blaze bayley

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 25: Visions of the Beast featuring Bob Cesca from Camp Chaos

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 25:  Visions of the Beast featuring Bob Cesca from Camp Chaos

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #124

Back in 1999/2000, a little video called “Napster Bad!” went viral.  You know it, you shared it, you loved it.  Well, not Harrison because he was not born yet.  Bob Cesca (founder of Camp Chaos) created that video and many others, including official music videos for bands such as Motley Crue, Yes, and…Iron Maiden!

Bob is a talented jack of many trades, and also a massive Rush fan.  In this effortless interview, Bob tells us everything you wanted to know about him and Iron Maiden.  2003’s Visions of the Beast double DVD was a massive collection, and Camp Chaos did six music videos for it.  These videos mixed animation with the original familiar music video footage.  We break them all down in detail, including how to access the Easter Eggs.  How was he contacted by the Maiden camp?  How much input did Iron Maiden have on his creative process?  Why did he choose certain Eddies and settings, and how did he decide what to edit out of the originals to make way for animation?  It is a fascinating trip back in time, as current events impacted some of the videos, even though the songs themselves were oldies.  Hey…are there 10 ME-109s out of the sun…or not?

Bob also answered all our non-Maiden questions, such as why James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich have no noses in “Napster Bad”?

After Bob had answered all our questions, Harrison and Mike took a deep dive on the rest of the contents of the DVD set.  If you owned Visions of the Beast back in the day, own it now, or not yet…you will want to pop it in after this episode.

Please welcome Mr. Bob Cesca to Grab A Stack of Rock, and 50 Years of Iron Maiden!  Join us at the premiere in the comments tonight – we love interacting with you!

A big thanks to Tim Durling for introducing us to Bob!

Friday November 7 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 24: Eddie’s Archive and Edward the Great

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.

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#1216: A Chuckle with Blaze Bayley

RECORD STORE TALES #1216: A Chuckle with Blaze Bayley

“I know it’s not ideal, but how about 7:30 AM on Monday morning?” asked Blaze Bayley’s manager Mark Appleton.  It was Saturday and we had less than two days’ notice, but I had planned ahead for this possibility.  I brought my laptop home from work on the Friday, just in case I somehow had to balance the Blaze interview with work.  I am fortunate that I have the option to work from home occasionally.  7:30 AM would be perfect.  I start work at 8:30 AM, so that gave me plenty of time to do the interview with Blaze (30 to 45 minutes is what we were promised), and log into work with time to make a coffee.

I woke up early on the Monday morning and logged into my work laptop.  I answered a couple emails and did some work, and then hit the shower preparing for Blaze.

I was nervous, but felt that I had a good plan.  I didn’t have to miss any work, or even be late, to do the Blaze interview.  I had already gotten work started.  It would be no problem to finish up with Blaze and then right to work, even if I’d be running an adrenaline high.

The Blaze interview went smashingly well.  At the 45 minute point, Harrison asked him how he was doing for time?  He had lots of time, so we kept going.  The clock ticked closer and closer to 8:30, but I was still OK.  Blaze was inspired and inspiring.  We had to keep going as long as he was willing.

Blaze finished answering a question from Harrison at 8:35.  Harrison asked how he was doing for time again, and Blaze responded “a couple more.” Harrison threw it back to me.  As we went well overtime, I asked Blaze my final question which was about hooking up with the Absolva band, and the Appleton brothers.

“In music,” he said, “people don’t talk about being on time.  Be on time!  And actually show up.  Be on time!”  As he praised the punctuality of the Appletons, I was already ten minutes late for work myself.  Anxiety building!

We wrapped up at 8:45, and I logged back into work, only 15 minutes late.  In order to hear Blaze’s words about being on time for work, I was making myself late for work.  I think that’s just really funny.

Thanks for the advice Blaze!  I’m always really early, except for this one time, I swear!

Interview with Blaze Bayley

BLAZE BAYLEY interview: 50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode!

For all things Blaze Bayley, go to BlazeBayley.net.

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.

Friday September 12 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

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New Grab A Stack of Rock theme video, now with Blaze Bayley!

The culmination of almost three years of work: Blaze Bayley is the latest member added to the Grab A Stack of Rock show alumni!

In November of 2022 I started working on something I’d wanted to do for a long time:  make a show intro video that included every guest we ever had.  Back then there were not many, but the guests kept coming and coming and I kept adding and adding.  Now we have 49 guests on the list!  The Blaze Bayley episode will air this Friday September 19 at 7:00 PM EST.  The Bob Cesca (Camp Chaos) episode will air when we get to Visions of the Beast.

Thank you to all 49 of these special guests.  More to come on 50 Years of Iron Maiden!

  1. Harrison Kopp
  2. Eric “Uncle Meat” Litwiller
  3. Aaron KMA
  4. Tim Durling
  5. Rob Daniels
  6. John T Snow
  7. Grant Arthur
  8. Brian Richards
  9. MarriedandHeels
  10. Marco D’Auria
  11. Kevin Simister
  12. Dr. Kathryn Ladano
  13. Jen Ladano
  14. Grace Scheele
  15. Jex Russell
  16. Spencer “Spenny” Rice
  17. Nurse Kat
  18. Erik Woods
  19. Jason Drury
  20. Pierre-Luc Allard “PLA”
  21. Peter Kerr
  22. John Clauser
  23. Len Labelle
  24. Reed Little
  25. Metal Roger
  26. John the Music Nut
  27. Mike Slayen
  28. Peter Jones
  29. Todd Evans
  30. James Kalyn
  31. Angie Moon
  32. Ryan Gavalier
  33. Chris Preston
  34. Dan Chartrand
  35. Glen “Archie” Gamble
  36. bicyclelegs
  37. Davey Cretin
  38. Melissa Nee
  39. Sidney Cini
  40. Ashley Geisler
  41. Martin Popoff
  42. Bert Blotto
  43. F Lee Harvey Blotto
  44. Bowtie Blotto
  45. Broadway Blotto
  46. Jake Not From State Farm
  47. Bob Cesca (Camp Chaos)
  48. Blaze Bayley
  49. and (briefly) Max the Axe

Coming This Week on 50 Years of Iron Maiden… A Chat with BLAZE BAYLEY

Harrison and Mike are thrilled to announce that this week on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, we have an incredibly special guest:  Blaze Bayley himself, the first Iron Maiden alumni to ever grace the show with their presence.  Thank you so much to Blaze for doing this.

In this interview, we cover:

  • Re-recording Wolfsbane.
  • AI, science fiction and technology.
  • The Silicon Messiah.
  • Virus.
  • Canada.
  • Who the King of Metal really is.
  • Mental Health.
  • And so, so much more.

Get ready this Friday for the premiere of our interview with the amazing Blaze Bayley!  You can find all things Blaze at BlazeBayley.net.

VIDEO: Harrison’s “COMPLETE” Blaze Bayley solo CD collection!

BEHOLD! After much shopping and hunting, Harrison has acquired a “complete” Blaze Bayley solo CD collection. With two caveats:

1. A physical copy of every released song is included – not necessarily every CD that Blaze ever released.  There is one very rare and limited Blaze compilation that Harrison does not have, but has nothing on it that he needs.

2. Blaze has done many collaborations on others artists’ albums that are not a part of this solo CD collection.

To compensate, Mike brought in one Blaze collaboration on the new Absolva album Justice, which features the Appleton brothers from his current band.

Harrison breaks down his collection chronologically, beginning with the amazing Silicon Messiah album, right up to the present day.  Lots of signed CDs here including some very limited rarities.  Check it out!

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 21: Ed Hunter album & game

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 21:  Ed Hunter

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #115

Maiden were back in a big way.  Though the video game began life with Blaze Bayley on lead vocals, when it was finally released, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith were both back in the band!  The ironic thing about this was that neither of them were depicted in the game, though Blaze was!

A 3 CD set, Ed Hunter was the first release with Bruce and Adrian back in the band.  A “greatest hits” album and a video game all in one, Ed Hunter was a must-buy for Maiden diehards, especially in the United States where it contained a bonus track:  “Wrathchild 1999 (New Vocal Version with Bruce Dickinson)”.  Standard versions contained 20 tracks split over one-and-a-half discs, with the tracks selected by the fans in an online poll.  We break it down track by track, and compare to the previous “hits” album, Best of the Beast, while also discussing the new track which was also available on a promotional CD single with band art.

As for the game?  The last disc-and-a-half of space featured the game and installation software.  Harrison got his copy working!  He got out a vintage computer and some video capture software, and recorded himself playing and winning the game!  We provide a highlights reel from Harrison’s video, to give you a feel for the gameplay and graphics.  (Epilepsy warnings will appear when appropriate.)

This release also featured a tour.  A big one!  Harrison breaks down the setlist, and what tracks from that tour were released in live versions.

Maiden were back…and so is 50 Years of Iron Maiden!

Friday September 5 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

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50 Years of Iron Maiden bonus episode: The Best of Blaze Bayley (edited for length)

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:
The Best of Blaze Bayley

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

In 1999, Iron Maiden reunited with Bruce Dickinson.  They have been going strong for a quarter of a century since.  Blaze, meanwhile, has had a solid solo career to celebrate.  Tonight we celebrate everything Blaze on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, to cap off his tenure in the band.

This episode from November of 2023 pre-dates our 50 Years of Iron Maiden series, but we felt now was a good time to edit it down to a reasonable length and give it a replay.  If you’ve seen this episode already, you can safely skip this bonus broadcast.  If you haven’t, we have edited this live show down to the Blaze basics and cut it to a digestible length.  All of Blaze’s career is included in this episode’s Top 11 song list.  Foregoing the traditional rules, Harrison didn’t just pick his 11 favourite Blaze tracks like Mike did.  No, Harrison technically picked 22 songs.  All Blaze solo, or Blaze Bayley-branded live versions.  Mike chose songs from all three eras of Blaze:  Wolfsbane, Iron Maiden, and solo.

Harrison and Mike only had one song in common.  That means combined we have given you 32 songs to check out.  Harrison and Mike also provided a lot of context and background to our picks, and we hope that this episode is in-depth enough for the Blaze diehards.  And we know there are Blaze diehards out there.  We see you in the comments!

We also took a look at some physical rarities:  Two Iron Maiden X Factor Japanese CDs, an X Factor singles box set, two lenticular Virtual XI CDs, a “Holy Grail” live album, one CD that Mike needs, one CD that Harrison needed but since acquired, and a Wolfsbane cassette.

We sincerely hope you take the time to watch this passionate, insightful episode about a singer that deserves more of your attention: Blaze Bayley.

 

Friday August 15 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

 

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 20: Virtual XI with Jake (Not From State Farm)

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 20:  Virtual XI

With special guest Jake (Not From State Farm)

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #113

2nd show of Friday August 7!  For Music & Mental Health II, click here.

 

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.

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