For those of you that don’t know, I’ve put all of my podcasts and websites aside due to the birth of my first child. As a result I did not count on seeing any shows, much less reviewing any shows for quite some time. That was till I mentioned to my wife that Judas Priest, Motorhead, and Saxon where playing the Bilbao Expo Center (roughly an hour away from me) on Sunday, technically the day after I brought it up! Actually, I brought it up in February when tickets went on sale, but being first time parents, we didn’t know what was going to take place a few months down the road after our son was born. Luckily everything has been great, and my wife out of the blue mentioned on Sunday morning, “why don’t you go to the show?” I didn’t hesitate for a second before calling up all of the usual suspects to see who had tickets, to see where I could get them, etc. In my wildest dreams I didn’t think I’d be seeing these three bands, Priest and Saxon for the second time, and Motorhead for the first. This was also my first time in the BEC to see a show (the previously hosted AC/DC and Rammstein).

I had seen Priest last year on the Priest Feast with Testament and Megadeth in San Sebastian, which a lot farther away, close to three hours to be exact. It surprised me at that time that they played the much smaller San Sebastian area (roughly 300,000 people) as opposed to Bilbao which has over a million people in its metro area. That show blew me away, so going into this show I had high hopes for all three bands.

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Today we reveal an assorted number of members of the musical community that aren’t known for being musicians, and are part of the “big project”. Well the first part isn’t entirely true.
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During this episode we have the pleasure if interviewing Jean Beuvoir lead singer/guitarist of Crown of Thorns. Jean has worked with some of the biggest artists of all time, Kiss, Ramones, The Plasmatics and Bruce Springsteen just to name a few. During this interview we discuss why he decided to put Crown Of Thorns back together, what it was like to work with all of the aforementioned artists, and what he’s been up to since the release of the last Crown Of Thorns album Faith. We also veer off of the musical path and talk a little bit about race relations, and how they may have or not have affected him as a person and a musician; as well as how things have changed over the years.

Throughout the episode you will hear the following tracks by Crown of Thorns:

Rock Ready
Cold Blooded Bitch
The Healer
Heartbeat

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Gary Moore – Wild Frontier
Blue Murder – Ptolemy
Ozzy Osbourne – Now You See It (Now You Don’t)
Saxon – Dallas 1PM
Yngwie J. Malmsteen – The Queen Is In Love
Rainbow – Stargazer
Motorhead – Rock N Roll
The Michael Schenker Group – Desert Song
The Almighty – Resurrection Mutha
The Cult – Spiritwalker

During this episode we have interview with Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, and James Luna, lead singer of Holy Grail, and former lead singer of White Wizzard. Holy Grail have just released a great new album called Crisis In Utopia. During Luna’s portion of the interview we discuss the making of said album, his influences, playing Waken, and his time in White Wizzard, where he goes into detail to discuss the issues he and former member of the band (James LaRue, and Tyler Meahl both in Holy Grail) had with Jon Leon. Now before anyone jumps to conclusions I did try and contact Jon to get his side of things so that people can determine for themselves what really happened. One of the things that I love about doing interviews for my podcast is that listeners can directly from an artist. It isn’t like playing telephone where things are sensationalized just to put another notch in someone’s proverbial gun. Had I of been able to interview Jon people would have been able to (again) choose for themselves whether what all of these former members are saying is true, or not. Maybe Jon has a good reason that isn’t coming across? Or maybe things are cut and dry, exactly like all of the former members are saying, and is why the label, and Jon himself has decided to not come on the show.

Ripper’s interview was conducted late last year, it is one of a handful of interviews that were conducted for MarkStrigleRadio.com and has yet to be released as a podcast. During this episode we discuss Hail!, his solo album Play My Game, Yngwie Malmsteen, Beyond Fear, Charred Walls Of The Damned, and the abrupt end to his tenure in Iced Earth. Tim is very forth coming, and honest when talking about John Schaffer, and what was promised to him when joining IE, and how it differs to how Judas Priest and Yngwie Malmsteen approached him.

I recommend both interviews to anyone that has been following the dysfunctional history of Iced Earth or White Wizzard, or are fans of either one of these two great lead singers.

During the episode you’ll hear the following tracks:

Holy Grail – Nocturne in D Minor
White Wizzard Shooting Star
Holy Grail – My Last Attack
Holy Grail – Requiem
Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens – Death Race
Beyond Fear – Save Me
Judas Priest – Blood Suckers

Overall we touch on the following topics:

Hail!, David Ellefson, NAMM, Samson Wireless, Andreas Kisser, Jimmy Degrasso, Mike Portnoy, Paul Bostaph, Ray Mayorga, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Spinal Tap, Sepultura, Alice Cooper, Testament, Simon Wright, Motorhead, Pantera, Judas Priest, Accept, Wendy Dio, Bob Kulick, Chris Caffery, John Comprix, Steve Stevens, Jeff Loomis, Michael Wilton, George Lynch, John 5, Scott Ian, Vinnie Paul, Rudy Sarzo, Billy Sheehan, Bobby Jarzombek, Road Runner Records, Road Runner United, Jeff Waters, Cory Taylor, The Grammys, Beyond Fear, SPV Records, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen, John Schaffer, Matt Barlow, Judas Priest, Ian Hill, K.K. Downing, Rob Halford, Charred Walls Of The Damned, Richard Christy, Play My Game, Heaven & Hell, Hannah Montana, Pink,Amon Amarth, Exodus, Mahevilant Creation, Deep Purple, Klaus Meine, Scorpions, Manowar, Merciful Fate, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Slayer, Witchfinder General, Racer X, Testament, Lamb Of God, Jeff Loomis, Nevermore, Danny Lohner, Nine Inch Nails, Metal Blade Records, Angkor Wat, Waken Festival, Matt Hyde, Steve Evetts, Nuclear Blast, Side One Dummy, Prosthetic Records, Exodus, Kiss, Erik Kluibert, Jon Leon, Sleaze Roxx, Metal Sucks, Metal Sludge

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During this episode we bring you two interviews, one with Chris Howorth from In This Moment, and another with Patrick Kennison from Heaven Below. During Chris’ portion we discuss the making of In This Moment’s latest album Star Crossed Wasteland, what it has been like to tour with the likes of Ozzy, Dave Mustaine, being part of Talking Metal on Fuse, and his feelings towards Maria Brink’s involvement with such things as the Hottest Chicks In Metal, and what affect, if any, it has on the band. During Patrick’s interview portion we discuss his former band Union Underground, what it was like to put Heaven Below together, working with Ben Moody, and some misconceptions people may have about artists whose songs are frequently used on TV.

During the episode you’ll hear the following songs in this order:

Heaven Below – Heartbreaker
Union Underground – Across The Nation
Heaven Below – When Daylight Dies
In This Moment – The Gun Show
In This Moment – Just Drive
In This Moment – The Great Divide

Topics discussed include:

Warped Tour, Mayhem Fest, Blondie, Nine Inch Nails, Prince, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Chimera, Stone Sour, Union Underground, Heaven Below, Dave Mustaine, Megadeth, Schecter Hellraiser, EMG Pick Up, Krank Amps, Dunlop Pedals, In This Moment, The Dream, Star Crossed Wasteland, Chris Howorth, Kyle Kontiel, Jesse Landry, Trent Reznor, Hottest Chicks In Metal, Maria Brink, Talking Metal On Fuse, Blake Bunzel, Ernie Ball, Pantera, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Lacuna Coil, Blondie, Disturbed, Lincoln Park, Drowning Pool, Static-X, Ozzy Osbourne, Countdown To Devil, Reworking The Devil, White Stripes, Cher, Peavy, B.C. Rich, Coal Chamber, Korn, Marshall, VHT Pitbull, TC Electronics G-Force, Lexicon MPX2, Ozzfest, Marilyn Manson, WWE, Ben Moody, Motorhead, Bob Dylan, Chris Isaak

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Tonight’s episode of Mars Attacks Radio is based on books I have read recently regarding various artists. As a result you will hear music from the following acts:

Ozzy Osbourne, Aerosmith, Slash, Motorhead, Fozzy, Motley Crue, Sixx AM, Brian “Head” Welch, Andy Taylor and Pantera

The episode debuts tonight at 8PM EST / 5PM PST on stream A of MarkStriglRadio.com

During this episode we speak to Blitz from Overkill and Jose from Bonded By Blood. The original intent was to release this episode sometime back in July, but with all of the circumstances revolving around my life it made things difficult to do so. For those of you that don’t know my wife had been pregnant, and was bed ridden for most of two months. Unfortunately she had a miscarriage a little after this interview was conducted, and life was pretty much put on hold. A little after this happened my company had to make some difficult decision to help the company stay a float, and anyone that had unemployment benefits was let go. And you guessed it I was given the pick slip at the time. With all of this said, things could be worse and as my brother always says, no matter how bad things are, there is always someone that’s worse off than you are. Luckily, things are looking good for the future, so I can’t really complain.

In any event, the interview with Blitz was done back in January before Ironbound, Overkill’s latest album came out. Among the items discussed during this interview are Ironbound, and subsequent tour, the early days of Megaforce Records, the “Big Four”, his 30 year musical partnership with DD Verni, Randy Blythe of Lamb Of God, Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater, the NY Steel Benefit Show, the project he did with Dan Lorenzo called The Cursed, Hail! and his involvement in Turtlehead!

During Jose’s segment we discuss how the band was started, comparisons to other bands, some of the festivals they were about to play when the interview was conducted, and the recording of their latest album Exiled To Earth

Items discussed during both interviews include:

Korn, Iron Maiden, Angelwitch, Raulph Patland, Cannibal Corpse, Twisted Sister, Brutal Assault Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Suffocation, Thrash Assault Forum, Exodus, Exiled To Earth, Feed The Beast, Alex Lee, Jerry Garcia, Overkill, Forbidden, Big 4, Suffocation, Bobby Blitz, Overkill, Ironbound, DD Verni, Immortalis, Dave Linsk, New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, Iron Maiden, Feel The Fire, Killers, Punk Rock, Warbringer, Hardcore, Pop, Green And Black Army, Exodus, NY Steel, In Union We Stand, 9/11, Sid Falk, Sebastian Marino, Merritt Gant, Rob Cannavino, Bobby Gustafson, Tim Mallare, Rat Skates, Joe Comeau, Megaforce, Metallica, Anthrax, Testament, Alex Parialas, Terry Date, Chris Tsangarides, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Anvil, Colin Richardson, Pete Townsend, Peter Tagtgren, Death Angel, Megadeth, Slayer, Kreator, Destruction, Randy Blythe, Lamb Of God, Gigantour, Dave Mustaine, Willie Adler, Chris Adler, Jamey Jasta, Dan Lorenzo, Hades, Non-Fiction, The Cursed, Black Sabbath, Turtlehead, John Ostronomy, Fuse, Motorhead, Mike Portnoy, Frank Bello, Hail!, Tim “Ripper” Owens, Andreas Kisser, Dave Ellefson

The following tracks are featured during the episode:

Bonded By Blood (off of Exiled To Earth) – 600 A.B. (After The Bomb), Genetic Encryption and Prototype – Death Machine

Overkill (off of Ironbound) – The Green and Black, Bring Me The Night, Give A Little

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Here’s a link to an album review I did for for Metal Army America. The group is called Witchery, and this Scandinavian Black Metal super group’s album is called Witchkrieg. You can read the review here.

Episode 14 of Mars Attacks Podcast contains two interviews. One with Airbourne rhythm guitarist David Roads, and another with Age Of Evil frontman Jeremy Goldberg.

Dave discusses the band’s success, the pressure (or lack thereof) when recording No Guts No Glory the follow up to their highly successful album Runnin’ Wild. He also discusses his gear, and whether or not he has every thought of joining lead singer/guitarist Joel O’Keeffe up in the rafters during a show.

Jeremy discusses Age of Evil’s EP Get Dead, their previous work with Marty Friedman and their desire to work with various hard rock and metal legends including Rob Halford. Jeremy also comments on what it was like touring with Jon Oliva’s Pain, and what their dream tour would be.

Topics covered during this episode are:

David Roads, Joel O’Keeffe, Marshall, Gibson Guitars, Lemmy, Download Festival, WWE, No Guts No Glory, Runnin’ Wild, Airbourne, Bob Marlette, Johnny K, Seymour Duncan, Status Quo, Ampeg Amps, Slash, Aerosmith, NASCAR, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Motorhead, AC/DC, Age of Evil, Get Dead, Motley Crue, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, Guns N Roses, Chad Kroeger, Jon Oliva, Jon Oliva’s Pain, Savatage, Gravedigger, Rebellion, Skid Row, Judas Priest, Girlschool, Marty Friedman, Megadeth, Cacophony, Jason Becker, Rob Halford, Nuno Bettencourt, Extreme, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., Marshall JCM 800, JCM 900, Gibson Les Paul, Jackson Custom Shop Guitars, Jackson Custom Shop Bass, DW Drums, Seymour Duncan Pickup, Sacred Reich, Dave Ellefson, F5, Flotsam & Jetsam, Soulfly, NAMM.

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