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 onYouTubeorFacebook.
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 onYouTubeorFacebook.
Every year at Sausagefest, I would create an audio collage of random bits and samples of music, movies and TV Shows. I don’t know if the 2020 version was ever used, but here it is.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode featuring guest Tim Durling & Uncle Meat
And guest list from Jake
Episode 138: Top Ten Songs of Queensrÿche
Raise ’em up! Uncle Meat wanted to count down the Top 10 songs from Queensrÿche, a band we have yet to tackle on Grab A Stack of Rock. So, we looked into the Eyes of a Stranger, placed Hand on Heart, and tried to shed some Nocturnal Light on these songs. But it wasn’t Just Us! Along for the ride is terrestrial DJ Tim Durling, and we will also have a guest list from Jake (Not From State Farm).
Spanning the EP all the way to Digital Noise Alliance, Queensrÿche have a lot of songs to sift through. For this special episode, Mike even went as far as to acquire a copy of Frequency Unknown, the album that Geoff Tate made before he lost the rights to the Queensrÿche name. (For added fun, this copy was gifted by Matthew Phillips, who had three remixed CDs sent to him by Cleopatra records. This is not the retail Billy Sherwood remix, but the rare mail order only version dubbed “we remix, you decide”.)
Even though Queensrÿche arguably had a “dark period” with some albums that didn’t ignite the fire in fans, they also had a strong comeback with Todd LaTorre on lead vocals. Will any Todd songs make the list tonight? We’ll be Breaking the Silence to reveal all!
Friday February 20 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube orFacebook.
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.
From the album Live In Ontario, here is the second music video from the CD: “I Don’t Advocate Drugs”. This video was painstakingly animated, using real Lego bricks, by hand. No AI here folks. Bricks were collected to create these characters including all four members of the band: Max the Axe (lead guitar), Uncle Meat (lead vocals), Mike Mitchell (bass), and Dr. Dave Haslam (drums). Depicting a druggy trip and a stage performance by the band, look for several easter eggs referring to past Max the Axe songs, or even Dr Dave’s well-stated hatred of Transformers.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
🅻🅸🆅🅴 Episode
Episode 122: The End Continues with Uncle Meat and Dan Chartrand
In September of 2024, Marco D’Auria, Dan Chartrand, and Uncle Meat joined us to celebrate 40 years of This Is Spinal Tap. This comprehensive and loving analysis needed a followup episode once the sequel, The End Continues, had come out. Now it has, and we have all seen it. Dan and the Meat are back tonight to discuss the sequel, and the sequel soundtrack! Tonight we’re gonna rock ya tonight!
Though we have not had 40 years to study up like we did last time, we have done our homework and will be addressing the below topics and more:
What were your hopes and fears going into this movie?
Where and when did you see it?
The new drummer – our impressions.
Favourite scene.
Favourite cameo / callback.
Soundtrack thoughts: New songs, old songs, and CD vs the movie.
The big question: Did it live up to the Spinal Tap legacy?
Please join us live tonight in the comments. There will be blood to let!
Friday October 24 at 7:00 PM EST, 8:00 PM Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
Thanks to all who joined our special live episode of 50 Years of Iron Maiden celebrating Live After Death. I always like to write up a little show summary every time we do a live episode. For Harrison and I, scheduling guests required pre-recording episodes for this series. However, we aim to do the live albums as live episodes, because why not? Most of them do not have special guests attached to them, but Live After Death had to be an exception, due to its importance in heavy metal. This week our special guest was show co-founder and viewer favourite Uncle Meat!
Together, the three of us broke down the album, side by side. Each side of this album has its own flavour. I had a favourite. We discuss the spectacular vocal acrobatics of Bruce Dickinson, some (perhaps) excessive crowd interactions, some nearly definitive versions of songs, and some interesting stage banter. We also go deep with the three B-sides: “Losfer Words”, “Run to the Hills” and “Running Free”.
Finally, we take a really good look at the original vinyl itself, the gatefold, the Easter eggs, and much more!
And speaking of Easter eggs, we’ll see you next week for our special live Good Friday afternoon show, and following that, our 100th episode celebration!
Recorded:
14–17 March 1985 (sides 1–3) Long Beach Arena
8–12 October 1984 (side 4) Hammersmith Odeon
Released 14 October 1985 (audio)
23 October 1985 (video)
The first release of Churchill’s speech added onto Aces High.
SIDE ONE
String of hits, five in a row. Easily the best first side of any live metal album.
Aces High – a lot of really really “clean” backing vocals – overdubs?
Revelations – “Nice to see ya, to see ya…nice.” “Written about religion, or about washing your car, actually it’s about hanging a pair of curtains.”
Lot of “extra singing” from Bruce. “yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah oh, oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah…” Also lots of variation from the album melody. Lots of extra power from Bruce vocally.
And then “Oh, oh, it is you…” “Motherfucker!” – Nicko?
SIDE TWO
“This is what NOT to do if a bird shits on ya!” One of the most famous song intros of all time?
Also lots of that “extra singing” – “Yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah…”
Followed by “Powerslave” as a serious 1-2 punch.
Ending with Beast is a great record closer. Intro is interesting as it’s pitch-changed with effects added. Also Bruce sings the complete choruses and not just “six”.
SIDE THREE
Another side of smash hits. “Hallowed” (funny twang in Bruce’s delivery)
“Iron Maiden”, “Run to the Hills”, and “Running Free” with the long audience participation section. Kind of the definitive version of this kind of concert activity.
“Hills” is the only song I like a lot less than the album version. Guitar opening sounds thin, Steve’s bass too plunky. Bruce doesn’t sound as enthused compared to Beast Over Hammersmith.
SIDE FOUR
“Wrathchild” is a brilliant addition from the Di’Anno days though “Killers” would have been great too. A definitive Bruce version of “Wrathchild”. Lots of that “extra singing” and you can hear Harris on the chorus clearly.
“Acacia” – “Speak to me, Hammersmith!” – I like Bruce’s echo – “I know a place where we can go go go go…” Great guitar solo work here.
“Damned” – “Let me see those hands, yeeeah!” Magnificent vocal performance by Bruce, top notch all the way! Lovely guitar harmonics after Bruce sings “If he had lived, he would have crucified us all!”
“Boots” – Very frantic vocal delivery with speed.
“Phantom” – an absolutely epic way to end the album. When I first got it, it was an unexpected track. It was my first time hearing it.
B-SIDES
“Losfer Words” – Feels faster and more intense than the album version. A great bonus track and the only live performance available to buy.
“Sanctuary” – Too much “extra singing” in this one!
“Murders in the Rue Morgue” – “Got a surprise for ya!”
50 Years of IRON MAIDEN episode 10: Live After Death
A special 🅻🅸🆅🅴 episode
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK #98
Some call it the greatest metal live album of all time. It was certainly of an unusually high quality when it was released in 1985, for Iron Maiden’s Live After Death was over 100 minutes of masterful classics, accompanied by a generous booklet with liner notes and hundreds of tour photos. It had no equal in heavy metal.
Tonight on 50 Years of Iron Maiden, Harrison and I will be live! It’s a gimmick we want to try for live albums: live episodes to celebrate the live experience! Joining us is show co-founder Uncle Meat, returning to the channel for this special deep dive. Not only is 2025 the 50th anniversary of Iron Maiden, but it is the 40th anniversary of this legendary live album. Meat and I were there in 1985, relishing every note when it was brand new.
Together we will break down all four sides of vinyl (the original CD only featured the first three sides, and the cassette had an edited version of side two, so vinyl used to be the only way to get the whole album). We will also go deep on the rarely heard live B-sides “Sanctuary”, “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “Losfer Words”. For physical media, we will look at the 1995 2 CD reissue, the remastered 2 CD reissue, the original vinyl, and the singles…one of which didn’t even have Eddie on the cover!
Since this is a live episode, we’ll also be able to take your comments live! Don’t miss this special episode of Grab A Stack of Rock.
LIVE on Friday April 11 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy on YouTube or Facebook.
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