Cinco de List-o

Top Five Album Closers: Re-edited for length

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Special Re-Run

Top Five Album Closers – LeBrain Train Re-edited

This was a great episode!  Originally run on October 15, 2021, the live stream was roughly two and a half hours long.  Far too lengthy to watch in 2026, we have brought this episode down to a perfect hour.  Where was Harrison that night?  Active in the comments, and watch out for a memorable “Bleep!” comment from Uncle Meat to the Mad Metal Man!

On hand that night were Tim Durling from Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, and his fellow Contrarian, Marco D’Auria, along with original cast member Uncle Meat.  The show was a sequel to Top Five Album Openers, two weeks prior.  We decided to follow up with the Top Five Album Closers of All Time, and with the input of these fine panel members, this was an entertaining show that we are very proud of.  The chat was brisk and informative.  The lists (at bottom, if you don’t feel like watching, although you should!) were diverse and full of great closing songs that you may not have heard.  It was a more challenging set of lists than Album Openers was, and there was very little crossover.  Many excellent selections from the mainstream to the obscure.  We also included a number of “bonus tracks” at the end:  the runners-up that were just as exciting as the songs that made our lists.

Thanks Tim, Marco and Meat for helping to create a must-watch episode.  Enjoy!

Friday March 20 at  7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.

 

Top 5 Album Openers: Re-edited for length

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Special Re-Run

Top Five Album Openers – LeBrain Train Re-edited

Tonight Mike is off, recording an episode with Peter Kerr for Rock Daydream Nation.  Therefore tonight we’re re-purposing a five year old LeBrain Train episode that you gotta see.  This episode, edited here for length, originally ran October 1 2021 with Uncle Meat and Harrison Kopp:  Top Ten Album Openers!

LeBrain Train debuted at the start of the pandemic, in March 2020.  It was more geared towards chat, since nobody had anywhere to go or anything to do back then.  The episodes are too long to be enjoyed today, so we’ve cut the chit-chat and kept it to the music for this re-run.

What songs do you think just kicked off an album right?  We made sure we didn’t skimp on the analysis and appreciation.  Ritchie Blackmore, Ozzy Osbourne, Ian Anderson, Ronnie James Dio, Bruce Dickinson and of course Blaze Bayley all graced us with their musical presence on this night.  There was plenty of discussion with the audience that night, some of which is included in this re-run.  We also included a slew of runners-up for you to check out.

Every one of the songs listed tonight deserve some time in your ears.  You can read the lists below, or have some real fun and watch the show!  It’s all under an hour.

Friday March 13 at  7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.

 

 

Merry Rockin’ Christmas: Our Top Five Favourite Christmas Tunes & More on Grab A Stack of Rock

A bright end to a crummy week!  Jen is a trooper once again.  She may have taken a spill again, but as always, she insists the show must go on.  If she didn’t, then we wouldn’t have had this wonderful Friday night to remember.  Thank you Jen.

I need to thank my special co-host and guests tonight.  They all brought the lists, with Roger cheating a little bit (taking a bit from the Harrison playbook) and everyone adding a unique spin.

  • Tim Durling of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions proved to be the expert on all things Bob & Doug McKenzie, which came in handy on my #5 pick.  We also took a look at Tim’s new Y&T book, Down for the Count!  Please, get yourself a copy on Amazon.ca or your local version.
  • Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation provided an Australian pick and a number of familiar favourites.  Check out Peter’s channel for an interview with Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, and many awesome videos.  He is also one of the contributor’s to Tim’s new book.
  • John Clauser of My Music Corner surprised us all with some great picks, some obscure ones, and one very special #1.  I did not see this one coming.
  • John the Music Nut, Clauser’s co-captain, also provided some brilliant and unique picks this evening.  John recently contributed to Tim’s Y&T book as well.
  • Metal Roger went outside the box on a number of picks, and also provided comedy relief for pretty much the entire night!
  • Additionally, we have some excellent lists from Harrison Kopp and Uncle Meat.  These provided some great discussion topics.

As far as physical product goes, we saw some mail-order-only Marillion and a very cool lenticular album cover that I must acquire somehow.

Merry Christmas one and all!  This is the last show before the big day, as the 22nd is a night off for Jen’s birthday.  Don’t worry though – we have a re-run scheduled, of a great show from the summer:  Arkells appreciation with Aaron and Nurse Kat.

Enjoy!

A very special Christmas to my “forever” friend @manda_runs_and_swims.  Write me!

Merry Rockin’ Christmas: Our Top Five Favourite Christmas Tunes & More on Grab A Stack of Rock

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 44:  Our Top Five Favourite Christmas Tunes

Are you ready for Christmas?  If not, our cast of characters will provide for you the Top Five best Christmas songs that you need to play this year.  We searched far and wide for the best of the best of the best, so please welcome our crew this week:

  • Special guest co-host:  Tim Durling of Tim’s Vinyl Confessions!  We will also be unboxing his latest book, Down For the Count, all about Y&T…who never recorded a Christmas song to my knowledge!
  • Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation
  • John Clauser of My Music Corner
  • John the Music Nut, Clauser’s co-captain and first timer on Grab A Stack of Rock
  • Metal Roger

There will also be surprises afoot!

Grab your egg nog and get ready to party with us.  We’ll bring you a jolly good time tonight.

LIVE Friday Dec 15 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Six Horsemen Bring Their Top Five Metallica Deep Cuts to Grab A Stack of Rock

Metallica deep cuts?  What are the rules then?  Well, rules didn’t matter at the end of the day; we just picked a bunch of tunes we liked a lot.  Your panel was:

We had some brilliant thrashers, a few curveballs…and definitely a couple surprises.  I feel everyone defended their choices ably, however I was the recipient of a bit of roasting in the comments section.  Repeatedly.  Did I deserve it?  Probably.

We also took an “Ask Harrison” question from Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation, and did some very cool unboxings.  There was a bit of “repetition” tonight, but a good time was had by all.  Thank you for watching.

A week off next week — super secret regal recording with Peter Kerr instead!  We’ll be back December 15.

Exploiting Their Supremacy: Top Five Metallica Deep Cuts on Grab A Stack of Rock

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 43:  Top 5 METALLICA Deep Cuts

It is finally time to do Metallica some Justice!

We planned to do a Metallica show back on May 5, but regular readers know what happened that day.  I had to cancel, and deal with a former co-host instead.  There always seems to be something getting in the way of Metallica.  This week we lost my dear Uncle Paul, but the show will go on, and I will pay tribute to this great man on Friday night.

Cinco de Listo is back!  We wait with baited (Motor)breath to see what Top Five Deep Cuts our expert panel will be presenting this time!  On hand will be:

We are going simple with the rules.  A “deep cut” in this case simply means a non-single.  There will be lots of complaints I’m sure, but let’s focus on the great songs instead!  Hopefully we will name some tunes you absolutely need to hear.

Will Justice be done?  Our Merry Band of Metal Fans will do out best tonight at 8:00 PM sharp, Eastern Standard Time.

 

A week off next week — super secret regal recording with Peter Kerr instead!  We’ll be back December 15.

LIVE Friday Dec 1 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Get Up and make it work! Top Five Van Halen Bangers, our dream Best Of All Worlds setlist, and much more!

And the cradle DID rock, for tonight, four rock music fans revealed their Top Five Van Halen bangers.  ‘Twas brilliant to see.  Harrison Kopp was in classic Kontrarian mode as you will see with his list.  The first disqualification in the history of the show!  Harrison redeemed himself later, and his #1 pick was one I was onside with.

The new guy PLA brought with him a love of music that goes back to the teen years.  Jex’s good friend was a blast on the show, and he is welcome back any time.  The wonderful thing here is that years ago, Jex had the foresight to record PLA’s reaction to the Van Halen banger “Get Up” on video.  We ran that video tonight, and it really captured the spirit of what a Van Halen banger does.

We dug deep with deep cuts and hits.  We showed off rare CDs, vinyl, and even a cassette.  I presented my dream Best Of All Worlds setlist.  We discussed the tour, pros and cons, and our panel was mostly pro.  The comments were divided.  Peter Kerr was anti-tour, while Chris P was very pro.

Van Halen praise, love, and appreciation were in plentiful supply on this episode.  Take a glimpse at our collections and please enjoy our lists.  There were a number of duplicate songs, and some brilliant picks.  If you are interested in Van Halen but don’t know where to start…grab a coffee and listen to us blather on all night about a band we really love.

See ya next week.

Tonight: Top Five VAN HALEN BANGERS + Sammy Hagar “Best Of All Worlds Tour” with Jex & PLA!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man

Episode 41:  BEST OF ALL WORLDS!  Top Five VAN HALEN BANGERS with Jex & PLA

 

We’re back!  Harrison and I took a couple weeks off to recharge and work on some other creative projects, but here we are, back in business again with Jex Russell and PLA!  But who is PLA?

PLA is from the YouTube channel PLA Addiction.  He’s a music nut and close friend of Jex.  These guys have been a creative force on YouTube for years and I’ve been wanting to get them together live on Grab A Stack of Rock for a while now.  Tonight we run through our “Top Five Van Halen Bangers”!  Why?  You’ll have to see for yourself tonight, but I’ll drop you a teaser.

The real reason I wanted to get PLA on the show is that a few years back, Jex made a “reaction video” of PLA hearing the Van Halen song “Get Up” for the first time.  After seeing that video, I knew I wanted to get these two guys together on my show to talk Van Halen.  It was a priceless video, and we’ll run it tonight on the show.

We absolutely have to discuss the Sammy Hagar Best of All Worlds Tour with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham!  I will be revealing my dream (buyt realistic) setlist tonight on the show.

Get up and make it work, because tonight it’s Top Five Van Halen Bangers with Jex and PLA!

LIVE Friday Nov 17 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.   Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!

Alice Cooper’s Top Five Albums + Rarities, with Harrison & Jex

Awesome show tonight hosted by Harrison and Jex!  Top Five Alice Cooper albums, plus a nice collection from Harrison for bonus show & tell.  Harrison has three Alice Cooper albums that I would like to steal from his house.  Which ones?  You’ll have to watch to find out.  But you can check out the boys’ Top Fives below!  And as a bonus, I’ll throw in my Top Five as well.  Check ’em out!

This was one of my favourite shows to watch!  Thank you to Harrison and Jex for doing such an amazing job!  This was a great set of lists, and some awesome show & tell from Harrison.  My list will be drastically different from theirs!

Thanks for watching and we’ll see ya next week for my birthday!

JEX

5. Special Forces (1981)
4. Trash (1989)
3. Constrictor (1986)
2. Killer (1971)
1. Flush The Fashion (1980)

 

HARRISON

5. The Last Temptation (1994)
4. Welcome To My Nightmare (1975)
3. Flush The Fashion (1980)
2. Dirty Diamonds (2005)
1. Special Forces (1981)

 

LeBRAINLESS

5. Welcome 2 My Nightmare (2011)
4. Killer (1971)
3. Love It To Death (1971)
2. Welcome To My Nightmare (1975)
1. School’s Out (1972)

 

Grab A Stack of Alice Cooper with Harrison & Jex: LeBRAINLESS!

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With the Mad Metal Man & Jexciter: LeBRAINLESS!

Episode 28:  Alice Cooper Rarities & Cinco de Listo!

I’ve been wanting to do something for a long time:  Take a day off, sit back, and watch Harrison host the show without me.  Seriously!  I’ve always wanted to do that.  Today I get my wish.  For the first time ever, I get to watch Grab A Stack of Rock from the audience.

Join Harrison and Jex tonight as they show off highlights of their their Alice Cooper collections!  They will also be bringing back “Cinco de Listo” for the first time in ages, to count down an Alice Cooper TBA list that will rock your minds.

With the Coop’s 29th (not including the Hollywood Vampires!) new studio album Road coming soon, the time is perfect to revisit one of the greatest stars in all of metal history.  Ladies and gentlemen…Alice Cooper!

Friday July 14 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!