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Featuring a great chat with my buddy Adrian, the person responsible for introducing me to Protest the Hero. We talk about our time working together at Blockbuster Video, how he re-introduced me to Dream Theater and Coheed & Cambria, getting his first Dream Theater album for his 16th birthday and listening to it with his parents at breakfast, the first time he heard Protest the Hero AND the first time he played Protest the Hero for ME, how their album Fortress inspired him to break through different plateaus as a guitarist, the ins and outs of crowdfunding an album, and most importantly... how his band, Tactus, landed a spot as the opening act for Protest the Hero when they toured Atlantic Canada in the spring of 2014!

I catch up with my old buddy Ryan Cole, and chat about how "Smash" was a major influence on him musically and politically. We also chat about the time he saw them perform live in Halifax a few years back, how 1994 was a pivotal year for punk rock, Woodstock 1994 vs Woodstock 1999, and how The Offspring turned out to be a gateway drug of sorts for both of us into the wonderful world of punk rock. Fair warning, it had been quite awhile since we had chatted, so we got off on a few tangents here and there... including Bono's screaming orgasm on the Batman Forever soundtrack, Triscuit toppings, buying proton packs, our favourite "good" bad movies, Alice Cooper vs The Rolling Stones, choral renditions of Rammstein songs, and more!

After a busy couple of weeks, we're back! In this episode, I catch up with my father on a drive to the airport and find out how he was introduced to Neil Diamond back in the early 1970's through high school dances, and also during his time living on Canada's west coast. We also chat about my memories of watching The Jazz Singer when I was a kid, when he and I went to see Neil in concert back in 2009 in Ottawa, and also try to answer a very important question... why does our family love Neil so darn much??

I chat with my buddy Alex, whom I met through my previous guest, Nick. We chat about his early memories of hearing Lemmy & Co, how drummer Phil "Filthy Animal" Taylor was unlike anything he had ever heard at that point (we also chat about Judas Priest drummer Scott Travis for a moment... and I refer to him as Travis Scott somehow, ha!), how probably one of the most insane Kijiji deals ever led to Alex owning a vintage 1977 Rickenbacker bass, and what ultimately led to him getting a Motorhead/Lemmy tattoo not too long after Lemmy's passing in 2015. Also, not to be outdone by his buddy Nick in our previous episode, Alex has recorded a couple of his favourite Lemmy bass licks for your listening pleasure!

In this episode, I'm joined by my buddy Nick who is easily the most knowledgeable Zep fan that I know! He talks about how he got into the band, his favourite licks and riffs, and his first time playing a Zep song live on stage! He also has stories about how hilariously (and seriously) injuring his foot led to him buying a 12 string Rickenbacker guitar, and what he  (successfully) did in order to throw border officers off the trail when he drove to Vermont to pick up said guitar and avoid paying import fees! We had a lot of fun with this one, enjoy!

My wife, and John's mother, Bernadette returns to the show to give her take on my favorite band of all time instead of me babbling on about them on my own. We chat about the two KISS concerts she's been to with me, one towards the back of the venue and one in the second row, confusing Scorpions with KISS, catching guitar picks, and getting shut down by Gene Simmons. The main attraction of this episode is actually a couple of stories involving John, as that's been missing for a couple of episodes now. So enjoy embarrassing tales of him struggling with properly pronouncing the word "chalk" in public settings (spoiler, it gets a tad sweary), and how early optimism quickly turned into a "we're terrible parents" moment (don't worry, everyone is okay!). Bonus stories include how much fun it is to watch scary movies with her, which also gets sweary, ha!

I sit down with the biggest Jimmy Eat World fan I know, my good friend Josh, and we talk about how he got into the band, the perils of listening to your favourite song on repeat for hours on end, what is the "Spin Doctors effect"?, a vocal re-enactment of the epic guitar parts towards the end of "Get It Faster", and did seeing them live last year live up to nearly 20 years of expectations for him? We also chat about the ups and downs of the early 2000's pop/punk/emo/alt rock explosion, including how many of those bands gained exposure by getting their songs on teen dramas like The OC and One Tree Hill. All that, and how Jimmy Eat World over took Blink 182 as Josh's favourite band of all time... OF ALL TIME!

After listening back to last week's episode, I noticed that I had completely glossed over one topic, and totally FORGOT another that I wanted to talk about... soooo bear with me as I work on making some better show notes and staying on topic, ha! In this episode, how Iron Maiden will be a big help in high school english and history, Steve Harris' total disregard for how Bruce Dickinson would have to sing his complicated lyrics, how the band's live show enhances the story of these literal and historical pieces, and my attempt to use the term "clapback" properly, ha! 

Hear why I had a bit of a tough time picking a Maiden album for us to listen to, how I first heard them, my personal top 5 Maiden albums (plus honourable mentions), how the band took on one of the most ambitious world tours EVER, how Eddie evolved into a massive mechanical mummy, how a lot of their album covers are linked, why the band refused to do any overdubs or touch ups to Live After Death, the importance of UFO's "Doctor, Doctor" and Monty Python's "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" to Maiden fans, an in depth remembering of when I saw them back in August of 2003, why the Iron Maiden fan club is one big happy family, why posting spoilers makes you a jerk, and why taking taking an extra day off after a road trip is better than taking an extra off beforehand... and why I think John has secretly watched Mallrats without me. Spoiler, he may have gone for an extreme "stink palm" recently... chocolate covered pretzel anyone??

We talk about how my love of movies as a kid introduced me to the band, how Huey & the News sued Ray Parker Jr over Ghostbusters, the time I went rogue with a bit of guerrilla marketing in an attempt to get the band to play a show in Moncton... and it kinda worked (at least that's what I tell myself), how I got to meet Huey at that show, and I also chat with my buddy Jody about how we bonded over our mutual love for the band when he came to work with me at MAX FM, and Jody also tells the incredible story about how his career in radio has literally taken him from one coast of Canada to the other! I even coax Jody into resurrecting an old game that he used to play on air during our time together in Moncton, and the results are... well, you judge for yourself, ha!

Featuring a small correction and follow up from our last episode, how GnR were playing songs from both Use Your Illusion albums on the road a couple of months before their release, what led to Steven Adler being out and Matt Sorum being in, how Use Your Illusion 2 led to me becoming even more of a movie nerd, why Terminator 2 is awesome and why the rest of the Terminator sequels are bruuuuuuutal with the small exception of JK Simmons delivering the greatest line of dialogue in sci-fi history in Terminator: Genesis, my memories from seeing "Guns N Roses" (you'll understand the sarcastic air quotes when you hear it) back in 2010 including the douchiest rock star move I've ever seen from Axl Rose, and why my son is destined to be a terrible actor... albeit a committed one, in the return of "Dear John"!

After a couple of weeks away, we're back! We quickly chat about what has gone on around the house and what happened to the letter "E", and then we take a road trip to Moncton, New Brunswick to chat with my good friend Adam about the two times we've seen Foreigner live in concert, and we chat about it just before going to see them in concert for the THIRD time! We also chat about how we each got into the band (including an awkward 6-7 minutes where we both talk about the same album without realizing it, ha!), explain what the "Foreigner Amount" is, and most importantly, why we love them so much!

We chat about his days fronting Elf and Rainbow, how he decided to leave Rainbow while eating dinner AT The Rainbow (true story), his time with Black Sabbath, Dio Sabbath vs Ozzy Sabbath, his departure from Sabbath and the formation of the first Dio band, and most importantly... memories and stories from when I saw Dio live in concert back in August of 2003 at what is still the greatest concert I've ever been to! We'll chat about the importance of owning a simple keyboard riff and why they're cooler when done while drinking a beer, and an incredibly rare Dio moment that closed the show! We'll also chat with your mother in "Dear John", as we both recall the night we met each other (9 years ago last week!) During the conversation, some new information regarding the events of that night come to light... a misunderstanding between your mother and her friend Jessica, and it doesn't bode well for my good friend Adam, ha! All this, and the return of "Was Steve Buscemi In It?"!

Learn about their rise to stardom by following an eerily similar path to the one that KISS did, how Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson both created wild custom guitars, why the "At Budokan" album was released twice, how KISS was my gateway drug to Cheap Trick, why Top Gun was responsible for a resurgence in popularity and why you shouldn't drive while listening to "Mighty Wings", why their #1 hit "The Flame" will always make me think of my buddy Adam and why he's the worst storyteller ever, how they put their spin on Big Star's "In The Streets" for That 70's Show, why you should have their Christmas album in your holiday rotation, and why John and I are nowhere near ready to dress up as Batman and Robin for Halloween in "Dear John"!

Now with 27% less echo as I continue to figure out this new mic, ha! Find out how the Beastie Boys landed the spot as the opening act for Madonna on the Like A Virgin Tour, more tales of Rick Rubin's production skills, learn how they were light years ahead of the game when it came to satire and how it (ironically) led to one of their most recognizable tracks, how Slayer's Kerry King ended up appearing on the album, the time that Kenny Powers was a Beastie Boys for a day, how "Sabotage" makes every movie trailer better, what is the "Walk of Life Project" and why it will change your life, another instalment of "Was Steve Buscemi In It?", why the Beastie Boys are one of the (very) few hip hop acts deserving of a spot in the rock and roll hall of fame, and we find out why John NEEDS to nap with TWO blankets in "Dear John"!

Learn about how a phone call from Rick Rubin led to Aerosmith's comeback and brought hip hop to the masses, how Bon Jovi influenced the making of Permanent Vacation, the time that Steven Tyler almost hit on Vince Neil and it led to a hit song, the power of "don't bore us, get to the chorus", the time that Aerosmith tried to upstage KISS and failed miserably, and we finally answer the (not so) age old question... was Steve Buscemi in Armageddon?? Also, the first in my series of letters to my son's future self in a segment titled "Dear John", enjoy!

What is Wax Wednesday? Listen and find out, silly.