https://www.focusonmetalpod.com en-us 2011 Focus on Metal Network The Latest News from the World of Heavy Metal Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy Be the first to learn about the latest metal-related news, concert announcements, new releases and more. Don't read your news, listen to them. Since 2010 Focus on Metal has been a premier global metal crazed netcast featuring dedicated and knowledgeable fans with years of radio experience. This show features interviews with metal's most important personalities, the latest metal headlines, captivating topics, great music, reviews of the latest releases and plenty of segments from contributing metalheads. The weekly(ish) show you've all been waiting for is just a click away. We Focus on Metal. Everything else is insignificant. https://focusonmetalpod.com/wp-content/uploads/focusonmetal/Content/images/fom1400.jpg https://www.focusonmetalpod.com yesheavy,metal,news,new,releases,concerts,concert,announcements,focus,extreme,slayer,thrash,black,death,tours,birthdays,metla,brutal,announcements,discussion,albums,reviews,swapping,funny,humor,canada,canadian,american,usa,shredding,guitar,metalcoreFocus on MetalDario, Scott, Julien, Mandy Scott Thompson EP 608 John Bush Anthrax Tour EP 608 Talking About The Upcoming John Bush Dates Covering His Anthrax Years Who doesn’t love the John Bush era releases from Anthrax? What a killer string of releases, Sound of White Noise, Stomp 442, Volume 8 and We’ve Come For You All. From 1992 to 2005 Anthrax was on a serious hot streak with John Bush on vocals. John has just announced a series of solo dates during which he’ll be performing material from this era of his career. So far it’s only three dates but we’re hoping to see it expand. That’s the big topic this week. Essentially a discussion of how damn good those albums were. Plus a few bonus topics as well And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 21 Aug 2025 02:00:00 GMT 37:22 Yes John Bush, Anthrax, Joey Vera, Stomp 442, Sound of White Noise, We’ve Come For You All, Armored Saint, Simon Dawson, George Lynch and The Mob, Dream Theater, Parasomnia, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 607 Remembering Ozzy EP 607 Remembering Ozzy Yep, I know we are a bit late to the game for this episode but with a person of such importance we really felt the need to say something about Ozzy. So this week like so many of our fellow podcasters, we remember a true titan of metal John “Ozzy” Osbourne. We never got to talk to the guy but we’ve had so many of the people who played with him or worked with him on the show to have a pretty clear picture of the man. And from that we can say that the rumors were true, he was through it all a down to earth guy who loved his fans. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 9 Aug 2025 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:04 Yes Ozzy, Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, Zakk Wylde, Jake E Lee, Diary of a Madman, Blizzard of Ozz, No More Tears, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 606 Discussing PR Nightmares EP 606 Discussing PR Nightmares and some Pantera chat The recent “is he in or out?” Zak Starkey shit show circus made us think about the whole landscape of rock and metal PR missteps. So this week we go down memory lane on some classics including Lars versus Napster, the DLR MTV award debacle, one guitar Priest and a few more. We also do a bit of a chat on the current state of Pantera. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 11 Jul 2025 02:00:00 GMT 50:55 Yes The Who, Zak Starkey, Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Napster, Pantera, Ace Freheley, Tom Snyder, Judas Priest, Metallica, PR nightmare, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 605 Discussing The Load Box Set EP 605 Discussing Metallica's Load with the Release of the new box set. On June 13th Metallica released their latest ultra mega box set for 1996’s “Load”. So we’re taking this week to talk through the some of their past sets, this set, the tour, and the Load era in general. While we are in box set mode we also touch on the just announced Night Demon box and the Deep Purple epic “Made in Japan” box. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 21 Jun 2025 02:00:00 GMT 54:35 Yes Load, Remastered, Box set, Night Demon, Curse of The Damned, Bob Rock, Metallica, Deep Purple, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 604 Discussing The Sabbath Show in July EP 604 Discussing The Aston Villa Sabbath Show in July Can you believe it, the rare two weeks in a row with a new episode. Don't get used to it! This week we get back to what we were supposed to talk about last week before I hijacked the discussion, that the Back To The Beginning concert. The advertised latest “final” Sabbath performance. I think, along with lots of other fans we are all curious on how this one is going to go down so this week we toss around the proverbial ball on it. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 25 Mar 2025 02:00:00 GMT 44:40 Yes Black Sabbath, Ozzy, Jake E Lee, Rudy Sarzo, Back to The Beginning, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Zakk Wylde, Bill Ward, Aston Villa, Metallica, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 603 Discussing The Latest KISS Merch Insanity EP 603 Discussing The Latest KISS Merch Insanity Honestly can’t believe this topic hasn’t come up before but I guess they have finally hit a new level with the solid gold Strutter 5” for 50 grand. So this week we ended up digging into some other current ridiculous KISS merch pricing. We also touch briefly on Megadeth leaving Universal and signing with new Frontiers imprint BLKIIBLK and from there we go down a bit of a Marty Friedman rabbit hole. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 18 Mar 2025 02:00:00 GMT 38:49 Yes Kiss, Strutter, Megadeth, Frontiers, Destroyer, Gene Simmons, Roadie For A Day, Cash Grab, Precious Sound, Marty Friedman, BLKIIBLK, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 602 Discussing Current Metal News EP 602 Discussing Current Metal News Including This Years M3 Lineup I hear ya, WTF does that episode title mean. Well I couldn’t come up with anything clever so I’m just calling out the two main topics for discussion this week. First we go through this years M3 lineup. Definitely some surprises on the bill including a Pearcy/DeMartini team up. After that we talk about box sets. Fellow podcaster HairMetalGuru had compared the latest Crue box to the Ratt Atlantic years box and I was in total agreement with him in how lacking the Crue box was. Figured I would get Richie’s take on it too and from there we went way down the box set rabbit hole. Good one, bad ones and ones we wish would come out. And yes we forgot a big one, AC/DC Back in Black in a box set. That might be epic. Thought of it about 15 minutes after Richie left the studio. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sun, 16 Feb 2025 02:00:00 GMT 57:05 Yes M3, Sebastian Bach, Red Voodoo, David Lee Roth, Spread Eagle, Stephen Pearcy, Warren DeMartini, Vixen, Lita Ford, Great White, Warrant, Ratt, Hair Metal Guru,box sets, Metallica, Rush, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 601 Discussing Current Metal News EP 601 Discussing Current Metal News Well 2026 is starting off with a low point as we lost John Sykes on the 20th of January. John is probably best known for Whitesnake and Blue Murder but the guy did so much more. So we spent a bit of time on that this week as well as talking about what’s in store for the post Nicko Iron Maiden. We kick things off this week with a heads up on collaborator Brain Heaton’s latest book “For The Sake of Supposing" the biography of past FoM guest Jason Slater. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sun, 2 Feb 2025 02:00:00 GMT 48:19 Yes Brian Heaton, Jason Slater, For The Sake of Supposing, Roads to Madness, Shazam, Ace of Spades, John Sykes, Blue Murder, Tygers of Pan Tang, Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Carmine Appice, Tony Franklin, Nicko McBrain, Iron Maiden, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 600 Discussing Current Metal Topics EP 600 Discussing Current Metal Topics and Releases Well damn, we actually hit our 600th episode. We’ve had some pretty cool 100th episodes in the past like our double header on Master of Puppets back on episode 300 and 301 but this week it’s a bit of low key discussion, no special guests just your humble hosts as we talk up the latest from Deep Purple, The Dead Daisies, Stryper, and the return of Portnoy to Dream Theater. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 8 Nov 2024 02:00:00 GMT 53:23 Yes Deep Purple, Steve Morse, Ian Paice, Episode 600, Bob Ezrin, Dead Daisies, Light Em Up, Doug Aldrich, Stryper, When We Were Kings, Michael Sweet, Kerry King, Death Angel, Mark Osegueda, WASP, Dream Theater, Mike Portnoy, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 599 Discussing Current Metal Topics EP 599 Discussing Current Metal Topics Yep we’re a little late to the party but this week we look back on past Focus on Metal guest Jack Russell and also talk a bit about the biography on the late vocalist that just came out. Also this week we talk about new Tesla and a great local show by Accept and K.K.s Priest. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Oct 2024 02:00:00 GMT 53:23 Yes Jack Russell, Mista Bone, Great White, Alan Niven, K.L. Doty, Tesla, Accept, K.K.’s Priest, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 598 with Guitarist Michael Gilbert EP 598 With Flotsam And Jetsam Guitarist Michael Gilbert On Sept 13th Flotsam And Jetsam is due to release their latest studio album “I Am The Weapon” via AFM Records. As he has for the last three albums, guitarist Michael Gilbert joins us once again to talk Flotsam history and a bit about the new album. Gotta say that this is one hell of a followup to 2021’s “Blood in The Water” and even after close to 40 years and 15 albums there is still musical growth and some seriously awesome metal to be found on this one. Keep up with Michael and the rest of the band at their official site flotstildeath.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Aug 2024 02:00:00 GMT 45:59 Yes I Am The Weapon, Michael Gilbert, Flotsam And Jetsam, Ken Mary, A.K., AFM Records, thrash, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 597 with Drew Cagle EP 597 Discussing The Aerosmith retirement and a chat with Drew Cagle This week we discuss the total sad cluster that is currently Aerosmith and their sudden but not totally unexpected full stop. This news is a solid body blow for one of us. We also talk a bit about what may be next in the Black Sabbath reissue camp. And we wrap it up with a great chat with up and comer Drew Cagle of Drew Cagle and The Reputation. Thu, 22 Aug 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:29 Yes Aerosmith, Tony Iommi, Drew Cagle, Joe Perry, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 596 2024 Summer Tours EP 596 Discussing The Big 2024 Summer Tours We may not have been putting out many episodes lately but we have been enjoying some great concerts this summer. This week we opted to have a recap discussion of the big outdoor tours we’ve attended so far this year. That would include the Sammy Hagar’s Best of All Worlds Tour, the 2024 edition of the Stadium Tour with Def Leppard, and of course M72 with Metallica, Pantera, Mammoth and Five Finger Death Punch. And check this out, new episodes two weeks in a row. Damn!! Thu, 15 Aug 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:20 Yes tours, Metallica, Def Leppard, Journey, Pantera, Mammoth, M72, Stadium Tour, Best Of All Worlds, Sammy Hagar, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 595 with Bassist Jerry Best EP 595 with Bassist Jerry Best Ten years ago bassist Jerry Best appeared for the first time on FoM as part of our HUGE Dio Strange Highways project (EP 183). This week Jerry returns to talk about his time in Lion, Dio, Freak of Nature and Heavy Bones. As well as brushes with Ozzy, Kiss, and other bands. He also brings us up to date on his long musical relationship with Mike Tramp and what they are doing touring wise this year. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 8 Aug 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:13 Yes Jerry Best, Lion, White Lion, Mike Tramp, Kiss, Trouble in Angel City, Mark Edwards, Doug Aldrich, Kal Swan, Dio, Gene Simmons, Freak of Nature, Heavy Bones, Songs of White Lion, Capricorn, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 594 with Babylon A.D. Frontman Derek Davis EP 594 with Babylon A.D. frontman Derek Davis This week we are joined by Babylon A.D. frontman and founding member Derek Davis. The band has just released the latest studio effort “Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day” and Derek is on board to talk about that. He also delves into the deep dark corners of the band’s history from the late 80’s until today. Hopefully this will answer lots of questions about the band and why they just seemed to disappear for years. We get stories about the Bay area YnT Tom Werman and even some Clive Davis thrown in for good measure. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 27 Jun 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:10:53 Yes Derek Davis, Babylon A.D., The Whiskey, Rome Wasn’t Built In A Day, Revelation Highway, Ron Freschi, John Matthews, Dylan Soto, Craig Pepe, Bang Go The Bells, Dave Meniketti, Earthshaker, Metallica, The Stone, Death Angel, Motley Crue, Bay Area, Clive Davis, Tom Werman, Wrecking Machine, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 593 with some metal buying discussion EP 593 with some metal buying discussion Everyone has those bands that no matter what, if they put out a new release we’re buying it. AC/DC is a great example of this. Then there are bands that perhaps it’s time to hop off the fan wagon. Maybe there’s too many members gone or the writing is not the same or the whole musical style has gone somewhere else. This week Richie arrived with a surprise list of five bands that he used to love and has now opted to stop buying anything new from them. Four of them I agree with Richie on and one I’m still buying every new release they put out. We also kick off the week doing a bit of a review on the Black Sabbath “Anno Domini” boxset. So lotsa discussion this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Jun 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:54 Yes Black Sabbath, Tony Martin, Anno Domini, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Dokken, Accept, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 592 with guitarist Marc Ferrari EP 592 with guitarist Marc Ferrari A bit of discussion as we recap our recent concert adventures. After that we dive in with this weeks guest Marc Ferrari. Marc is out and about talking about the a long awaited Cold Sweat live release “Unburied Alive”. Their debut “Break Out” was released back in 1990 and promptly sunk under the changing tides in musical taste. The release of this new CD has rekindled interest in the band. Marc will give us the history of the band plus give us some other career insights. The chat with Marc comes in at around the 45 minutes mark if ya wanna skip our incessant yakking. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 6 Jun 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:18:46 Yes Scorpions, Judas Priest, Sabaton, Marc Ferrari, Cold Sweat, Keel, Lynch Mob, Mister C’s Rock Palace, Chris McLernon, Anthony White, Erik Gamans, Rory Cathey, The Channel, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 591 with vocalist Ron Young EP 591 with Little Caesar vocalist Ron Young March 12 1994 Manic Eden released their one and only album. Little Caesar main man Ron Young makes his second appearance on FoM this week to discuss the story of Manic Eden as well as what’s going on with Little Caesar. And Ron being Ron there is no shortage of tales to tell so strap in for a long and hopefully entertaining episode. BTW, the actual Manic Eden talk doesn’t start until about 50 minutes in, yep Ron’s a talker. Did I mention that this one's a long one? Music Theories/Mascot has also reissued this one last month on CD and a limited run on red vinyl. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 16 May 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:44:37 Yes Ron Young, Little Caesar, Manic Eden, C.J. Snare, Joe Walsh, Alex Van Halen, Ringo Starr, Whitesnake, Adrian Vandenberg, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, James Christian, 30th Anniversary, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 590 with author Brian J Heaton EP 590 with Queensryche author Brian J Heaton This week we are joined by author and frequent FoM collaborator Brian J Heaton to discuss his upcoming book “Roads To Madness” The Touring History of Queensryche 1981-1997. If you may remember Brian was the coauthor of “Building An Empire: The Story of Queensryche”. This new book follows on in further fleshing out the story of the band by detailing their live shows during the classic era of the band. Grab your own copy while they are available at RoadsToMadness.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 1 May 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:02 Yes Queensryche, Geoff Tate, Micheal Wilton, Whip, Chris DeGarmo, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield, Brain J Heaton, NWMetalWorxMusic, tour, author, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 589 with a discussion on Current Metal Topics EP 589 With A Irreverent Discussion of Current Metal Topics I was going to title this one March Metal Madness, for some reason Invincible March just resonated more with me. Anyway, this week we discuss some current metal topics. Obviously the latest metal masterpiece from Priest for one along with some Bruce Dickinson, Slayer, Skid Row, “The Other Voice of Ratt” and a potential shakeup at Frontiers. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 30 Mar 2024 02:00:00 GMT 57:36 Yes Judas Priest, Invincible Shield, Bruce Dickinson, The Mandrake Project, Slayer, Skid Row, Lzzy Hale, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Frontiers, Kerry King, RPM, Erik Gronwall, Sebastian Bach, Juan Croucier, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 588 with a discussion on Metallica bassists EP 588 Featuring A Discussion on The Influence of Each Metallica Bassist This week Scott and J discuss the low end of Metallica. Cliff, Jason and Rob have all left their mark on the band and this week we give our thoughts on all of them. It’s another throwback Focus on classic Metal discussion week.. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Feb 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:32 Yes Metallica, Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton, Jason Newsted, Rob Trujillo, Ozzy, bass player, Focus on Classic Metal, Bob Rock, Flotsam And Jetsam, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 587 with Jeff Pilson EP 587 Featuring Bassist and Producer Jeff Pilson Jeff Pilson makes his fourth appearance on Focus on Metal this week. This time he came by to discuss the new Revolution Saints release “Against The Wind” but as per usual Richie took the opportunity to discuss a ton of other musical endeavors that Jeff is currently juggling. So if you want to know at least seventy percent of what Jeff is currently doing have a listen to this weeks show. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Feb 2024 02:00:00 GMT 30:22 Yes Jeff Pilson, Revolution Saints, Spector, Buddy Blaze, George Lynch, Lynch Mob, Paul McCartney, Mick Jones, Parkinsons, Against The Winds, Joel Hoekstra, Dean Castronovo, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Frontiers, The End Machine, Steve Brown, Black Swan, James Kottak, Keith Olsen, Foreigner, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 586 with Metal Mike EP 586 Featuring Author and Podcaster Metal Mike Metal Mike host of the 80’s Glam Metalcast joins us this week to discuss, of all things, 90’s hair metal. Yep, you read that right. Mike recently published “A Hair Metal Journey” which takes you through hair metal from 86 to 91. The book is both Mike's journey and the story of the artists. So based on that Richie decided to press further into the 90’s with Mike. Cuz why not. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 9 Feb 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:10:06 Yes Loudwire, Hardline, A Hair Metal Journey, Metal Mike, 80’s Glam Metalcast, Saigon Kick, Warrant, Dog Eat Dog, Roxy Blue, Spread Eagle, Winger, Mike Shipley, Britney Fox, Lillian Axe, Poetic Justice, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 585 A Discussion of Our Favorite Releases From Last Year EP 585 Featuring A Discussion of Our Favorite Releases From Last Year Few things stir up more of a crap show online than when someone attempts to discuss their favorite albums (or anything) of the year on social media. You aren’t declaring the best album it’s your favorite. It’s a choice that’s as unique to your personal taste as your favorite ice cream. This week we talk about some of our “gasp” favorites from last year and also a bit about this whole opinion culture on social media. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 29 Jan 2024 02:00:00 GMT 43:26 Yes favorites, John Sykes, Hagar, Robin McAuley, Extreme, 72 Seasons, Joel Hoekstra, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 584 A Discussion With Author Darren Paltrowitz EP 584 Featuring A Discussion With Author Darren Paltrowitz This week we welcome author and podcast host Darren Paltrowitz to the show. Darren just published “DLR Book- How David Lee Roth Changed The World”. An excellent book and hopefully you’ll want to grab a copy after hearing our lengthy chat. Before that Richie and Scott have a bit of a chat on the recently departed Tony Clark and James Kottak. For many long time listeners you know how much involvement James has had with FoM over the years so this one really hit home. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 19 Jan 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:30:09 Yes Tony Clarkin, James Kottak, Scorpions, Van Halen, David Lee Roth, Diamond Dave, Return To Forever, Darren Paltrowitz, The DLR Cast, How David Lee Roth Changed The World, DLR Book, Queensryche, Kingdom Come, Magnum, Backbeat Books, Eddie Anderson, WBCN, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 583 Continuing a Discussion on Music Consumption EP 583 Continuing a Discussion on The State of Music Consumption This week we wrap up the long discussion from last week on how music is consumed today versus how it was consumed back in the heyday of physical media. FoM firmly believes that the current state of consumption and distribution (while being far broader)is actually severely detrimental to the overall health of music including the inevitable degradation of the next big scene or next arena rock act. We think these two episodes make a case for our thoughts. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sun, 14 Jan 2024 02:00:00 GMT 48:47 Yes Focus on Classic Metal, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s, Shok Paris, Metal Blade, physical media, vinyl, cassettes, Vic Hix, streaming, Fifth Angel Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 582 with a Discussion on Music Consumption EP 582 featuring a Discussion on The State of Music Consumption 2024 is upon us and so is the first episode of FoM for the year. This week J and Scott have a long discussion on how music is consumed today versus how it was consumed back in the heyday of physical. Why? FoM firmly believes that the current state of consumption and distribution while being far broader is actually severely detrimental to the overall health of music including the inevitable degradation of the next big scene or next arena rock act. It's long discussion with lotsa rabbit holes in the tradition of the Focus on Classic Metal shows so it may not be everyones cup o tea but we hope it sparks some thoughts. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 8 Jan 2024 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:08 Yes Focus on Classic Metal, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash, 80s, Shok Paris, Metal Blade, physical media, vinyl, cassettes, Vic Hix, streaming Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 581 with a few words on Bob Nalbandian EP 580 featuring a few words on Bob Nalbandian Our friend, mentor, collaborator and frequent guest Bob Nalbandian, sadly passed away on Dec 30th last year. It’s bizarre to think that its been a year since his passing. This show would probably not exist if it weren’t for Bob and we felt the need to get together and say a few words to wrap up the year. But really what can you adequately say to represent the scope of Bob’s true impact on the metal community? Talk to ya in 2024 metalheads. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 29 Dec 2023 02:00:00 GMT 13:04 Yes Bob Nalbandian, The Headbanger, Skull Sessions, Inside Metal, Band vs Brand, Hard Radio, Metallica, Armored Saint, Eden, Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 580 with Scott & J EP 580 featuring a discussion with Scott & J I teased a few episodes back about a voice from the past making a reappearance and this is the week. It’s only been over 10 years and more than 480 episodes but this week J is back on the show. I honestly never thought this would happen but amazingly it has. For anyone new, J was my cohost up until episode 98 and has been AWOL ever since. So this week we decided to just shoot the crap old school style about metal holiday songs. So I hope ya enjoy this lil fun holiday episode and who knows you might be hearing more from J in the future. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 15 Dec 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:43 Yes Focus on Classic Metal, Metal Christmas, Halford III, Gary Hoey, T.S.O., Dokken, Twisted Sister, Merry Axemas, Bob Kulick, Lemmy, King Diamond, Santa Claws, Brian Heaton, Queensryche, Lillian Axe, Girlschool, NW Metal Worx Music, Wayne Stokely, Roads to Madness, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 579 with Scott and Richie EP 579 featuring a discussion with Scott and Richie Lotsa stuff going on in the world of metal lately. Some good, some bad and some just a whole heap of WTF. With that in mind (and on our minds) we decided to roll another old school FoM discussion this week. Portnoy, Schenker, Kiko, Geddy, and several other topics including the WTF entry of the year KISS 2.0 will be rolled out and dissected. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 8 Dec 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:36 Yes Claudio Bergamin, Micheal Schenker, KISS, avatars, Geddy Lee, Rush, Megadeth, Dave Mustaine, Scorpions, Mike Portnoy, Dream Theater, Kiko Loureiro, ABBA, Dennis Woloch, KISS 2.0, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 578 with Frank Hannon EP 578 featuring a discussion with Tesla's Frank Hannon Frank Hannon is back on the show this week to let us know that his new single “Fool’s Delight” drops on December 6th. As long as we have him on the line we quiz him on some Tesla history as well as some other good stuff. Who else but Frank would release a single just because they feel it’s in sync with some upcoming dates with The Allman Betts Family Revue. A musician that still lives for music every damn day, that’s who. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 2 Dec 2023 02:00:00 GMT 34:29 Yes Frank Hannon, Tesla, Aerosmith, Texas Jam, Joe Perry, Terry Thomas, Fool’s Delight, acoustic, Gypsy Highway, Allman Betts Family Revival, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 577 with George Lynch EP 577 featuring a discussion with George Lynch This week we are joined once again by Mr Scary himself, George Lynch. The recently reformed Lynch Mob have released “Babylon” an excellent collection of new music that may serve as the final album from the band. I was able to catch them live back in June prior to the albums release and they absolutely deliver live. That show may be the second best Lynch Mob show I’ve seen only being topped by the show they did to support Wicked Sensation waaaaay back. George also lets us know that this may be the final run of live shows for the band. The intent is to tour hard in 2024 and wrap it up in March of 2025 on the MOR cruise so if they come your way go see them. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Nov 2023 02:00:00 GMT 30:55 Yes George Lynch, Lynch Mob, Babylon, Dokken, Wicked Sensation, Rebel, Gabriel Colon, Jimmy Danda, Jaron Gulino, ESP Guitars, Mitsubishi Lazer, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 576 with David Glen Eisley EP 576 featuring a discussion with vocalist David Glen Eisley We have talked over the years with several folks in the Giuffria universe but never to the voice of the band, David Glen Eisley. This week we are gonna rectify that with a long chat with David. The main focus was to discuss the short lived band Dirty White Boy that David fronted after Giuffria as well as their first release "Bad Reputation", but of course this being FoM we also delved into some of the history leading up to that band as well. David has a ton of great stories including some gems about Deep Purple, Foreigner, Jon Kalodner and Magnum. You’ll hear those and more this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sun, 22 Oct 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:31:23 Yes David Glen Eisley, Giuffria, Dirty White Boy, Dick Asher, Polydor, House of Lords, Gregg Giuffria, Lanny Cordola, MCA, Earl Slick, Keni Richards, Neil Geraldo, Beau Hill, Bad Reputation, Danny Goldberg, The Lost Tapes, Jon Kalodner, Magnum, Foreigner, Richie Blackmore, Deep Purple, Craig Goldy, Mick Jones, Lou Gramm, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 575 talking Iron Maiden studio releases from 2003 to 2010 EP 575 featuring a discussion on Iron Maiden studio releases from 03-10 And just ten episodes later we are back with more Maiden. In our fifth installment we’ll cover the studio output from 2003 to 2010. That covers Dance of Death, A Matter of Life And Death, and The Final Frontier. It’s another run of sometimes polarizing releases and the firm onset of “progressive Maiden” and the dreaded long intros Up The Irons!! And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 13 Oct 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:43 Yes Iron Maiden, Dance of Death, A Matter of Life And Death, The Final Frontier, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Rod Smallwood, Sanctuary, Eddie, Bruce Dickinson, Derek Riggs, Martin Birch, Nicko McBrain, Janick Gers, Kevin Shirley, Rob Halford, U2, The Sphere, Bill O’Leary, Up The Irons, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 574 with a discussion on drummers EP 574 featuring a discussion on trending drummers Another discussion episode this week as Richie springs a survey of the top twenty TRENDING drummers on Google. The results are surprising in some cases and pretty damn explainable in others. And then there are the handful of utterly baffling ones. Also this week we throw kudos at Kix for deciding to call it quits for all the right reasons AND going out the right way. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 22 Sep 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:15 Yes Drummers, All Music.com, Kix, Steve Whiteman, Mike Portnoy, Peter Criss, Tommy Lee, Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nicko McBrain, Aerosmith, Ringo Starr, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 573 with Paul Shortino EP 573 featuring vocalist Paul Shortino Paul Shortino joins us once again to discuss the latest release from King Kobra, “We Are Warriors”. As long as we have Paul on the line we also find out what else Paul is up to so we talk about Rock Meets Classic, Rough Cutt, Rock Icons, Blue Dahlia, and a lot more. As usual Paul gave us more time than Duke Fame gave Nigel Tufnel on the way to the Enormodome and it’s all good stuff. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 1 Sep 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:35 Yes Paul Shortino, King Kobra, We Are Warriors, Spinal Tap, Duke Fame, Rock Meets Classic, Icons of Rock, Rough Cutt, Blue Dahlia, Tracy G, DDR Music Group, Cleopatra Records, Make a Wish, Carmine Appice, Carlos Cavazo, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 572 with much metal discussion EP 572 featuring some lively old school metal discussion Focus on Metal started 11 years ago as a simple concept of presenting metalheads doing what they do best when they aren’t listening to metal, talking about it. Richie has always talked about wanting to do more of that and this week he’s getting his way. He showed up at the studio with a list of mystery topics and just started randomly throwing them out and the results presented here are how those discussions unfolded. Hell, this is probably the only episode you’ll ever hear Loverboy mentioned. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 21 Aug 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:15:14 Yes Dokken, Lynch Mob, Foreigner, Motley Crue, The Dead Daisies, Jeff Young, Megadeth, Metal Church, Van Halen, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 571 with Kurdt Vanderhoof EP 571 featuring an interview with Metal Church founder Kurdt Vanderhoof This week we talk with Metal Church founder Kurdt Vanderhoof about their latest studio effort "Congregation of Annihilation" released via RatPak Records on May 26th. We also touch on recently passed members Mike Howe and Kirk Arrington. And of course we talk with Kurdt about their newest member, vocalist Marc Lopes. It’s a bit of a shorter episode this week but we pack a lot of info into it. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 7 Ju1 2023 02:00:00 GMT 33:12 Yes Metal Church, Kurdt Vanderhoof, Congregation of Annihilation, RatPak Records, Marc Lopes, Mike Howe, Kirk Arrington, Battle of The Bands Podcast, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 570 with Bassist Chris McLernon EP 570 featuring an interview with bassist Chris McLernon This week we talk with bassist Chris McLernon. Chris has been in the biz for a while now, notably in bands like Cold Sweat and Saigon Kick but this week we’ll primarily be talking with him about his Thin Lizzy inspired project Kinell and the debut release “Crash. Burn. Rebirth.” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 16 Jun 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:20:33 Yes Chris McLernon, Kinell, Cold Sweat, Thin Lizzy, Saigon Kick, Oni Logan, Kevin Beamish, Did, Colin DeBruhl, Crash. Burn. Rebirth., Geezer Butler, Rowan Robertson, Eddie Van Halen, Battle of The Bands Podcast, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 569 with Author Mike Corcione EP 569 featuring an interview with Author and Former Road Manager Mike Corcione This week we are joined by author and former road manager Mike Corcione. Mike logged many miles with L.A. Guns back in the day and he lived to not only tell about it but he put it into print. Mike just published “Tales From The Gutter” and we’ll get the story on that as well as lots of other road stories on this weeks show. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 6 Jun 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:13:20 Yes Mike Corcione, Tales From The Gutter, L.A. Guns, Tracii Guns, Motley Crue, Kelly Nickels, Road Manager, Iron Maiden, Phil Lewis, Vinnie Vincent, KISS, AC/DC, Tommy Lee, Twisted Sister, Ratt, Steve Riley, Robbin Crosby, Battle of The Bands Podcast, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 568 with KnuckleBonz CEO Tony Simerman EP 568 featuring an interview with KnuckleBonz CEO Tony Simerman 20 years ago Tony Simerman founded KnuckleBonz one of the industry leaders in high end rock collectibles. Here we are in 2023 and there’s no signs of the brand stopping. This week Tony will talk about company origins, what’s on offer now and what the future holds for the company and what fans can look forward to this year and in the future. For the next two weeks (until May 30th) FoM listeners can score 10% off at knucklebonz.com with code FoMpc10KBZ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 16 May 2023 02:00:00 GMT 56:08 Yes KnuckleBonz, Tony Simerman, Van Halen, Motorhead, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Alice Cooper, KISS, Megadeth, Rock Iconz, 3D Vinyl, On Tour Series, AC/DC, Scorpions, Ghost, Metallica, Black Sabbath, Misfits, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 567 with Kip Winger EP 567 featuring an interview with Kip Winger Kip Winger joins us once again to talk about the latest from Winger, “Seven”. Kip called in shortly before embarking on the 2023 edition of the Monsters of Rock cruise to let us know what’s going on in their world. It’s a loooong show so if you want to get straight to Kip scrub to about 46:30. So what else is on tap? Well we discuss the latest Whitesnake box, Record Store Day and of course Metallica’s “72 Seasons”. So lotsa discussion and a great interview on this weeks show. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 5 May 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:21 Yes Winger, Reb Beach, Kip Winger, Seven, Frontiers, Whitesnake, Doug Aldrich, Still Good To Be Bad, Record Store Day, Metallica, 72 Seasons, Tygers of Pan Tang, Van Halen, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 566 EP 566 featuring a discussion on current metal topics Lotsa stuff going on in the world of metal lately. Some good, some bad and some just a whole heap of WTF. With that in mind (and on our minds) we decided to roll out an old school FoM discussion posed this week. Saxon, Power Trip, Lombardo, and several other topics including the proverbial Motleyphant in the room will be rolled out and dissected. Would really love to hear what Bob Nalbandian (R.I.P) woulda thought about all of this. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 21 Apr 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:42 Yes Testament, Dave Lombardo, Gene Hoglan, Saxon, Brian Tatler, Biff Byford, Paul Quinn, Slayer, Power Trip, Motley Crue, Mick Mars, AC/DC, Metallica, Accept, Peter Baltes, UDO, Wolf Hoffman, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 565 talking Iron Maiden releases from 1995 to 2000 EP 565 featuring a discussion on Iron Maiden releases from 95-00 And twelve episodes later we are back with more Maiden. In our fourth installment we’ll cover the studio output from 1995 to 2000. That would be The X Factor, Virtual XI, and Brave New World. It’s a three album run of sometimes polarizing releases which opens with the Blaze Bayley era and ends with the return of both Bruce and Adrian. You could almost consider this run to be the prelude to the modern age of Maiden Up The Irons!! And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 31 Mar 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:45 Yes Iron Maiden, The X Factor, Virtual XI, Brave New World, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Rod Smallwood, Sanctuary, Eddie, Bruce Dickinson, Derek Riggs, Nicko McBrain, Janick Gers, Blaze Bayley, Kevin Shirley, Rob Halford, Up The Irons, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 564 with Wendell Smith EP 564 featuring a discussion with former roadie Wendell Smith Veering WAAAAAAAY of the beaten path this week as we talk with former runner/artist liaison Wendell Smith. Wendell spent lots of time working for the House of Blues and other venues and is a frequent commenter on our Facebook page so why not get him on and pick his brain. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 24 Mar 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:28:41 Yes Wendell Smith, 38 Special, Deftones, Styx, Jimmy Page, Ratt, Rob Zombie, House of Blues, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 563 with Robin McAuley EP 563 featuring a discussion with Robin McAuley Longtime guest Robin McAuley joins us once again this week to talk about his brand new solo release “Alive”. And of course Robin is always a great conversationalist so we delve into some other items with him as well. Once you get two Irishmen talking it's virtually impossible to stop that train. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 9 Mar 2023 02:00:00 GMT 49:25 Yes Robin McAuley, Alive, Survivor, Business As Usual, McAuley Schenker Group, Standing On The Edge, Andrea Seveso, Casey McAuley, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Nicholas Papapicco, Tommy Denander, Frontiers Records, Black Swan, Triad, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 562 with Great White's Mark Kendall EP 562 featuring a discussion with guitarist Mark Kendall Guitarist Mark Kendall returns to the show this week to kick back just have a chat about, well anything. So there’s talk about his early L.A. days, Great White albums, new singers… So kick back and enjoy the chat and afterwards put on some Great White. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 23 Feb 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:14:53 Yes Mark Kendall, Great White, Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, The Boyz, Exciter, Randy Rhoads, Quiet Riot, Stormer, Jimmy Bates, Jeff Beck, Psycho City, Michael Lardie, Judas Priest, Unplugged, Scorpions, Brett Carlisle, Tracy G, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 561 with vocalist and author Ron Young EP 561 featuring a discussion with Little Caesar vocalist Ron Young Little Caesar vocalist Ron Young joins us again this week but in a twist he’s here to talk about his new book “Judge This Book By It’s Cover” rather than the latest release from his band. The book details his life and career and the vagaries of the music industry. Lots of good stories from Ron this week and be sure to pick his book when you’re done. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 7 Feb 2023 02:00:00 GMT 01:20:32 Yes Ron Young, Little Caesar, Judge This Book By Its Cover, Steve Olivas, Gene Simmons, Little Mountain, Jimmy Iovine, Earl Slick, Aerosmith, Bob Rock, KISS, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 560 with a discussion on the relevancy of reviews EP 560 featuring a discussion on the relevancy of reviews What’s on tap this week. Sadly not a few pints of Trooper but I digress. This week we have an old school chat about reviews. Are they even relevant today? Well this week we toss out some opinions on the subject. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 27 Jan 2023 02:00:00 GMT 59:19 Yes Kerrang!, Creem, Rolling Stone, Circus, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 559 with a small tribute to Bob Nalbandian EP 559 featuring a tribute discussion in memory of Bob Nalbandian A sad topic this week as we have a bit of discussion in honor of our friend, mentor, collaborator and frequent guest Bob Nalbandian who sadly passed away on Dec 30th. This show would probably not exist if it weren’t for Bob and we felt the need to get together and say a few words. Even that’s hard, what can you adequately say to represent the scope of Bob’s true impact on metal? And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 12 Jan 2023 02:00:00 GMT 46:40 Yes Bob Nalbandian, The Headbanger, Skull Sessions, Inside Metal, Jeff Beck, Hard Radio, Metallica, Armored Saint, Eden, Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 558 with some old school F0M discussion EP 558 featuring a discussion of current metal topics Hitting the old school FoM vibe this week with a bit of freeform current event discussion to wrap up the year. Metallica, Pantera, and Priest are the main discussion points this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 16 Dec 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:08 Yes Metallica, Pantera, Saxon, Mammoth, Zakk Wylde, Charlie Benante, Judas Priest, K.K. Downing, Jane Andrews, Ripper Owens, Hall of Fame, Les Binks, 72 Seasons, Megadeth, Big 4, Richie Faulkner, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 557 with Bassist Chuck Wright EP 557 featuring a discussion with bassist Chuck Wright When you talk journeyman bassists one name rises to the top, Chuck Wright. Besides his well known stints with Giuffria, House of Lords and Quiet Riot Chuck has been involved in over 90 other releases. And if that wasn’t enough earlier this year Chuck released “Chuck Wright’s Sheltering Sky” which garnered several award nominations and glowing reviews. This week Chuck comes on to talk about all of that and much more. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 1 Dec 2022 02:00:00 GMT 46:29 Yes Chuck Wright, bassist, Giuffria, Quiet Riot, House of Lords, Impellitteri, Kevin Dubrow, Rudy Sarzo, Sheltering Sky, Chuck Wright’s Sheltering Sky, Alice Cooper, Heaven & Earth, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 556 talking again with vocalist Robert Mason EP 556 featuring an ongoing discussion with vocalist Robert Mason on the second Lynch Mob Album This week we wrap up our three part series celebrating the anniversary of the self titled Lynch Mob release. Last week we dove in with vocalist Robert Mason and this week we wrap up our talk with him. If you want to hear our anniversary show we did for the Wicked Sensation release a few years back head into the archive and check out episodes 479 and 480 with Anthony Esposito and Max Norman. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 17 Nov 2022 02:00:00 GMT 35:50 Yes Lynch Mob, Anthony Esposito, Robert Mason, George Lynch, Mick Brown, Keith Olsen, Glenn Hughes, Warrant, Elektra, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 555 talking with vocalist Robert Mason EP 555 featuring a discussion with vocalist Robert Mason on the second Lynch Mob Album Well, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Wicked Sensation with a multi-episode run a few years ago so why not do the same for the self titled release? Last week we spoke with bassist Anthony Esposito. This week we continue the series by talking with vocalist Robert Mason who made his major label debut on this one. These days Robert lends his considerable pipes to Warrant. Head to WarrantRocks.com to keep up with him. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 12 Nov 2022 02:00:00 GMT 45:05 Yes Lynch Mob, Anthony Esposito, Robert Mason, George Lynch, Mick Brown, Keith Olsen, Glenn Hughes, Warrant, Elektra, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 554 talking with bassist Anthony Esposito EP 554 featuring a discussion with bassist Anthony Esposito on the second Lynch Mob Album Well, we celebrated the 30th anniversary of Wicked Sensation with a multi-episode run a few years ago so why not do the same for the self titled release? This week we kick off a few shows focusing on the S/T Lynch Mob release that came out in April of 1992. Since we started the Wicked set with bassist Anthony Esposito we figured why not do it again for this one. So, this week we have another great chat with Anthony and then on the next one we’ll dive in with vocalist Robert Mason. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 4 Nov 2022 02:00:00 GMT 54:37 Yes Lynch Mob, Anthony Esposito, Robert Mason, George Lynch, Mick Brown, Keith Olsen, Glenn Hughes, Red Dragon Cartel, Ace Frehley, K.K.’s Priest, Elektra, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 553 talking Iron Maiden releases from 88 to 92 EP 553 featuring a discussion on Iron Maiden releases from 88-92 And we are back with more Maiden. In our third installment we’ll cover the studio output from 88 to 92. That would be Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, No Prayer For The Dying, and Fear of The Dark. It’s an odd few years worth of musical and personnel changes for the mighty Maiden. Up The Irons!! And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 13 Oct 2022 02:00:00 GMT 55:35 Yes Iron Maiden, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, No Prayer For The Dying, Fear of The Dark, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Clive Burr, Adrian Smith, Rod Smallwood, Sanctuary, Eddie, Bruce Dickinson, Derek Riggs, Martin Birch, Nicko McBrain, Janick Gers, Joey Allen, Tailgunner, Can I Play With Madness, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 552 with Author Jim Santora EP 552 With Jim Santora Back on episode 425 we had welcomed author Jim Santora to the show to discuss his latest book. This week we have Jim back to talk about the much anticipated sequel “Underrated Rock Book Too!”. Yep Jim kicks out another 200 albums that he considerers deserve our consideration. The book is slated to come out on October 12th so get your orders in now. If ya wanna read more head to Jim’s site underratedrockbook.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 3 Oct 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:14:27 Yes Jim Santora, Underrated Rock Book Too!, Jim Mosley, McElroy Creative Media, Airbourne, Black Tide, Steel Dragon, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 551 with Guitarist Doug Aldrich EP 551 With Doug Aldrich On Sept 30th The Dead Daisies will release their sixth studio album “Radiance”. This week guitarist Doug Aldrich joins us to talk about the new album, the upcoming tour and everything else going on in his world at the moment. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 27 Sep 2022 02:00:00 GMT 30:59 Yes Doug Aldrich, The Dead Daisies, David Lowy, Brian Tichy, Glenn Hughes, Radiance, Holy Ground, Dio, Marco Mendoza, John Corabi, Revolution Saints, Burning Rain, Whitesnake, Ben Grosse, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 550 with Guitarist Vivian Campbell EP 550 With Vivian Campbell Guitarist Vivian Campbell makes his fourth appearance on the show this week.Yep, last time we talked was 50 episodes ago on episode 500. This week also marks Richie's 10th year on the show. This week Vivian joins us to talk about the upcoming EP, tour and full length album from Last in Line. And of course while we have him we may as well touch base on his “day job” with Def Leppard and get into a little back history as well. Oh, and don’t mind the soup, even guitar players have to eat too. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 22 Sep 2022 02:00:00 GMT 59:52 Yes Vivian Campbell, Def Leppard, Last In Line, Thin Lizzy, Sweet Savage, Holy Diver, A Day In The Life, Diamond Star Halos, The Stadium Tour, Vinny Appice, Andrew Freeman, Phil Soussan, Motley Crue, Mick Mars, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 549 with Author Matt Karpe EP 549 With Matt Karpe This month author Matt Karpe will release his sixth book “Tool: every album, every song” as part of Sonicbond Publishing's "On Track" series. Matt joins us this week to discuss the book, the band, and what he’ll be writing about next. I’ll also be doing a bit of opining on the supposed “riot” that was bring incited at Extreme’s Sept 2nd show. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Sep 2022 02:00:00 GMT 44:04 Yes Matt Karpe, Tool, Extreme, Nuno Bettencourt, Gary Cherone, Pat Badger, Maynard James Keenan, Adam Jones, Danny Carey, Justin Chancellor, Paul D’Amour, Sonicbond Publishing, On Track, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 548 with Guitarist Joel Hoekstra EP 548 With Joel Hoekstra What does a hotshot guitar player do when the US leg of his Whitesnake tour gets cancelled? Well if you’re Joel Hoekstra you call up Brandon Gibbs of Devil City Angels, grab some acoustics, a rental car and fire up the 2022 edition of the Campfire Tour. It kicks off on 9/22 in Maryland and Joel joins us this week to talk about the tour, Whitesnake, TSO, Iconic, and so much more. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 1 Sep 2022 02:00:00 GMT 49:34 Yes Joel Hoekstra, Brandon Gibbs, Devil City Angels, Whitesnake, TSO, Trans Siberian Orchestra, 13, Iconic, David Coverdale, Campfire Tour 2022, acoustic, Michael Sweet, Chris Caffery, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 547 with Photographer Bill O'Leary EP 547 With Bill O'Leary This is the second of two episodes we spent with veteran concert photographer Bill O’Leary. With over 40 years of concert shots under his belt Bill is a wealth of knowledge and stories. This episode we’ll we’ll focus on specific bands in his catalog. Go back to Episode 545 to get an in depth look at his career. Make sure to check out his website timelessconcertimages.com or grab some of his great shots for yourselves at timelessconcertimages.pixels.com. You can also check out his books that are available on Amazon including “Timeless Concert Images:The Definitive Collection”. Just search for Bill O’Leary under authors. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 18 Aug 2022 02:00:00 GMT 48:32 Yes Bill O’Leary, Timeless Concert Images, photography, Judas Priest, concert photographer, Rush, author, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Randy Rhoads, Van Halen, Queen, UFO, Kiss, Motorhead, Schenker, Scorpions, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 546 with Jeff Keith of Tesla EP 546 With Tesla's Jeff Keith Change of plans this week. We’re gonna interrupt our chat with Bill O’Leary to air a chat with Jeff Keith of Tesla. The band is currently on the second leg of their 2022 tour and they are in fine form and even better they even play NEW stuff in the set. That’s a rarity these days. This week we’ll talk with Jeff about Jeff, the band, the tours, and much more. Having spoken with both Frank and Brian on different occasions I can say that Jeff is equally as great to talk with. Oh, and the episode title? That’s their latest single so grab yourself a copy cuz it’s Time To Rock. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 12 Aug 2022 02:00:00 GMT 48:50 Yes Tesla, Jeff Keith, Frank Hannon, Dave Rude, Brian Wheat, Time To Rock, Cold Blue Steel, Steve Brown, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 545 with Photographer Bill O'Leary EP 545 With Bill O'Leary This is the first of two episodes we’ll be spending with veteran concert photographer Bill O’Leary. With over 40 years of concert shots under his belt Bill is a wealth of knowledge and stories. This episode we’ll be digging into his career and on the next one we’ll focus on specific bands in his catalog. Make sure to check out his website timelessconcertimages.com or grab some of his great shots for yourselves at timelessconcertimages.pixels.com. You can also check out his books that are available on Amazon including “Timeless Concert Images:The Definitive Collection”. Just search for Bill O’Leary under authors. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 5 Aug 2022 02:00:00 GMT 52:22 Yes Bill O’Leary, Timeless Concert Images, photography, Judas Priest, The Godz, concert photographer, Rush, author, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 544 with Queensryche biographer Brian Heaton EP 544 With Brian Heaton March of 1997 Queensryche released their sixth studio album, “Hear In The Now Frontier”. Ironically, for an album cover adorned with ears a large swath of the Ryche faithful weren’t listening. This week Richie and our guest contributor Brian Heaton discuss in depth why this is the case and is it warranted. For an even deeper dive into the band pick up copy of “Building An Empire”. It’s the definitive biography of the band and just happens to be co-authored by Brian. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 26 Jul 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:28:15 Yes Queensryche, Brian Heaton, Promised Land, Hear In The Now Frontier, Geoff Tate, Micheal Wilton, Scott Rockenfield, Eddie Jackson, Chris DeGarmo, Peter Collins, Toby Wright, anybodylistening.net, Todd LaTorre, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 543 with Guitarist John Connolly of Projected and Sevendust EP 543 With John Connolly Five years after the release of their Sophomore effort “Ignite My Insanity” Projected returns with “Hypoxia”. Released on June24th via Ra Pak Records the band retains the same lineup of Eric Friedman (Tremonti), Vinnie Hornsby (Sevendust), Scott Phillips (Alter Bridge), and this weeks returning guest John Connolly (Sevendust). John joins us this week to not only talk about Projected newest release but also delves into some band history, writing ethos, and touches upon Sevendust as well. Given that John is firmly front and center he’s the best guy to give us the lowdown on this latest batch of music from Projected. We had John join us back on episode 346 to talk about “Ignite My Insanity” so feel free to go back and listen to that one too. Hypoxia and all the other great Projected releases are available at ratpakrecordsamerica.com/projected And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Jul 2022 02:00:00 GMT 52:30 Yes Projected, Hypoxia, Ignite My Insanity, Human, John Connolly, Eric Friedman, Scott Phillips, Vinnie Hornsby, Sevendust, Tremonti, Alter Bridge, Rat Pak Records, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 542 Talking Maiden releases from 83 to 86 EP 542 featuring a discussion on Maiden releases from 83-86 So here we are 10 episodes after we started on this Maiden slog back to look at the next three Maiden studio releases “Piece of Mind”, “Powerslave” and “Somewhere in Time”. And we do break into a somewhat more than brief dive into “Live After Death” as well cuz, screw it, it’s our damn show. So as I said back on episode 532, definitely not the definitive critical review, just two metalheads talking about Maiden circa 83 to 86. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 15 Jul 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:04 Yes Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Clive Burr, Adrian Smith, Rod Smallwood, Sanctuary, Eddie, Bruce Dickinson, Derek Riggs, Martin Birch, The Trooper, Live After Death, Nicko McBrain, Aces High, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 541 with Mikey V of Chains Over Razors EP 541 With Chains Over Razors Five years after their debut release “Crown The Villian”, Chicago metal outfit Chains Over Razors has released their self titled sophomore effort. This week we sit down with guitarist Mikey V to talk about the brief history of the band and the new release (produced by Carmine Appice). And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 30 Jun 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:10 Yes Chains Over Razors, Mikey Vusajin, Andy Vusajin, William Mullen, Chicago, COR, Disturbed, Pantera, Franco “V” Roc, Carmine Appice, Andy V, Mikey V, Deko, Broken Home, The Narc, Behind These Eyes, Metal Allegiance, Bumblefoot, Alex Skolnick, Crown The Villian, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 540 with Jaime St. James EP 540 With Jaime St. James 1988 after the release of the “In Heat” album Geffen drops Black ’N Blue from the roster. What’s a band to do? If you’re Jaime St. James and Tommy Thayer you start writing and recording new songs and then promptly forget about them for over three decades. And that brings us to this weeks episode as we speak with Jaime about “The Lost Tapes” a five song EP of Black “N Blue music literally fresh out of the attic that he and Tommy just released. Head to thayerstjames.com to get your own copy and hear what might’ve been. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 20 Jun 2022 02:00:00 GMT 46:00 Yes Jaime St. James, Black ’N Blue, The Lost Tapes, In Heat, Tommy Thayer, Gene Simmons, Geffen, Jeff Warner, Patrick Young, Pete Holmes, Freight Train Jane, Harlow, Pat Regan, Aerosmith, Warrant, Kiss Kruise, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 539 with Mark Tremonti EP 539 With Mark Tremonti Sure we’ve done episodes focused on charitable projects before but I never thought we would be rolling one out that focuses on Frank Sinatra but that’s exactly where the focus is this week. On May 27 Mark Tremonti released “Tremonti Sings Sinatra” with 100% of the profits going to NDSS. So yep a bit of a different deal this week but nonetheless a very cool and honest project that deserves some attention. Oh yeah, we do manage to sneak in some other Tremonti stuff too. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 6 Jun 2022 02:00:00 GMT 27:46 Yes Mark Tremonti, Tremonti Sings Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, Mike Smith, Stella, Take A Chance For Charity, NDSS, National Down Syndrome Society, Tremonti, Alterbridge, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 538 with Michael Lardie EP 538 once again with Michael Lardie of Great White This week is a continuation from last week talking with Great White’s Michael Lardie about the bands 1992 release “Psycho City” which hits it’s 30th anniversary this year. In this final half we’ll look at Michael’s memories of making and touring this album. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 2 Jun 2022 02:00:00 GMT 36:01 Yes Michael Lardie, Great White, Psycho City, Capitol, 30th anniversary, Big Goodbye, Hooked, Alan Niven, Mark Kendall, Jack Russell, Audie Desbrow, Dave Spitz, George Marino, Tony Montana, Total Access, Angel City, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 537 with Michael Lardie EP 537 featuring Michael Lardie of Great White This week is the first of two weeks talking with Great White’s Michael Lardie about the bands 1992 release “Psycho City”. Yep we’re doing another 30th anniversary of an album show. In the first half we’ll look at Michael's early days in music and then slide into his time with Great White and his memories of this album. Along the way we’ll talk a bit about the prior albums as well. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Thu, 26 May 2022 02:00:00 GMT 35:46 Yes Michael Lardie, Great White, Psycho City, Capitol, 30th anniversary, Big Goodbye, Hooked, Alan Niven, Mark Kendall, Jack Russell, Audie Desbrow, Dave Spitz, George Marino, Tony Montana, Total Access, Perkins Ranch, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 536 on band legacies EP 536 featuring a discussion of the value of a legacy What’s the value of a bands legacy and is it worth protecting? Do bands even care? Do some trade the legacy for a payday? Are there bands well beyond their sell by date or wth so few (or no) original members that they really shouldn’t call themselves that band anymore? This week we have a lively discussion around this whole deal. For a deeper dive and another view on this check out the Band vs Brand documentary from our bud Bob Nalbandian. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 16 May 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:52 Yes Queensryche, Aerosmith, legacy, Band vs Brand, Rush, Journey, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Whitesnake, Tokyo Blade, Skid Row, Bob Nalbandian, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 535 with Warrant's Joey Allen EP 535 featuring once again, Warrant's Joey Allen In August of 1992 Warrant released “Dog Eat Dog” their follow up to 1990’s Cherry Pie. This week we sit down for the second week of talk with guitarist Joey Allen all about recording and touring "Dog Eat Dog" and other bits of Warrant history. If you missed the first half go back and listen to episode 534 And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 3 May 2022 02:00:00 GMT 42:17 Yes Warrant, Dog Eat Dog, Joey Allen, Michael Wagener, Morrisound Studios, Beau Hill, Erik Turner, Jerry Dixon, Steven Sweet, Jani Lane, 1992, Columbia, Machine Gun, The Bitter Pill, The Hole in My Wall, Inside Out, Iron Maiden, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 534 with Warrant's Joey Allen EP 534 featuring Warrant's Joey Allen In August of 1992 Warrant released “Dog Eat Dog” their follow up to 1990’s Cherry Pie. If fans expected more of the same they were in for a surprise. Warrant was doing things their way under the watchful eye of producer Michael Wagener. Sales were not what was expected but despite this setback the album did eventually earn gold status in states and it received much praise from the critics. This week we sit down for the first of two weeks of talk with guitarist Joey Allen all about Dog Eat Dog and other pieces of Warrant history. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 26 Apr 2022 02:00:00 GMT 40:00 Yes Warrant, Dog Eat Dog, Joey Allen, Michael Wagener, Morrisound Studios, Beau Hill, Erik Turner, Jerry Dixon, Steven Sweet, Jani Lane, 1992, Columbia, Machine Gun, The Bitter Pill, The Hole in My Wall, Inside Out, Iron Maiden, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 533 with Robin McAuley EP 533 featuring regular guest Robin McAuley Generation Swan? See what we did there? A little play on words harkening back to the Motley release Generation Swine. This however with the exception of the word Swan has nothing to do with this weeks episode as we sit down with regular guest Robin McAuley to talk about “Generation Mind” the sophomore release from Frontiers artists Black Swan. In case you’ve been under a rock Black Swan consists of Robin, plus Matt Starr, Jeff Pilson and Reb Beach so ya really can’t go wrong with that crew. So another great chat with Robin on this weeks show. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 18 Apr 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:59 Yes Robin McAuley, Black Swan, Generation Mind, Jeff Pilson, Reb Beach, Matt Starr, Frontiers, Black Crowes, Schenker, Winger, Raiding The Rock Vault, Ronnie Romero, Graham Bonnet, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 532 Talking Maiden releases from 80 to 82 EP 532 featuring a discussion on Maiden releases from 80-82 So sometime over the winter I had this idea of reprising what we did with the Saxon catalog but with another legendary British band, Iron Maiden. I had this rather grandiose thought of 2022 being the year of Maiden. Yep I was getting pretty damn fired up on this whole deal. So cut to April and we are finally getting around to the first foray. This week we’ll chat about the first three Maiden studio albums, Iron Maiden, Killers and Number of The Beast. Definitely not he definitive critical review, just two metalheads talking about Maiden circa 80 to 82. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 8 Apr 2022 02:00:00 GMT 55:18 Yes Iron Maiden, Killers, Number of The Beast, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Clive Burr, Dennis Stratton, Adrian Smith, Rod Smallwood, Sanctuary, Eddie, Urchin, Neal Kay, Paul Di’Anno, Bruce Dickinson, Derek Riggs, Martin Birch, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 531 with Bobby Blitz Ellsworth of Overkill EP 531 featuring Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth of Overkill Richie took a ride out to the Worcester Palladium to talk with Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, the always candid front man of metal stalwarts Overkill. So that’s what’s in store this week on the show. Stories from the past, present and future with Blitz. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 1 Apr 2022 02:00:00 GMT 52:27 Yes Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, Blitz, Overkill, L’Amour, Phil Demmel, Wings of War Tour, D.D. Verni, Jason Bittner, MegaForce, John Zazula, Worcester Palladium, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 530 with Ty Tabor EP 530 featuring guitarist Ty Tabor This week we welcome back for the third time, guitarist Ty Tabor. This time Ty is back to discuss his latest solo effort “Shades” released this month via Rat Pak Records. And of course Richie takes the opportunity to discuss some Kings X matters as well. Be sure to head to RatPakRecordsAmerica.com to grab your own copy. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Mar 2022 02:00:00 GMT 40:48 Yes Ty Tabor, Shades, Rat Pak Records, Alien Beans, Gretchen, Kings X, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 529 with David Huff EP 529 featuring drummer David Huff of Giant Who would have thought that in 2022 we would have a new Giant album that sonically recalls their sound of their first two albums. Well that is the case as Frontiers released “Shifting Time” back in January. This week we welcome to the show none other than drummer David Huff to discuss the new album. And while we had him on the line we also took the opportunity to talk about “Time To Burn” which hits it’s 30th anniversary this year. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 14 Mar 2022 02:00:00 GMT 48:45 Yes David Huff, Giant, Shifting Time, drummer, Dann Huff, John Roth, Kent Hill, Mike Brignardello, Time To Burn, Frontiers, Terry Thomas, Bud Trager, Skills, Brad Gillis, Billy Sheehan, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 528 with Author Scott Alderman EP 528 featuring author Scott Alderman This week we sit down with Scott Alderman, the guy behind 2000’s Tattoo the Earth Tour. On March 15th Scott’s book “Caravan of Pain, The True Story of The Tattoo The Earth Tour” will be released. It’s quite a story and hopefully this weeks talk with Scott will give you the need to grab a copy of the book and fill in all the details we couldn’t get to. Plus the book will provide lots of eye candy as well. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 8 Mar 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:10 Yes Scott Alderman, Caravan of Pain, The True Story of The Tattoo The Earth Tour, Irving Azoff, Tattoo The Earth, Slipknot, tattoo, Sepulture, Coal Chamber, Slayer, Nashville Pussy, Sevendust, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 527 with Jimi Bell EP 527 featuring guitarist Jimi Bell from House of Lords and Autograph This week guitarist Jimi Bell graces our show for the third time. The last appearance was way back on episode 449. Between Autograph, House of Lords and Beyond Purple, Jimi is one busy guy. You’ll hear about all of that plus more that he’s working on. Plus, if that’s not enough we also delve into Jimi’s past for some surprising history. It's a long one this week but the chat with Jimi starts at around the 20 minute mark if you want to skip our metal gabfest. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 1 Mar 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:20:53 Yes Jimi Bell, Autograph, House of Lords, Black Sabbath, Dio, Beyond Purple, Judas Priest, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 526 with Chris Caffery EP 526 featuring guitarist Chris Caffery And we’re back… This week we welcome back Chris Caffery as he gives us the rundown on the sophomore release from Spirits of Fire, “Embrace The Unknown”. Plus since we haven’t really talked in about two months we laid into a bit of discussion on a variety of metal topics. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 21 Feb 2022 02:00:00 GMT 57:18 Yes Spirits of Fire, Embrace The Unknown, Christ Caffery, Fabio Lione, Mark Zonder, Steve Di Giorgio, Frontiers, Wasp, Meatloaf, Savatage, T.S.O., best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 525 The Black Album at 30 EP 525 featuring a Black Album Discussion August 12th,1991 Metallica released their self titled 5th album. Alternately referred to as the Black album this release has been a polarizing object of admiration and scorn by legions of metal fans. This week we decided to kick off 2022 by looking back at 30 years of the release’s existence. Enjoy the chat and we'll talk to you again in a few weeks. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 4 Jan 2022 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:25 Yes Metallica, Black album, 30 years, James Hatfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted, Elektra, Bob Rock, Randy Staub, Michael Kamen, Enter Sandman, Sad But True, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 524 with Guitarist Ben Jackson EP 524 featuring Guitarist Ben Jackson This week we round out the year as we continue delve into a short history of Florida’s Crimson Glory courtesy of guitarist Ben Jackson. It started off as just exploring the debut album and by time it was done we had covered the entire history of the band. Be sure to listen to Episode 523 to hear part one of this chat. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 29 Dec 2021 02:00:00 GMT 58:32 Yes Crimson Glory, Ben Jackson, Jeff Lords, Jon Drenning, Dana Burnell, Todd LaTorrre, Midnight, Wade Black, Transcendence, Strange And Beautiful, Astronomica, Morrissound, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 523 with Guitarist Ben Jackson EP 523 featuring Guitarist Ben Jackson We kick off another another two week series this week. This time we delve into a "short" history of Florida’s Crimson Glory courtesy of guitarist Ben Jackson. It started off as just exploring the debut album and by time it was done we had covered the entire history of the band. Stay tuned next week for part two. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 21 Dec 2021 02:00:00 GMT 43:05 Yes Crimson Glory, Ben Jackson, Jeff Lords, Jon Drenning, Dana Burnell, Todd LaTorrre, Midnight, Wade Black, Transcendence, Strange And Beautiful, Astronomica, Morrissound, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 522 with Author/Archivist Brain Heaton EP 522 featuring Author/Archivist Brian Heaton Change of plans this week. We had the opportunity to sit down with author and FoM contributor Brian Heaton to discuss “Building An Empire: The Story of Queensrÿche”. The book is the brain child of Brian L Naron, James Beach and Brian Heaton and is the first publication to cover the entire history of the band as well as act as a celebration of 40 years of Queensrÿche. So yep, lotsa Rÿche talk this week (almost 90 minutes worth). If you want to grab a copy please head to nwmetalworxmusic.com or wherever you buy your fine metal publications. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 13 Dec 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:25:15 Yes Queensrÿche, Queensryche, Brian Heaton, Building an Empire, Brian Naron, James Beach, NW MetalWorx Music, Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Geoff Tate, Chris DeGarmo, Scott Rockenfield, Todd LaTorre, Kelly Gray, Jason Slater, Kim Harris, Rusted Metal, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 521 with Craig Goldy EP 521 featuring Guitarist Craig Goldy This week we finish up our talk with guitarist Craig Goldy. Last week we talked about Skygazer, the latest from Resurrection Kings as well as some history. This week we continue to dig deep into Craig’s history and at the tail end touch again on what else he’s currently up to. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 6 Dec 2021 02:00:00 GMT 40:46 Yes Craig Goldy, Dream Child, Dio, Resurrection Kings, Skygazer, Sean McNabb, Vinny Appice, Chas West, Frontiers, Dream Evil, David Lee Roth, Donnington, Anthrax, hologram, Alessandro Del Vecchio, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 520 with Craig Goldy EP 520 featuring Guitarist Craig Goldy This week we sit down for the first of two weeks of talk with guitarist Craig Goldy. Craig is out promoting the latest Resurrection Kings release “Skygazer” so we’ll be discussing that but if your gonna have Craig on ya have to talk about Ronnie and so much more. So lotsa good stuff for your metal earholes. Also our friends over at NW Metal Worx have some great deals on the new Queensryche bio “Building an Empire” be sure to check out that plus more metal goodness at nwmetalworxmusic.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 30 Nov 2021 02:00:00 GMT 41:29 Yes Craig Goldy, Dream Child, Dio, Resurrection Kings, Skygazer, Sean McNabb, Vinny Appice, Chas West, Frontiers, Dream Evil, David Lee Roth, Donnington, Anthrax, hologram, Queensryche, Alessandro Del Vecchio, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 519 with James LaBrie EP 519 featuring James LaBrie of Dream Theater There’s a track on the new Dream Theater album “A View From The Top of The World” called Answering The Call and that’s exactly what James LaBrie did this week so why not call the episode that as well. Its excellent when a plan comes together. Anyways, this week we talk with James about the new album as well as what else is going on in his world. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 23 Nov 2021 02:00:00 GMT 32:06 Yes Dream Theater, James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Mike Mangini, John Myung, Jordan Rudess, A View From The Top of The World, Andy Sneap, progressive, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 518 with Ron Nevison EP 518 featuring producer and engineer Ron Nevison Damn English, wha??? Nope, no slam on our metalheads across the pond just a play on words of the two groups in focus (Damn Yankees and Bad English) as we continue our talk this week with producer/engineer Ron Nevison. We resume our discussion this week as Richie digs into the Backlash album from Bad English. Didja miss part one? Check out last weeks episode. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 15 Nov 2021 02:00:00 GMT 27:42 Yes Ron Nevison, Damned Yankees, Bad English, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, Ted Nugent, Michael Cartellone, John Waite, Jonathon Cain, Ricky Phillips, Neal Schon, Deen Castronovo, producer, engineer, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 517 with Ron Nevison EP 517 featuring producer and Ron Nevison This week and next we’ll be speaking with producer/engineer Ron Nevison. The guy has done three lifetimes worth of albums and we’ll talk a bit about a fair chunk of that (including his origin story), but this week Richie dives in mainly on Ron’s work with Damned Yankees and Bad English. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 8 Nov 2021 02:00:00 GMT 37:48 Yes Ron Nevison, Damned Yankees, Bad English, Europe, Kee Marcello, Jack Blades, Tommy Shaw, Ted Nugent, Michael Cartellone, John Waite, Jonathon Cain, Ricky Phillips, Neal Schon, Deen Castronovo, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 516 with Jay Jay French EP 516 featuring guitarist and author Jay Jay French A twisted week this week, “Twisted Business” that is the new “bizoir” from Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French. This week we sit down with Jay Jay this week to talk all about the book which primarily focuses on the truth about the music business as well as some Twisted stories. We engage in a bit of chat as well so if you want to get right to Jay Jay scrub up to around the 39 minute mark. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 26 Oct 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:19:17 Yes Jay Jay French, Twisted Sister, Twisted Business, Dee Snider, Warlock, music business, Metallica, Steve Farber, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 515 with Tommy Bolan EP 515 featuring guitarist Tommy Bolan of Warlock Warlock guitarist Tommy Bolan comes aboard once again to give us the lowdown on the latest release from the Doro camp “Triumph and Agony Live” an apt celebration of 35 years since the release of the final album by Warlock. Recorded live in it’s entirety at Sweden Rock, Doro and the band are on fire. The album is out now in a bunch of great formats so do yourself a favor and grab a copy. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 12 Oct 2021 02:00:00 GMT 56:03 Yes Triumph And Agony Live, Warlock, Tommy Bolan, Doro, Doro Pesch, Sweden Rock, Johnny Dee, Rare Diamonds Productions, Triumph And Agony, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 514 with Eric Martin EP 514 with Eric Martin Back in the spring of 1991 Mr. Big unleashed “Lean Into It’ their second studio album onto the world. Spawning four singles including the album cemented their legacy. With this being the 30th anniversary we sat down with vocalist Eric Martin and spent the this week and last talking about Lean Into It. Be sure to listen to EP513 to catch the first half of this chat.. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 4 Oct 2021 02:00:00 GMT 33:16 Yes Mr. Big, Lean Into It, Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan, Paul Gilbert, Pat Torpey, Atlantic, anniversary, Rumbo Recorders, Cherokee Studios, Kevin Elson, Steve Brown, P.J Farley, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 513 with Eric Martin Back in the spring of 1991 Mr. Big unleashed “Lean Into It’ their second studio album onto the world. Spawning four singles including the album combated their legacy. With this being the 30th anniversary we sat down with vocalist Eric Martin to spend the next two weeks talking about Lean Into It and it’s enduring popularity. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 28 Sep 2021 02:00:00 GMT 38:07 Yes Mr. Big, Lean Into It, Eric Martin, Billy Sheehan, Paul Gilbert, Pat Torpey, Atlantic, anniversary, Rumbo Recorders, Cherokee Studios, Kevin Elson, Steve Brown, P.J Farley, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 512 with Carmine Appice Drummer and living legend Carmine Appice joins us once again this week to give us the rundown on everything he’s up to including (but not limited to) Vanilla Fudge and King Kobra. And of course Carmine is always good for some great stories from the past too. Wanna know more? Head to carmineappice.net And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 21 Sep 2021 02:00:00 GMT 43:27 Yes Carmine Appice, King Kobra, Blue Murder, Sweden Rock, Paul Shortino, Vanilla Fudge, Carlos Cavazo, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 511 with author G.D. Praetorius Author and former production manager G.D. Praetorius has released upon us “Babysitting A Band On The Rocks” a memoir of his days working with the likes of Aerosmith and Van Halen. Lots of great stories from him this week as we go through this great read. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 13 Sep 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:24 Yes G.D. Praetorius, Babysitting A Band On The Rocks, Aerosmith, Dee Snider, Van Halen, AC/DC, Keith Richards, production manager, Hells Bells, Ian Anderson, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 510 with guitarist Michael Gilbert On June 4th Flotsam and Jetsam released their fourteenth studio album “Blood In The Water” via the AFM label. This week we’ll talk once again with guitarist Michael Gilbert about the album and what’s next for the Phoenix thrash titans. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 6 Sep 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:00 Yes Flotsam and Jetsam, Michael Gilbert, Eric AK, Steve Conley, Ken Mary, Bill Bodily, Blood in The Water, AFM Records, Burn The Sky, Brace For Impact, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 509 with guitarist Brad Gillis We're baaaaaack. I know what you’re thinking, what the f*#k does ATBPO mean. If you’re familiar with the new Night Ranger release you know it means “And The Band Played On” an apt title for an album made during these Covid encrusted times. This week guitarist Brad Gillis rejoins us to talk about the making of this release and what else is going on with the band.The road case cover art is definitely ironic in these times as tours are simply not happening. If ya wanna skip right to Brad he's on at around the 30 minute mark. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Mon, 30 Aug 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:22 Yes Night Ranger, ATBPO, Brad Gillis, Jack Blades, Kelly Keagy, Eric Levy, Keri Kelli, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 508 with guitarist Kee Marcello Before we go off on our annual summer break we thought we’d blast out one more 30th anniversary throwback episode. On Sept 23rd 1991 Europe released their fifth studio album “Prisoners In Paradise”. After getting chart positions in the US for the prior two releases this one fell on deaf ears in the states. It did do well in Europe and Japan and spawned three singles including the title track. This week we will get the many stories behind this album as we talk with guitarist Kee Marcello. Kee would exit the band following this one but he’s still a wealth of information. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 30 Jun 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:05 Yes Kee Marcello, Prisoners In Paradise, Epic Records, Joey Tempest, John Leven, Beau Hill, Bob Rock, Ian Haugland, Out Of This World, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 507 An homage to the great one On April 25th on his 70th birthday Michael Wagener, the producer/mixer/engineer of some of the biggest metal albums in history announced his retirement. This week as we begin the countdown to our annual summer break we countdown and discuss our top five picks of albums that Michael has been involved in during his 50 plus years in the business. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Jun 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:16:04 Yes Michael Wagener, Metallica, Accept, Dokken, Extreme, Megadeth, Double Trouble Productions, Skid Row, Ozzy, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 506 with Pete Makowski We didn’t forget, honest. Pete Makowski has had a storied career as a music journalist and more starting at the age of 16. This week we resume our talk with the former Sounds, Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Classic Rock writer as he joins us for the second of two hours of discussion we were fortunate to have with him. A lot of deep dives into the 80’s and early 90’s to be had on this weeks talk. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Jun 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:31 Yes Pete Makowski, Sounds, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Deep Purple, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Toots Daley, UFO, Judas Priest, NWOBHM, Motley, Nikki Sixx, Alice Cooper, Schenker, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 505 with Robin McAuley On May 7th Frontiers Records released Standing On The Edge the second solo release from Robin McAuley. This week we welcome back Robin for the fifth time to talk about the new album, some throwback talk of the waning days of his first collaboration with Michael Schenker, and what else is going on in the musical world of this incredibly busy artist. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 Jun 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:31 Yes Robin McAuley, Standing on The Edge, Frontiers, Michael Schenker, McAuley Schenker Group, Black Swan, Jeff Pilson, James Kottak, Survivor, M.S.G., Matt Starr, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Andrea Seveso, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 504 with Jon Wiederhorn Author Jon Wiederhorn best known for the indispensable massive metal tome “Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal” and recently “Raising Hell” is taking the plunge into podcast hosting. Jon, in cooperation with Diversion Podcasts is rolling out “Backstaged: The Devil In Metal”. This week we’ll dive into the story behind the show and what we can expect going forward. Have a listen to the chat and then go download all of the “Backstaged” episodes from pretty much anywhere you usually get your podcast content. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 2 Jun 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:53 Yes Jon Wiederhorn, Backstaged, Backstaged: The Devil in Metal, Louder Than Hell, Raising Hell, Diversion Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Ellefson, Megadeth, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 503 with Dave Brooks Back in 1992 Slammin’ Gladys released their debut album almost 30 years later they’ve gotten around to releasing their sophomore effort “Two”. This week vocalist/ guitarist Dave Brooks comes aboard to talk about days gone by and what’s in store for the band in the future as well as what went on in during all those years we didn’t hear from them. Oh yeah, there’s also a bit of discussion too. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 May 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:01 Yes Dave Brooks, Slammin’ Gladys, Two, J.J. Farris, Al Collins, Stephen De Board, Jani Lane, Jib Machine Records, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 502 with Pete Makowski Pete Makowski has had a storied career as a music journo and more starting at the age of 16. This week the former Sounds, Kerrang, Metal Hammer and Classic Rock writer joins us for the first of two hours of discussion we were fortunate to have with him. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 May 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:28 Yes Pete Makowski, Sounds, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Deep Purple, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, Toots Daley, UFO, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 501 with Ken Barr This one has been sitting in our vaults for almost three years and it’s way overdue to see the light of day. This weeks guest Ken Barr released “We Are The Road Crew: Life on The Road and How I Got There” way back in 2009. Somewhere along the way Richie hooked up with him via Skype to talk about his history in rock and metal. Unfortunately the audio was missing an entire channel, namely Richie so this sat in the vault awaiting some much needed work. Well this week it finally flies free. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 May 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:28 Yes Ken Barr, Alice Cooper, Stone Temple Pilots, KISS, Eric Singer, We Are The Road Crew, roadie, tech, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 500 with Vivian Campbell Who the hell titles an episode 72987537? We do, and why not that number is the serial for the Les Paul played throughout this weeks guests career. In fact it’s the first “real” guitar the Vivian Campbell ever bought and he’s still playing it all these years later so why not go with that serial number as a title. Yep this week for episode 500 we dive into a complete career retrospective on Vivian Campbell. It's a swing back to old school FoM cuz this one is gonna be a long one. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 May 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:31:27 Yes Vivian Campbell, Sweet Savage, Dio, Ronnie James Dio, Def Leppard, Riverdogs, Shadow King, Last In Line, Les Paul, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 499 with promoter Danny Zelisko Continuing on where we left off last week with concert promoter and all around nice guy, Danny Zelisko. This week we delve into more of the 80’s, memorabilia, and the industry after Covid. And that’s just some of the highlights as we round out our second week with Danny. And of course be sure to pick up his book, “All Exce$$” to get even more great stories and photos. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Apr 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:31 Yes Danny Zelisko, All Exce$$, Danny Zelisko Presents, concert promoter, Motley Crue, Arizona, Dio, Ken Hensley, All Excess, Iron Maiden, Covid, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 498 with promoter Danny Zelisko Since 1974 Danny Zelisko has been promoting concerts in Arizona. Being the caring and sharing guy that he is he decided to write a book about his career in the industry. The result is “All Exce$$’ the story of his over 40 years in the concert industry. With over 350 pages and bursting with photos this book is a must have for rock and metal fans. He’s got some great stories and over the next two weeks you’ll hear them, right here on FoM. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Apr 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:31 Yes Danny Zelisko, All Exce$$, Danny Zelisko Presents, concert promoter, Motley Crue, John Cougar, Arizona, Dio, Ken Hensley, All Excess, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 497 with Johnny Dee & Tommy Paris 30 years ago, on the 27th of March 1991 Britny Fox released their third studio effort “Bite Down Hard”. This week we pick up the album story again with Johnny Dee plus we get on the line to talk with vocalist Tommy Paris about his memories of the album as well as the story of how he ended up in the band. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Apr 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:49 Yes Britny Fox, Bite Down Hard, Johnny Dee, Tommy Paris, Michael Kelly Smith, Billy Childs, Zakk Wylde, Ozzy, Dizzy Dean, Jillson, East West, Duane Baron, John Purdell, Doro, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 496 with Johnny Dee On the 27th of March 1991 Britny Fox released their third studio effort “Bite Down Hard”. This is the first release to feature new vocalist Tommy Paris and the band was under pressure to prove their mettle. This week for part one of our two week look at the album, we talk with drummer Johnny Dee about the album plus what he’s up to these days. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Apr 2021 02:00:00 GMT 58:18 Yes Britny Fox, Bite Down Hard, Johnny Dee, Tommy Paris, Michael Kelly Smith, Billy Childs, Zakk Wylde, Ozzy, Dizzy Dean, East West, Duane Baron, John Purdell, Doro, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 495 with Mark Farner Our guest this week is none other than Mark Farner. Mark and his band have a new live DVD “From Chile With Love” on the horizon and Mark comes onboard to talk about that as well as to dig back into his past history with bands like Grand Funk Railroad. Also this we week we chat at length about what we think/wish is possibly ahead for live music for the rest of 2021. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 31 Mar 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:17 Yes Mark Farner, Mark Farner’s American Band, From Chile With Love, live music, Grand Funk Railroad, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 494 with Bob Nalbandian Once again this week we are honored to be joined by editor, podcaster, filmmaker and metal renaissance man Bob Nalbandian. Not that we would ever need an actual reason to have Bob on the show but there is in fact a reason he joins us this week. In just mere weeks Metal Rock Films will release “Inside Metal: Bay Area Godfathers Part II” so why not invite Bob on to get us all fired up for another epic Inside Metal release. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Mar 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:28 Yes Bob Nalbandian, Inside Metal, Bay Area Godfathers II, Metal Rock Films, The Headbanger, Shockwaves, CMS Network, Exodus, Metallica, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 493 with Mark Kendall This week our guest is Great White’s longtime guitarist Mark Kendall. Lots to cover with Mark this week including his battles with alcohol, some band history and what’s in store post quarantine for the band. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Mar 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:00 Yes Mark Kendall, Great White, Jack Russell, Once Bitten, Audie Desbrow, Michael Lardie, Mitch Malloy, Tony Montana, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 492 with Brian Naron In the fall of last year an epic tome on the northwest metal scene was published. Rusted Metal: A Guide To Heavy Metal And Hard Rock In The Pacific Northwest (1970-1995) has got to be the definitive guide to all things metal in that region. This week we one of the authors Brian L Naron on the show to talk about the book and the past and present of that massive scene. It’s not all grunge folks and you’ll get a great sense of that this week. And as always Focus On Metal… Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Mar 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:13 Yes Rusted Metal, Brian L Naron, James Beach, James Dutton, Indy Pub, Metal Church, Queensryche, Sanctuary, Black N’ Blue, Heir Apparent, Widow, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 491 with Ricky Warwick The ever prolific Ricky Warwick has just released “When Life Was Hard And Fast” via Nuclear Blast. This week Richie sits down with Ricky for a proper Irish chat about the new release and many more things. We also chat about a whole host of other things before we get to that, if you want to skip over our yammer you can go to around 35 minutes in and get right to Ricky Warwick. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 Mar 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:06:42 Yes Ricky Warwick, Keith Nelson, When Life Was Hard And Fast, Nuclear Blast, Black Star Riders, Brian Downey, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 490 with Author Joel Miller This week we talk with author and former roadie Joel Miller. Joel worked with the likes of Poison, Stone Temple Pilots and Guns And Roses and has decided to share his story with his book “Memoir Of A Roadie”. Hey, none other than All Rose said this guys makes a great cup of tea so you know he’s got some stories to tell, including that one. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Feb 2021 02:00:00 GMT 59:57 Yes Joel Miller, Memoir Of A Roadie, Guns And Roses, Axl Rose, Stone Temple Pilots, Slash, Poison, roadie, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 489 with Todd La Torre Queensryche vocalist Todd La Torre has just released his solo outing “Rejoice in The Suffering” via our friends at Rat Pak Records. This week we welcome Todd on board to give some insights on the album and also answer some other burning questions. We also manage to fit in a bit of discussion too. If you want to get straight to the interview it comes in around 35 minutes in. BTW-you can grab your own copy of the album by using the handy link on our main page at focusonmetal.net And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Feb 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:17:26 Yes Todd La Torre, Rejoice in The Suffering, Rat Pack Records, Queensryche, Crimson Glory, Craig Blackwell, Zeuss, The Dead Daisies, Doug Aldrich, Mark Eglinton, Accept, best, classic, heavy metal, interview, metal, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 488 with Dave Ellefson & Joel Hoekstra A lot of people suffer under the misconception that if you’re a “known” musician that you have it made. Our guests this week certainly turn that on it’s head as Dave Ellefson and Joel Hoekstra give a rundown of what they’ve been doing during these Covid quarantine times. These are certainly two guys that are doing anything but kicking back and doing nothing. Be sure to support them and grab a copy of Dave’s “No Cover” and Joels’s “Running Games”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Feb 2021 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:49 Yes Dave Ellefson, Joel Hoekstra, Megadeth, Whitesnake, TSO, No Cover, Running Games, EMP Label Group, Michael Sweet, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 487 with Brian Wheat This week we sit down once again with Tesla bassist Brian Wheat. We’ve had Brian on the show before talking about the last acoustic release from the band 2020's "Five Man London Jam". This time he’s on board to talk about his freshly released biography “Son Of A Milkman”. Plus we talk a bit of Tesla history since after all the subtitle of the book is “My crazy life with Tesla”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 Feb 2021 02:00:00 GMT 57:57 Yes Brian Wheat, Tesla, Son of a Milkman, Chris Epting, Joe Elliot, Def Leppard, Frank Hannon, Troy Luccketta, Jeff Keith, Dave Rude, Phil Collen, City Kidd, Post Hill Press, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 486 with Mike Fraser Angus and the boys from AC/DC have bestowed another album upon us and this week we welcome back their long time engineer Mike Fraser to give us the background info on PWR UP. And while we have him on the line we also talk a bit about some other classics from his back history including Van Halen, Whitesnake and Coverdale-Page. This one’s a damn fine way to wrap up 2020. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Dec 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:10 Yes AC/DC, Mike Fraser, Angus Young, Power Up, Brian Johnson, Jimmy Page, Mike Stone, Eddie Van Halen, Balance, Whitesnake, David Coverdale, Cliff Williams, Phil Rudd, Malcolm Young, Stevie Young, John Kalodner, Little Mountain, Brendan O’Brien, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 485 with author Graeme Stroud This week we welcome author Graeme Stroud. Graeme authored the recently published “Thin Lizzy: Every Album, Every Song (On Track)”. Prior to that he also did a book on Status Quo. We sit down and talk with him about both of those this week, but primarily its all about Phil and the boys. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Dec 2020 02:00:00 GMT 56:48 Yes Graeme Stroud, Thin Lizzy, Phil Lynott, Thin Lizzy every album every song, Snowy White, Scott Gorham, John Sykes, Brian Downey, Sonicbond Publishing, Status Quo, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 484 with Reb Beach and author Martin Popoff Two great returning guests this week. First we catch up with Reb Beach as he releases his solo instrumental album “A View From The Inside”. We also get updates on Winger, Whitesnake and Black Swan. After that we talk with perennial guest author Martin Popoff primarily on the the topic of his second part of his Rush trilogy “Limelight: Rush in The 80s” but as long as we have him on the line we get updates on other books books in the infinite Popoff pipeline. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 Dec 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:33 Yes Reb Beach, Martin Popoff, A View From The Inside, Limelight, Rush, Rush in The 80s, Winger, Whitesnake, Black Swan, Angel, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 483 with author Justin Quirk Author and journalist Justin Quirk just release a new book “Nuthin’ But A Good Time, The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Glam Metal”. This week Justin comes onboard to talk about the book and to take the American centric slant of the book and apply that to the same scene back in the UK. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 2 Dec 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:30 Yes Justin Quirk, author, Nuthin’ But A Good Time, glam metal, Def Leppard, Trouble, 80’s, Kerrang!, Sounds, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 482 with Dave Meniketti 30 years ago Y&T released their ninth studio album “Ten”. This would be the last studio album we would get from them until 1995’s “Musically Incorrect”. This week we sit down with Dave Meniketti to talk all about that album and plus more Y&T history. Be sure to head over to YandTRocks.com for tour updates and merch And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 24 Nov 2020 02:00:00 GMT 55:29 Yes Y&T, Dave Meniketti, Stef Burns, Jimmy DeGrasso, Phil Kennemore, Steve Smith, Geffen, Mike Stone, Ten, Joey Alves, Leonard Haze, On With The Show, YandTRocks.com, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 481 with drummer Steve Riley On November 13th the Steve Riley incarnation of L.A. Guns released Renegades. An interesting release that sees the return of Kelly Nickels to the band and also the debut of new vocalist Kurt Frohlich. This week we sit down with fellow Boston native Steve Riley to talk about the new one. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Nov 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:07 Yes L.A. Guns, Steve Riley, Renegades, Kelly Nickels, Scott Griffin, Kurt Frohlich, Tracii Guns, Wasp, Phil Lewis, Y&T, Dave Meniketti, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 480 with producer Max Norman 30 years ago Lynch Mob launched their debut album into the wild. Last week we talked with bassist Anthony Esposito and this week we go to other side of the glass and talk with producer Max Norman to get his take on the creation of this album, plus some other good stuff. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Nov 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:10 Yes Lynch Mob, Wicked Sensation, George Lynch, Mick Brown, Anthony Esposito, One Logan, Max Norman, Nick Egan, Neil Kernon, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 479 with bassist Anthony Esposito 30 years ago Lynch Mob launched their debut album into the wild. A fitting vehicle for George Lynch after leaving Dokken, Wicked Sensation made a resounding entry into our metal consciousness. This week we bring you part one of our two part look at this album as we talk with bassist Anthony Esposito. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Nov 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:16 Yes Lynch Mob, Wicked Sensation, George Lynch, Mick Brown, Anthony Esposito, One Logan, Max Norman, Nick Egan, Neil Kernon, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 478 with vocalist David White Back in September Heathen unleashed “Empire of The Blind” their first new effort in 11 years, and their first for the mighty Nuclear Blast. This week we welcome vocalist David White onboard to discuss the new album, Heathen history, and the bands future. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Oct 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:43 Yes David White, Heathen, Empire of The Blind, Sepultura, Zeuss, Lee Altus, Kragan Lum, Jason Mirza, Jim DeMaria, Nuclear Blast, Evolution of Chaos, Cliff Burton, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Bay Area, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 477 with author Steve Pilkington We are joined this week by author Steve Pilkington. Already known for his books on bands like AC/DC and Deep Purple, Steve has turned his attention to Iron Maiden. His newest, “Iron Maiden: every album, every song” has already hit the shelves in Europe. It’s due out here in the states on Oct 28th. So lots of Maiden talk this week as well as a bit of of an aside on Purple too. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Oct 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:09 Yes Iron Maiden, Steve Pilkington, Iron Maiden: every album every song, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Steve Harris, Sonicbound, Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 476 with Bob Nalbandian On October 6th Metalrock Films released the latest installment of the Inside Metal series, “Bay Area Godfathers” pt 1 which begins the exploration of the history of the Bay Area rock scene. Once again we were able to grab a bit of director Bob Nalbandian’s time to talk all about the Bay Area scene and what to expect not only with this part but some discussion on what’s to come in part 2. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Oct 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:32 Yes Bob Nalbandian, Inside Metal, Bay Area Godfathers, Ron Quintana, Ruthies Inn, Y&T, The Stone, Shockwaves Podcast, Aftershocks, Chris Aiken, Classic Metal Show, Mars Attacks, Cast Iron Ring, Van Halen, Metalrock Films, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 475 with Lenny Rutledge & Howard Benson February 20th 1990 Epic Records released “Into The Mirror Black” the second studio album from Sanctuary. This year to celebrate the 30th anniversary Century Media is doing a special reissue of the album. This week we welcome Sanctuary guitarist Lenny Rutledge on to discuss this release as well as what’s going on with the band today. If that wasn’t enough for ya we also have a talk with Howard Benson who produced this one. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Oct 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:00 Yes Sanctuary, Lenny Rutledge, Howard Benson, Into The Mirror Black, Warrel Dane, Joe Barresi, Sean Biosi, Jim Sheppard, Dave Budbill, Bruce Barris, Dave Mustaine, Epic Records, Century Media, reissue, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 474 with Dean Budnick This week we welcome back industry insider Dean Budnick. We had Dean on back on Episode 456SE "Concert Killer" relating some great info on the pandemics effect on the industry. This week he’ll be talking more deeply about how the industry operates and hopefully some of this will inform your decisions on tickets for all those shows you still have tickets for. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 30 Sep 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:30 Yes Dean Budnick, Ticketmaster, Live Nation, Corona, tickets, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 473 with Michael Sweet So this week we start off with some chat about drive in concert events and the new Rust in Peace book but we managed to rein in our metal chatter long enough to have another chat with Michael Sweet. Yep, Michael makes yet another appearance the show this week as we talk with him about Stryper’s latest release “Even The Devil Believes” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Sep 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:19 Yes Michael Sweet, Stryper, Even The Devil Believes, Dave Mustaine, Rust in Peace, Pandemica, Metallica, Marty Friedman, Nick Menza, Nathan James, Dave Ellefson, Frontiers, Megadeth, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 472 with guitarist Bill Leverty Firehouse guitarist Bill Leverty has just released his fifth solo release. It’s been 7 years since Bill released “Drive” but this year he finally rolled out “Divided We Fall”. This week we’ll talk with Bill about the latest release and also take the opportunity to get the story behind the 1995 Firehouse album “3”. If you want to pick up your own copy of “Divided We Fall” head to Leverty.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Sep 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:41 Yes Bill Leverty, Divided We Fall, Firehouse, Epic/Sony, Pearl Jam, C.J. Snare, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 471 with producer Beau Hill This week we sit down once again with producer Beau Hill. The topic this week is a late 80s double header. First up we discuss Twisted Sister’s 87 effort “Love is For Suckers” and after that we delve into the stories behind Ratt’s 88 release “Reach For The Sky”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 Sep 2020 02:00:00 GMT 56:30 Yes Beau Hill, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Dee Snider, Reach For The Sky, Love is For Suckers, Warren DeMartini, Robbin Crosby, Stephen Pearcy, Bobby Blotzer, Juan Croucier, Jay Jay French, Mark Mendoza, Reb Beach, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 470 honoring Martin Birch This week we opted to honor legendary engineer and producer Martin Birch. Of course we could have done some long discussion on his legacy but being FoM we had do something a little different. So we are going old school FoM with a full discussion episode as we compared what we think are the top five Martin Birch albums. Rest in peace Headmaster. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 2 Sep 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:29 Yes Martin Birch, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Schenker, Black Sabbath, producer, headmaster, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 469 with Dave Reynolds We had Dave Reynolds on as our guest for the final two episodes of our large format Kerrang! project. This week we have him back to talk about (of all things) Europe and the rise of melodic metal. Given his background and history of the bands he wrote about it seemed like a good fit. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Aug 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:47 Yes Dave Reynolds, Europe, Kerrang!, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, melodic metal, Joey Tempest, John Norum, Mic Michaeli, Kee Marcello, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 468 with Mark Slaughter January 23rd 1990 Slaughter puts out their debut album “Stick It To Ya” on Chrysalis. With three singles released in 1990 alone this album has become a classic. With 30 years under its belt We sit down with Mark Slaughter to talk all things about this classic release. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Aug 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:32 Yes Slaughter, Mark Slaughter, Stick It To Ya, Tim Kelly, Dana Strum, Blas Elias, Up All Night, Fly To The Angels, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 467 with Metal Mike Rijswijk January 30th 1982, “Metal Mike” Rijswijk presented the first Aardschok festival. Like the launch of the long running magazine, the festival was another major milestone in metal. The festival was last held in 1999 but the tradition in the Netherlands is carried on by Dynamo Open Air. Since none of us are going to enjoy any of the mighty festivals this year we figured we’d get “Metal Mike” on the show to talk about the history of the Aardschok Festival and it’s parent magazine. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 1 Jul 2020 02:00:00 GMT 56:33 Yes Mike Rijswijk, Aardschok, Picture, Metallica, Testament, Aardschok Day, Stefan Rooyackers, Metal Mike, Eindhoven, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 466SE with Adrian Vandenberg May 29th marked the first release in 37 years for the band Vandenberg as they rolled out “2020”. In this episode We’ll talk with Adrian Vandenberg about the decision to relaunch his namesake band and the the ensuing album. Plus we’ll talk a little Whitesnake and Moon Kings too. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 26 Jun 2020 02:00:00 GMT 30:36 Yes Adrian Vandenberg, Ronnie Romero, Vandenberg, 2020, Randy Ver Der Elsen, Koen Herfst, Bob Marlette, Mascot Records, Whitesnake, Steve Vai, Rainbow, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 466 with Mark Weiss and James Christian Longtime photographer Mark Weiss just published his first book “The Decade That Rocked: The Photography of Mark “Weissguy” Weiss”. Mark is on the show this week to gives us his insights into the music scene and to talk about what inspired him to finally release a book that celebrates the decade that rocked. Also this week we talk again with House of Lords vocalist James Christian as they release their latest “New World-New Eyes”. Get your own copy of Mark’s book at: TheDecadeThatRocked.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Jun 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:36 Yes Mark Weiss, Weissguy, The Decade That Rocked, James Christian, New World New Eyes, House of Lords, Dee Snider, Rob Halford, Ozzy, Lita, Sebastian Bach, Jimi Bell, Doug Aldrich, Motley Crue, Doro, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 465 with Michael Gilbert May 1st, 1990 Arizona’s metal vanguards Flotsam And Jetsam released their third studio effort “When The Storm Comes Down”. This was their first release with MCA and they had a lot of expectations behind this one that never materialized to the level they expected. This week we have a throwback episode as we talk with founding guitarist Michael Gilbert about the story behind this release. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Jun 2020 02:00:00 GMT 49:46 Yes Michael Gilbert, Flotsam And Jetsam, When The Storm Comes Down, MCA, Kelly David-Smith, Ed Carlson, Erik A.K., Troy Gregory, Alex Perialas, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 464 with Michael Angelo Batio On June 12th guitarist Michael Angelo Batio will release latest his solo release “More Machine Than Man” via Rat Pak Records. This week we welcome him back to the show to discuss the new album, guitars, and several other topics. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Jun 2020 02:00:00 GMT 50:24 Yes Michael Angelo Batio, More Machine Than Man, Rat Pak Records, Elliot Rubinson, Dean Guitars, Sawtooth Guitars, Hands Without Shadows, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 463 with Brandon Cook This week we have guitarist Brandon Cook on the show. Some of you may know Brandon from Black ’N Blue where he’s been holding down axe duties since 2017. This week though he’s with us to talk about his other band The Loyal Order. In case you’re wondering yep we do have some classic Black ’N Blue talk in here too. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 Jun 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:26 Yes Brandon Cook, The Loyal Order, Ready For Dead, Jeff Buehner, Black ’N Blue, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 462 with Ron Keel and Mitch Perry Couldn’t think of a clever title this week so I’m going with Mitch and Ron cuz that’s who’s on the show this week Mitch Perry and Ron Keel. Yep we finally have one of the guitar greats, Mitch Perry on the show talking about the new Mitch Perry Group release “Music Box”. We also welcome back the metal cowboy Ron Keel to talk about the latest Ron Keel Band release “South x South Dakota”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:15:28 Yes Ron Keel, Mitch Perry, The Mitch Perry Group, Ron Keel Band, South x South Dakota, Music Box, Metal Cowboy, Michael Schenker, Keel, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 461SE with Author James Curl We’ve had author James Curl on the show before when he released his great Dio book. Well he’s back again and the occasion is the publication of “Dokken: Into The Fire And Other Embers Of 80s Metal” So, lots of Dokken conversation on this bonus episode of Focus on Metal. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 23 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 39:17 Yes James Curl, Dokken Into The Fire And Other Embers Of 80s Metal, Don Dokken, George Lynch Jeff Pilson, Mick Brown, Tooth And Nail, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 46i with Tony Cavazo & Doug Aldrich 30 years ago this coming July Hurricane released their third studio album “Slave to The Thrill”. The band wouldn’t put out another release until 2001’s “Liquifury”. This week we talk with bassist Tony Cavazo and guitarist Doug Aldrich about their memories of this release. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:57 Yes Hurricane, Slave to The Thrill, Tony Cavazo, Doug Aldrich, Jay Schellen, Kelly Hansen, Enigma, Capitol, Michael James Jackson, Chris Lord-Alge, John Scarpati, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 460SE with Carl Canedy On May 8th Carl Canedy released his latest solo effort under the name Canedy with “Warrior”. Warrior is 10 tracks of the kind of classic metal we’ve come to expect from Carl. Besides Carl there’s also Mike Santarsiero on vocals. Charlie Russello handling guitars and synth stuff. Tony Garuba handles bass, takes some vocals duties and also throws in some metal cello. Head over to CanedyBand.com for your own copy. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 38:21 Yes Carl Canedy, Canedy, Warrior, Mike Santarsiero, Charlie Russello, Tony Garuba, Chris Collier, Jonny Z, The Rods, Sleaszy Rider Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 460 with Christopher P Hilton This week we are joined by author Christopher P Hilton. In March he published The Spectacular Rise, Fall & Rebirth of Hair Metal. As a self professed fan of what is now known as hair metal Christopher is uniquely positioned to write a book like this. Find out all about it on this weeks FoM. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:08 Yes Christopher P Hilton, Rise, Fall, Rebirth of Hair Metal, Hair Metal, 80s, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 459 with Michael Alago Honestly any one of the three phrases on the the cover of the new book “I Am Michael Alago” would have made a great episode title but Breathing Music seems to sum it up best. This week we talk with the A&R guy who most famously signed Metallica to Elektra records. But he has done, and has lived through so much more. So listen to our chat with Michael Alago and then do yourself a favor and get a copy of his book. It’s a worthy way to spend your quarantine time. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 57:41 Yes Michael Alago, I Am Micheal Alago, Who The F**K is That Guy, Metallica, Elektra Records, Laura Davis-Chanin, Misfits, Megaforce, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 458SE with Martin Popoff Yep, another bonus episode. This time we sit down once again with author and perennial guest Martin Popoff. Martin always has a steady stream of hard rock and metal titles rolling out and this time we focus on the two latest ones. First we look at the first one in his upcoming massive Rush trilogy “Anthem:Rush in The ’70s” which looks at the early years. After that we get to his first book focusing solely on Saxon, “Denim And Leather:Saxon’s First Ten Years” which focuses on the band through 1989. These will sell fast so grab your own copy direct from the source at MartinPopoff.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 2 May 2020 02:00:00 GMT 45:46 Yes Martin Popoff, Rush, Saxon, Anthem:Rush in The 70s, Denim and Leather: Saxon’s First Ten Years, Iron Maiden, ECW Press, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 458 with Eric Peterson & Mike LePond On April 3rd Testament released their 13th studio album “Titians of Creation” via Nuclear Blast. Founding guitarist (and only constant member) Eric Peterson joins us to give us all the updates on the album and everything else going on with the Bay Area thrashers. After that we talk once again with Symphony X bassist Mike LePond about his latest progressive metal effort DeadRisen with guitarist Rod Rivera. Mike remains an ever busy guy as he does press for this as he prepares to launch the latest Silent Assassins release “Whore of Babylon”. We haven’t talked to Mike since 2018’s Pawn and Prophecy so its a good time to catch up. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 29 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:00 Yes Eric Peterson, Testament, Titans of Creation, Mike LePond, DeadRisen, AFM Records, Rod Rivera, Symphony X, Silent Assassins, Whore of Babylon, Dracul Son, Nuclear Blast, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 457SE with Brian Wheat This weeks bonus episode is a quick chat with Tesla bassist Brian Wheat about their new release “Five Man London Jam” recorded at the legendary Abbey Road studios. We also delve into some other Tesla discussion and we have a bit of a social distanced cohost chat. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 24 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 31:59 Yes Tesla, Brian Wheat, Five Man London Jam, Abbey Road, Shock, Phil Collen, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 457 with David Sanchez & Mike Howe Digging into a few new releases this week. First up we talk with vocalist Mike Howe about the new Metal Church release “From The Vault” from our friends at Rat Pak. After that we talk with David Sanchez about Havok’s upcoming fifth studio lease entitled very fittingly “V”. Another great new one brought to us by the Century Media. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:08 Yes Mike Howe, Metal Church, From The Vault, David Sanchez, Havok, V, Rat Pac Records, Century Media, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 456SE with Dean Budnick Author and concert industry insider Dean Budnick joins us on this bonus episode of FoM to talk about what to expect in the concert industry in the post virus world. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Sat, 18 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 29:40 Yes Dean Budnick, COVID-19, Corona virus, concert industry, Live Nation, tickets, concerts, Relix, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 456 with David Reece On March 13th David Reece released his latest sonic barrage of music via El Puerto Records. Cacophony of Souls is a fitting follow up to 2018s Resilient Heart. This week David will go through making of the album as well as talking about a lot of other things, as he usually does. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 15 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:28 Yes David Reece, Cacophony of Souls, El Puerto Records, Accept, Banglore Choir, Bonfire, Andy Susemihl, Malte Frederik Burkert, Andrea Gianangeli, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 455 SE with Nita Strauss Nita Strauss comes on FoM apart of the promotional effort for “Schools Out” And Oh Say Can You Stream the online streaming broadcast to support the Ellefson Youth Music foundation’s efforts to get music education to kids unable to get music education because of the COVID-19 situation. Its win cuz you get a bonus episode and we help support a great cause. Head to ellefsonyouthmusicfoundation.org to get all the info about the foundation and the broadcast. If you want to contribute directly go to fundrazr.com/deymfschoolsout Also be sure to go to hurricanenita.com for info on Nita or maybe grab a copy of her latest release “Controlled Chaos” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 10 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 17:28 Yes Nita Strauss, Alice Cooper, Controlled Chaos, Ellefson Youth Music Foundation, Schools Out, Oh Say Can You Stream, David Ellefson, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 455 with authors Laura Shenton & Colin Hart This one just seemed to fall into place for us. First off we talk with author Laura Shenton about her new book “Dance With The Devil: The Cozy Powell Story” and if that wasn’t enough Richie also talks with Colin Hart who served as tour manager for both Deep Purple and Rainbow. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 8 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:23 Yes Cozy Powell, Laura Shenton, Dance With The Devil, Colin Hart, Rainbow, Deep Purple, Dio, Richie Blackmore, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 454 with vocalist Joe Flynt This week we talk with Joe Flynt from Asphalt Valentine. We follow that up with a chat with Mike Mostert the founder of GoGo Tuners. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 1 Apr 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:21 Yes Joe Flynt, Asphalt Valentine, Twisted Road, Mike Mostert, GoGo Tuners, Mike Mostert And The GoGo Tuner Family, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson with Eric Martin of Mr Big We live in crazy fucking times but if we can do our part to make it better we’re gonna give it a shot. Lots of you have asked us to publish some extra episodes while the world hunkers down and social distances. This is our first response to that. Here’s an previously unaired interview from the FoM vaults with vocalist Eric Martin. Enjoy and stay safe. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant.nt. Wed, 27 Mar 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:21 Yes Eric Martin, Mr Big, Pat Torpey, Billy Sheehan, Paul Gilbert, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 453 with Robin McAuley and Richie Kotzen Double R’s this week as we welcome back Robin McAuley and Richie Kotzen to the show. First we talk with Robin about the debut Black Swan album “Shake The World”. After that we talk with Richie Kotzen about his latest release “50 for 50” an epic collection of songs he released in celebration of turning 50. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 Mar 2020 02:00:00 GMT 59:58 Yes Black Swan, Robin McAuley, Jeff Pilson, Reb Beach, Matt Starr, Frontiers, Richie Kotzen, 50 For 50, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 452 with bassist Greg Chaisson This week we are joined by bassist Greg Chaisson formerly of Steeler, Sircle of Silence, Red Dragon Cartel and most notably Badlands. Greg has put together Kings of Dust with Michael Beck, Ryan McKay and Jimi Taft. The band released their self titled debut last week and Greg will be discussing that as well as some throwback chat as well. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Mar 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:14 Yes Greg Chaisson, Kings of Dust, Badlands, Red Dragon Cartel, Michael Beck, Ryan McKay, Jimi Taft, Jake E Lee, Dusk, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 451 with author Graham Sharpe Change of pace this week as we do a bit of a look at the revival of vinyl. Being that we are physical product guys like most metal fans we thought this might be an interesting diversion. To go along with this we also talk with Graham Sharpe, the guy who wrote "Vinyl Countdown". Next week we return to our usual content. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Mar 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:24 Yes Graham Sharpe, Vinyl Countdown, Oldcastle Books, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 450 with Jeff Scott Soto & Joel McIver This week we talk with Jeff Scott Soto about the latest Sons of Apollo release MMXX plus everything else he’s got going. After that we welcome back Joel McIver to give us the story on his the new book he did with David Vincent, “I Am Morbid”. All that plus a lot of discussion on this weeks show. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Mar 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:15:13 Yes Jeff Scott Soto, Sons of Apollo, Bumblefoot, Mike Portnoy, Derek Sherinian, MMXX, Joel McIver, David Vincent, I Am Morbid, Morbid Angel, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 449 with Jimi Bell Guitarist Jimi Bell returns this week to talk about everything he’s got going on. He’ll give us some insight into the upcoming House of Lords album and also lets us know what’s going on with his latest gig in Autograph. In case you hadn’t heard Jimi joined the band when Steve lynch left in 2019. Jimi is definitely one busy dude but he always has time to sit down and talk about stuff. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Feb 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:49 Yes Jimi Bell, House of Lords, Autograph, Beyond Purple, Maxx Explosion, Bell Attack, Joined Forces, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 448 with John Wiederhorn & Andreas Kisser Two guests this week. First we talk with author John Wiederhorn about his new metal volume “Raising Hell” Backstage Tales From Metal Legends. Definitely a great read and belongs on every metal heads bookshelf. After that talk with guitarist Andreas Kisser about Sepultura’s new release “Quadra”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Feb 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:23:41 Yes John Wiederhorn, Raising Hell, Louder Than Hell, Andreas Kisser, Sepultura, Quadra, Will Carroll, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 447 with Brian Tichy And we’re back… Ok maybe we’re a week later than planned but shit happens. The important thing is we’re back and we’ve got some great stuff for ya. Besides some discussion this week, Richie had a timely discussion with Brian Tichy about the influence of the legendary Neil Peart. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Feb 2020 02:00:00 GMT 01:17:30 Yes Neil Peart, Rush, Joey Kramer, Aerosmith, Huck Finn, A Farewell to Kings, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 446 with Kip Winger and Myles Kennedy This is our last show for 2019 and also the last one before we take our annual winter break. However we have some great discussion and also two great guests. Kip Winger returns to the show for a quick backstage chat and after that we talk with Myles Kennedy about the latest Alter Bridge release “Walk The Sky”. Enjoy and see ya in 2020.. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 24 Dec 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:36 Yes Kip Winger, Winger, Alter Bridge, Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonte, Walk The Sky,Black Swan, Reb Beach, Jeff Pilson, Robin McAuley, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 445 with Brian Heaton On September 14, 1999 Queensryche released their seventh studio effort Q2K. This was the first album by the band without Chris DeGarmo and the only one to feature guitarist/producer Kelly Gray. This week, Richie and Brian Heaton take a deep dive into the inner working of the band at this time and also do a track by track rundown of the album. Want more Queensryche insight? Head to Brian's great Queensryche site AnybodyListening.net You’ll be glad you did. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Dec 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:17 Yes Brian Heaton, Queensryche, Q2K, Kelly Gray, Michael Wilton, Geoff Tate, Eddie Jackson, Chris DeGarmo, Scott, Rockenfield, Atlantic, AnybodyListening.net, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 444 with Author John Tucker Author John Tucker joins us this week to discuss his latest book “Judas Priest, Every Album Every Song, from Rocka Rolla to Painkiller”. If you’re interested in John’s history and to see some more of his books or photography head over to JohnTuckerOnline.co.uk And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Dec 2019 02:00:00 GMT 58:15 Yes John Tucker, On Track, Judas Priest, from Rocka Rolla to Painkiller, Priest book, Rob Halford, Tom Allom, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing, Ian Hill, Ripper Owens, Scott Travis, Chris Tsangarides, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 443 with Brian Tichy Lots of discussion this week as well as a chat with Brian Tichy about his new band Silverthorne. While we were at it we couldn’t resist digging back into some of the other bands he’s been involved with as well. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Dec 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:34 Yes Brian Tichy, Silverthorne, Tear The Sky Wide Open, Slaughter, Dark Black and Blue:The Soundgarden Story, Whitesnake, The Dead Daisies, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 442 with Jonny Z What can I say about this weeks show? It’s definitely got a Metallica theme, that’s for sure. First up we talk with Jonny Z, the founder of Megaforce Records. And unless you’ve been under a rock you know this guy was pivotal in the evolution of metal. Jon just put out his autobiography “Heavy Tales” and we’ll hear all about it. We follow that up with an amazing bit of metal history as we air an interview done with Cliff and Kirk at the 1985 Metal Hammer Festival. This incredible interview was provided by listener Raf Ahrayeph who is also the guy who conducted the interview at the Sept 14th 1985 stop on the Ride The Lightning tour. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Nov 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:46 Yes Jonny Z, Heavy Tales, Megaforce, Metallica, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett, Ride The Lightning, Anthrax, Prophet, Metal Hammer Festival, Raf Ahrayeph, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 441 with Dean Roberts This week we welcome Dean “Drum Machine” Roberts from Leatherwolf to the show. The band has a new vocalist and new music in the works plus it’s the 30th anniversary of their classic 1989 release “Street Ready”. So plenty to talk to Dean about this week. Wed, 20 Nov 2019 02:00:00 GMT 59:29 Yes Leatherwolf, Dean Roberts, The Henchmen, Keith Adamiak, Rob Math, Geoff Gayer, Paul Carman, Michael Olivieri, Street Ready, A Sound of Thunder, Kickstarter, Parallel Eternity, 10th Anniversary, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 440 with Greg Christian “The Legacy”, “The New Order”, “Practice What You Preach”, “Souls of Black”, “The Ritual”, and “Low”. Original Testament bassist Greg Christian played on all six of these foundational records during his first tenure with the band. He also appears on “The Formation of Damnation” and “Dark Roots of The Earth”. This week Greg appears on a thrash filled Focus on Metal to talk all about the first six albums he did with Testament as well as what he’s up to these days with Trauma and everything else he’s involved with now. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Nov 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:28 Yes Testament, Greg Christian, The Legacy, Souls of Black, The Ritual, Practice What You Preach, The New Order, Trauma, Eric Peterson, Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, Louie Clemente, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 439 with Mark Slaughter Looks like we are on a two week run of classic 80’s vocalist/ guitarists as this week we talk with Mark Slaughter (Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Slaughter). Mark will take us through what the band is up to these days and also do a bit of throwback as he talks about the early days of the band and we also touch a bit on his solo efforts. Get all your Slaughter links and info at: MarkSlaughter.com Track of the week comes to us from Steel Panther off their latest “Heavy Metal Rules” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Nov 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:17 Yes Mark Slaughter, Slaughter, Dana Strum, Stick It To Ya, The Wild Side, Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Steel Panther, Heavy Metal Rules, Blas Elias, Tim Kelly, Jeff Bland, Chrysalis, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 438 with Tom Keifer Tom Keifer returns to the show this week to discuss his latest “Rise”. Also we talk with up and comer Abby K. Keep up with Tom at: TomKeifer.com Find Abby at: Abbykonbass.com Track of the week comes to us from The Ferrymen off their sophomore effort on Frontiers “A New Evil” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 30 Oct 2019 02:00:00 GMT 57:35 Yes Tom Keifer, Rise, Keifer Band, Abby K, The Ferrymen, A New Evil, Cinderella, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 437 with Linda Lou Excellent “new” artist for you this week as we talk with Linda Lou the creative force behind Marishi Ten. Although they’ve only released a few EPs they are well worth checking out. Want to delve into the band more or get some music? Head to MarishiTen.com Track of the week comes to us from CrashDiet off their latest for Frontiers “Rust” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Oct 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:19 Yes Linda Lou, Marishi Ten, Enemy Now, Cockpit, CrashDiet, Rust, We are The Legion, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 436 with Michael Sweet & Ricky Warwick Michael Sweet just put out his latest solo release “Ten” via Rat Pak Records. This week we’ll get the story on that one direct from the man himself. After that we sit down with Ricky Warwick to talk through Black Star Riders latest “Another State of Grace” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Oct 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:50 Yes Michael Sweet, Ricky Warwick, Black Star Riders, Ten, Another Sate of Grace, Ethan Brosh, Jeff Loomis, Rat Pack Records, Todd LaTorre, Stryper, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 435 with Rick Steiers & Danny Stag A deep dive this week as we talk separately to both guitarists in Kingdom Come. So this week we’ll be talking with Rick Steier and Danny Stag about the first two Kingdom Come records as well as what the reformed band’s plans are right now. And big thanks to James Kottak for putting this whole deal together for us. Keep up with the band at KingdomComeBand.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 Oct 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:24:45 Yes Kingdom Come, Rick Steier, Danny Stag, James Kottak, Lenny Wolf, Keith St John, Monsters of Rock, In Your Face, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 434 with Steve Grimmett A couple of great guests this week. First up we have Steve Grimmett of Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper. On October 11th these guys will be putting out their latest “At The Gates” and Steve will give us all the info on it. Also this week We welcome back Dug Pinnick. Primarily Dug is on the show to talk about the new KXM release “Circle of Dolls” but he does give us a little insight into the new King’s X release as well. Track of the week comes to us courtesy of AFM Records artists Riot V from their latest release “Live in Japan 2018” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 2 Oct 2019 02:00:00 GMT 59:59 Yes Steve Grimmett, Grim Reaper, Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper, KXM, Dug Pinnick, George Lynch, Ray Luzier, At The Gates, Circle of Dolls, RatPak Records, Nuclear Blast, AFM Records, Riot V, Live in Japan 2018, King’s X, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 433 with Frank Hannon of Tesla Lots of stuff going on this week. First up we talk with Frank Hannon from Tesla after that We have a chat with Marc LaBelle from upcoming band Dirty Honey. Get all your Tesla info at TeslaTheBand.com keep up with Frank at his site FrankHannon.com Check out Dirty Honey at dirtyhoney.com Track of the week comes to us courtesy of Demon Dolls Records artist Platinum Overdose. Check them out at DemonDollRecords.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 Sep 2019 02:00:00 GMT 57:20 Yes Frank Hannon, Tesla, Shock, Def Leppard, Dirty Honey, Marc LaBelle, Platinum Overdose, Demon Doll Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 432 with Jason Slater On March 31, 2009 Queensryche released their eleventh studio album “American Soldier”. Producer and co-writer of the album Jason Slater, our guest once again this week talked in depth with Brian J Heaton about the entire album and we are privileged to bring that chat to you. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Sep 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:57 Yes Queensryche, American Soldier, Geoff Tate, Jason Slater, Brian J Heaton, Eddie Jackson, Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield, Kelly Gray, Damon Johnson, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 431 with Guy Allison Our guest this week is keyboardist Guy Allison. One of the bands Guy is known for is melodic hard rock artists Unruly Child. We last heard from the band in 2017 but they are back with their latest release “Big Blue World”. This week Guy will talk about the writing of the new album plus gives a lot of insight into the early days and first Unruly Child release back in 1992. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Sep 2019 02:00:00 GMT 59:56 Yes Guy Allison, Unruly Child, Big Blue World, Bruce Gowdy, Marcie Free, Jay Schellen, Larry Antonio, Frontiers, Interscope, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 430 with Robin McAuley The sophomore McAuley Schenker Group release “Save Yourself” turns 30 this year. October 10th if you’re keeping track. This week, perpetually busy guy Robin McAuley drops by to talk about that album along with the upcoming Michael Schenker Fest release “Revelation” and a bit about the project he’s doing with Jeff Pilson, Reb Beach, and Matt Starr. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 04 Sep 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:29 Yes Robin McAuley, Michael Schenker, Save Yourself, Steve Mann, Bad Boys, Schenker Fest, Revelation, Nuclear Blast, Anytime, McAuley Schenker Group, Raiding The Rock Vault, Jeff Pilson, Reb Beach, Matt Starr, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 429 with Pat & Tony from XYZ Our guests this week are Pat Fontaine and Tony Marcus of XYZ. Richie caught up with them while they were recording new music and took the opportunity to dive into the self-titled debut album, which is 30 years old this year. Having the perspective of original bassist Pat and new (since 2003) guitarist Tony adds an extra dimension to this chat. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Aug 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:08 Yes XYZ, Terry Ilous, Pat Fontaine, Tony Marcus, Joey Shapiro, Mark Diglio, Hungry, Letter to God, Don Dokken, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 428 with Camden from Seven Kingdoms This week lots of discussion since we’re just coming off a break but also this week we talk with guitarist Camden Cruz of Florida power metallers Seven Kingdoms. I’ve been waiting to talk with this band for a while and since hey have just kicked off their latest Kickstarter campaign for the upcoming EP “Empty Eyes” it gave me the perfect opportunity. Support the bands Kickstarter campaign at: kickstarter.com/projects/sevenkingdoms/seven-kingdoms-empty-eyes-limited-release Get all your Seven Kingdoms merch and past releases at: sevenkingdoms.bigcartel.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Aug 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:08 Yes Iron Maiden, K.K. Downing, Judas Priest, Seven Kingdoms, Kickstarter, Empty Eyes, Camden Cruz, Sabrina Valentine, Kevin Byrd, Keith Byrd, Aaron Sluss, Decennium, Feedspot.com, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 427 with Ron Keel This week we welcome vocalist Ron Keel to the show. The Ron Keel Band just released “Fight Like A Band” an album with a mix of all of Ron’s many influences. It’s safe to say the metal cowboy is on full display on this one. This week Ron sits down with Richie to discuss the backstory on the album as well as discuss some Keel history. Want more RKB info? Head to RonKeelBand.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Jul 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:53 Yes Ron Keel, Ron Keel Band, Fight Like A Band, Keel, Right To Rock, Queensryche, EMP Label Group, Steeler, Dave Cothern, El Diablo, Jeff Koller, Jason Haven, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 426 with Dave Ellefson Dave Ellefson returns this week to Focus on Metal this week to discuss his new book “More Life With Deth” and the accompanying album. He’ll also be busy this summer doing another round of Basstory and also doing some Sleeping Giants shows. So lots to discuss with Dave this week. Track of the week is from Sweet Oblivion (feat Geoff Tate). And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Jul 2019 02:00:00 GMT 48:36 Yes Dave Ellefson, More Life With Deth, Nick Menza, Dave Mustaine, Megadeth, Whom Hazaert, Sleeping Giants, Joel McIver, Basstory, Paul Dianno, Airforce, Rock N Growl, Geoff Tate, Sweet Oblivion, F5, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 424 with Jeff Pilson Something a bit new this week as we do two talks with the same guest about two entirely different topics and eras. Our guest this week is Jeff Pilson and first up he will be talking about his latest collaboration The End Machine and what’s else he’s up to these days. We follow that up with another talk with Jeff this time about his recollections of the seventh Dokken studio release “Erase The Slate”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Jun 2019 02:00:00 GMT 55:45 Yes Jeff Pilson,The End Machine, Dokken, Foreigner, George Lynch, Mick Brown, Robert Mason, Don Dokken, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 423 with Damon Johnson The accidental link on this weeks show is “Uprising”. First up is Damon Johnson who just released his latest solo effort “Memoirs of an Uprising” Damon will give us the lowdown on that and everything else he’s up to including some Thin Lizzy talk. After that we have vocalist Buddo from Last Crack. Those guys just release their first full length release in 28 years. Yep, I said 28 years! It’s called “The Uprising” and we’ll find out the story behind it this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Jun 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:03 Yes Damon Johnson, Memoirs of an Uprising, Buddo, Last Crack, The Uprising, EMP, Thin Lizzy, Black Star Riders, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 422 with Vivian Campbell Vivian Campbell returns to the show this week to talk Last in Line, Def Leppard and more. Also this week we welcome Chloe Lowery to the show. Chloe has been busting out vocals for TSO for several years and now she’s also out with Rocktopia. Track of the week is from JORN off their new release dropping June 14th, “Live On Death Road”, a recording of their 2018 Frontiers Festival set. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Jun 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:32 Yes Vivian Campbell, Last in Line, Dio, Vinny Appice, Andrew Freeman, Phil Soussan, JORN, Jorn Lande, Def Leppard, Live on Death Road, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 421 with Vinny Appice This week we welcome back Vinny Appice to the show. He’ll be talking Last in Line as well as a lot of other things he’s involved in. As usual lots of great stories from Vinny. Track of the week is from Void Vator off their new EP “Stranded”. Get you own copy at VoidVator.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 Jun 2019 02:00:00 GMT 53:35 Yes Vinny Appice, Last in Line, Dio, Carmine Appice, Sinister, Vivian Campbell, Andrew Freeman, Phil Soussan, Jeff Pilson, Void Vator, Erik Kluiber, Lucas Kanopa, German Moura, Sam Harman, Bill Metoyer, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 420 with bassist Tony Montana I know, I know last week I said we were wrapping up our classic throwback series but sometimes ya gotta accept a change in plans. Richie was able to get bassist Tony Montana on the line to talk about the classic Great White albums, “Twice Shy” and “Hooked” as well as what’s up with Jack Russell’s Great White and Tony’s latest solo project Shadow & The Thrill. I think that’s well worth extending the classic throwback for another week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 29 May 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:37 Yes Tony Montana, Great White, Twice Shy, Hooked, Jack Russell, Mark Kendall, Audie Desbrow, Micheal Lardie, Alan Niven, Jack Russell’s Great White, Shadow & The Thrill, Cleopatra Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 419 with vocalist Teresa Straley This week we wrap up our month of classic throwback episodes with the guest that inspired the whole idea, Teresa Straley. Teresa was of course the vocalist for the band Harlow. They made one self titled release in 1990 with three accompanying singles, and then they were gone. This week Teresa is on the show to give us the whole story. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 May 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:04 Yes Teresa Straley, Harlow, Tommy Thayer, Chain Reaction, Pat Regan, Todd Jensen, Steven Klong, Don’t Say We’re Over, Beyond Control, Kevin Valentine, Tommy Rude, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 418 with vocalist Mike Vescera Yep, another week of classic throwback episodes. This week we welcome vocalist Mike Vescera. Mike has been involved with a lot of great bands including Yngwie and Obsession but this week we are talking to him about his time with Loudness from 1989 to 1991. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 15 May 2019 02:00:00 GMT 57:44 Yes Mike Vescera, Loudness, Soldier of Fortune, On The Prowl, Akira Takasaki, Masayoshi Yamashita, Munetaka Higuchi, Max Norman, You Shook Me, Mark Dearnley, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 417 with Sandi Saraya Back again this week with another week of classic throwback episodes. This week we welcome vocalist Sandra “Sandi” Saraya. Sandi was the voice of Saraya from 1987 to 1992 and we’re happy to welcome her this week to talk about those years and the two albums the group produced. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 8 May 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:08 Yes Tony Bruno, Saraya, Rocktopia, When The Blackbird Sings, Sandi Saraya, Gregg Munier, Chuck Bonfante, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 416 with Tony Bruno We continue this week with another week of classic throwback episodes. This week we welcome guitarist Tony Bruno. Tony has played with a ton of people but this week we have him on to talk about his years from 1987 to 1992 with Saraya. If you want to catch Tony these days you can always see if Rocktopia is hitting your area in the coming weeks. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 1 May 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:23 Yes Tony Bruno, Saraya, Rocktopia, When The Blackbird Sings, Sandi Saraya, Gregg Munier, Chuck Bonfante, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 415 with Andy V. Galeon As promised this week we kick off a few weeks of classic throwback episodes. First up we welcome drummer Andy V. Galeon back on the show to discuss some classic Death Angel, most notably “The Ultra-Violence” and “Frolic Through The Park”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Apr 2019 02:00:00 GMT 59:34 Yes Andy V. Galeon, Death Angel, Mark Osegueda, Rob Cavestany, Gus Pepa, Dennis Pepa, Enigma, The Ultra-Violence, Frolic Through The Park, Bored, Davy Vain, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 414 with Mark Osegueda Two great guests this week. First up is Death Angel’s vocalist Mark Osegueda who sat down for a chat about all things Death Angel and Metal Allegiance. Next up Jordan Rudess returns to the show to talk about his new solo effort “Wired For Madness” and the new Dream Theater release “Distance Over Time”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Apr 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:20 Yes Mark Osegueda, Death Angel, Humanicide, Metal Allegiance, Dream Theater, Jordan Rudess, Wired For Madness, Distance Over Time, John Petrucci, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 413 with Ripper Owen & Greg Prato First up this week we talk with Tim “Ripper” Owens. Between Spirits of Fire, The Three Tremors, and A New Revenge, Tim is one busy guy these days but he still took some time to talk with us about everything he’s currently got going on. Also this week we talk with author Greg Prato. Greg’s latest book is “King’s X: The Oral History, a 300 plus page book on the band as told mostly by the members themselves. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Apr 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:42 Yes Ripper Owens, Spirits of Fire, Three Tremors, A New Revenge, Tim Ripper Owens, Greg Prato, King’s X: The Oral History, Dug Pinnick, Ty Tabor, Jerry Gaskill, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 412 with Doug Aldrich As if both Keith St John and Doug Aldrich aren’t busy enough they have managed to write and record another Burning Rain album “Face The Music”. It’s been a while since 2013’s “Epic Obsession” (see earlier busy comment) but the wait was worth it. 11 tracks of classic hard rock with all the riffs that Doug is known for. The version for Japan also includes a bonus acoustic track. This week Doug joins us to give the rundown on the album and what else he currently has going on including The Dead Daisies and Revolution Saints. Want more info on the band? Head to BurningRain.net or you can head to DougAldrich.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 Apr 2019 02:00:00 GMT 56:57 Yes Doug Aldrich, Keith St John, Burning Rain, Face The Music, Dio, The Dead Daisies, Revolution Saints, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 411 with Chris Caffery & Phil Soussan Another metal double header this week as we round out what has already been a packed March. First up we have guitarist Chris Caffery who’s joining us primarily to discuss Spirits of Fire, the new project he just finished for Frontiers. Of course he does talk about TSO and some other stuff he’s currently involved with too. Next up as promised a few shows back we have another person from Last in Line. Phil Soussan makes his second appearance on the show and he joins us to talk about the new release from LiL, the aptly titled II. Phil has a long history in the music business so we can’t resist asking him some questions about other things he’s done too. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Mar 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:10:35 Yes Chris Caffery, Spirits of Fire, Ripper Owens, Roy Z, Steve DiGiorgio, Mark Zonder, Phil Soussan, Last in Line, Vivian Campbell, Vinny Appice, Dio, TSO, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 410 with Rev Jones This week we sit down with veteran road dog and bassist Rev Jones. Rev has played with an all star list of bands and artists and recently he released his first solo effort “Bakwash”. So this week we’ll be digging into that as well as looking back at some of the artists he’s played with. Head to RevJones.com to get your own copy of “Bakwash” or to find out more about him. Track of the week is from Robot Lords of Tokyo off their new EP “Rise Robot Rise” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 19 Mar 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:19:32 Yes Rev Jones, Bakwash, Robot Lords of Tokyo, Rise Robot Rise, Jeff Martin, Micheal Schenker, Leslie West, Mountain, Steelheart, George Lynch, Forte, Black Symphony, Rick Ritzler, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 409 with Kane Roberts & Tony Harnell First up this week we talk with former Alice Cooper guitarist Kane Roberts. Three years in the making and his first since 1991s “Saints And Sinners”, Kane just released “The New Normal”. Filled with lots of great guests including many of his former bandmates this is an interesting and eclectic album. After that we talk with Tony Harnell. Tony is best known for his time in TNT but since 2005 he has also been a member of Starbreaker (along with Magnus Karlsson). This year they have put out their third release “Dysphoria”. Tony talks about the latest album and also delves a bit into his past with TNT. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Mar 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:31 Yes Kane Roberts, Tony Harnell, Starbreaker, The New Normal, Dysphoria, Magnus Karlsson, Nita Strauss, Alissa White-Gluz, Ken Mary, Kip Winger, Primal Fear, Frontiers, TNT, Alice Cooper, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 408 with Don Dokken June 15th 1999 Dokken released their 7th studio album “Erase The Slate”. With its 20th anniversary coming up Don Dokken took a little time while on tour in Cleveland to call into the show to have a look back at the album. Don will also be giving us some insight to other aspects of the Dokken story as well as what he and the band have in store for us in the near future. Want to keep up with tour dates and what’s going on with the band, head to Dokken.net And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Mar 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:06:53 Yes Don Dokken, Erase The Slate, Reb Beach, Jeff Pilson, Wild Mick Brown, George Lynch, Jon Levin, Billy White, CMC, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 407 with Micheal Gilbert of Flotsam and Jetsam Flotsam and Jetsam recently released their 13th studio album “The End of Chaos” so this week we check in with guitarist Micheal Gilbert to find out about the new album and everything else going on with the band. Track of The Week is from "Imperium", the debut from Glen Drover and Walls of Blood. Check out last weeks show to get the lowdown on that one. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Feb 2019 02:00:00 GMT 51:59 Yes Flotsam and Jetsam, Micheal Gilbert, Ken Mary, The End of Chaos, A.K., Glen Drover, Steve Conley, AFM, Walls of Blood, Imperium, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 406 with Glen Drover & Andrew Freeman More returning guest this week. First up is guitarist Glen Drover. Glen’s new band Walls of Blood is releasing “Imperium” this week a solid metal album six years in the making with a who’s who of guest vocalists (Chuck Billy, Todd La Torre, Henning Basse, and more) that is sure to gain a lot of attention. Also this week we welcome back Andrew Freeman. He’ll be talking about Devil’s Hand, the project he did with Mike Slamer released via Frontiers as well as the much anticipated sophomore release from Last in Line that’s also due out this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Feb 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:15:01 Yes Glen Drover, Walls of Blood, Imperium, Andrew Freeman, Devil’s Hand, Mike Slamer, Last in Line, Last in Line II, Vinny Appice, Dio, Vivian Campbell, Chuck Billy, Todd La Torre, Henning Basse, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 405 with Bob Nalbandian Once again director and fellow podcaster Bob Nalbandian joins us to talk about his new documentary BAND vs BRAND. BAND VS BRAND is a feature length documentary film focusing on the current state of the music business and on how “the brand” of a rock group, in many cases, has more power than the band members themselves. The film dropped on the 12th so after listening to Bob do yourself a favor and go grab a copy of this 92 minute schooling on the value of branding in music. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Feb 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:02 Yes Bob Nalbandian, Band vs Brand, Cleopatra Entertainment, Tobe Baad, Reality Check TV, Shockwaves, Marc Ferrari, Jack Russell David Ellefson, Hall of Heavy Metal History, DVD, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 404 with engineer Mike Fraser Aaaand we’re back. Yep, as promised we are back from winter break and ready to launch into 2019. This week we welcome back engineer Mike Fraser to talk about none other than AC/DC. Mike engineered everything from “Razors Edge” to “Rock or Bust” and this week we’ll get his recollections of those albums. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Feb 2019 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:30 Yes Mike Fraser, AC/DC, The Razors Edge, Black Ice, Rock or Bust, Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Ballbreaker, Stiff Upper Lip, Bruce Fairbairn, Brendan O’Brien, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 403 with Anthony Esposito It’s been four years since the debut but Jake E Lee’s Red Dragon Cartel released their sophomore effort “Patina” via Frontiers Records on November 9th. This week we talk with bassist Anthony Esposito about the new album, working with Jake E Lee, how the album came together and touring plans for 2019. We also couldn’t resist getting a bit of insight into working on the Lynch Mob albums and working with Ace Frehley. Find more info about Red Dragon Cartel including their upcoming tour dates at: RedDragonCartel.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Dec 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:22:59 Yes Red Dragon Cartel, Anthony Esposito, Jake E Lee, Patina, Lynch Mob, Ace Frehley, Phil Varone, Darren James Smith, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 402 with Kurdt Vanderhoof & Miljenko Matijevic Our guests this week both have albums that were released on Dec 7th. First up we have Kurdt Vanderhoof from Metal Church. Those guys just dropped “Damned If You Do” their second studio effort on Rat Pak with the returning Mike Howe. After that we talk with Miljenko Matijevic the voice behind Steelheart who just released “Rock’n Milan” via Frontiers. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Dec 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:00 Yes Metal Church, Kurdt Vanderhoof, Damned If We Do, Miljenko Matijevic, Steelheart, Live in Milan, Rat Pack, Frontiers, Tom Werman, Mike Howe, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 401 with Wolf Hoffmann & Connor Garritty First up this week we talk with Accept guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. The band just released “Symphonic Terror, Live at Wacken 2017” on Nuclear Blast and Wolf will give us all the details. After that we talk with Connor Garritty of All Hail The Yeti. The band just put out “Highway Crosses” their third studio effort. Track of the week is from former FoM guests Reverence from their latest “Vengeance is…Live” Track down Accept at AcceptWorldwide.com and find Wolf at WolfHoffmann.com Connor and All Hail The Yeti can be found at facebook.com/officialallhailtheyeti Reverence is at ReverenceMetal.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Dec 2018 02:00:00 GMT 59:48 Yes Wolf Hoffmann, Accept, Symphonic Terror, Headbangers Symphony, Connor Garritty, All Hail The Yeti, Nuclear Blast, Wacken, Reverence, Vengeance is …Live, Bryan Holland, Iron Maiden, Savatage, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 400 with Craig Goldy & James Curl Seems like only yesterday we were exploring Master of Puppets on episode 300 and here we are 100 shows later. Hard to believe we have done 400 episodes of Focus on Metal. So with that in mind I guess it’s time to do a show focused on Ronnie James Dio. First up we talk with longtime Dio guitarist Craig Goldy. Besides talking about Ronnie, Craig also discusses his latest project Dream Child. Also on the show we talk with author James Curl about his book “Ronnie James Dio: A Biography of a Heavy Metal Icon.” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 Dec 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:57 Yes Ronnie James Dio, Dio, Craig Goldy, Dream Child, James Curl, Ronnie James Dio: A Biography of a Heavy Metal Icon, Diego Valdez, Dokken, Jeff Pilson, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 399 with Ken Mary & Jamie Brown 29 and 30 years that’s the amount of years since the last Fifth Angel and Roxanne albums. Both bands have risen again. Roxanne just released “Radio Silence” (Rat Pak) and Fifth Angel dropped “The Third Secret” (Nuclear Blast). So this week we talk with Jamie Brown from Roxanne and Ken Mary of Fifth Angel (not to mention Flotsam and Jetsam and so many more). And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Nov 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:49 Yes Ken Mary, Jamie Brown, The Third Secret, Roxanne, Rat Pak, Nuclear Blast, Flotsam and Jetsam, House of Lords, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 398 with Chris Akin Most of you know Chris Akin as one of the hosts of The Classic Metal Show but the dude is also an author. This week we talk with Chris about his latest book “Cause & Effect: Turbo”. If you want to grab your own copy head to ChrisAkinBooks.com and while your there check out his other titles and sign up to be on his mailing list. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Nov 2018 02:00:00 GMT 59:37 Yes Chris Akin, Cause & Effect: Turbo, The Classic Metal Show, Judas Priest, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 397 with David Reece David Reece makes his third appearance on the show this week. The occasion this time is the release of his third solo release “Resilient Heart” via Denmark’s Mighty Music. As always David gives us a candid view of the album and his views on the state of live music. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Nov 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:06:54 Yes David Reece, Resilient Heart, Eat The Heat, Accept, Martin J. Andersen, Marco Angioni, Malte Frederik Burkert, Sigurd J. Jensen, Mighty Music, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 396 with Bobby Rock Drummer Bobby Rock just published his book “The Boy is Gonna Rock, A Drummers Journey From Houston To Hollywood in Search of Hair Metal Heaven”. Besides being the original drummer for The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Bobby also played with Nelson, Gary Hoey, Slaughter, and Lita Ford. He also has put out several solo releases. This week Bobby sits down with us to talk about the new book. You can order your own copy at BobbyRock.com Also this week we chat with Rudy Sarzo and Garry Peterson about the first The Guess Who studio album since 1978, “The Future IS What It Used To Be” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Nov 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:21 Yes Bobby Rock, The Boy is Gonna Rock, Rudy Sarzo, Garry Peterson, The Guess Who, The Future IS What It Used To Be, The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, Nelson, Gary Hoey, Slaughter, Lita Ford, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 395 with Dave Reynolds Our massive Kerrang! project wraps up this week as we finish up the chat with noted music journalist Dave Reynolds that we started last week. Is it really done? Only the Irish guy really knows. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 31 Oct 2018 02:00:00 GMT 58:59 Yes Kerrang!, Dave Reynolds, Metal Hammer, Sounds, Rock Candy, Malcolm Dome, Xavier Russell, Howard Johnson, Steffan Chirazi, Sylvie Simmons, Derek Oliver, Dante Bonutto, Krusher Joule, Mick Wall, Joel McIver, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 394 with Dave Reynolds The Kerrang! project soldiers on this week as we bring noted music journalist Dave Reynolds on board to give us his perspective on the magazine. Considering that besides Kerrang! the guy has written for Metal Forces, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and now Rock Candy he probably knows a thing or two about the music magazine biz. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Oct 2018 02:00:00 GMT 57:39 Yes Kerrang!, Dave Reynolds, Metal Hammer, Metal Forces, Rock Candy, Dave Ling, Geoff Barton, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 393 with Chad Nicefield of Wilson A varied show this week as we welcome Chad Nicefield of Wilson to the show to talk about their new one “Tasty Nasty”. We also do a bit of music discovery with tracks by Kilmara, Professor Black, DC4 and Maxxwell, Also we bid adieu to Earpeeler.com. Track of the week is by Brainstorm off their latest studio release “Midnight Ghost”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Oct 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:48 Yes Wilson, Chad Nicefield, Brainstorm, Devil’s Eye, Kilmara, Professor Black, DC4, Maxwell, Music Discovery, Tasty Nasty, earpeeler, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 392 with Carlos Cavazo & Paul Shortino 30 years ago this month Quiet Riot released QR (aka QR IV, Quiet Riot, or Quiet Riot IV). It wasn’t the classic lineup of the band in fact only drummer Frankie Banali and Carlos Cavazo remained from prior incarnations. This time the band was fronted by veteran singer Paul Shortino and Sean McNabb replaced the recently departed Chuck Wright. All these changes conspired to make this release a tough one to sell to the fans. Quiet Riot would not release another album for five years when Kevin Dubrow was welcomed back into the fold with the 1993 release “Terrified”. Despite that, lots of folks do like this one so Richie decided to contact Carlos and Paul and pose some questions to them about this album on its 30th anniversary. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Oct 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:25:36 Yes Quiet Riot, QR, Quiet Riot IV, QR IV, Paul Shortino, Carlos Cavazo, Sean McNabb, Rough Cutt, Raiding The Rock Vault, Ratt, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 391 with Jarvis Leatherby of Night Demon What do you do when you’re a hard working metal band with two killer albums behind you? If you’re Night Demon you release a double live masterpiece “Live Darkness”. This week we have Jarvis Leatherby on the show for a third time to give us the rundown on Live Darkness and what’s being planned for the band in the coming year. Point your browser to NightDemon.net to get all your Night Demon news, tour dates, and their official merch store. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 Oct 2018 02:00:00 GMT 55:33 Yes Night Demon, Jarvis Leatherby, Live Darkness, Shadow Kingdom Records, Dusty Squires, Armand John Anthony, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 390 with James Kottak In March of 1988 Kingdom Come released their self titled debut album. Bolstered by tracks like “Get It On” the album was flying off shelves and led to being invited to be on the Monsters of Rock bill. With the 30th anniversary upon us James Kottak decided to get the band back together and celebrate the music. Although original singer Lenny Wolf declined to take part James was still able to pull together original guitarists Danny Stag and Rick Steier as well as original bassist Johnny B. Frank to take part in the assault. Keith St John will be taking over vocals for the tour. So, this week we’re joined by James to give us all the straight talk about this anniversary tour. Head to KingdomComeBand.com for more info and tour dates. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Sep 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:39 Yes James Kottak, Kingdom Come, Lenny Wolf, Danny Stag, Rick Steier, Johnny B. Frank, Keith St John, Little Mountain, Scorpions, Polydor, Monsters of Rock, 30th Anniversary, Bob Rock, Motley Crue, KISS, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 389 with K.K. Downing Most excellent show this week as we have former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing on board. K.K. (along with Mark Eglinton) just released “Heavy Duty: Days And Night in Judas Priest” a 288 page book about his life in and out of Judas Priest. With only 50 minutes Richie didn’t have time to delve deep but the takeaway is that this is a must read for metal fans. Want to keep up with K.K. then head to kkdowning.net/steelmill And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Sep 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:12 Yes K.K. Downing, Mark Eglinton, Heavy Duty, Judas Priest, Glenn Tipton, Steel Mill, Da Capo Press, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 388 with Alex Skolnick & Mark Tremonti Once again not one, but two returning guests this week. Alex Skolnick returns to give us the run down on the latest from Metal Allegiance “Volume II, Power Drunk Majesty” as well as some commentary on the 30th anniversary of Testament’s “The New Order”. Also this week Mark Tremonti is with us once again, this time to talk about the release of the limited edition book that was written to accompany “A Dying Machine”, the latest from Tremonti. He also gives us some insight on the new Alterbridge release “Live at Royal Albert Hall”. Point your browser to MetalAllegiance.com for links to order your own copy of “Volume II, Power Drunk Majesty” or any of their other music. Be sure to hit up MarkTremonti.com to order one of the limited first edition copies of “A Dying Machine” while they are still available. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Sep 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:13:42 Yes Alex Skolnick, Metal Allegiance, Power Drunk Majesty, Mark Tremonti, A Dying Machine, Alterbridge, Tremonti, John Shirley, Nuclear Blast, Fret 12, Testament, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 387 with Glenn Hughes & Deen Castronovo We have not one, but two returning guests this week. Deen Castronovo pays us a visit to talk about his new Gioeli-Castonovo release “Set The World on Fire” as well as updates on Revolution Saints and The Dead Daisies. If that wasn’t enough we also touch base once again with Glenn Hughes. Glenn is of course out on tour playing all his classic Deep Purple tracks so he fills us in on that as well as answering some deeper questions about his past career. Head to DeenCastronovo.net for all your Deen info and to TheDeadDaisies.com for all their latest tour dates Be sure to hit up GlennHughes.com for all of Glenn’s upcoming dates. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 Sep 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:10 Yes Deen Castronovo, Gioeli-Castronovo, Johnny Gioeli, Hardline, Set The World on Fire, Axel Rudi Pell, Glenn Hughes, Deep Purple, The Dead Daisies, Revolution Saints, California Breed, Tony Iommi, Jason Bonham, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 386 with Mick Wall & Joel McIver Our Kerrang! project continues this week with not one, but two guests. First up we have our perennial co-conspirator Joel McIver. Joel happens to have taken the dive into podcasting with the new show “Dead Rock Stars” which brings me to our second guest this week Joel’s cohost the legendary Mick Wall. Any longtime listener will know we’ve tried forever to get Mick on the show and we finally have him on as part of our Kerrang! project.So enjoy part 10 of the project and make sure you add “Dead Rock Stars” to your podcast habit. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 28 Aug 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:20 Yes Kerrang!, Mick Wall, Joel McIver, Dead Rock Stars, Lemmy, Bass Guitar Magazine, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 385 with Brian Howe Vocalist Brian Howe gives us a great interview this week as Richie delves into his time with Bad Company. The intended focus was on Dangerous Age but Brian has a lot of insight into all the albums he did with the band. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Aug 2018 02:00:00 GMT 59:18 Yes Brian Howe, Bad Company, Dangerous Age, Holy Water, Hot Tin Roof, Terry Thomas, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke, Fame and Fortune, Here Comes Trouble, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 384 with Roxy Petrucci This week we welcome Roxy Petrucci to the show to give us all the info on Vixen and their latest release on Rat Pak Records “Live Fire”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 15 Aug 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:40 Yes Roxy Petrucci, Live Fire, Vixen, Janet Gardner, Share Ross, Britt Lightning, Rat Pak, Madam X, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 383 with Chris Brooks Way back on Episode 262 we had Matt Brooks of Like A Storm on the show while they were on tour promoting their new release “Awaken The Fire”. Three years and 121 episodes later they have a new release “Catacombs” and we welcome vocalist Chris Brooks on to talk all about what’s been going on in the interim as well as giving us the rundown on the new music. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 8 Aug 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:01 Yes Like A Storm, Chris Brooks, Catacombs, Matt Brooks, New Zealand, Iron Maiden, Legacy of The Beast, Ratt, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 382 with Biff Byford This week we talk about Call To Arms, Sacrifice and Battering Ram. Yep we kept you waiting for another 63 episodes before finally getting to another installment of the Saxon catalog. However I think we’ve more than made up for it by having on none other than Biff Byford to discuss these most metal releases. Yep Richie sat down with Biff around the time they were mixing Thunderbolt to discuss the next three albums in the catalog. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Jun 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:31 Yes Saxon, Biff Byford, Call To Arms, Sacrifice, Battering Ram, Nibs Carter, Paul Quinn, Nigel Glockler, Doug Scarrat, UDR, Thunderbolt, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 381 with Leather Leone So yes leather is one the most metal of fabrics (along with denim) but it’s also Leather Leone, one of FoMs most frequent guests. Once again this week we welcome Leather to the show and this time its to talk about her second solo release “II”. We’ve only been waiting 29 years for another solo release from her but Leather has delivered the goods. Also this week we indulge in a bit of music discovery so besides the great tracks from leather we also has selections from Trillium, Lizzy Borden, Lords of Black and Sunstorm. If that wasn’t enough for ya we also have a track of the week from A Sound of Thunder’s latest release “It Was Metal”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Jun 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:08 Yes Leather Leone, Vinnie Tex, Leather II, A Sound of Thunder, It Was Metal, Amanda Somerville’s Trillium, Lizzy Borden, Lords of Black, Sunstorm, Road to Hell, Chastain, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 380 with Gregg Giuffria House of Lords, anybody? Yep, this week Richie gets a chance to talk with founder and keyboardist Gregg Giuffria about the origins of House of Lords. Gregg was also a pivotal part of Angel and Giuffria but House of Lords has always been high on Richie’s list of bands so enjoy his chat this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Jun 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:26 Yes Gregg Giuffria, House of Lords, Doug Aldrich, James Christian, Sahara, Chuck Wright, Ken Mary, Demons Down, David Glen Eisley, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 379 with Mark Tremonti Mark Tremonti is back on the show once again and this time he’s on board to discuss the latest Tremonti Release “A Dying Machine” due out this week. Also on the show this week we have a talk with Toby Jepson. You may know him from Little Angels or Fastway but now he’s providing the vocal power for The Wayward Sons. Toby will be talking a bit about his past as well as a chat about The Wayward Sons latest “Ghosts of Yet to Come”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Jun 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:21 Yes Mark Tremonti, Tremonti, Toby Jepson, The Wayward Sons, A Dying Machine, Ghosts of Yet to Come, Alterbridge, Fastway, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 378 with producer Duane Baron This week Richie sits down with mixer, engineer, and producer Duane Baron. Given the stellar cast of metal musicians that Duane has been able to work with (Dream Theater, Ozzy, Crue, and more) this chat should be a good one. Track of the week is from “By Blood Sworn” the new release from Ross the Boss. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 30 May 2018 02:00:00 GMT 59:44 Yes Duane Baron, Dream Theater, Motley Crue, Ozzy, Kick Axe, Motorhead, Britney Fox, AFM, Ross The Boss, By Blood Sworn, producer, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 377 with filmmaker Carl Alvarez At long last Bob Nalbandian and the crew at Metal Rock Films ( MetalRockFilms.com ) have finished the LA metal documentary trilogy they started way back in 2014. The final part was the much anticipated volumes on thrash, “The Rise of La Thrash Metal” volumes 1 & 2. Narrated by David Ellefson they wrap up the project in style. This week we are happy to have filmmaker Carl Alvarez on to talk about the making of the Inside Metal documentary series and his own first hand personal experiences in the LA thrash and metal scene. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 May 2018 02:00:00 GMT 59:40 Yes Carl Alvarez, Inside Metal, The Rise of LA Thrash Metal, Bob Nalbandian, Metal Rock Films, David Ellefson, Slayer, Armored Saint, Stryper, Juan Garcia, Agent Steel, thrash, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 376 with Producer Jason Slater Producer Jason Slater (jason-slater.com) returns this week to wrap up the discussion of his years working for Queensryche. We also get an extra bit of talk about working with Dio. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 May 2018 02:00:00 GMT 59:40 Yes Jason Slater, Queensryche, Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton, Dedicated to Chaos, Take Cover, Frequency Unknown, Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 375 with Producer Jason Slater Jason Slater (jason-slater.com) was the bassist for Third Eye Blind and Snake River Conspiracy but he is probably best known as a record producer and in particular the producer for Queensryche’s output from 2005 to 2013. Jason had a massive two sessions of talk with Richie about those years and this week we bring the first hour of that dialog. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 May 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:14 Yes Jason Slater, Queensryche, Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton, Operation Mindcrime II, American Soldier, Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 374 with Havok Century Media artists Havok have been bringing the thrash since 2004. You would think that after all this time that spellcheck would not try to correct the band name but apparently technology can’t keep up with the relentless assault of these thrashers. Richie spent a bit of time on the bus with the band when they had a tour stop in Worcester. He was able to talk with the whole band and that’s what we have in store for ya this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 2 May 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:24 Yes Havok, Conformicide, Century Media, thrash, Anthrax, Colorado, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 373 with Krusher Joule Our Kerrang! project continues on into 2018 this week as we talk with Steve “Krusher” Joule. Krusher was the Art Director at Kerrang! from 1982 to 1992. If that wasn’t enough metal cred he also hosted the ITV program “Raw Power”, designed album sleeves for Ozzy, Maiden, and Sabbath (to name a few), designed a few metal biographies, hosted Metal Mayhem on the BBC… Get the picture. Some serious metal cred on this guy. Great stuff from Krusher this week so, Enjoy! Enter the world of Krusher at: www.krusher.co.uk And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 Apr 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:08 Yes Krusher Joule, Steve Joule, Kerrang!, Raw Power, Metal Mayhem, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 372 with Gus G & Michael Sweet Double shot of metal goodness once again as we bring not one but two great chats this week. First up we talk with guitarist Gus G about his brand new release “Fearless” and we follow that up with a chat with Michael Sweet about the latest from Stryper “God Damn Evil”. Both of those releases are due to drop this Friday so this ought to get you in the mood for release day. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Apr 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:06 Yes Gus G, Fearless, Michael Sweet, Stryper, God Damn Evil, Firewind, Ozzy, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 370 with Danny Bowes of Thunder This week Richie checks in with Thunder vocalist Danny Bowes about their new live album “Stage”. Given that Thunder has always had a huge fanbase in Europe unlike here in the States it’s only fitting that we let the Irishman in the house do this one. Wanna know about Thunder? Head to thunderonline.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Apr 2018 02:00:00 GMT 56:28 Yes Danny Bowes, Thunder, Stage, Luke Morley, Ear Music, Rip It Up, Harry James, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 369 with John Bush & John Corabi A double header of metal goodness this week as we bring you chats with vocalists John Bush and John Corabi. Armored Saint will be celebrating the metal classic, “Symbol of Salvation” by embarking on a tour where they’ll play the album in its entirety. John Bush is making his first appearance on FoM and will be giving us the update on that. On April 6th The Dead Daisies will be releasing their latest one “Burn It Down” and John Corabi stops by once again, this time to talk about that and everything else he’s got going at the moment. Head to ArmoredSaint.com for tour dates and updates on Armored Saint. Click over to IndieMerch.com/MetalBladeRecords to get your preorder in for the rerelease of Symbol of Salvation Point your browser to TheDeadDaisies.com for your latest Dead Daisies news or head to JohnCorabiMusic.com to keep up with John Corabi. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Mar 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:29 Yes Armored Saint, John Bush, The Dead Daisies, John Corabi, Symbol of Salvation, Burn It Down, Metal Blade, Doug Aldrich, Joey Vera, Motley Crue, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 368 with Mark Ruffneck of OZ This week we talk with Mark Ruffneck founder and drummer of Finnish metal powerhouse OZ. Back in the fall they released “Transition State” via AFM records and after months of trying to square away schedules we finally got him on the show. It’s an awesome album and we want to really help get the word out. Track of the week is off the latest from Voodoo Circle. Yep, Alex and the boys just released “Raised on Rock”. Another fine album for these guys. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Mar 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:27 Yes OZ, Mark Ruffneck, Transition State, Voodoo Circle, Raised on Rock, Alex Beyrodt, Matt Sinner, AFM Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 367 with Garry Bushell This week we sit down with former Sounds writer Garry Bushell. He’s always been a guy we wanted to have on the show but the publishing of his book “Sounds of Glory Volume 1 Rocking All Over The World” was the icing on the metal cake. His Ozzy stories alone more than pay for the price of admission but this week you’re even getting some for free. Find out more about Garry and possibly order a book or two head over to: garry-bushell.co.uk And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Mar 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:36 Yes Garry Bushell, Sounds of Glory, Ozzy, Thin Lizzy, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Sounds, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 366 with Michael Schenker & Chuck Garric Back for his third appearance on FoM we once again bring you guitarist Michael Schenker. Besides being out touring and bringing the Michael Schenker Fest to his fans Michael has also teamed up with his musical compatriots to bring you “Michael Schenker Fest Resurrection” an all new studio album featuring the vocals of Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet, Doogie White and Robin McAuley. Also this week we bring you a talk with bassist Chuck Garric as we delve into his latest release with Beasto Blanco, “Live From Berlin”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Mar 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:06:13 Yes Michael Schenker, Michael Schenker Fest, Resurrection, Chuck Garric, Beast Blanco, Live From Berlin, Robin McAuley, Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet, Doogie White, Calico Cooper, Alice Cooper, Scorpions, UFO, Nuclear Blast, RatPak Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 365 with David Reece Back on episode 321 we talked with David Reece about the debut album from Sainted Sinners. Here we are almost a year later and Sainted Sinners has released their second album “Back With A Vengeance” via El Puerto Records and we are happy to have David back on Focus on Metal. David gave us the rundown on the latest release as well as give us some back story on Accept, Bonfire and the genius of producer Dieter Dierks. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Feb 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:06:28 Yes David Reece, Sainted Sinners, Back With A Vengeance, El Puerto Records, Frank Pane, Dieter Dierks, Accept, Peter Baltes, Eat The Heat, Udo, Bonfire, Bangalore Choir, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 364 with Mike LePond Yep, you guessed it we have yet another returning guest this week. This time we welcome back bassist Mike LePond. Most of you may know Mike from Symphony X but he also heads up a little metal outfit called Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins. They just put out their second release “Pawn and Prophecy” and we’ll hear all about it. Also this week we’ll bring you a chat with Rob Evan. Rob has been a big part of TSO and now he’s bringing his voice to Broadway as a creator and performer with Rocktopia. Rob will give us the scoop on the upcoming show due to open on March 20th at the Broadway Theater. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 Feb 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:46 Yes Mike LePond, Pawn and Prophecy, Mike LePond’s Silent Assassins, Alan Tecchio, Veronica Freeman, Rob Evan, Rocktopia, TSO, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 363 with Ty Tabor Another returning guest this week as we once again sit down with guitarist Ty Tabor. Ty just released a double disc solo extravaganza entitled “Alien Beans”. Disc 1 contains new tracks while disc 2 has rerecordings of older solo material. Also this week we discuss the impending demise of Slayer. Pick up a great bundle package for Ty’s new release at: RatPakRecordsamerica.com/ty-tabor And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Feb 2018 02:00:00 GMT 57:50 Yes Ty Tabor, Alien Beans, Rat Pak Records, Kings X, Slayer, Jelly Jam, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 362 with Adrian Vandenberg As promised we are back and this week we bring you another chat with guitarist Adrian Vandenberg. Vandenberg’s MoonKings just released their sophomore effort MKII and this week Richie talks with him about it. Also we couldn’t come back without a little discussion on the whole reappearance of Vinnie Vincent deal. Track of the week is from upcoming guest Mike Lepond’s other band Silent Assassins off their latest “Pawn and Prophecy” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Feb 2018 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:12 Yes Adrian Vandenberg, Vandenberg’s MoonKings, MoonKings, MKII, Vinnie Vincent, Mike Lepond’s Silent Assassins, Pawn And Prophecy, Whitesnake, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 361 with Jeff Scott Soto We’re ending 2017 with a double header. First up we bring you Jeff Scott Soto discussing “Psychotic Symphony” the debut release from Sons of Apollo a killer new band featuring former Focus on Metal guests Billy Sheehan, Mike Portnoy, and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal as well as Dream Theater alum Derek Sherinian and of course Jeff on vocals. Also up this week we have a talk with guitarist Stuart Smith about his band Heaven & Earth’s fourth release “Hard to Kill” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Dec 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:24:45 Yes Jeff Scott Soto, Billy Sheehan, Mike Portnoy, Bumblefoot, Ron That, Derek Sheridan, Sons of Apollo, Psychotic Symphony, Stuart Smith, Heaven & Earth, Hard to Kill, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 360 with Michael Sweet I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve had Michael Sweet on the show but this week, you can another appearance to his total. Sweet & Lynch just released “Unified” and Michael is on this week to give us his insights into the album. He also gives us an update on what’s going on in the Stryper camp. Track of the week is from Pink Cream 69 from their great new release “Headstrong” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Dec 2017 02:00:00 GMT 59:01 Yes Michael Sweet, George Lynch, Sweet & Lynch, Unified, Pink Cream 69, Headstrong, Stryper, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 359 with Tom Keifer Tom Keifer just rereleased “The Way Life Goes” as a deluxe edition. This week we have Tom on the show to talk all about the release as well as what’s up with everything else in his world of music. As a bonus we even get some cool insight to his working with Andy Johns on the Cinderella classic “Night Songs”. Track of the week is from one of our favorites, Primal Fear from their new compilation “The Best of Fear” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Dec 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:30 Yes Tom Keifer, The Way Life Goes, Cinderella, Andy Johns, Lzzy Hale, Primal Fear, The Best of Fear, Madam X, Jeff Scott Soto, Iron Savior, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 358 with Dante Bonutto Our Kerrang! project continues this week as we talk with Dante Bonutto. Dante is a longtime figure in the music business having been with Record Mirror Prior to Kerrang and helped found RAW afterward. Lots of great remembrances from Dante this week. Enjoy! And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Dec 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:16:51 Yes Dante Bonutto, Kerrang!, Sounds, Record Mirror, RAW, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 356 with James Kottak Last week we left the James Kottak story off at the 1999 “Eye II Eye” release from the mighty Scorpions. We pick up the story this week as we look at the Kottak band as well as James’ remaining years with the Scorpions. And even though he’s no longer with the Scorps he’s not done yet as we find out when he talks about a new Kottak release in the near future. All this and more on this weeks Focus on Metal Keep up with James at: JamesKottak.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Nov 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:14 Yes James Kottak, Scorpions, Kottak, Kottak Attack, Kingdom Come, Wild Horses, Buster Brown, Warrant, Montrose, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 355 with James Kottak Last month we did a two part career retrospective on Doug Aldrich. This Month we’re at it again and this time the subject is James Kottak. Yep it’s full on Kottak Attack on Focus on Metal. This week we’ll run through early days up to the 1999 release “Eye II Eye” from the Scorpions. Next week we’ll continue from 1999 to what James is up to today. Keep up with James at: JamesKottak.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 15 Nov 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:30 Yes James Kottak, Scorpions, Kottak, Kottak Attack, Kingdom Come, Wild Horses, Buster Brown, Warrant, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 352 with Doug Aldrich Lion, DIO, House of Lords, Burning Rain, Whitesnake, The Dead Daisies, Revolution Saints we could go on and on but the common denominator in all of this is guitarist Doug Aldrich. This week we continue our career retrospective on Doug with a look at what he was up to from 1993 up to the release of Revolution Saints second release “Light in The Dark”. An amazing career and he’s still going strong blasting out amazing new tunes on his Les Paul Gold Top. Find Doug on Facebook at: facebook.com/DougAldrich.official And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 Oct 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:06 Yes Doug Aldrich, Revolution Saints, The Dead Daisies, Dio, Whitesnake, David Coverdale, Lion, Burning Rain, Kal Swann, Bad Moon Rising, House of Lords, Raiding The Rock Vault, Ronnie James Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 351 with Doug Aldrich Doug Aldrich has been a frequent guest here on Focus on Metal. They guy has played guitar with some major players in the world of rock and metal and yet he’s still one of the most down to earth people you’ll ever talk with. Given his long history we’ve always wanted to do a career retrospective with him and this week we’re doing it. So on this episode we run through Doug’s career up to Bad Moon Rising and we’ll go from there up to Revolution Saints next week. Speaking of Revolution Saints, be sure to grab a copy of their new one “Light In The Dark”. Find Doug on Facebook at: facebook.com/DougAldrich.official And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Oct 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:00 Yes Doug Aldrich, Revolution Saints, The Dead Daisies, Dio, Whitesnake, David Coverdale, Lion, Burning Rain, Kal Swann, Bad Moon Rising, House of Lords, Raiding The Rock Vault, Ronnie James Dio, Jerry Best, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 350 with Tommy Bolan Hard to believe that the classic Warlock release “Triumph And Agony” turns 30 this year. To celebrate Doro has been doing an anniversary tour that revisits the album and if that isn’t enough she also brought along the guy who laid down all the killer guitar, Tommy Bolan. We got a chance to talk with Tommy about Warlock history and what its like to be sharing the stage with Doro again. So enjoy our own small celebration of Triumph And Agony this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Oct 2017 02:00:00 GMT 58:30 Yes Tommy Bolan, Triumph And Agony, Doro, Doro Pesch, Warlock, Niko Arvantis, Tommy Henriksen, Michael Eurich, Joey Ballin, 30 years, Johnny Dee, Nick Douglas, Luca Princiotta, Bas Maas, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 349 with Jimmy D'Anda Double shot of metal this week as we bring you chats with Jimmy D’Anda and Andreas Johansson. Lynch Mob just released “The Brotherhood” via RatPak Records. This one is a must have for any Lynch Mob fan and Jimmy will give us all the info on that as well as what’s up with his other gig Lies, Deceit & Treachery. Also this week we will talk with Andreas from Sweden’s Air Raid. Those guys just released “Across The Line” which is 9 tracks of classic 80’s metal. How do a bunch of guys from Gothenberg crank out classic American metal fused with early Yngwie? Listen and find out. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Oct 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:45 Yes Jimmy D’Anda, Lynch Mob, George Lynch, Oni Logan, Sean McNabb, BulletBoys, Air Raid, Andreas Johansson, RatPak Records, High Roller Records, Sweet & Lynch, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 348 with Deen Castronovo Revolution Saints are due to release their sophomore effort “Light In The Dark” on October 13th. We had Doug Aldrich aboard for the prior Rev Saints release and while we always are quite happy to talk with Doug, it was nice to talk to Deen Castronovo for this one given his long history behind the kit. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Sep 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:40 Yes Deen Castronovo, Revolution Saints, Light In The Dark, Doug Aldrich, Jack Blades, Journey, GZR, Frontiers Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 347 with Lita Ford Last time Lita Ford graced our microphone was was almost five years ago on Episode 96 when she released “Living Like A Runaway”. We tried to get her on again when she was promoting her autobiography but no luck for that one. Fate however decided to finally give us a break and Richie was able to connect with her recently for an exceptional chat on the past, present and future for Lita. For all your Lita info and social media links head to: LitaFordOnline.com and be sure to catch her on her current run of tour dates. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Sep 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:44 Yes Lita Ford, Living Like A Runaway, WBCN, Gary Hoey, B.C. Rich, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 343 with Sylvie Simmons Our Kerrang! project continues this week as we bring back journalist Sylvie Simmons. Yep, Sylvie had so much great stuff that we couldn’t fit it all in one episode so we brought her back for more (you can thank us later). If you liked her on Episode 341 you are really gonna like this one too. Find out everything she’s up to at SylvieSimmons.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Aug 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:19 Yes Sylvie Simmons, Kerrang!, Sounds, Creem, Ozzy, Lemmy, Van Halen, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 342 with Billy Sheehan & Oli Brown Bassist extraordinaire Billy Sheehan graces us with his presence this week as he calls in to talk about the latest from Mr Big “Defying Gravity” and Winery Dogs “Live in Santiago”. Also this week we have Oli Brown from UK band RavenEye calling in while on tour here in the states for their first full length Frontiers release “Nova”. Track of the week is form our friends in Broken Teeth off their latest EMP release “4 On The Floor” And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Aug 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:51 Yes Billy Sheehan, Oli Brown, RavenEye, Mr Big, Winery Dogs, Mike Portnoy, Richie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, David Lee Roth, Broken Teeth, EMP Music Group, 4 on The Floor, NOVA, Live in Santiago, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 341 with Sylvie Simmons Our Kerrang! project continues this week as we bring you a discussion with journalist Sylvie Simmons. Sylvie wrote for Sounds and Creem in addition to being the L.A. correspondent for Kerrang! and these days you can find her writing for MOJO Magazine. Sylvie had so many great stories that this is just the first part of what she related to us. Find out everything she’s up to at SylvieSimmons.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 Aug 2017 02:00:00 GMT 59:52 Yes Sylvie Simmons, Kerrang!, Sounds, Creem, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 339 with Pat Torpey Mr. Big just set loose their latest upon the world with “Defying Gravity”. This week Richie sits down with Pat Torpey to discuss the new album, touring, Mr. Big History, and what the future holds for Pat. Track of the week comes to us from perennial FoM favorites Primal Fear off their new live set Angels of Mercy - Live in Germany. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Jul 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:08 Yes Pat Torpey, Defying Gravity, Paul Gilbert, Billy Sheehan, Mr. Big, Ordan Ogan, Gunmen, Frontiers, Primal Fear, Angels of Mercy, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 338 with Derek Oliver Our Kerrang! project continues this week as we bring you a discussion with Derek Oliver. Derek was best known as the melodic metal guy back in the day. These days Derek is still making a mark in music. First with his label Rock Candy Records which reissues some great lost gems and as of late he is also the guy behind Rock Candy Magazine. See what Rock Candy Records has to offer at: rockcandyrecords.com and also be sure to check out the new Rock Candy mag which carries on in the fine tradition of Kerrang at: rockcandymag.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 Jul 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:24 Yes Derek Oliver, Kerrang!, Rock Candy Records, Rock Candy Magazine, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 337 with author David E. Gehlke Great show this week as we bring you a chat we had with David E. Gehlke the author of “Damn The Machine - The Story of Noise Records”. This is definitely one metal story that must be told and David does it in style with a massive book that’s a must for any metal fan. It’s summer reading time so if you want to get yourself a copy direct from David head to his site at DeliberationPress.com or you can always head to Amazon or also it’s carried by SPV in Europe via the mighty NuclearBlast.de And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Jun 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:00 Yes David E Gehlke, David Gehlke, Damn The Machine - The Story of Noise Records, Noise Records, Karl-Ulrich Walterbach, Halloween, Celtic Frost, Kreator, Running Wild, Sabbat, Voivod, Gamma Ray, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 336 with Derek Shulman This week we bring you a chat with Derek Shulman. Who? many of you are asking. Well if you liked the eighties then Derek is one of the guys that help define that decade. Just go down the list of bands he signed as an A&R guy with Polygram and it becomes readily apparent that where he went everyone else followed. However, his influence didn’t stop there as he also went on to champion bands like Dream Theater and Pantera and even today he’s still got the golden ear for bands as he’s also recently brought us bands like Inglorious. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 20 Jun 2017 02:00:00 GMT 59:59 Yes Derek Shulman, Polygram, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Dream Theater, Pantera, Dan Reed Network, MTV, Inglorious, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 335 with Mike Orlando of Adrenaline Mob Adrenaline Mob just released their third full lengther ”We The People” and this week we have none other than Mike Orlando on the show to talk about that and more. Check out AdrenalineMob.com for upcoming tour dates and more. Also on the show this week we welcome vocalist Austin Dickinson from As Lions (aslionsband.com). Track of The week is from the self titled release from Swiss metal sensation Burning Witches. Check out their campaign at Pledgemusic.com/projects/burningwitches And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Jun 2017 02:00:00 GMT 59:59 Yes Adrenaline Mob, Mike Orlando, Russell Allen, Jordan Cannatta, Dave Z, AJ Pero, Mike Portnoy, As Lions, We The People, Austin Dickinson, Burning Witches, Omertà, Men of Honor, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 334 with John Corabi of The Dead Daisies On May 19th The Dead Daisies released their first live album “Live & Louder”. 16 tracks of great originals sprinkled with some classic covers recorded during their 2016 through the UK and Europe. As listeners know we really are big supporters of the band and it was great to get John Corabi back on the show to give us the rundown on the album and what else is in store from the band. Along the way John does give us some other teasers on some other stuff he’s been involved with too. Wanna get more info and perhaps some Dead Daisies swag including the new disc? Head to TheDeadDaisies.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Jun 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:19 Yes The Dead Daisies, John Corabi, Doug Aldrich, Marco Mendoza, Brian Tichy, Live & Louder, Union, SPV, David Lowy, Make Some Noise, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 333 with Erik Turner & Robert Mason Hot on the heels of the release of Warrant’s latest “Louder Harder Faster” we bring you talks with both Erik Turner and Robert Mason. These guys are out on tour right now and if ya want all the tour info and more head to warrantrocks.com . Track of the week comes from Sweden in the form of Crazy Lixx and one off their latest release “Ruff Justice”. Get your Lixx at crazylixx.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 31 May 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:39 Yes Warrant, Erik Turner, Robert Mason, Jani Lane, Louder Harder Faster, Crazy Lixx, Ruff Justice, Lynch Mob, Big Cock, Jerry Dixon, Joey Allen, Steven Sweet, Frontiers, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 332 with Jarvis Letherby and Kurdt Vanderhoof A double header this week as we bring you a chat with Kurdt Vanderhoof, as Metal Church releases “Classic Live” via RatPak and also we talk once again with Jarvis Letherby as Night Demon sets loose their latest “Darkness Remains”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 May 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:04:44 Yes Kurdt Vanderhoof, Metal Church, RatPak Records, Classic Live, Night Demon, Jarvis Letherby, Darkness Remains, Mike Howe, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 331 with Jimi Bell House of Lords just released “Saint of The Lost Souls” and this week we have guitarist Jimi Bell on the show to give us the whole story on the album. Jimi also regales us with some great stories from the eighties including a great Ozzy recollection. Get more info at HouseofLordsBand.com Track of the week is from past FoM guests Wolfpakk from their new one on AFM “Wolves Reign”. Find em’ at Wolfpakk.net And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 May 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:41 Yes Jimi Bell, House of Lords, James Christian, Wolfpakk, Wolves Reign, Ozzy, Michael Voss, AFM,Joe Stump, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 330 with Howard Johnson This week we continue our Kerrang! magazine project as we bring you a chat we just had with Howard Johnson. Howard had a wealth of great stories for us and we are sure you’re going to enjoy everything he has to say. These days Howard is involved with the great Rock Candy Mag. They just put out issue 1 and you can get yourself a copy by going to RockCandyMag.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 May 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:28 Yes Kerrang!, Howard Johnson, The Cult, Billy Duffy, Rock Candy Mag, Anthrax, Saxon, Baron Rojas, Heavy Pettin, Cliff Burton, Metallica, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 329 with Robin McAuley Vocalist Robin McAuley returns to the show this week. We haven’t talked to Robin since late 2015 but as usual; the guy stays pretty busy. Besides the relaunch of Raiding The Rock Vault Robin has also been doing dates with Michael Schenker as part of Schenker Fest. In fact they just did a multi format release of the Tokyo show "Fest: Live Tokyo International Forum Hall" in late March. Keep track of Robin at his site robinmcauley.com See if the Schenker Fest is coming near you at michaelschenkerhimself.com Get all the Rock Vault and tix at raidingtherockvault.com Track of the week is from past FoM guests Helker from their new one on AFM “Firesoul”. Find em’ at helker.net And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 May 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:05 Yes Robin McAuley, Michael Schenker, Schenker Fest, Gary Barden, Chris Glen, Raiding The Rock Vault, Helker, Firesoul, AFM Records, Fest: Live Tokyo International Forum Hall, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 328 with Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth Overkill recently released their latest “The Grinding Wheel” on Nuclear Blast. The band just finished the US run of their Killfest tour and are getting ready to make their way to Europe in June. Richie caught up with the band at their second to last US date in Worcester Mass and had a chat with Bobby Blitz. Find all things Overkill over at their official site: wreckingcrew.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Apr 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:05 Yes Overkill, Bobby Blitz, DD Verni, The Grinding Wheel, Nuclear Blast, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 327 with dUg Pinnick Rat Pak Records just released the sophomore effort from KXM “Scatterbrain” This week we have bassist and vocalist dUg Pinnick as our guest to discuss the release as well as give some insight into future plans with King’s X. Keep up with dUg at: dugnation.net/ Order up your own copy of “Scatterbrain” at ratpakrecordsamerica.com/kxm And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Apr 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:10:43 Yes dUg Pinnick, George Lynch, Ray Luzier, KXM, Scatterbrain, Rat Pak, Kings X, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, British Steel, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 326 with Steffan Chirazi This week we continue our Kerrang! magazine project as we bring you a talk we had with Steffan Chirazi. Stefan had lots of candid stories about his time working for Kerrang! and we think your gonna like them. These days Steffan is best known as the editor of “So What” and for his continued work in metal journalism. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Apr 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:00 Yes Kerrang!, Steffan Chirazi, Xavier Russell, Malcolm Dome, Geoff Barton, Metallica, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 325 with Brad Gillis On March 24th Night Ranger released “Don’t Let Up” via Frontiers Records. Brad Gillis gave us a call to talk about the new release and what’s up for the coming year with Night Ranger. Find out all the info on the band at NightRanger.com Track of The Week is from the mighty Sinner off their latest “Tequila Suicide” on AFM Records. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 Apr 2017 02:00:00 GMT 54:45 Yes Night Ranger, Brad Gillis, Jack Blades, Kerri Kelly, Sinner, Don’t Let Up, Tequila Suicide, Matt Sinner, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 323 with Joel Hoekstra Joel Hoekstra has dropped by Focus on Metal in the past, most recently to promote the last Joel Hoekstra’s 13 release. This time around he dropped by to have a bit of discussion about some of the great metal releases that came out in 1987 with us as well as a bit of chat about the latest Monsters of Rock cruise. Find out more about Joel at joelhoekstra.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Mar 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:28 Yes Joel Hoekstra, Whitesnake, Night Ranger, Trans Siberian Orchestra, 13, Tony MacAlpine, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 322 with Ted Aguilar of Death Angel Death Angel is currently out on the road supporting their great release “The Evil Divide”. We caught up with them during their stop at the Worcester Palladium and sat down for a talk with guitarist Ted Aguilar. Ted has been with the band since 2001 and made his debut on “The Art of Dying”. Join The Pack at deathangel.us And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 15 Mar 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:14 Yes Death Angel, Ted Aguilar, Evil Divide, Nuclear Blast,Rob Cavestano, Mark Oseguedo, Will Carroll, Damien Sisson, Quiet Riot, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 321 with Jack Russell & David Reece No clever title this week just calling it what it is. First up we have Jack Russell talking about the new release He Saw It Comin’ from Jack Russell’s Great White. Get all the tour dates, merch, and other info on the band at JackRussellsGreatWhite.com After that we sit down with David Reece as we discuss his new band Sainted Sinners and their self titled debut release. Their official site isn’t up yet but you can hit them up at facebook.com/SaintedSinners/ Track of the week comes courtesy of AFM artist Nightmare from their latest Dead Sun. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 8 Mar 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:17:14 Yes David Reece, Jack Russell, Sainted Sinners, Jack Russell’s Great White, El Puerto Records, He Saw It Comin’, Frontiers, Nightmare, Dead Sun, AFM Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 320 with Xavier Russell This week we continue our Kerrang! magazine project as we bring you a chat we had with Xavier Russell. Xavier had lots of great stories about his time working for Kerrang! and we think you’ll enjoy our chat. When he’s not continuing to write about metal or doing liner notes Xavier has quite the career editing for film and television. You can find out more about him at xavierrussell.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 1 Mar 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:48 Yes Kerrang!, Xavier Russell, Malcolm Dome, Geoff Barton, Metallica, Celtic Frost, Anthrax, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 319 with Charlie Bauerfeind This week we talk about Lionheart, The Inner Sanctum, and Into The Labyrinth. Yep we kept you waiting for 68 episodes before we finally got around to our next installment of Saxon. However, we are making up for the wait by having none other than the producer of these three great albums (and Metalhead) Charlie Bauerfeind on hand for the discussion. Charlie has some great insight and stories to share with us on this episode of Focus on Metal. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Feb 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:36 Yes Charlie Bauerfeind, Saxon, Lionheart, The Inner Sanctum, Into The Labyrinth, Metalhead, Biff Byford, Nibbs Carter, Doug Scaratt, Nigel Glockler, Paul Quinn, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 317 with Bob Nalbandian This week we sit down with journalist, filmmaker and all around good guy Bob Nalbandian. Bob is just finishing up work on the third part of his Inside Metal trilogy with Inside LA Thrash. That’s on it’s way this summer. Besides that Bob is involved in several other metal and music docs and of course his long running Shockwaves Hard Radio podcast and we get the rundown on all that and more this week. twitter.com/shockwavesmtl metalrockfilms.com/ twitter.com/insideLAMetal youtube.com/user/MetalRockFilms And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 8 Feb 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:49 Yes Bob Nalbandian, NAMM, Inside Metal, Metal Rock Films, Shockwaves Hard Radio, Skull Sessions, The Headbanger, Inside LA Thrash, Cleopatra Films, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 316 with Joel McIver Author Joel McIver makes has sixth appearance on Focus on Metal this week. We always like to have a year end wrap up discussion with Joel and we finally managed to schedule that this week. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 1 Feb 2017 02:00:00 GMT 01:01:34 Yes Joel McIver, Trouble, Metallica, Cliff Burton, 2016, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 315 with Malcolm Dome This week we kick off our special project for 2017 and this year we turn our attention to the venerable Kerrang! magazine. Our first guest on the project is the legendary rock and metal writer Malcolm Dome. Malcolm spent quite some time with Kerrang! and gives us some great insight into his years there. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 Jan 2017 02:00:00 GMT 59:37 Yes Kerrang!, Malcolm Dome, Iron Maiden, Raven, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 314 with Steve Whiteman Steve Whiteman from KIX ( kixband.com/ ) returns to Focus on Metal this week to talk about their new CD/DVD release “Can’t Stop The Show: The Return of KIX”. It’s a great package well worth picking up and after hearing Steve talk about it we’re sure you’ll agree. Also this week we do a bit of music discovery with some artists from the past putting out new material. Track of the week is from Hammer King ( hammer-king.com/) off their sophomore release “King is Rising”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Jan 2017 02:00:00 GMT 55:50 Yes KIX, Steve Whiteman, Mark Schenker, Stephen Pearcy, Jack Russell, Dario Mollo, John Roth, Terry Brock, Hammer King, King is Rising, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 312 with producer Mike Fraser This week we finally wrap up our Little Mountain Sound Studio Project. We started interviews for this project back in August of 2014. We ran the first part of the project back on FoM 224 back in March of 2015 and 27 months after we started this we are finally wrapping it up. This week our guest is producer/engineer Mike Fraser. I mean come on who else could we possibly have as the last guest for the project than the guy that was so helpful in getting us in contact with some of the amazing people from the studio. It’s always great to have Mike on the show as he is a wealth of information and this week is no different. Big thanks go out to Mike as this project would not have happened without his help. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Tue, 20 Dec 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:19:55 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Bruce Fairbairn, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, James Kottak, Tony Franklin, Ron Obvious, Vancouver, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 311 with Blake Sakamoto This week we swing back to an artist perspective on our Little Mountain Sound Studio project as we bring you Richie’s interview with Blake Sakamoto. Blake played keyboards for The Dan Reed Network and was present for all their early recording including two albums that were done at Little Mountain Sound. Blake has a wealth of stories and has some cool memories of working at LMS. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 14 Dec 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:45 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Bruce Fairbairn, Mike Fraser, Blake Sakamoto, Dan Reed Network, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 310 with vocalist Paul Shortino Last time we spoke with Paul Shortino was way back in July of 2013 on episode 138. At that time Paul was out promoting King Kobra II. Since that time Rough Cutt has had a rebirth and Paul is back to talk about that as well as everything else he’s been up to since we last spoke (paulshortino.com/). Track of the week is from Pure Legend artist Lightning Strikes from their S/T release (lightningstrikesrocks.com/). And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 7 Dec 2016 02:00:00 GMT 58:22 Yes Paul Shortino, Rough Cutt, Quiet Riot, Dio, Raiding The Rock Vault, Lightning Strikes, Pure Legend, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 307 with drummer Johnny Dee This week we welcome drummer Johnny Dee to the show. We managed to get Johnny on the line before he dashed off to Europe to rehearse for the upcoming European leg of Doro’s ”Love’s Gone To Hell” tour (doromusic.de/). Johnny has also been busy this year with Britny Fox (britnyfox.com/). We discuss all this and more on this weeks episode of Focus on Metal. Track of the week is from Frontiers artist Pretty Maids from their latest “Kingmaker” (prettymaids.dk/). And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 16 Nov 2016 02:00:00 GMT 59:45 Yes Johnny Dee, Doro, Britney Fox, Waysted, Tommy Paris, Pretty Maids, Kingmaker, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 306 with Glenn Hughes & Urban breed Glenn Hughes returns to the show this week to celebrate the release of his latest album “Resonate”. As always Glenn is insightful and candid about the creation of the album, perhaps his finest yet. Also on the show this week is vocalist Urban breed from melodic power metal band Serious Black. They just released their sophomore effort “Mirrorworld”. Track of the week is from AFM artists Iron Mask from their latest “Diabolica” The world of Glenn Hughes can be found at glennhughes.com Serious Black has the online presence at serious-black.com Iron Mask is available at iron-mask.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 9 Nov 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:07:23 Yes Glenn Hughes, Resonate, Soren Andersen, Urban breed, Serious Black, Iron Mask, Diabolica, Diego Valdez, AFM Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 303 with producer Bob Rock As we head into the home stretch with three parts to go on our Little Mountain Sound Studio project we bring you an interview we did With producer Bob Rock back in January of 2015. Bob is of course best known has the guy behind the boards for Motley Crue’s “Dr Feelgood” and Metallica’s hugely successful “Black Album” but Bob is also integral to the story of Little Mountain Sound. Big thanks go out to Mike Fraser for making this one happen. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 19 Oct 2016 02:00:00 GMT 58:45 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Bob Rock, Bruce Fairbairn, Mike Fraser, Metallica, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Kingdom Come, James Kottak, The Cult, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 302 with Doro & Joey Vera We are bringing you a damn fine metal double header this week as we welcome Doro Pesch and Joey Vera for episode 302. We spoke with Doro after a killer performance on her Boston area tour stop. 30 years in and she shows no signs of stopping and is still as passionate as ever about metal and the fans. Doro will be kicking off her European leg of the tour on 24-Nov. Joey Vera makes his second appearance this week as we discuss the Armored Saint Pledge Music campaign, Fates Warning, and other metal topics. Doro’s official site is: doromusic.de/ All things Armored Saint can be found at: armoredsaint.com/ and their Pledge Music campaign is at pledgemusic.com/projects/armoredsaint Track of the week comes courtesy of AFM artist Serious Black from their sophomore release “Mirrorworld”. Find em’ at serious-black.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant Wed, 12 Oct 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:08:44 Yes Doro, Doro Pesch, Warlock, Johnny Dee, Joey Vera, Armored Saint, Fates Warning, Pledge Music, Theories of Flight, Raise Your Fist, Loves Gone To Hell, Strong and Proud, Serious Black, Mirrorworld, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 301 with Andy V Galeon We continue our 300th episode celebration and the 30th anniversary celebration of Master of Puppets this week by welcoming former Death Angel drummer Andy V Galeon to the show. Being on the scene back in 86 gives Andy a unique perspective on MOP. Although no longer with Death Angel Andy is still hitting the skins. These days besides teaching drums he also plays with The Butlers and The Devil in California. Find him online at facebook.com/andyvgaleon And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 5 Oct 2016 02:00:00 GMT 58:54 Yes Master of Puppets, Metallica, James Hatfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett, Flemming Rasmussen, Joel McIver, Sweet Silence, Elektra, Andy Galeon, Death Angel, Devil in California, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 300 with Joel McIver and Flemming Rasmussen Another milestone passes this week as we roll out episode 300. We taken this opportunity to use this episode to celebrate another metal milestone that turns 30 this year, namely Metallica’s landmark release “Master of Puppets”. Released on March 3rd 1986 MOP changed the thrash game forever. This week we talk with author Joel McIver and MOP producer Flemming Rasmussen about the album and next week we’ll have original Death Angel drummer Andy Galeon continuing our MOP discussion. Stay tuned later in the year as we speak with MOP mixer Michael Wagener to wrap this one up. Joel, as always can be found at joelmciver.co.uk/ or check out his other gig writing at bassguitarmagazine.com/ Flemming is online at facebook.com/flemming.rasmussen.35 And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 28 Sep 2016 02:00:00 GMT 1:15:02 Yes Master of Puppets, Metallica, James Hatfield, Lars Ulrich, Cliff Burton, Kirk Hammett, Flemming Rasmussen, Joel McIver, Bob Nalbandian, Sweet Silence, Elektra, Andy Galeon, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 297 with Michael Sweet Our annual summer break is upon us but before we take a few weeks off Michael Sweet returns to the show once again this week to talk about the imminent release of his latest solo album “One Sided War” due from Rat Pak on August 26th. He also talks about the upcoming Stryper 30th anniversary “To Hell With The Devil” tour and we even manage to fit in some gear talk too. Enjoy our talk with Michael and we’ll be back the week of Sept 12th with more metal goodness. Michael can be found on the net at michaelsweet.com and the latest Stryper news and tour dates are at stryper.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Aug 2016 02:00:00 GMT 1:00:00 Yes Michael Sweet, One Sided War, Stryper, To Hell With The Devil, Rat Pak Records, Ethan Brosh, Joel Hoekstra, Oz Fox, Robert Sweet, Tim Gaines, Scott Coogan, Metal Allegiance, Fallen Heroes, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 296 with Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil No drummers this week instead we bring you a chat we had with Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil, who recently released “Delirium” their 8th studio album. You can find out more about the band at lacunacoil.it/ Also this week we have Andrew Whiteman from Red Tide Rising. They are at redtiderising.com/ Track of the week is from Elm Street, off their new one on Massacre records, “Knock Em Out With A Metal Fist”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 17 Aug 2016 02:00:00 GMT 59:35 Yes Cristina Scabbia, Lacuna Coil, Delirium, Red Tide Rising, Century Media, Voices, Elm Street, Massacre Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 295 with Wild Mick Brown Our summer of drummers continues this week as we talk with Wild Mick Brown. Need I say more? Connect with Mick at facebook.com/Wildmickbrown/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 10 Aug 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:35 Yes Wild Mick Brown, Bourbon Ballet, Dokken, Lynch Mob, Ted Nugent, George Lynch, Jeff Pilson, Reb Beach, Q5, New World Order, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 293 with drummer Rod Morgenstein This week our guest is drummer Rod Morgenstein. Rod is primarily known for his work with Winger however he’s active in several other bands including The Jelly Jam with Ty Tabor And John Myung. They just released their fourth disc “Profit” and are heading out on tour in support of it. Rob’s site is at RodMorgenstein.com The Jelly Jam can be found at TheJellyJam.com/ while you’re there check out their “Profit” bundles. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 Jul 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:32 Yes Rod Morgenstein, The Jelly Jam, Profit, Winger, Ty Tabor, John Myung, Dixie Dregs, Pull, Dream Theater, King’s X,Paradox, Pangea, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 292 with Doug Aldrich We caught up with Doug Aldrich just days before he was heading out with The Dead Daisies touring in support of their new one “Make Some Noise” due out any day now. Head to thedeaddaisies.com/ for tour dates and other info and point your browser to dougaldrich.com/ for news and merch from Doug. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Jul 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:56 Yes Doug Aldrich, The Dead Daisies, John Corabi, Brian Tichy, Marco Mendoza, David Lowy, KISS, Les Paul, Whitesnake, Burning Rain, Make Some Noise, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 291 with Mike Portnoy After several missed connections we FINALLY were able to get an interview with the always busy Mike Portnoy.The guys currently in six bands so we gotta cut him some slack. The best place to keep up with all things Portnoy is at mikeportnoy.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Jul 2016 02:00:00 GMT 59:50 Yes Mike Portnoy, Winery Dogs, Twisted Sister, Transatlantic, Lynch Mob, Stryper, Richie Kotzen, Billy Sheehan, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 290 with Chris Bennett of Widow Widow ( facebook.com/widowtheband/ ) just released “Carved in Stone” via Pure Steel Records and that means it’s time for Chris Bennett to do another guest host stint on Focus on Metal. So that’s what’s on tap this week as Chris and I discuss the new release as well as a ton of other metal topics. Settle in cuz as usual when Chris and I get talking this one’s a long one. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Jul 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:57:37 Yes Widow, Chris Bennett, Carved in Stone, Life’s Blood, Pure Steel Records, John E Wooten, Robbie Mercer, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 289 with Jaime St. James In case you lost track this week we are back to an artist view on Little Mountain Sound and we welcome Jaime St. James ( jaimestjames.com/ ) to the show. Black ’n Blue recorded their second album “Without Love” at Little Mountain back in 1985 with Bruce Fairbairn in the producers seat, Bob Rock engineering and Mike Fraser as second engineer. Lots of great stories from Jaime this week and we hope you enjoy part 8 of our Little Mountain Sound project. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 29 Jun 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:24 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Jaime St. James, Black 'n Blue, Tommy Thayer, Without Love, Gene Simmons, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, Bruce Fairbairn, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 286 with Michael Schenker A couple of returning guests this week. First off we had the pleasure of talking with Michael Schenker again right before he heads off to do Michael Schenker Fest at Sweden Rock. We discuss guitars, the future, the past, and of course the great new Temple of Rock release “On A Mission. Live in Madrid”. Also back this week is Fang VonWrathenstein from Lords of The Trident giving us an update on all things LOTT. Track of the week Static Renegade is from their new release “Lost in The Volume” from past guest 3D in Your Face. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 8 Jun 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:33:06 Yes Michael Schenker, Temple of Rock, Doogie White, UFO, Scorpions, Dean Guitars, Fang Von Wrathenstein, Lords of The Trident, Frostburn, 3D in Your Face, Lost in The Volume, Patreon, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 285 with Carmine Appice Making his third appearance on the show this week it’s Carmine Appice. Carmine just published his autobiography “Stick It!” and he came on to talk about it as well as other stuff he’s got going. Also this week we have Houston based Azrael’s Bane. They just did a nice rerelease of “Modern Day Babylon” and they are working on new stuff right now. I had the whole band on and we had a damn fine metal chat. Keep up with Carmine at carmineappice.net/ and find out more about Azrael’s Bane and get yourself a copy of “Modern Day Babylon” at azraelsbane.net/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 1 Jun 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:36:44 Yes Carmine Appice, Stick It!, Blue Murder, Ozzy, King Kobra, Azrael’s Bane, Modern Day Babylon, Vanilla Fudge, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 284 with Tracy G He’s back…recurring guest Tracy G returns this week to discuss many things including the new Tracy G Group release “Tramp”, the anniversary of “Angry Machines”, and other tales from the Dio days. We also talk about the oddness of lead singers and why Mike Beatty, the vocalist for the Tracy G Group, breaks the mold. You can score your own copy of “Tramp” and more great Tracy G music at tracyg.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 May 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:38:37 Yes Tracy G, Tracy G Group, Tramp, Mike Beatty, Dio, Angry Machines, Ray Luzier, Patrick Johansson, Adrian Aguilar, Randy Oviedo, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 278 with Mike Howe Mike Howe has returned to Metal Church (metalchurchofficial.com/) after 20 years and the result is the incredible Metal Church “XI” which was released on March 26th via Rat Pak Records (ratpakrecordsamerica.com/). We were fortunate enough to be able to sit down with Mike and get his take on this momentous occasion. Also this week we sat down with Brian Blake of US power metal outfit Eternal Voyager (eternalvoyager.com/). Track of the week is from AFM artist Human Fortress (facebook.com/humanfortressofficial) off their latest “Thieves of The Night”. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Apr 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:26:03 Yes Metal Church, Mike Howe, XI, Rat Pak Records, Eternal Voyager, Brian Blake, Human Fortress, Thieves of The Night, AFM Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 277 with Andrew Freeman and Michael Weikath So back in ep 274 we spoke to Vivian Campbell about Last in Line and this week we hop on the line with Andrew Freeman to further expand on all things Last in Line (facebook.com/lastinlinerocks/). We also had a brief chat with Michael Weikath from classic German metallers Helloween (helloween.org/) while they were on their brief US tour. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 6 Apr 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:18:32 Yes Axe Crazy, Andrew Freeman, Last in Line, Jimmy Bain, Vivian Campbell, Jeff Pilson, Helloween, Michael Weikath, Dio, Def Leppard, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 276 with Glenn Hughes I think the title pretty much says it all. This week we welcome Glenn Hughes to the show. We dig into several topics including the Hall of Fame induction, the upcoming tour and more Glenn Hughes music on the way. Tap into all things Glenn at glennhughes.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 30 Mar 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:54 Yes Glenn Hughes, Deep Purple, Iommi, David Coverdale, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Richie Blackmore, Jon Lord, Metal Church, Mike Howe, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 268 with Ron Obvious This week we go back to a behind the scenes guy, the very important Ron "Obvious" Vermeulen. Ron was deeply involved in making Little Mountain the powerhouse it became and almost everyone we talk to says we have to talk with this guy so, we did. Ron's still active in music and you can track him down at dragonflymobilerecording.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 3 Feb 2016 02:00:00 GMT 01:17:13 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Ron Obvious, Ron Vermeulen, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, Bob Clearmountain, Bruce Fairbairn, Jimmy Page, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 263 with James Kottak So much for wrapping up this project this in 2016. But speaking of wrapping, just in time for the holidays we bring you the sixth installment on Little Mountain Sound featuring none other than our bud James Kottak. We actually did this interview back in August of 2014 and was one of the first we did for the project, so if some of the things James talks about sound dated that would be why. Find out what James is up to these days (besides the mighty Scorpions) at jameskottak.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Dec 2015 02:00:00 GMT 58:11 Yes Little Mountain Sound, James Kottak, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, Kingdom Come, Scorpions, Keith Olsen, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 261 with Robin McAuley This week our guest is vocalist Robin McAuley RobinMcAuley.com/ . Most metal fans know Robin from his work with Michael Schenker, but he's done much more besides that and he continues to bring the rock to audiences weekly through his shows with Raiding The Rock Vault RaidingTheRockVault.com/. Robin also just released a rerecorded version of the MSG single Anytime and it's available on iTunes. We had a great chat with Robin and I think it should be an enjoyable episode for all. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit FocusonMetal.net for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Wed, 9 Dec 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:06:30 Yes Robin McAuley, McAuley Schenker Group, Anytime, Grand Prix, Michael Schenker, Raiding The Rock Vault, Jeff Pilson, James Kottak, Las Vegas, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Blast Syndicate, Earpeeler Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 252 with Bob Brooks It's already October and we are only up to the fifth installment in our Little Mountain Sound series. I think we might be a bit behind schedule. Anyways, this week we bring you great talk we had with Bob Brooks back in October of 2014. Bob was initially the manager at LMS and eventually along with his wife was the owner of the studio. Bob, in my mind, is the architect of the modern era of Little Mountain sound. Bob is still in the recording business and you can out what he's up to and read his whole history at https://www.brookssound.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 07 Oct 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:46 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Bob Brooks, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 251 Saxon part 4 Finally, after who knows how many requests and delays we have managed to put together the fourth installment of our Saxon album series. This time we look at Unleash The Beast, Metalhead, and Killing Ground. Hopefully it won't be another two year gap until the next installment. Find all things Saxon at http://www.saxon747.com/ and be on the lookout for their upcoming release "Battering Ram" in stores October 16th. Track of the week is from Massacre Records artist Stormhammer. This one comes off their latest, "Echoes of a Lost Paradise". Catch them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/stormhammerband or hit up their shop at http://www.stormhammershop.de/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 30 Sep 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:56 Yes Saxon, Biff Byford, Paul Quinn, Nibs Carter, Nigel Glockner, Doug Scarratt, Metalhead, Unleash The Beast, Killing Ground, Fritz Randow, Battering Ram, Stormhammer, Echoes of a Lost Paradise, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 250 with Jeff Pilson We decided to celebrate our 250th episode with a career retrospective of bassist and producer Jeff Pilson. Jeff's been a great friend to the show and I can't think of a better way to celebrate this milestone. In this one we'll go through Jeff's entire career and he as usual regales us with some great stories. Take in Jeff's blog at https://jeffpilson.wordpress.com/ or his page on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OfficialJeffPilson/ and last but not least http://www.foreigneronline.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Wed, 23 Sep 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:56 Yes Jeff Pilson, Dokken, Foreigner, Dio, MSG, George Lynch, Mike Varney, Vinnie Appice, War and Peace, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 243 with bassist Tony Franklin This week we bring you the fourth installment in our Little Mountain Sound Studio series. Our guest this week is none other than bassist and all around cool guy, Tony Franklin. Tony has played with an impressive list of artists including Gary Hoey, Marty Freidman, Ripper Owens, Doug Aldrich, and Whitesnake. Did I mention the guy has also played with Jimmy Page in The Firm? Jimmy Freaking Page! Of course he was also a big part of Blue Murder with John Sykes and Carmine Appice. So yeah, I think this guy knows his way around a studio so he's a perfect guy to talk about his time at LMS. These days when he's not enjoying his Ninja blender Tony is playing with Rated X and Heart of Storm with Doug Aldrich. Find Tony online at http://www.tonyfranklin.net/ or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tony-Franklin-The-Fretless-Monster/161475073743 and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/fretlessmonster And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 22 Jul 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:14:31 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Tony Franklin, Fretless Monster, Blue Murder, John Sykes, Jimmy Page, Carmine Appice, Rated X, Joe Lynn Turner, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 235 with Roger Monk and Mike Plotnikoff This week we bring you the third installment in our Little Mountain Sound project. Our guests this week are engineers Roger Monk And Mike Plotnikoff. Roger was chief engineer at Little Mountain for 17 years. You can now find him at Dick and Rogers Sound Studio on the web at http://www.dickandrogers.com. Mike started at Little Mountain as a runner and has gone on to engineer and produce some of the most well known artists including Aerosmith, Saxon, and Scorpions. No music on this episode but there's plenty of great insight from two great guests about what made Little Mountain what it was. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 27 May 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:29:52 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Roger Monk, Mike Plotnikoff, Bruce Fairburn, Mike Fraser, Bob Rock, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 227 with John Corabi So this week we continue with our Little Mountain Sound project. This time we swing the mic over to someone with an artists view, John Corabi. John recorded the self titled Motley Crue album at Little Mountain with Bob Rock. John has some great memories of that album and his time and Little Mountain. Catch up with John Corabi online at : http://www.johncorabimusic.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/JohnCorabiMusic Also be sure to grab a copy of his latest release "Unplugged" on Rat Pak Records at : http://www.ratpakrecordsamerica.com/john-corabi And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 01 Apr 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:11:33 Yes John Corabi, Motley Crue, Little Mountain Sound, Bob Rock, The Scream, Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee, Decibel Geek Podcast, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 226 with James Kottak This year marks the 50th Anniversary of The Scorpions. To mark the occasion they have just released their 18th studio album "Return To Forever" as well as embarking on a celebratory world tour. For those you that want the scoop on this years Scorpions plans (and who doesn't) we have a guy with the inside scoop, drummer James Kottak on the show this week. James called us direct from tour rehearsals and graciously gave us a nice chunk of time out of his very hectic schedule. You can find James on the web at: http://www.jameskottak.com/ The Scorpions park their site at: http://www.the-scorpions.com while you are there check out the tour dates and maybe buy yourself some tix. And of course be sure to grab a copy of "Return To Forever". And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 25 Mar 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:09:33 Yes James Kottak, Scorpions, Return To Forever. 50th anniversary, Klaus Meine, Rudolph Schenker, Kingdom Come, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 224 with Miles Ramsay Finally, this week we begin airing the episodes for our big 2015 project on Little Mountain Sound Studios. Fittingly we kick it off with a talk with Miles Ramsay one of the founders of the studio. Miles is a fountain of knowledge on the history of the studio and he shared a lot of it with us on this episode. This is just the first of ten episodes we will run this year on Little Mountain so stay tuned for some great stories from both staff and artists who were there in the heyday of this classic recording facility. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Mar 2015 02:00:00 GMT 01:17:07 Yes Little Mountain Sound, Miles Ramsay, Aerosmith, Metallica, Vancouver, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 210 with Chris Tsangarides This week we continue our conversation with producer Chris Tsangarides. We pick up right where we left off last week. Be warned there's a point in the conversation where Chris and I go full on gear geek-out but be assured there's some great non gear talk after that including some tales from Painkiller. Track of the week "Skin and Bones" is from AFM Records artist Lyriel from their latest release "Skin and Bones" which came out Nov 4th. Get more info at: http://lyriel.net/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Comments/suggestions/listener submissions: scott@focusonmetal.net richie@focusonmetal.net Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Wed, 26 Nov 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:00 Yes Chris Tsangarides, Judas Priest, Anvil, Thin Lizzy, Lyriel, Skin And Bones, AFM, Dark Lord Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 209 with Chris Tsangarides This week is part one of a two parter featuring longtime hard rock and metal producer Chris Tsangarides. The guy has been involved in the industry since 1975 and has had a huge part in forging the sound of modern metal and classic metal. That being said you know that this guy has some great stories to share, and share he does right here on Focus on Metal. Track of the week "The Irish Brigade" is from Pure Legends artist Wolfen from their latest release "Evilution". Get more info at: http://www.wolfen-metal.de/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Comments/suggestions/listener submissions: scott@focusonmetal.net richie@focusonmetal.net Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Wed, 19 Nov 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:14:08 Yes Chris Tsangarides, Judas Priest, Anvil, Thin Lizzy, Wolfen, Evilution, Pure Steel, Dark Lord Records, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 208 with John Gallagher of Raven We celebrate week two of metal month by having a chat with the one and only John Gallagher of Newcastle metal pioneers Raven. The band is currently on tour in the states while concurrently running a Kickstarter campaign for their new album "ExtermiNation". We were lucky enough to snag a rare on the road interview with John as they were heading from Vancouver to their gig in Seattle. Enjoy the words of metal wisdom from John and be sure to head to up to Kickstarter and support these metal legends. Check out the ExtermiNation campaign at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1085707767/extermination?ref=nav_search Check out all the tour dates and Raven news at: http://ravenlunatics.com/ Track of the week is "Queen of The Galaxy" which is the title track from the latest release from Dire Peril. Get more info at: https://www.facebook.com/direperil And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Comments/suggestions/listener submissions: scott@focusonmetal.net richie@focusonmetal.net Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Wed, 12 Nov 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:02:58 Yes John Gallagher, Raven, ExtermiNation, Dire Peril, Quenn of The Galaxy, Pure Steel, We Are Legend, Soulhealer, Blood and Iron, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 206 with Mike Tramp This is the eighth and final installment of our Dio Strange Highways series. This time we turn our attention once again to the band that supported Dio on the European leg of the Strange Highways tour, Freak of Nature. We talked to Jerry Best on the sixth installment but we were lucky enough to get the vocalist of FoH Mike Tramp as a last minute addition to the project. In this one Mike talks about touring with Dio, the demise of White Lion, and what he's doing now. For the latest info on Mike Tramp head to: http://miketramp.dk/home And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 29 Oct 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:55 Yes Dio, Strange Highways, Freak of Nature, Mike Tramp, Ronnie James Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 203 with Joe Perry This week Joe Perry's autobiography "Rocks: My Life in And Out of Aerosmith" finally hits the shelves. To celebrate that we have none other than Joe Perry himself on the show this week. Joe has so much to talk about that this week will be one of those rare shows with no music, just talk. Joe will also be doing a limited book signing tour and the schedule for that can be found at: http://joeperry.com/ Support the Inside Metal project at: http://metalrockfilms.com And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Wed, 08 Oct 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:16:10 Yes Joe Perry, Aerosmith, Rocks My Life in and out of Aerosmith, Autobiography, Joe Perry Project, Boneyard, Bob Nalbandian, Inside Metal, Fanbacked, Metal Rock Films, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 201 with Jerry Gaskill of Kings X On this very special edition of Focus on Metal we FINALLY run the interview we did with Jerry Gaskill of Kings X back in 2013. Apparently it took a heart attack to get us off our asses in respect to running this one. Thanks again Jerry for a great chat and get well soon. Keep up with the world of Jerry at: http://www.jerrygaskill.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 24 Sep 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:03:29 Yes Jerry Gaskill, Kings X, Doug Pinnick, Ty Tabor, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 195 with Frank Hart and Jonathan Marshall of Atomic Opera This is the seventh installment of our Dio Strange Highways series. This time we turn our attention to the band that supported Dio on the American leg of the tour for the Strange Highways album, Atomic Opera with our special guests Frank Hart and Jonathan Marshall. For more info on Atomic Opera head to: http://www.frankhart.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 13 Aug 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:05:08 Yes Dio, Strange Highways, Atomic Opera, Frank Hart, Jonathan Marshall, Ronnie James Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 192 with producer Terry Date Our guest this week is yet another great metal producer, Terry Date. Now I know most people associate him only with Pantera but the guy has done a ton more than just that. If you didn't know that, after this week you will appreciate that Terry is a true master of metal and he continues to produce great metal as evidenced by the latest Soullfly release. Check out what he's doing at: http://www.terrydaterecording.com/ Our track of the week is from Italian metalheads Hells Chopper from their debut release "First Ride". Learn more about the band at: http://www.hellschopper.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 23 Jul 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:16:06 Yes Terry Date, Pantera, Metal Church, Prong, Hells Chopper, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 189 with producer Tom Werman As an AR guy and then as a top ranked producer Tom Werman has been a key influence in the history of metal. This week we sit down with the guy behind the desk for some of metal and hard rock's best selling releases. Our track of the week is from Massacre Records artist Gun Barrel from their sixth release "Damage Dancer". Learn more about the band at: http://www.gunbarrel.de/ or at https://www.facebook.com/GunBarrel And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 2 Jul 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:54:08 Yes Tom Werman, Motley Crue, Cheap Trick, Twisted Sister, Dokken, Gun Barrel, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 185 with producer Keith Olsen With the release of Dave Grohl's documentary on Sound City this weeks guest has become a household name. It's about time, the guy has been part of recording history since the seventies and has had a hand in some of the biggest albums in rock and metal history. I'm speaking of course of the legendary Keith Olsen. This week Keith takes us through the stories behind some of his recorded work. Our track of the week is from Metal Inquisitor from their new Massacre release "Ultima Ratio Regis". And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 4 Jun 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:38:58 Yes Keith Olsen, Whitesnake, Lynch Mob, Scorpions, Zakk Wylde, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 183 with bassist Jerry Best It's been four years since we lost Dio and it's a tribute to the man that the metal community still holds him in in the highest regard. In honor of Ronnie, this week we are running the sixth installment of our Strange Highways project. This time we talk with Jerry Best who played in Freak of Nature, the opening band for the Strange Highways European tour. Jerry also went on to play in the Dio band for the Angry Machines album and tour. Find out more about Jerry Best at: http://jerrybest.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 21 May 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:23:32 Yes Dio, Strange Highways, Jerry Best, Freak of Nature, Angry Machines, Ronnie James Dio, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 175 with Ty Tabor All of us at FoM are psyched to bring this exclusive talk with Ty Tabor in which we go through the entire history and studio output of King's X. Keep up with the band at http://www.kingsxrocks.com/ Keep up with Ty and get all your King's X merch at http://molkenmusic.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 28 Mar 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:53:53 Yes King's X, Ty Tabor, Doug Pinnick, Jerry Gaskill, KXM, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 169 with Scott Warren This is the fifth installment of our Dio Strange Highways series. This time we talk with Scott Warren. Dio fans know that Scott was a large part of the Dio legacy but most people don't know that he actually played on Strange Highways. On this episode we aim to set the record straight. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 26 Feb 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:12:24 Yes Dio, Strange Highways, Scott Warren, Dio Disciples, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 166 with producer Mike Fraser This is the fourth installment of our Dio Strange Highways series. This time we turn our attention to the albums producer Mike Fraser. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 12 Feb 2014 02:00:00 GMT 01:14:04 Yes Dio, Strange Highways, Mike Fraser, Satriani, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 158 with Vinny Appice Back again with another episode in our epic Strange Highways project. This time we sit down with drummer and longtime Dio collaborator Vinny Appice. Vinny was cool enough to give us an hour of his time before he had to hit the stage with Kill Devil Hill on the third stop on their US tour supporting their second release Revolution Rise. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 11 Dec 2013 02:00:00 GMT 56:30 Yes Vinny Appice, Strange Highways, Dio, Kill Devil Hill, Revolution Rise, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 154 with Tracy G Week 3 of Metal Month has arrived and to celebrate we are rolling out another part of our in depth look at Strange Highways. This week we sit down for two talks with guitarist Tracy G. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 20 Nov 2013 02:00:00 GMT 01:28:47 Yes Strange Highways, Dio, Tracy G, Pain Savior, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 152 with Jeff Pilson Metal Month is upon us and to celebrate we are finally debuting our massive and in depth look at Dio's Strange Highways. This one will unfold over a large number of shows. This week we start off with talking with bassist Jeff Pilson. We hope you enjoy the journey down Strange Highways. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 06 Nov 2013 02:00:00 GMT 01:00:46 Yes Dio, Jeff Pilson, Strange Highways, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson EP 145 with special guest Beau Hill One of the chief architects of the eighties metal scene, producer Beau Hill is our guest this week. Richie is pretty psyched since he gets to discuss some of his favorite albums with the guy who steered the ship. Check out a fair chunk of Beau's work at http://beauhillproductions.com/ Our Track of the week is from Nightmare Records artist Siren's Cry and we bring you a track off their debut full length release Scattered Horizons. Find out more at http://www.sirenscry.com/ And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 18 Sep 2013 02:00:00 GMT 01:24:47 Yes Beau Hill, Sirens Cry, Scattered Horizons, Ratt, Warrant, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, NWOBHM, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson Episode 120 Back on Episode 108 we ended our look the Saxon catalogue with Destiny. This week by popular demand we pick up with Solid Ball of Rock, Forever Free, and Dogs of War. This time we end on a high note for the band. On a future show we will continue on with our review of the catalogue as we head into some of their best releases since the classic NWOBHM days. Our track of the week is from COLDSTEEL from their first release in twenty years "America Idle". Check out more about the band at http://www.coldsteelny.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/coldsteelny And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Visit http://focusonmetal.net/ for information on all the past episodes and to find the links to all our other social media sites. Comments/suggestions/listener submissions: scott@focusonmetal.net richie@focusonmetal.net Thu, 7 Mar 2013 02:00:00 GMT 1:03:32 Yes best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring, Saxon, Coldsteel, America Idle, Solid Ball of Rock, Forever Free, Dogs of War Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson Episode 108 Back on episode 100 Richie and I covered the first 4 classic Saxon releases. This week we head into Saxon history from their 1983 release Power and the Glory to 1988's release Destiny. Some troubled tears indeed for the mighty Saxon. This weeks track of the week is some killer thrash from Sacred Reich's Live at Wacken which just came out on Metal Blade. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Comments/suggestions/listener submissions: scott@focusonmetal.net richie@focusonmetal.net Wed, 12 Dec 2012 02:00:00 GMT 1:17:34 Yes best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring, Saxon, Destiny, Sacred Reich, Metal Blade, Power And The Glory Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson Episode 100 What better way to mark hitting 100 episodes than to talk about the first four Saxon albums. At one point I was considering some ran show about the entire Saxon catalog but that's crazy talk talk. In the end we decided to break it down into chunks that represent different eras of the band. I consider the first four albums with Pete Gill to be Saxon MK1. This wold also allow me to delay having to discuss Destiny for bit. Okay, I know lots of shows do some kind of best of or some other celebratory deal to mark the occasion but I guess I'm going to use this as an excuse to talk about one of my favorite bands. And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Fri, 12 Oct 2012 01:00:00 GMT 1:13:12 Yes best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring, Saxon Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy) Scott Thompson Episode 71 Everyone can usually agree on the Big 4 but what about those great bands that have always been considered contenders? That's usually where the real discussion between metal fans lies. E verybody has their own take on who belongs in that pantheon right below the Big 4 and J and I are no different. We had total agreement on a few but in true metal fashion we had to thrash out the final spot, And as always Focus On Metal…Everything Else is Insignificant. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 GMT 00:54:34 Yes Big 4, Death Angel, Overkill, Exodus, best, classic, heavy metal, guitar, guitar gear, interview, metal, old school, power metal, reviews, releases, thrash, Cast Iron Ring Focus on Metal (Dario, Scott, Julien, Mandy)