Rock Daydream Nation

#1126: Mail Shenanigans & Look at the Arkells’ Disco Loadout SIGNED CLEAR SPLATTER VINYL with Peter Kerr/Rock Daydream Nation [VIDEO]

RECORD STORE TALES #1126: Mail Shenanigans
& Look at the Arkells’ Disco Loadout signed clear splatter vinyl
with Peter Kerr/Rock Daydream Nation

Supplementals:

It has been a hell of a week.  There’s an untold story here; one that I have elected not to tell.  Let’s just say I’m out a lot of money, and other setbacks have caused me to take a step back from social media for a few days.  Just too much going on for me to deal with in a calm and cool manner.  Better to retreat into the shadows a bit.

As always, the Show Must Go On, and so I was determined to do my best on Friday May 17’s Arkells special on Grab A Stack of Rock.  It was the first show I’d done without a co-host (just a special guest) in a long while.  I felt unprepared despite a whole week of listening.  Things came together at the last minute, and all I needed was the new Arkells album, Disco Loadout Volume One, for the show to go right.  I planned to spend the afternoon listening to the CD and hoped to open up the autographed clear splatter vinyl live on the show.

The thing about going live is that it’s a double-edged sword.  The plus is you get the rush of live viewer feedback, and that sparks the show to be so much more exciting.  The negative is that when things go wrong, there’s nothing you can do about it.  That’s live for you.

My record was supposed to arrive on May 15.  It didn’t.  May 16 came and went.  Surely, it would be in my mailbox by May 17, the release date.  It had to be.

I arrived home from work early on Friday.  I raced with my heart pounding to the mailbox.  “It’ll be in there,” I reasoned to myself.  “Why wouldn’t it be?  It has to be.”

It wasn’t.

Furious, I went right to my computer and called up the tracking.

“Good news!” said Canada Post.  “Your parcel was delivered to your locked condo mailbox on May 16!”

Umm, no it wasn’t!  I picked up the phone.  I searched for a phone number.  Do you know how hard it is to call Canada Post on the phone and get a human being on the phone?  I was completely unsuccessful.

I went ’round and ’round on phone menus for half an hour.  I called my local post office, only to go to voicemail after an agonisingly long wait.  I swore up and down, and let out a primal yell that would have frightened the upstairs neighbour, had he been home.

I called Encore Records, and fortunately they had CD copies of the album in stock.  I ran downtown, grabbed the album from them (and a few other discs as well).  I was greeted there by old pal Chris, and I want to thank Encore for saving the day.  Once home, I immediately played the album once-and-a-half times, and began my show prep.  (I also picked up three other discs – a 4 CD Faster Pussycast set, the new Beatles single “Now and Then“, and the new Ace Frehley 10,000 Volts.)

I wouldn’t be able to open the signed splatter vinyl live on the show, but I filed a report with Canada Post.  It was all I could do.  There were no other options available.  Showing a CD copy wouldn’t be as exciting, but at least I had it in hand and could read the credits while listening.

The show went incredibly well; far better than I expected.  This was due to special guest Nurse Kat and her enthusiasm, and to some excellent notes from D’Arcy Briggs.  I’m really happy and proud of the show we did together.  I’d never attempted to do a show on a new album, on the day of release before.  We were treading new ground in multiple ways, and while it almost didn’t work, it ended up being one of the best shows to date.  The passion for the music came through.

Two days later, there was a knock on the door.  A tall gentleman from down the hall had a parcel for me.  It had been delivered to his unit.

How this happened, I’ll never understand but someone at Canada Post wrote the number “103” on the parcel.  Even though my correct unit number was written clearly on the parcel where the address was, this scribbled “103” put my parcel in the tall man’s mailbox.  Fortunately he is one of the good ones, and not all of them are.  Just this week, an upstairs neighbour had an expensive Amazon parcel opened and stolen.  It’s not a good feeling to have mail thieves in our building, but I have been victim twice before.  I’m glad this wasn’t the third time.

Even though I didn’t get to unbox it live, Peter Kerr from Rock Daydream Nation was kind enough to join me for a quick look at a beautiful record.  It looks as great as it sounds.

And so the week of stress comes to a happy ending.  The other bit of good news is that the social media hiatus was a good idea.  I went on a writing bender like never before.  Expect loads of reviews this spring and summer.

Thank you to the guy down the hall, to Peter Kerr, to D’Arcy Briggs, and to Nurse Kat for turning this potential disaster story into one of triumph!

 

Rock Daydream Nation: The Rise and Fall of Hair Metal – Tuff’s Debut Album Reviewed!

Hot on the heels of the fallout from our Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years critique, I was invited back on Peter Kerr’s Rock Daydream Nation along with John Clauser and Steve Deluxe, to review the debut album by Tuff.  I’d never heard What Comes Around Goes Around before, so it was a little “tuff” for me to get up to speed with the other guys.  I listened to the album intensely for a week, and then we recorded this show.  It is a show of which I am extremely proud.

The goal here was to be fair and honest.  I think we were.  I will tell you one thing:  one of our panel members went in with a negative perspective, but had it changed after playing the album today.  I highly recommend you check out this excellent episode.    Even if you don’t like the band Tuff, or the hair metal genre in general, what we have here is a thoughtful and sometimes hilarious discussion about music that, for a little while at least, was one of the most popular genres in the world.

This is what Peter has to say about the show.

Rock Daydream Nation featuring John Clauser (My Music Corner), Michael Ladano (Grab a Stack of Rock) and Steve Deluxe (Rock and Metal Invasion) talk about Hair Metal in the 90s and specifically the Tuff debut album What Comes Around Goes Around (1991)…

For those who like it saltier, stay tuned for my written review which goes up tomorrow.  It’s a little spicy.

Grab A Stack of HOT OFF THE PRESSES Rock! RECORD STORE DAY 2024 PREVIEW! #RSD2024 with Peter Kerr

Record Store Day is already said and done in Australia, and Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation has returned with reports, and bounty.

Peter presents to us some exclusive Thin Lizzy, Motorhead, and some acts that are a little more regional to his neck of the woods.  I show off a bit of my favourites from past years.  We also discuss the value and collectability of RSD releases in general.  Give it a watch!

If anyone wants to do me a solid, I’m looking for:

  1. Def Leppard
  2. Eric Carr
  3. Paramore

 

#1112: Comfort Albums (ft. Peter Kerr)

RECORD STORE TALES #1112: Comfort Albums (ft. Peter Kerr)

Pulling into the driveway, you breath a sigh of relief after a long day at the grind.  Walking in the front door, removing your shoes, you begin to feel human once again.  Nobody is home and the place is yours.  After a stressful day like today, no more TV or news would help you relax.  You set about preparing dinner, and select some new albums to listen to.  More recent music, relatively speaking  Comfort albums.  Albums that feel like an old slipper, that remind you of a past era.  Familiar sounding music that just isn’t made this way anymore.  What do you choose?

I have a few records that fit this bill for me.  The latest is Invincible Shield by Judas Priest.  It is remarkable that this band have had such highs and lows, but still manage to put out a career-high record 50 years after their debut.  There are throwbacks a-plenty, of very high quality.  Some riffs or choruses bring you back to the 80s and Defenders of the Faith.  Several sound of the Painkiller era, particularly because of Scott Travis’ double bass.  Others pulls back to the 70s and Hell Bent for Leather.  Though the modern production and vocals of Rob Halford keep the album in the present, it otherwise sounds akin to the records I love so much from my youth.  They are of the same blood.

It takes a lot for new music to get my blood pumping the way my old favourites do.  When I play Invincible Shield, I’m 15 or 16 years old again, excited for this new album and rooting for my heavy metal heroes on a job well done.  It’s a comfort album.  The warm air of nostalgia blows through my window as another amazing outro guitar solo fades into silence.  I half expect to have to get up and flip the tape soon, so far back am I taken.

Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation, who suggested this topic, had his own example.

“Black Ice,” he said.  “AC/DC did not put an album out for eight years.  “I bought it, and played the first track ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Train’.  It was like a comfort album…big smile on the face!”

Indeed, I remember hearing that song on the radio myself and just being happy to hear a new song that sounded like AC/DC.   Perhaps once upon a time, new AC/DC music was just expected regularly, like your tax bills.  Then there came a time when we had to cherish a new AC/DC album.  Black Ice was the first one where I felt like, “Let’s savour this one this time.”

Another album that had that comforting effect, but not because it’s by a heritage band, is 2022’s Impera by Ghost.  Now here is a band that loves throwbacks, but are not content to stick to any particular style or direction.  Listening to the Ghost discography was like rapidly traveling forward in time, until Impera seemingly brought us to the year 1987.

Impera is one of my favourite albums to play on my way home from work.  With the sun sometimes right in my eyeline and impatient drivers zooming from lane to lane, the commute home is best assuaged by good music that helps me decompress.  “Spillways”, “Watcher in the Sky” and “Griftwood” are the three that specifically warm me like a favourite blanket on a cold day.  They simply don’t make music like this very often anymore.  Oh sure, lots of bands try to do that “80s thing” but few can really trick your brain into thinking you went back in time.  Ghost do it, and they do it frequently.  Not just Impera, but also on Prequelle with songs like “Danse Macabre”.  The single “Kiss the Go-Goat” sounds like something from 1970 and might have a similar effect on someone from that era.

You feel the strain leave your body as you tap your feet to the song.  Comfort music often gets you to move.  I can’t help but play air guitar or air drums to real comfort music.  That’s just good, healthy activity!  I’m speaking about a certain age group here, but as it gets continually more effortful to get up and rock a bit, music like this becomes more and and more precious.

Here I am, as my back aches and my right shoulder reminds me it’s healing from injury, and I’m playing vigorous air guitar to the lively “Fight of Your Life” by Judas Priest.  I cannot throw shapes like I did in my bedroom at age 15, but I do OK, and it feels alright.  Until my elbow says “no more” and my knees falter!

The music feels good.  You can use any number of words:  nostalgic, warm, energising, recapturing…there is something unique about a true comfort album that just makes you say “Thank God this exists.  I needed this, to make me feel this way.  Thank you for the music!”

Rock Daydream Nation: Faster Pussycat – Best Hard Rock Debut you’ve never heard of!

Sort of a followup to our controversial roundtable discussion on The Decline of Western Civilation Part II: The Metal Years, this time Peter Kerr invited me back to talk about a band I never listened to before:  Faster Pussycat.

John Clauser went into this show with a negative opinion after some not-so-great live gigs.  I went in with almost virgin ears.  I knew the songs Faster Pussycat had in the movie, and I liked them.  Peter challenged John and I to listen to the whole album and discuss our conclusions.  The results may surprise you!

See if you can spot my subtle jab at Tuff singer Stevie Rachelle who accused us all of being “probably Rush fans” when he didn’t like our Decline episode.

Here’s Peter’s description of the episode:

Rock Daydream Nation featuring John Clauser (My Music Corner/The Contrarians) and Mike Ladano (Grab a Stack of Rock) go back to 1987 and put a spotlight on the self titled debut album from ‘Faster Pussycat’. Is this the best Hard Rock Debut album you’ve never heard of? Part classic rock with a dash of glam with a hint of blues…. We do a song by song analysis and talk all things Faster Pussycat…Remember, don’t change that song and check out the show! (There is even a Faster Pussycat video on the show)

I bought the CD specifically for this show, and my written review will go up Monday the 11th.  Enjoy the show!

Top Five Ozzy Tunes on Grab A Stack of Rock with Peter Kerr, Mike Slayen and John Clauser

Hot on the heels of his excellent interview with bassist Bob Daisley, Peter Kerr suggested we run through the Top Five Ozzy Osbourne solo songs, and a brilliant idea it was!  Ozzy’s solo career is rich, especially in the early years, with beautiful ballads and incendiary metal.  There are heavy progressive moments, advanced arrangements, and brilliant lyrics. We gave Ozzy’s career a solid listen this week and extracted our lists, and not without difficulty!

Your panel this week:

  • Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation with loads of insight and some great picks.
  • John Clauser of My Music Corner, with a guest list from Jake Not-From-State-Farm.
  • The “Dude” Mike Slayen, from San Diego, home of Jake E. Lee, and that little bit of extra guitar knowledge we needed.

I bought a guest list from Jex Russell, and the combined six lists covered a lot of ground!  Hits, deep cuts, lots of ballads, and almost every lead guitarist who played with Ozzy.  Lots of love for Randy and Jake here especially.  Besides the first two classic Ozzy records, there was a lot of respect here for No Rest for the Wicked.  The Ultimate Sin, Ozzmosis, No More Tears and Scream were mentioned multiple times.  There were a number of B-sides mentioned, and one track that almost got me disqualified!

Stay tuned for some cool honourable mentions!

Thank you everyone for watching tonight, and we’ll see you Monday with brand new guest Len Labelle, and a run through the discography of Brighton Rock.  See you then!

 

ALL ABOARD! Top Five Ozzy Tunes on Grab A Stack of Rock with Peter Kerr, Mike Slayen and John Clauser

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

Episode 53:  Top Five Ozzy Tracks with Peter Kerr, John Clauser, and the return of Mike Slayen!

All aboard!  Ah ha ha ha ha!

Peter Kerr is back, having survived his encounter with Stevie Rachelle and his army of trolls!  He is also fresh from an interview with bassist Bob Daisley, so why not do a list show on our Top Five Ozzy Osbourne songs?

For this epic topic, spanning Ozzy’s solo career, I have recruited a special panel:

We continue to wish Harrison a speedy recovery.  I hope to see you back on the show soon, my friend.  We all miss you.

Tonight will be all about the Prince of Darkness, and together we will list Ozzy’s Top Fives according to each of our tastes.  Deep cuts guaranteed!

Friday March 1 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:00 P.M. Pacific.   Enjoy on YouTube, or Twitter!!  (Facebook has been problematic of late.)

WTF Comments: A real who’s who of WHO?!

Stevie Rachelle of Tuff and Metal Sludge did not like our show on The Decline of Western Civilization Part II.

He posted the link to the Rock Daydream Nation episode in his forums, and his readers went to work skewering us!  Peter Jones received the brunt of the brutality but we were all called “dicks”, “incels”, “angry”, “probably Rush fans”, and “dorks”.

Speaking personally, I’ve never heard a Tuff song.  I’ve never seen a Tuff music video.  I’ve never watched a Tuff interview aside from this movie.  Stevie Rachelle has spent more time looking at my face and listening to me talk, than the reverse.  And I think that’s just wonderful.

The link is below…enjoy the comments!

forums.metalsludge.tv/forums/

“Makes you wonder why those fucking nerds even bother. I scrolled through his channel – dozens and dozens of videos and almost all of them not even a thousand views. A thousand is bare minimum for putting effort into a video, and even then it’s pretty pathetic. What’s the point? These guys must just like listening to themselves speak.”

Rock Daydream Nation: Decline of Western Civilization – Metal Rock Documentary or a Hoax?

Documentary, or mockumentary?

It was truly an honour to be invited back onto Rock Daydream Nation to discuss to infamous “documentary” film The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years directed by Penelope Spheeris.  This deep discussion went right to the hotspot scenes we still talk about today:  Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.), Ozzy, and a parade of airheads wanting to be rock stars.

It’s not a flattering look at the Hollywood metal scene in 1987-88.  The cavalcade of cartoon characters rolled out largely range from jerkoffs to misogynist douchebags.  Our panel takes the position that Spheeris set up most scenes to portray the genre and its artists in a negative light.  We discuss the portrayal of women in the film and hard rock, as well as the alleged staging of controversial scenes.

The panel:  a seasoned septuplet of rock experts comprised of:

Kudos to Reed Little for gleaning the value of rarely-revealed financial data, of being a hard rock band on the road in the 80s, from the film.  Brilliant observations and research here from Reed.  We also asked questions such as:  where were Guns N’ Roses?  What happened to Odin?  Is Ozzy unable to pour a glass of OJ for himself, and what’s with the raw bacon?  Each panel member brought something from their own unique perspectives to the discussion.

Special attention was paid to the Chris Holmes pool scene.  Is it exploitation?  A cry for help?  Partially or completely staged?  What was the impact upon W.A.S.P.’s career from that point onwards?  We had W.A.S.P. expert John Clauser on hand to give that issue a close look.  Peter Kerr pointed out that the pool scene haunts Chris to this day, as it inevitably comes up in every interview he does.  I talk about the impact of seeing the first rock star that I ever liked sitting in that pool, and how it affected me.

We looked back upon our first impressions of the film back in the day, our feelings in 2024, and memorable scenes.  From Poison, London, Aerosmith and Faster Pussycat, there’s a lot of hair to wade through.   Please give this show a watch – we are all very proud of it.

First Time Listener to Prince – Purple Rain – Rock Daydream Nation

I am so proud of this episode of Rock Daydream Nation with Peter Kerr.  The story goes something like this:

(Australian accent) – Hey Mike, how would you like to do a show on Purple Rain by Prince?

(Canadian accent) – I’ve never listened to a Prince album in my life, are you sure you want me to do this?  Because I would.

(Australian accent) – Yes that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

So I went into this very curious, since I have heard the praises of Prince sung by many that I respect.  I listened to Purple Rain eight times in the week leading up to this show.  As for how it all went?  You’ll just have to watch and see.  This is how Peter describes it:

First time listener to Prince “Purple Rain” – Rock Daydream Nation featuring Mike Ladano…The premise of this show is that Mike has never listened to a Prince album. We have remedied that situation and have assigned Mike to listen and appraise the 1984 album ‘Prince and the Revolution “Purple Rain”‘. This was a fun, meaningful show that reviews the music of Prince but also looks at the historical context of Purple Rain – the album and the movie.

Peter, thank you so much for inviting me to do this show.  It’s my favourite Rock Daydream Nation yet!