what I preach and have thrown a bone or two to some local businesses and music venues.  I’m not saying this to show off what a super guy I’m am, I’m saying this so I can lead by example.  I’m not wealthy though, and what works best for me is if I can buy some merchandise.  That way I get something I need while helping somebody else out.  I would rather buy official than knockoff.  I need more masks, and if there are enough cool ones, I could even give some as gifts to certain family members.

For the next six to twelve months (who knows?), masks are going to be in our lives.  Like it or lump it, I suppose they say.  Maybe I’ve just been more successful trying to have a positive attitude in 2020, but I’ve been able to…have fun?…with masks.  We gotta support each other to get through this damn pandemic, and to play on the words of my man Jon Bon Jovi:  I’ll Be There For You!  These five words I swear to you.  If you sell, I’ll buy a mask from you.  I’ll mask up for you!

 

 

#855: Some Of My Favourite Fest Intros (and One Outro) 2020

As always, I was asked to introduce songs at this year’s Sausagefest.  I’d like to share some of them with you so you can get a taste of what I do for the Fest.

These four are only some of my favourites this year.  I did 10 intros altogether and the longest was about nine minutes.  That’s my actual favourite, but it was less about the track intro, and more about inside jokes that mean nothing to you.  I also did a well-received Neil Peart tribute as part of my “Passage to Bankok” intro but you can just read it here as it was previously posted in its original text form.

 

Below is a medley of four intros and one outro.  Some notes before you proceed:

  • Because it’s 2020 and why the fuck not, I understand they did the countdown in reverse order this year.  Starting at #1 going down to #100.  I didn’t know that when I recorded these.
  • I like to lift bits from cartoons like Rick & Morty and American Dad.  You will hear some.  These are not my original bits, just funny things that work as transitions from whatever Tom & Meat had going on before me.
  • Afroman has been a point of contention. I do not believe Afroman has a place at Sausagefest but they vote it in every year and then make me introduce it.  This year I fought back by putting in 0% effort.  (50 second mark)
  • Better than the Afroman intro was the outro which you will also hear.  I “interviewed” Werner Herzog about Sausagefest and people that vote for Afroman. (2 minute 15 second mark)
  • The Herzog bit was probably the most complex to edit.  I downloaded random Werner interviews and found a perfect part where he was talking about chickens.* 
  • Getting Darth Vader on Cameo was a real stroke of luck! (3 minute 45 second mark)

 

* I had to surgically create the word “one” out of the word “chicken” in order for it to make sense.  Now you’ll notice but before you wouldn’t.

REVIEW: Marillion – “Made Again (2020)”

MARILLION – “Made Again (2020)” (2020 iTunes)

It wasn’t that long ago, in this sad year, that Marillion gifted us a new version of “Easter” from their lockdown spaces.  Now, from the landmark Brave album, they’ve re-recorded the hopeful “Made Again”.

“I have been here many times before, in the life I used to live…”

Poignant.  We’re all grieving for the lives we used to live, some more than others.  I’m tiring very quickly of virus-themed songs, like that damn “I know there’ll be better days” ad I keep hearing on the TV.  It’s having the opposite effect on me and making me very bitter.

Since “Made Again” was written in 1994, it doesn’t have the stench of 2020 all over it.  We know the lyrics are being repurposed but it’s not so bad knowing their old origins.

“Like I woke up from a bad dream, to a brand new world.”

Unlike “Easter” this is a bit more of a complete arrangement, not abbreviated and without shortcuts.  You can buy the track for 99 cents on iTunes or watch the video on YouTube.  The video was painstakingly assembled from the at-home performance videos and fan footage sent in from all over the world.

We all need some optimism.

“I woke up from a deep sleep,
I woke up from a bad dream,
To a brand new morning,
To a brand new day,
Like the whole world has been made again.”

I hope so, guys.  I hope so.

5/5 stars