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:
Enjoy this episode!
Monday Oct 27, 6:00 PM EST at the link below.
This week, we lost the monolith of metal known as Paul Di’Anno. Born as Paul Andrews, he gripped the world in 1980 fronting the almighty Iron Maiden. The spark was brief but bright. His two Iron Maiden albums, plus some EPs and singles, carved an identity. Those who get it loved him. Some of them followed Paul into solo outings and new bands. And this show has a wealth of appreciation for it all.
With Professor Pete Jones on board as surprise guest, we talked about all things Paul. Pete was there from the very beginning, buying the first album in store upon sight. He goes deep into the music and the early Iron Maiden sound, supplanted by the late great Clive Burr on drums. Harrison Kopp, in a mighty return to Grab A Stack of Rock after nearly nine months away, gave us a run through Paul’s career, highlighting live songs and memorable tracks suck as “Marshall Lockjaw”. Johnny Metal and Metal Roger contributed their own personal stories and what Paul’s music meant to them. As John said so well: thank you.
Meanwhile, I let the boys do most of the talking. Instead, I presented an interview I did with Paul’s old guitar player Steph Honde. He tells a tale of picking up Paul at the airport, and playing live without rehearsal. I also played Bruce Dickinson’s tribute to Di’Anno, and friend Brian Richards’ thoughts about the tribute from the perspective of an audience member that night. Finally, I read a loving statement from friend Thor Blackmore, towards the end of the show.
I know we will all miss Paul Di’Anno.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 75: Paul Di’Anno Tribute
We had a completely different show planned this week. Then, in the early hours of Monday morning, John Snow informed us that former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno had passed.
It was like that moment the record scratches and the needle comes off. The shock set in, and then I realized, we need to change the show this week. We need to pay tribute to (not the original singer, but) the first recorded Iron Maiden lead singer. Paul filled some shoes: Paul Mario Day and Den Wilcock preceeded him in Iron Maiden, but it was Di’Anno who helped put them on the center stage. Paul’s punk look and snarl differentiated Iron Maiden from the rest of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. They were clearly different from the pack, and their intense and sweaty live shows proved it.
This week on Grab A Stack of Rock, Harrison Kopp will make an early unscheduled return, joining myself, John Clauser, and Metal Roger in tribute. 24 hours after our show, Roger will be seeing Iron Maiden themselves in Toronto. All of us will be talking about the man, the myth, and the albums! As an added bonus we will also be running a clip from my 2021 interview with his former guitar player Steph Honde, on playing live with Paul! We will also be playing Bruce Dickinson’s tribute to Paul from Minnesota.
“I know you’d have gone insane if you saw what I saw,” but tonight, please join us and see our Tribute to Paul Di’Anno. As usual there will be lots of physical products, including two VERY RARE Iron Maiden box sets, some vinyl, and double CD sets.
Friday October 25 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
RECORD STORE TALES #1159:
The Community is Dead – Long Live the Community!
Once Upon A Time, the old WordPress music Community was an important part of our daily breakfast. It was a wonderful way to connect and talk music with like-minded folks. It was even a good way to seek support in our lives.
Then in 2023, the Community died. I don’t know why, and I no longer care. It’s possibly a “type of feint, or fake technique, whereby a player draws an opposing player out of position or skates by the opponent while maintaining possession and control of the puck.” People just…disappeared. Ghosted. I actually don’t want to know why. “Let the past die,” Kylo Ren said. “Kill it, if you have to.” That is done, but not by my own hand.
I knew it was dead in 2024, when several people from the old Community refused to watch or acknowledge my trip to Toronto with Aaron, the Community’s spiritual leader. It was a shunning, with intent. Rest in peace, Community!
Whatever their issues are, I hope they find peace and harmony, wherever they went and whatever they are doing now. I miss them. But there was a silver lining.
A new Community awaited me. A bigger, more welcoming Community. A Community that stretches from Australia to America, east coast to west, and up north to Canada. A stronger Community. For me it began as the old Community died in 2023. Marco D’Auria encouraged me to work with the Contrarians, and suddenly I started getting invites to appear on other shows, such as Rock Daydream Nation and My Music Corner. With these fine folks, together, we have rebuilt what was lost. Bigger, better, faster, stronger!
I welcome you to the Community! A place where we support each other, collaborate, and celebrate the power of music! A place where you will not be judged for your mistakes, nor shunned.
Welcome…I bid you welcome!
A big thank you to Metal Roger for the topic, and thanks to John Clauser for an awesome show! The topic tonight was Roger’s: Top five albums after a long gap between. There was no crossover on any of our lists. I went mostly mainstream with my bands. Clauser surprised us with a lot of bands I didn’t know, but were popular in the comments. A nice Steve Augeri band too! Metal Roger did industrial, metal, and beardliness.
My list is below, and included two Japanese imports and a couple of special editions with DVDs.
At the end of the day, the mighty Harrison Kopp the Mad Metal Man himself turned up with a list of his own, which surprisingly lacked any Blaze Bayley. A huge thanks to Harrison for coming on last night.
Tune in next week for the Battle of ’84 with Pete Jones: Defenders of the Faith vs. Powerslave!
I cheated.
TIE
KISS – Sonic Boom (2009) – 11 year gap from 1998’s Psycho-Circus
Van Halen – A Different Kind of Truth (2012) – 14 year gap from 1998’s Van Halen III (8 year gap from 2004’s Best of Both Worlds)
Faith No More – Sol Invictus (2015) – 18 year gap from 1997’s Album of the Year
Deep Purple – Perfect Strangers (1984) – 9 year gap from 1975’s Come Taste the Band
Styx – The Mission (2018) – 15 year gap from 2003’s Cyclorama (13 year gap from 2005’s Big Bang Theory)
Extreme – Six (2023) – 15 year gap from 2008’s Saudades de Rock
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 61: Top Five Albums After a Long Gap, with Metal Roger and John Clauser
‘Twas Metal Roger who suggested this week’s topic. What are our Top Five Albums after a Long Gap? Well, Chinese Democracy is an obvious example, but there are many more, ecpecially from the last decade or two. It took 24 years for The Who to release a new album (Endless Wire) and then another 13 years to release the followup Who. For the sake of this exercise, we are arbitrarily saying at minimum, at least a five year wait to qualify an album for this list.
Joining us will be Johnny Clauser from My Music Corner, which is doubly good since Roger has no physical product to show off for his picks! (Come on, Roger!) I have eight picks and have to narrow it down to five, which I will probably do at the last minute.
This will also be John and Roger’s first shows at the cottage. We hope for clear weather and chipmunks! Join us live in the comments. We love to talk to the audience!
Friday May 31 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or on Facebook!
Harrison the Mad Metal Man continues to be under the weather, and insisted that I open his parcel in the meantime. So I got Metal Roger on the line and opened Harrison’s box.
My memory is horrible and there is a good chance I already knew about all of this stuff, but here’s what Harrison sent me in a handy-dandy video. Or, if you’re not patient, there are some photos with additional details below as well.
I also opened one package from Amazon, furthering my quest to complete my Journey collection.
This video is for fans of metal, CDs, and those damned Marvel Lego blind boxes that cursed me last fall! At the end, Roger and I took a brief foray into an interesting subject – the Mount Rushmore of metal mascots. A topic for a future show to be sure.
Thank you Harrison for your generosity once again.
Iron Maiden – Live After Death – remaster in digipack
Food For Thought – Iron Maiden tribute
Dio – Holy Diver – 2005 Rock Candy reissue with bonus interview track
Get well soon, Harrison! The Mad Metal Man was unable to co-host tonight’s show with Jex Russell, so what did Jex do? He grabbed the bull by the horns, the guitar by the neck, and the stack of rock by the stones! It was the historic first-ever episode of Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike and the Mad Metal Man…without Mike, or the Mad Metal Man.
Jex, you dapper handsome movie star. I admit, I had it coming. It was not unearned. But vengeance shall be mine. ;)
On with the show: Dressed to the nines, Jex pulled out all the stops tonight. Tonight’s musical physical media included:
Jex with buying tips, some psychedelic rock, Hard Rock Gold, Over 60 Minutes With…, some Vital Idol, Deep Purple, DEVO, Pat Benatar, Ten Years After, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Squier, and Motley Crue ’94!
Jazz, soul & blues provided by Aaron “Mr. Books” of the KMA with: Tobin Sprout (only 1000 made), GBV, Hilliard Ensemble, John Lee Hooker, Prince, Ry Cooder, Simply Red, Gojira, Matt Costa, Oscar Peterson, Rheostatics, Kurt Vile, Live at Leeds, a live album in Toronto, the sound of Starbucks, Phil Collins, Blues Brothers, Hootie, Debussy, Yo-Yo Ma, Hans Zimmer, and dad memes. Sadly no opera and “y’all-ternative country” (with apologies).
John T. Snow from The Collection brought on the hard rock side of things. We had his early thoughts on the new Ace Frehley 10,000 Volts (red transparent vinyl and lentincular cover CD), KISS final show merch and memorabilia, new Collective Soul 8-track (!!), a Canadian gift from Aaron, and new Jeff Scott Soto.
Metal Roger on marital harmony, comedy relief, heavy metal and screamo. He brought some Metallica, Death Cab, Papa Roach, Queen, Guns N’ Roses, and books!
Thank you guys for doing the show and giving me a night to just watch and enjoy. I’ll be back Monday with Tim Durling for a special episode on the complete Journey discography!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 52: Jex, Aaron, John and Metal Roger!
First order of business: Get well soon, Harrison! The Mad Metal Man is unable to co-host tonight’s episode, so filling in for him will be Jex Russell.
I don’t know precisely what the guys will be showing off, but new arrivals are guaranteed! We will see Kiss, Metallica, Billy Idol, The Who, Chuck Berry and a whole whack of fresh jazz from Mr. Books.
The panel tonight:
Historically speaking, this is the first ever episode of Grab A Stack of Rock with Mike and the Mad Metal Man, without Mike or the Mad Metal Man. But fear not, Mike will be back on Monday with Tim Durling for a very special Journey episode for Jon Cain’s birthday!
Friday Feb 23 at 8:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 9:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube, or Twitter!! (Facebook has been problematic of late.)
Hey, Metal Roger here (holy shit, I have way too many nicknames)! My picks for 2023 tell a bit of a story about my year. What a batshit crazy year it was. Each month had crazier shit than the last. These albums helped me get through this crazy year. Here’s my list of my favourite albums of 2023
#5. Blink 182 – One More Time
Blink 182 is a bucket list band of mine. I’m finally seeing them in 2024. I love this album. It sounds like a Blink-of-old album. It also sounds like an evolved version of Blink. When the “One More Time” single was released, boy did everyone cry. What a beautiful message behind the song. Whoever is reading my words right now — Hey, if you have friends or family that you care about, and you haven’t talked to them in awhile for whatever reason, don’t wait for something shitty to happen tell them you love them and how much they mean.
#4. Better Lovers – God Made Me An Animal
It’s an EP, but it’s my rules. The Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die had a baby — I HAVE to mention this. Good God does this kick ass. “God Made Me An Animal” makes you wanna run through a wall and punt the first person you see across the room. I can’t wait for the full length to come out in 2024, and throw around more heavy weights while it’s on. [Roger lifts weights – Mike]
#3. Sleep Token – Take Me Back to Eden
You either love these guys or cannot stand them, to the point you would rather listen to Nickelback. Just kidding — nothing is that bad. This album makes zero sense. The songs are made in the most random ways you can possibly conceive in your brain. There’s singing, there’s eletronic parts, there’s heavy-as-hell something out of a death metal album parts, and there’s even jazzy parts. The vocalist Vessel is an awesome singer, who should be applauded for his vocals. Seriously, i have no idea why i enjoyed this so much because its out there. I bet Harrison the Unicorn loves this album. It’s that out there.
#2. Beartooth – The Surface
Speaking of demons. This might be the first CD ever to make me wanna cry. The lyrics — holy shit do they ever resonate with me. At the time of my life that I listened to this album, I NEEDED to hear lyrics like these. A little background about me is that I could have had everything in my life that I wanted and more, but I decided I would let my demons drive for awhile. When I first heard the song “Riptide”, I cried. Then when I listened to it again, I said to myself its finally time to let go and become something people are proud of. Enough is enough. No more excuses no more saying I’m back, only to fall down again. Then when I heard the whole album I thought, “Holy shit, this is exactly how I’m feeling right now.” That it’s time to rise. “When I Was Alive” is the perfect way to end this album. It has the lyrics:
Not gonna be on my deathbed
Knowing I’ll be buried in regret
Thinkin’ ’bout the things I never did
While I’m taking my last breath
No need to fear the end
‘Cause I’ll know I didn’t just live
When I die, I’ll know I didn’t just live
I was alive, I’ll know I didn’t just live
I was alive, live
Not gonna be on my deathbed
Wondering why I was always scared
To say those words I never said
To the ones I loved while I was there
When I die, I’ll know I didn’t just live.
There’s so many things times I’ve held myself back because of fears or taking chances. No more holding myself back. 2024 will be the year this koi swims up the river and becomes a dragon. I want my wife to meet the true me. That song woke me the fuck up. If I wasn’t so biased towards Metallica, this likely would be number 1.
#1. Metallica – 72 Seasons
If you have watched some of the shows I’ve been on (for whatever crazy reason), you would know my love for Metallica has no bounds. Actually, it does. St. Anger is garbage, and Lulu is some kind of alien abomination that should have never been created. If you take this CD for what it is, it’s a great hard rock/NWOBHM-inspired love letter in my opinion. “Lux Æterna” (I’m not doing that stupid font, Mike you do it!): Very Diamond Head-ish. “Inamorata” is a Black Sabbath sound-alike to me. The lyrics on this album are both dark and uplifting. To me it tells a story of a man that had demons from his father abandoning him, and eventually fighting back his demons, realizing he’s not too far gone, and not needing the pain and misery to keep carrying on. Maybe I’m reading it wrong, but it sure helped me get through a beyond crazy situation, that whenever I tell people they yell “What the fuck!” Thank you Metallica for helping me keep pushing through this year
Honorable mentions: some heavy shit
Unearth – The Wretched; The Ruinous
Fires In The Distance – Air Not Meant For Us
Cattle Decapitation – Terrasite
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