Grant Arthur, Jamie Laszlo, Peter Kerr, Tim Durling and myself all gathered together to discuss this fun topic last night: Albums with common “nickname” titles! For example: The Beatles (the White Album), Metallica (the Black Album), and Weezer (lotsa coloured albums)! There are plenty on our lists, and I’m especially proud of one of my coloured picks.
This was my first ever panel discussion with the Contrarians, and about three years overdue. Thank you Grant for inviting me!
There will be no episode of Grab A Stack of Rock this weekend, but we’ll be back next week!
It was a marathon, but it was never dull! With Pete Jones on board, we completely dissected every track on these two 40 year old albums:
Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith – 13 January 1984 – peaked at #18 in the US and went platinum. Produced by Tom Allom, his fifth with Priest.
Iron Maiden – Powerslave – 3 Sept 1984 – peaked at #21 in the US and went platinum. Produced by Martin Birch, his fourth with Maiden.
Harrison Kopp arrived at the end of the show and between he, Peter and myself, we chose a winner. It was a 2-1 vote.
Lyrically and musically we broke down each track to the individual parts. We shone light and appreciation on all the players, for what they contributed to each of these epic metal masterpieces. At the end of the day, it was clear that though both bands are often lumped together, these two albums are completely different. They have different moods, different directions, and different lyrical themes. Both are important albums to 80s metal, and to the respective band catalogues.
Subject matter broken down in detail:
The bass, drum, and guitar parts to each song.
Lyrical themes to each song and album.
The B-sides and bonus tracks.
The true and hilarious story behind Mission From ‘Arry.
Connections between Becket and Iron Maiden.
Personal stories and impact of these records.
Live performances and songs that have never been played live.
You will also be treated to a live performance of “Freewheel Burning” by Mike!
They call Peter the Professor and for good reason. He came prepared with tour information and intimate knowledge of the construction of these songs.
Though it pained me to have to pick a winner, we did!
We hope you enjoyed the show, and a big thank-you to Peter for contributing two hours of your Friday night! Of course, always nice to see Harrison.
This is likely the last evening show of the summer of 2024. Afternoon shows occur at 3:00 PM on Fridays, when I have an available co-host. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned…
The next show is an interview with author Angie Moon, regarding her debut music/true time book, Crime of the Century, June 21 on Grab A Stack of Rock!
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 62: The Battle of ’84: Iron Maiden – Powerslave vs. Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith
It is finally time: the Battle of ’84 has arrived! 40 years ago, two metal monsters released crucial albums:
Judas Priest – Defenders of the Faith – 13 January 1984 – peaked at #18 in the US and went platinum.
Iron Maiden – Powerslave – 3 Sept 1984 – peaked at #21 in the US and went platinum.
But which album, track for track, is better?
Tonight, Peter Jones and I will attempt to answer that question. After appearing once with Pete on a favourite episode of Rock Daydream Nation, he finally joins Grab A Stack of Rock. Peter is a musician, who understands the vocabulary of drums and will explain it all tonight. (Check out his latest Contrarians episode with Martin Popoff!) Will the drumming colour his impressions of these two landmark albums of the 80s? We shall see tonight.
We shall dissect each and every track, including the bonus tracks & B-sides. Who shall reign? Find out tonight…live!
Friday June 7 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or onFacebook!
This is likely the last evening show of the summer of 2024. Afternoon shows occur at 3:00 PM on Fridays, when I have an available co-host. Thanks for watching, and stay tuned…
The next show is an interview with author Angie Moon, regarding her debut music/true time book, Crime of the Century, June 21 on Grab A Stack of Rock!
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.
One of the “super-secret” tapings I was involved with is finally ready for your viewing pleasure!
In this courtroom drama, I played the role of the prosecution, with Peter Kerr as the defense. Judging was the honourable Reed Little (The Contrarians), who had to choose whether or not he was going to buy Vinnie Vincent Invasion, based on our testimony.
I have not seen the final episode myself, but I look forward to watching how I did with a couple weeks distance! This show was a lot of fun, and I’ll be back on Rock Daydream Nation again this fall, defending a band I love! (Or at least, an era I love from a band I like!)
Thank you Marco from the Contrarians for this honour. I really loved doing this interview, and I really appreciate the chance to talk about myself and the things I love the most. I got to tell some of my favourite stories, and plug Grab a Stack of Rock with the Mad Metal Man. I also did a horrific Australian accent. Please enjoy!
And Marco…thanks again, this meant the world to me.
Thank you to Marco from the Contrarians for your awesome contributions to this week’s discussion: Alice Cooper Deep Cuts! And thanks as always to co-host Harrison the Mad Metal Man! Harrison really came out of the box with some obscure but still notable songs that you need to check out. The thing about Alice Cooper is…he’s so prolific, and even on the albums you might not like as much, there are always a standout song or two. I was surprised to find so much love for certain songs (“Roses On White Lace”, “Aspirin Damage”, “Make That Money (Scrooge’s Song)”, “Fresh Blood” and more). Alice’s albums were well represented on these lists, with only a handful going unmentioned. Even so, our runners-up lists covered the shadowy corners of the discography.
More thanks: Holen & Buried On Mars with two more lists of great songs that need to be heard and appreciated more often.
If you watched this episode live, I appreciate you too! Another great Friday night for the books!
The LeBrain Train: 2000 Words or More with Mike Ladano and Friends
Episode 107 – Alice Cooper Deep Cuts – Nigel Tufnel Top Ten lists
Tonight, please tune in to a list show over a year in the making! Harrison the Mad Metal Man has been asking to do this theme for ages now, and we finally got the right trio to do it. Marco from the Contrarians will be completing the panel tonight as we list off our Alice Cooper Deep Cuts. No singles, no live concert staples. Each of us will be listing 11 tracks for the full Nigel Tufnel Top Ten experience.
Think about it a minute. There are all the classic Alice Cooper Band records, including the obscure opening duo of Pretties For You and Easy Action. Not long after the classic run, the “blackout” albums that Alice doesn’t remember making. The late 80s had their fair share of great deep cuts on Coop’s horror-themed Constrictor and Raise Your Fist and Yell. Then we have Cooper’s entire output for the last 30 years with plenty of hidden gems. Add in some pretty cool soundtracks and B-sides. Yes, there will be a wealth of Alice riches tonight.
Your live participation means all the world to us, so I hope you can make it. Go Leafs?
Creating your own “Worst Of Kiss” album is a fun concept. I could certainly come up with some variations on that theme! In this Contrarians episode, Marco and Bret each picked five songs for their Lazy Nights: The Worst of Kiss compilation. Marco did one side, Bret the other. And Bret is right that you could pick all Gene songs! But that wouldn’t make for a real Kiss compilation.
Marco and I have some disagreements here. I’m more in tune with Bret. See what you think!
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