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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 29: A Matter of Life and Death with Uncle Meat

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 29: A Matter of Life and Death

With special guest Uncle Meat

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK episode 137

“I love work. I can sit and watch it for hours.” – Nicko McBrain

Our longest episode of the entire series, A Matter of Life and Death is a special album in the Maiden arsenal.  Bringing back one of Maiden’s most popular lyrical topics, the album largely focused on warfare, with a sideline into religion and social commentary.  There might even be an original fictional tale or two here, sprinkled in with the cold historical reality.  A Matter of Life and Death is a high water mark, we will argue, and hope you’ll listen to what we have to say.

Original Grab A Stack of Rock alumnus Uncle Meat returns for an album that he picked, because he was fortunate enough to see this tour.  That will become important later on.  Along with Mike and Harrison, each of the 10 new songs are broken down musicially and lyrically, with historical and personal context added for colour.  An album laden with highlights, we take our time to appreciate the minor details.

We’re only just getting started:  This album has a whopping 11 assorted bonus tracks and B-sides to discuss, plus a vital bonus DVD.  The extra tracks come from many formats:  A magazine CD tribute album to Deep Purple’s Machine Head, a DVD single, several CD singles, a 7″ and 10″ vinyl, just to get all the tracks.  There is also an additional promo CD single to mention, and an exclusive live track that you can’t get anymore because it was a download-only.  Bummer.

When we’re done all that, and have discussed the included documentary DVD in detail, we move on to the tour(s).  And oh, what they did nearly tore fandom apart.  As illustrated on Mike’s bootleg CD, Revenge Is Living In The Past, Maiden played all 10 album tracks in sequence before getting to a smattering of classic hits (including of course “Fear of the Dark”).  Uncle Meat was there when it went down in Toronto, and not knowing what we was in for, he describes his immediate impressions.  As a group, we tackle the tour’s historic importance, and the fallout that came next.  The next time around, Maiden had cut the 10 songs down to just five, and added more classics back into the set.

This 1 hour 38 minute episode includes the last musical B-sides or bonus tracks we’ll get from Maiden, save one RSD picture disc we’ll discuss later on.  The bonus tracks are a wonderful, confounding collection to complete.  We hope you enjoy the level of detail we went into for this episode.  We felt the album deserved nothing less.

 

Friday February 13 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T., 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube.

 

 

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Reissued Singles with New B-Sides 2002-2005

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Reissued Singles with New B-Sides 2002-2005

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

This 22 minute bonus episode finally wraps up some of the loose ends that we skipped over in prior instalments.  We wanted to group these special singles into one episode.

In 2002, Maiden reissued “Run to the Hills” to support a special fundraising gig for the Clive Burr MS Trust Fund.  The first CD single included songs from Beast Over Hammersmith, also released in 2002 on Eddie’s Archive.  This single also supported the forthcoming Rock In Rio album.  A second CD included two tracks from Reading 1982.  Both singles included Camp Chaos videos later released on Visions of the Beast.  “Total Eclipse” is a previously unreleased live version.

In 2005, to support The Early Years DVD, Maiden reissued “The Number of the Beast” on CD and vinyl.  There were new B-sides here as well, from the Clive Burr support gig at Brixton ’02.   The single also included a Camp Chaos video, and a live video from Brixton.

Finally in 2005, supporting Death on the Road, “The Trooper” was reissued on multiple formats.  A highly coveted download-only version of “The Trooper” from Iceland in 2005 remains one of Maiden’s most highly sought rarities, simply because it had no physical release and is no longer for sale on their website.  The singles on various formats included a slew of early tracks from the Eddie Rips Up The World Tour.  Once again the CD version included videos, but no Camp Chaos this time.

Harrison and Mike will go through all the versions of all the singles, in detail tonight.  That wraps up all the loose ends before we get into the next studio album, A Matter of Life and Death.  Don’t miss this special, crucial part of Maiden history.

Friday February 6 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T., 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube.

 

 

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: The Essential Iron Maiden

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: The Essential Iron Maiden

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

This week’s bonus episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden falls on a Tuesday.  This is a shorter episode, that we wanted to run mid-week.

On 12 July 2005, Sony released The Essential Iron Maiden in North America.  As Maiden’s fourth compilation (and third multi-disc compilation), it was interesting for several reasons.  First and most obviously, there is no Eddie on the cover.  Second, it was released as part of Sony’s Essential series, and we’ll look at another disc from that series for comparison.  Third, it is again mostly reverse-chronological, almost like an updated Best of the Beast without the rarities.

We’re calling it the “weirdest” Iron Maiden best of album for these reasons and more.  Would you buy it?  Have a watch and let us know about this truly un-essential Essential release by Sony!

Wednesday January 13 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T., 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube.

 

 

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 27: The Early Days DVD

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 27:  The History of Iron Maiden Part 1:  The Early Days

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #133

Buckle up, for tonight is one of the most detailed episodes of 50 Years of Iron Maiden to date!  In 2004, Iron Maiden went out on tour, but not to promote a new album.  This time (and for the first time!) they were out to promote a video:  The History of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days, on DVD.  Tonight, we break down the entire contents of the DVD release (including the special features you probably never watched!) and the tour to boot.  Yes, this is an episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden as essential as any!

The DVD itself centers on The Early Days, a 90 minute documentary on Maiden history from 1975 to 1983 (the “early days”).  It includes interviews with Maiden members you’ve probably never met before, such as Ron “Rebel” Matthews, Terry Rance, Doug Sampson and many more.  The history of the band is run down with great care, ending in Dortmund in Germany on the World Piece Tour.

There are four concerts, in various states of completion:  Live at the Ruskin (1980), Live at the Rainbow (1981), Beast Over Hammersmith (1982) and Live in Dortmund (1983).  Even though we have discussed some of these tracks in previous episodes (including a full episode on the CD version of Hammersmith), we will go through every single track in exhausting detail.  Then there are the Top of the Pops and other TV shows to cover!  Then, Mike will take you through all the interesting details in the bonus features, such as Steve’s diary and scrapbook.  Find out exactly how Steve fired original singer Paul Mario Day, and when!

When this all said and done, Harrison will guide us through the Eddie Rips Up the World Tour, including the setlists and an incident involving Sharon Osbourne.  You might have heard about that one!  It happened on this tour.

Don’t miss the premiere of this episode, as we always like to interact in the comments!  Up the Irons!

Friday January 9 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T., 8:00 PM Atlantic.  Enjoy on YouTube.

BONUS:  Tomorrow, January 10, Mike will post his written review of this DVD, never before seen, right here on this site.  This review, at almost 3000 words, is for those who prefer to read!  Mike never wrote a review of this release back in 2013 when he did his Maiden review series.  This is brand new and will not be exactly the same as what we will present in the video.  Enjoy both!

 

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode: Top 11 Maiden Art (edited for length)

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN bonus episode:
Top 11 Maiden Art

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK bonus episode

Original broadcast:  May 12 2021

Back in the pandemic days, long before 50 Years of Iron Maiden was a thing, we used to do three-hour shows.  People needed something to do, and something to watch.  Unfortunately, as good as our lists and topics were, the shows were too long and meandering.  Well, not anymore!  I have toiled away and edited down our epic Top 11 Iron Maiden Art show to a manageable hour.  Now it enters its rightful place as a watchable bonus episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

Our group of four picked our favourite Eddies from past and present:  Myself, Harrison, Mr. Books and original co-host Deke. We split our picks from albums, singles, and tour shirts.  Through it all, we saw some epic art from Derek Riggs, Melvyn Grant and others.  A monumental set of lists!  The format was called a “Nigel Tufnel Top Ten”, meaning we went up to eleven!  Check out the picks, some of which are pretty obscure and little-seen!

Thanks for watching, and if you just want to know what Maiden art we picked, check out Aaron’s hand-written list below!

Friday Dec 19 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T.  Enjoy on YouTube.

SPOILER – Do Not Read if you intend to watch the episode.

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50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 26: Dance of Death with Lana Teramae

50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 26:  Dance of Death

With special guest Lana Teramae

GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #127

Brave New World was a new beginning for Iron Maiden, but the real test to any reunion (or new lineup, for that matter) is “can they do it twice”.  Dance of Death was Iron Maiden’s chance to repeat or exceed.  The road-seasoned lineup was hot with new ideas and got back to work with Kevin Shirley producing once again, but the new album was no re-hash.  The band pushed boldly on.

Joining us for the first time on Grab A Stack of Rock is Lana Teramae, an old friend and writer for Metal Express Radio.  Time zones once again collide in new ways, as Lana is the only guest from the state of Hawaii to ever join us!  Harrison and I have not worked with Lana since our old show (the LeBrain Train), so it is wonderful to have her on with us once again.  Her interviews with many of our heroes on Metal Express Radio might make us jealous, but when we started this series we wanted to include Lana.  She chose Dance of Death of the albums up for grabs.  In her words:

Check me out on Grab A Stack of Rock with Michael Ladano and Harrison Kopp as we discuss one of my favorite Iron Maiden albums, Dance of Death! The episode is set to premiere on YouTube on Friday, November 28, at 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. I’m nowhere near as educated as these lovely gentlemen when it comes to Iron Maiden. I was just there for moral support!

Lana offered a new perspective that we have not often seen on the show:  that of a fan that is not a “super-fan” like Harrison and myself.  Lana may prefer Judas Priest to Iron Maiden, but she brings a new voice to the series and several insightful observations on this album that might be considered one that sometimes falls through the cracks.

After finishing an exhausting discussion on the 11 album tracks, we break down every B-side from the three singles:  “Wildest Dreams” (including DVD single), “Rainmaker” (Japanese CD single with two extra tracks), and “No More Lies” (boxed single with unlisted bonus track).  There is a lot to talk about with these B-sides as they included rare Iron Maiden jams, exclusive live versions, and unusual remixes.

As usual, Harrison takes us through the tour, though not too too much, since we will cover the live album Death on the Road in a future episode with special returning guest Jex Russell.  And, of course…we have to address the atrocious cover art.

On a personal note, this was the final episode recorded at the cottage in the 2025 season.  Will 50 Years of Iron Maiden still be going when we re-open in April 2026?  It might be possible as there is still a flurry of albums, live records, singles and compilations left to go.

Join Mike, Harrison and special guest Lana Teramae tonight.  We always try to comment along with you.

Friday November 28 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T., 2:00 PM Hawaii Standard Time.  Enjoy on YouTube.

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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: Updated Playlist

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

#1173: I Like Iron Maiden…A Lot

RECORD STORE TALES #1173: I Like Iron Maiden…A Lot

In 1984, I “rebooted” my musical taste and started from ground zero.  Out went Styx for almost two decades.  Out went Joey Scarbury, and Kenny Rogers.  In came KISS, W.A.S.P., and of course, Iron Maiden.  I don’t think there was ever a time that Iron Maiden were my #1 favourite band, because Kiss almost always held that spot.  It is safe to say that Maiden were always in the top five.

In grade school, I rocked Iron Maiden while being scolded by Catholic school teachers for doing so.  It didn’t stop me.  Through highschool, I proudly had their posters in my locker.  It didn’t matter that Maiden weren’t hip with the cool kids.  I was never cool, and never really intended to be.  I was happy to be one of the Children of the Damned, not having to fit my personality into any particular shoebox.

There was a time I wavered, which I shall now admit to you.  There was one Iron Maiden album that I didn’t intend to own.  I reversed my decision within four months, but it was in the fall of 1990 that Iron Maiden may have faltered in my eyes.  The album was the “back to basics” No Prayer For the Dying.  My favourite member, Adrian Smith was out.  I loved Janick Gers’ work with Bruce Dickinson, but I don’t think he quite fit with Maiden immediately.  I also didn’t like the growly, un-melodic way that Bruce Dickinson was singing.  I thought maybe this time, I would just buy the CD singles, and not worry about the album.  I came to my senses.  No Prayer wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the return that we hoped for.  I didn’t really want Maiden to get “back to basics” but was willing to go along for the ride.

My enthusiasm returned in 1992 with Fear of the Dark, a partial return to form with some solid tracks.  It could have been better, but I was happy.  Then the roof fell in.  Suddenly, Bruce Dickinson was out.  Meanwhile, the entire world had been sent into a grunge upheaval.  Bands like Iron Maiden were dismissed as irrelevant in this new angry world.  Bands who played their instruments with seasoned pride were being replaced by groups with punk aesthetics.  Maiden seemingly had no place in this new world, and now the lead singer was gone.  Just like Motley Crue, who were suffering a similar fate.

Blaze Bayley was the audacious name of the new singer, from Wolfsbane, and a different one he was.  A deep baritone, he was little like Bruce.  Immediately, I loved The X Factor.  My girlfriend at the time ridiculed me by telling me that Iron Maiden would “never be cool again”.

Oh, how wrong she was.

By the year 1999, Bruce was back.  And so was Adrian.  Maiden have never been bigger.  They have continued to issue albums, never being shy to play new material and deep cuts live.

That’s why I’m telling you this story.  2025 marks 50 Years of Iron Maiden, and there will be a lot happening.  2025 will launch the Run For Your Lives tour, and Bruce has promised that they will play some songs they’ve never done before.  It will also be the debut of new drummer Simon Dawson, from Steve Harris’ British Lion.  Nicko McBrain, on the drum stool since 1983, has finally taken a bow from the live stage.  It can’t be easy doing what he does.

2025 will also mark the launch of a new Martin Popoff book on Maiden (more on that in the coming weeks) and most importantly…tomorrow, January 10, Harrison Kopp and I will launch our own video series, 50 Years of Iron Maiden.

I have “only” been a fan for 40 years, but I’m all here for it.  Up the Irons.  Let’s give ‘er in 2025!

 

Make An Album Better Vol. 1: Iron Maiden’s Fear of the Dark (1992)

In 1992, we gave Iron Maiden’s Fear of the Dark album a generous 3.75/5 star rating.  Fear was the second in a row of underwhelming Iron Maiden albums.  After losing melodic songwriter Adrian Smith, the band struggled to achieve the heights of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.  New member Janick Gers was also a songwriter, but Maiden struggled to match their previous mojo.  Several songs from Fear were never played live:   “Fear Is the Key”, “Childhood’s End”,  “The Fugitive”,  “Chains of Misery”,  “The Apparition”, “Judas Be My Guide”, and “Weekend Warrior”.  Meanwhile, the title track is a concert staple, played on almost every tour since.

What can we do to improve this album?

1. Tone down the keyboards

As the last Maiden album co-produced by Martin Birch, perhaps the metal maven was getting a little tired.  Fear isn’t as punchy as past albums.  Since Somewhere in Time, Maiden had become increasingly reliant on synths or keyboards.  Even the back-to-basics No Prayer for the Dying had keyboards.  Let’s not get rid of all the keyboards, let’s just tone them down.  On some tracks, such as “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”, they are little more than sonic wallpaper.  Let’s mix them a little lower for this experiment, and bring the drums up in the mix.

2. Remix the drums

Something about Nick McBrain’s drums on this album sound a little dead.  A tad too much like they’re in the back of a cave.  We should try making them a little more lively, and maybe just a tad louder in the mix.  Aim for something more like the Piece of Mind era drums sound.

3. Edit the album down, and re-sequence it

Let’s go for a nine track song list.  Clearly, the 12 on Fear were too many since they didn’t play the majority live.  Fear was a long album.  As the CD rose to dominance, albums grew longer.  CDs were initially made to be 74 minutes long so you could put long classical pieces on it without breaks.  74 minutes was never intended to be the standard album length, though Fear is shy of that at 58:34.  Still too long for a single record.  Classic Maiden albums were shorter than this.  We’ll go with nine songs.  Number of the Beast had eight, and Piece of Mind had nine.  Fear already had the perfect openers and closers, so we won’t touch those.

Side one

  1. “Be Quick or Be Dead”
  2. “Chains of Misery”
  3. “From Here to Eternity”
  4. “Judas Be My Guide”
  5. “Wasting Love”

Side two

  1. “Afraid to Shoot Strangers”
  2. “The Fugitive”
  3. “Weekend Warrior”
  4. “Fear of the Dark”

It was a real struggle to include “Weekend Warrior”, as I don’t think this ode to soccer hooliganism is a particularly good song.  However, I committed to nine, and I find “Fear is the Key” and “The Apparition” a tad dull.  “Childhood’s End” is the other deleted song, and really it could have been one or the other.  I went with “Weekend Warrior” because it’s different for Maiden.  (Not that “The Apparition” isn’t, but these songs aren’t really that great.  That’s why they weren’t played live.)

We maintain the kicking opener, high speed and going for the throat of big business.  Then we have anthemic shout-along rock in “Chains of Misery”.  “Wasting Love” acts as a side closer as it does on the proper album.  Kicking off side two with “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” is a bit of a risk, as it is a bit ballady to start, and coming off a ballad gives you two in a row.  However, it would work brilliantly as a side opener.  “Fear of the Dark” of course should close.  That’s what it’s built for.

This makes the album a perfect 44 minutes and 24 seconds!

4. Get rid of the tree Eddie!

Regular Maiden artist Derek Riggs had a falling out with Maiden’s management over his sketches for this album.  Instead, for the first of many times, Maiden went with the legendary sci-fi and fantasty artist Melvyn Grant, who didn’t really understand Eddie yet, or the continuity established on prior album covers.  From Number of the Beast to No Prayer for the Dying, there seemed to be an ongoing story with Eddie being manipulated, captured, and killed.  He is reborn, borgified, and gives birth, only to be reborn again.  Then, suddenly he’s a tree.  The lightning from Eddie’s eyes is gone, replaced by evil red peepers.  For our improved version of this album, the cover has to go.  Cover art is so important to Iron Maiden, and Fear had one of their most disappointing covers to date (with No Prayer by Riggs coming in second).

In Sum

Little can be done to improve some of the actual songs on this album.  Fear had filler, and a lot of it.  Even at nine songs, tracks like “The Fugitive” and “Weekend Warrior” are dangerously close to filler material.  Perhaps our hypothetical remix can liven them up, but shortening the album will do it some wonders.  Maiden rarely record original material for B-sides, and don’t put cover songs on their records.  There is no extra material we can substitute.

Doing the best with what we have at hand, what would you do to improve Fear of the Dark?