Grand Prix Rejects

Some of you will know, given that I've occasionally mentioned it here, Jamie and Enoch aren't the only podcasters on this forum. I have one as well, of a more musical theme... if you like Scandinavian death metal, as the head honcho put it that night in London.

To cut a very long story short, how I usually go about this is decide on a theme for the show, then trawl Metal Archives for about ten or twelve tracks that could be considered relevant to it (however loosely). Since Jamie allowed me and Watka to invade the F1 Rejects podcast the next time it rolls round (provided it's all recorded properly!) I thought I'd return the compliment.



Blast your eardrums here.

For those of you wondering, "Faster, Harder, Louder" is the unofficial English motto of the Wacken Open Air festival, which I've been to 11 times and will make one final trip to this year. And I'm not saying Niki Lauda is a reject at all, but his time as team boss at Jaguar was rather rejectful, even if it wasn't all his fault. As I've implied above, twelve of the track on the show (I think there's 27 in total) are directly related to F1 Rejects in some way - four of them are bands from Australia, four are something to do with either racing or rejectfulness in some way, and four are representatives of reject teams. It has since been pointed out that two further profiled teams could also have made an appearance under this banner. Two, maybe three further tracks in the podcast are also related to the central theme, although are not officially part of it.

Most of you will run away screaming from the vast majority of the content, but messrs. Lomas, Nuppiz and Jocke might want to sample its wares.

Well, just got done listening.
I always embrace new introductions and new suggestions in music.
There was only one track in the 3+ hours that I skipped through.

Some thoughts;

Your podcast started out with Testament and ended with Rush. Pretty sweet coincidence for me personally, in that I have seen both of them in concert, at the very same venue about two years apart.

Testament Feb 28, 2009 and Rush May 6, 2011.
Testament played 'Into the Pit' that night, but I did not get to hear 'Xanadu' live. Have all Rush albums, by the way.
Halford has also done a track called Into the Pit if you didn't know.

That night in Feb '09 was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Driving to the arena, it was pitch black outside and snowing quite a bit.
Testament were part of the 'Priest Feast' tour, and had the first gig that night, Megadeth was second and finally Judas Priest played until the end.
To see those three bands in the same night, play for 3-4 hours was something else, I'll never forget that night. Megadeth can honestly be pretty lackluster sometimes live, Mustaine really not giving it his all, but that night they were on it. And Judas was special, really special. Feels good to have seen them live before K.K. left.

30:59 lol to those frogs.

That track by Virgin Steel from 1999, surely inspired by Manowar?

I did not particularly enjoy that Lola cover, it felt sloppy and unfinished.
Here is a crazy cover of Lola (by a couple of Danes, in fact) that has stayed in my head ever since I first heard it in 99-00:
http://youtu.be/21M4waIgqCY

I liked the Onyx track, and the Alchemist track.

The Newsted-track was way too repetitive towards the end for my taste.

At one point in the podcast I was reminded about a track I was introduced to in 2005 (can't remember which one), by Subway to Sally.
Ever heard of them? They have played at Wacken. Speaking of Wacken, you mentioned you were there eleven times, did you ever catch Dio there?

That 'Hallways'-epic at the 3-hour mark was epic.

The 'deconstructing' track was ... odd. All I heard was "a bedroom a bedroom a master bedroom it's a snake..."


Diniz, how do you feel about Candlemass?

Jocke1 wrote:Your podcast started out with Testament and ended with Rush. Pretty sweet coincidence for me personally, in that I have seen both of them in concert, at the very same venue about two years apart.

Testament Feb 28, 2009 and Rush May 6, 2011.
Testament played 'Into the Pit' that night, but I did not get to hear 'Xanadu' live. Have all Rush albums, by the way.
Halford has also done a track called Into the Pit if you didn't know.

Or, at least, it was recorded by Fight, a.k.a. the band Rob Halford formed when he left Priest and tried to be Pantera. Not only that, but I've had it on the show before, even if it was nearly three years ago. Testament's Into The Pit I'd never played before, so that got the nod. Plus it was the first track I thought of when writing the intro...

That night in Feb '09 was one of the best concerts I have ever been to. Driving to the arena, it was pitch black outside and snowing quite a bit.
Testament were part of the 'Priest Feast' tour, and had the first gig that night, Megadeth was second and finally Judas Priest played until the end.
To see those three bands in the same night, play for 3-4 hours was something else, I'll never forget that night. Megadeth can honestly be pretty lackluster sometimes live, Mustaine really not giving it his all, but that night they were on it. And Judas was special, really special. Feels good to have seen them live before K.K. left.

Which I also did... only it was the Tim Owens version!

As for Dave, I pay very little attention to him these days after he turned into a ginger version of Glenn Beck. I had the chance to see Megadeth live for the first time in 11 years at Hellfest in 2012; I passed up that chance and watched Satyricon and Obituary instead.

30:59 lol to those frogs.

There was about a minute more frog noises that I cut off...

That track by Virgin Steel from 1999, surely inspired by Manowar?

I can see why you thought that but I doubt it's the case, seeing as the two bands are contemporaries - both released their first album in 1982, and both are from New York (although Manowar are upstate and VS are from Long Island). I suspect their paths crossed more than a few times in the early days.

I did not particularly enjoy that Lola cover, it felt sloppy and unfinished.

The Roxx's cover served its purpose, it was there as the standard once-per-show cover version, and gave a bit of extra F1 Rejects fluff. I doubt that I'll be putting any glam rock on the show again, German or otherwise! I'd have thought that a fair few other bands had covered Lola, seeing as the song's about 50-odd years old, but the only one I could find was Thunder - and it was an acoustic version from the live album that was supposed to represent the last gig they'd ever play before splitting up. Didn't care for it, so The Roxx got the nod by default.

Here is a crazy cover of Lola (by a couple of Danes, in fact) that has stayed in my head ever since I first heard it in 99-00:
http://youtu.be/21M4waIgqCY

That was... interesting.

At one point in the podcast I was reminded about a track I was introduced to in 2005 (can't remember which one), by Subway to Sally.
Ever heard of them? They have played at Wacken.

I heard of them as far back as 1996 via a German exchange student when I was a sixth former... but they never quite caught on. Weirdly, a lot of these German "mittelalter" bands all sound like they share the same vocalist...

Speaking of Wacken, you mentioned you were there eleven times, did you ever catch Dio there?

Just the once, in 2004. I think most of what I saw in that set was the Rainbow covers...

That 'Hallways'-epic at the 3-hour mark was epic.

And that'll be why Agalloch are worshipped as gods by those who like their Pacific Northwest slightly-chin-stroky doom. I've never really gone for chin-stroky bands, but there's one I'll make a huge exception for. See also Aloeswood, the solo project of Danny Downing, a good mate of mine from Oop North...

The 'deconstructing' track was ... odd. All I heard was "a bedroom a bedroom a master bedroom it's a snake..."

How did this escape your attention for over a decade? You'll be telling me you didn't see this post next. Or this one...

Diniz, how do you feel about Candlemass?

Seen them live a couple of times - usually at Wacken - and there's fun for all the family in playing "spot the Black Sabbath riff"!

Mushroom mushroom.

dinizintheoven wrote:Just the once, in 2004. I think most of what I saw in that set was the Rainbow covers...

You lucky bastard. I know he sang 'The Eyes' that time. Saw it on Youtube many years ago but can't find it again,
it was one of the best live versions I have heard of that song.
Dio holds a special place in my heart, I had no idea who he was, that time when I placed my dads vinyl of 'Rainbow Rising'
onto the turntable and heard 'Tarot Woman' for the first time. I thought the cover to Rising was cool and decided to try it.
Guess I was in my low teens. Today, of course, I am more educated and I have every studio album he ever put out solo,
with Elf, with Rainbow, with Sabbath, and even the 50s and 60s stuff and the odd guest appearances.

The kind of range he had and the genres he went through over the decades will probably forever be unprecedented. I'm sure most will agree.
What saddens me still, is that I was meant to see him sing live for the first time ever around christmas time '09.
I bought the tickets already five or six months prior. But by November, the cancer announcement came and all concerts were canceled.
But it wasn't even a concert I was going to, Dio was supposed to do a gig at a very small venue, maybe 200 people at the most, and just 5 minutes from my house.
Dio announced he would slay the cancer dragon and honor all the gigs he had canceled at a later date. Well, that never happened. Still gutted.

dinizintheoven wrote:Seen them live a couple of times - usually at Wacken - and there's fun for all the family in playing "spot the Black Sabbath riff"!

Well, they don't call Leif Edling (founder, bassist) the bastard child of Iommi for nothing.
He has mentioned many times how Sabbath influenced him. And like Iommi with Black Sabbath, Edling is the founder and only one to appear on all Candlemass studio albums.
I was introduced to Candlemass by a co-worker, and now I have every studio album. As well as a few solo albums by Edling. I have been to two christmas gigs with Candlemass,
ironically at the very same venue where I was supposed to see Dio.
Great thing is, this place is only five minutes from home, and it has a garage right underneath it.
So both times I went by car in the middle of December, wearing only a tshirt, even though it was -15C. Those who didn't know about the garage must have thought I was a nutter.

I have run into Leif Edling on two occasions after having been to his Candlemass gigs. First time in a record store when I was picking up a Camel album,
I saw him riffle through some records and recognized him immediately.
I went up to him to let him know I really enjoyed his kind of dark music, and he said 'thanks, cool'.
The second time was just this winter, I was in a grocery store to get some stuff, and I saw him picking out bread over at the bread shelfs.
Turns out he lives about ten minutes from me. Small world.
Being one who has listened to every single studio album by Candlemass, not just the more famous ones, yes I can agree that much is inspired by Sabbath,
perhaps in some songs a lot, but I don't notice anymore. The last decade with Lowe hasn't had much in common with Sabbath for example.

Jocke1 wrote:The Newsted-track was way too repetitive towards the end for my taste.

Speaking of Newsted, I was at this secret Metallica gig:
http://www.metallica.com/tour/nov-16-1997-stockholm.asp

I say secret, because they weren't supposed to be playing anything at all. I went there because they were pre-releasing the 'Re-load' album two days
before the worldwide release, and they were only supposed to sign the new album for those purchasing it, nothing more.
And there would be a limited admittance, so my dad drove me there very early, around 7am. They opened the doors at something like 1pm, there were only maybe twenty people ahead of me in line, and then all of a sudden
they lit up a stage at the back of the room and the guys came out playing a mini-concert of ten songs (link ^). No one was prepared for that.
I remember the headlines the next day read something like "Metallica plays secret concert for fans". We were only one or two hundred people in there, and apparently
1,500+ were outside, being denied entrance : ).
I still have the ticket.

Jocke1 wrote:Driving to the arena, it was pitch black outside and snowing quite a bit.

I found some pictures, and it wasn't really pitch black, but it was about to be. You can see the arena in the distance:

The Deconsrtucting Badgers song is one of the funniest songs I have ever heard. Just imagine playing that on repeat
It is a really good podcast mate and I will listen to it in full tomorrow.

Jocke! And maybe others, listen up.

I'm now making the sequel to this show - and I may as well reveal that, due to its intended theme, there'll be quite a lot of 80s metal - or, at least, 80s-sounding metal, rather than my usual torrent of Scandinavian epicness. Not that it'll be devoid of that, not with a few discoveries I've made recently... but there's definitely been an intentional shift in the balance this time round.

It'll be ready in a week, just as the new F1 season hits Melbourne and we can see if Red Bull really have made a complete Cold Lake of it.

Hi dinizintheoven. I've just tried looking for your podcast on iTunes but to no avail. Managed to Google it and download the above-mentioned podcast OK (which I will listen to throughout the week) but then I noticed you also did a recent podcast based on the theme of the Isle of Man. Unfortunately, PodOmatic, even with me signing up as a follower, would only allow access to the two most recent podcasts to download. Is there a way round this, that I would be able to freely download any of your past episodes, please?

Thank you!

That's because I only have space on Podomatic's server for two episodes at a time! Then they have to be deleted from there and archived.

So, the others are available via the archive page at thorcast.co.uk (look for the one that says "Archive and Track Listings", which a strangely large number of people seem to have a problem with) - where there are links to everything hosted on 4shared, right back to the very beginning. But I'll issue this warning once and once only: your most prominent choice of lifestyle will conflict very heavily with the kind of bands I like to feature, and I am not known for mincing my words either. (Anyone more left-of-centre than the Liberal Democrats might also want to heed this warning for very similar reasons.) If you think you can handle that then by all means go right ahead and raid the entire archive, because it's all there; if you can't, don't - the choice is entirely yours. Because I've been at this for so long then I can't remember with any detail what I've said and when, except that there's one episode where one second of Napalm Death is preceded by six minutes of my most venomous rant ever; that was an extreme case but I am known for going off on one when I'm suitably riled. The slightly-unintentional comedian you all know from this site isn't really the same version of me that fronts the Ogg-Cast; different situation, different subjects, different approach.

Maybe a further warning would be that the Isle of Man episode was, of all the themes I've ever tackled, one of the flimsiest executions - it wasn't for the lack of trying, mind, it's just... if you're expecting to find hours of musical tales on the subject then you'll find, as I did very quickly, there's not a lot out there. It's further limited because the one band that does - Cryptic Age - is fronted by a glass-shattering soprano who makes me recoil in horror (which is probably also very un-Baker-like). However, I have commissioned some pals of mine to write a ten-minute epic on the history and heritage of the Isle of Man as part of my reward for funding the album that they've just recorded, and which I'm also a minor participant in. That won't be ready until November... but it'll be worth the wait.

Anyway, I may as well link to the one you want: http://www.4shared.com/zip/B4kaxhU8/hammer38.html - and it should be mostly Safe For Baker. Well, maybe not Skyforger. Or Dark Forest. Or Månegarm, Ásmegin, Thrudvangar, Hroptatyr, Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom, Mael Mórdha, Moonsorrow... and definitely not Wodensthrone (who I saw live on Sunday night and who are utterly mint, incidentally). None of them are part of the theme, but you'll see where that initial warning came from soon enough...

Un-Baker-like, you reckon? I actually enjoyed from your latest podcast - I rather enjoyed the Lola cover and the Deconstructing Badgers track. I would never have thought a track that that would have existed if I hadn't heard you podcast. Bet there's no metal version of this, though, is there?!

You'll know what I mean by "un-Baker-like" when you get there...

Also, I really should also have pointed out that all 42 episodes so far - not to mention the upcoming 43rd - are officially Not Safe For WMetcalf, if he's still allowed to be unleashed round here. Not that I'd be teaching him (or similar youngsters) anything they didn't already know by the time they reach double figures, but... just putting it out there, this being a "family forum" and all that. The 2011 "Antichristmas Special" was a particular case in point given what I started it with...

Well, considering that I have, amongst other things, this and this, some of my music taste may be rather un-Baker-like... But then, I do have Cliff Richard and Granham Kendrick, plus Queen, Abba and Boney M, so eclectic is possibly one word to describe my music taste?

dr-baker wrote:Well, considering that I have, amongst other things, this and this, some of my music taste may be rather un-Baker-like... But then, I do have Cliff Richard and Granham Kendrick, plus Queen, Abba and Boney M, so eclectic is possibly one word to describe my music taste?

Mate, its all about Matt Redman

watka wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Well, considering that I have, amongst other things, this and this, some of my music taste may be rather un-Baker-like... But then, I do have Cliff Richard and Granham Kendrick, plus Queen, Abba and Boney M, so eclectic is possibly one word to describe my music taste?

Mate, its all about Matt Redman

Nowadays, it may be, but there are times when I like to live in the past. There are times when cheese is good, and Graham Kendrick is cheese.

watka wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Well, considering that I have, amongst other things, this and this, some of my music taste may be rather un-Baker-like... But then, I do have Cliff Richard and Granham Kendrick, plus Queen, Abba and Boney M, so eclectic is possibly one word to describe my music taste?

Mate, its all about Matt Redman

Agreed. Plenty of reasons to like Matt Redman. 10,000 in fact ...

eytl wrote:

watka wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Well, considering that I have, amongst other things, this and this, some of my music taste may be rather un-Baker-like... But then, I do have Cliff Richard and Granham Kendrick, plus Queen, Abba and Boney M, so eclectic is possibly one word to describe my music taste?

Mate, its all about Matt Redman

Agreed. Plenty of reasons to like Matt Redman. 10,000 in fact ...

Lol, Christian in-jokes.

Cheese, you say?



Been there. Done that.

eytl wrote:

watka wrote:

dr-baker wrote:Well, considering that I have, amongst other things, this and this, some of my music taste may be rather un-Baker-like... But then, I do have Cliff Richard and Granham Kendrick, plus Queen, Abba and Boney M, so eclectic is possibly one word to describe my music taste?

Mate, its all about Matt Redman

Agreed. Plenty of reasons to like Matt Redman. 10,000 in fact ...

Nope, just 10,000 reasons that my heart stiil needs to find...

dinizintheoven wrote:Cheese, you say?



Been there. Done that.

Other than Lordi, what constitutes as cheese in the world of metal?

watka wrote:Other than Lordi, what constitutes as cheese in the world of metal?

Just come across this list, which seems kinda extensive. But it doesn't include one of my friend's favourite Christian bands, Bloodgood.

dr-baker wrote:

watka wrote:Other than Lordi, what constitutes as cheese in the world of metal?

Just come across this list, which seems kinda extensive. But it doesn't include one of my friend's favourite Christian bands, Bloodgood.

Who are the Christian Limp Bizkit?

watka wrote:

dr-baker wrote:

watka wrote:Other than Lordi, what constitutes as cheese in the world of metal?

Just come across this list, which seems kinda extensive. But it doesn't include one of my friend's favourite Christian bands, Bloodgood.

Who are the Christian Limp Bizkit?

I would have no idea!

watka wrote:Other than Lordi, what constitutes as cheese in the world of metal?

Flowery power metal bands with unicorns and rainbows on their album covers (I'm looking at you, Stratovarius) with lyrics delivered in an impossibly high squeal about knights riding into battle on those unicorns in suspiciously shiny armour. Some of them will be the air force, flying into battle on dragons.

And Manowar, obviously.

Now, if you'll hang on for a mo, I'm just uploading the new episode... which means there's now only one month for the F1 Rejects edition left to run on Podomatic. It's doing surprisingly well, and I'd like this to continue.

So, seeing as there are some of you who were more than curious when I made the last show...



Hot off the press! This Is Spinal Tap celebrated the 30th anniversary of its release on March 2nd... and this is what I've done to celebrate!

Again, I make no guarantee it's safe for work, wmetcalf or anyone else for that matter. I am also imagining the faces Enoch will be making if he ever experiences any of this show, given that it sounded like Otyg were about to give him a fit.

And tomorrow morning, the F1 Rejects Ogg-Cast will be archived (and the Podomatic link will no longer work).

Looks like it's done better than I originally expected.

Jocke1 wrote: Pretty sweet coincidence for me personally, in that I have seen both of them in concert, at the very same venue about two years apart.

Testament Feb 28, 2009 and Rush May 6, 2011.
Testament played 'Into the Pit' that night, but I did not get to hear 'Xanadu' live.

Are you sure this is not a nuclear power plant? The "conspiracy theorists please stand up" jingle from Jamie & Enoch's podcast should be played right now.

Where is this venue and what's it called? Is it a sports stadium during the day?

Yannick wrote:
Are you sure this is not a nuclear power plant? The "conspiracy theorists please stand up" jingle from Jamie & Enoch's podcast should be played right now.

Where is this venue and what's it called? Is it a sports stadium during the day?

Nuclear power plant
It's actually the largest hemispherical building in the world, and yes, it's being used mostly for ice hockey and concerts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericsson_Globe

I went to high school right across the street from it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Globe ... tornet.JPG

It seems some of you quite liked what I did in February... so here comes more.



Here is a fittingly lengthy tribute to the man from Jocke1's homeland who was to epic heathen metal what HWNSNBM is to this website and forum. And by "fittingly lengthy" I mean "four and a half hours in which every album, including those generally regarded to be terrible, are featured".

I will give it a listen!

Good job. This one is going into three figures if there's any justice in this world.

dinizintheoven wrote:if there's any justice in this world.

Got me thinking of a scene from one of my favorite movies;
http://youtu.be/si55h9-MP_4?t=1m1s

Jocke1 wrote:Got me thinking of a scene from one of my favorite movies;
http://youtu.be/si55h9-MP_4?t=1m1s

...although if everyone went home and were all decent people, Morgan Freeman's character - like all judges - would end up on the dole queue...

Off topic randomness but I was recently thinking about how many mugs of tea it was that you drank in one day, Jim? Was it 23 or 24?
How did you even survive that!? You must have gotten hyponatremia, surely?

And have you ever been to a King Diamond concert before?

Jocke1 wrote:Off topic randomness but I was recently thinking about how many mugs of tea it was that you drank in one day, Jim? Was it 23 or 24?
How did you even survive that!? You must have gotten hyponatremia, surely?

The body can build up an incredible immunity to caffine. At my old job I just to drink 3-31/2 POTS of coffee a day, with no ill effects at all. In fact, when I'd have less, I'd get wicked headaches. I've cut down massively since then, I still drink 8-10 cups a day.

Jocke1 wrote:Off topic randomness but I was recently thinking about how many mugs of tea it was that you drank in one day, Jim? Was it 23 or 24?
How did you even survive that!? You must have gotten hyponatremia, surely?

It was 23, and I was absolutely fine. Maybe I had some salty chips that day or similar.

Rather worse was one large mug of coffee I had one day in November 2007. It was in Oberhausen, Germany - and I'd paid so much for the hotel I ate and drank as much as I could at breakfast to make it worth the cash. It was for the Ultima Ratio festival, and I took my place at the front of the barriers at 12:30... only to find I really, really needed a mass bladder evacuation at about 12:45, just after Wolfchant had come on. I was not going to leave my position under any circumstances...

...until thirteen hours later.

Words such as "kidney damage" were handed around afterwards and I've never quite been the same since then...

Oh boy, a Back To The Future edition?! Man, this is heavy, and there isn't even an issue with the earth's gravitational field!

dr-baker wrote:Oh boy, a Back To The Future edition?! Man, this is heavy, and there isn't even an issue with the earth's gravitational field!

Dr Baker, do you even lift?

Someone's still paying attention, then!

dinizintheoven wrote:Someone's still paying attention, then!

Yeah. I don't download many, but if there's a theme that appeals, I'll go and download it! (I don't always have a spare 3 to 4 hours to fit in around all my other podcasts to listen to - I'm currently more than a week behind at the moment). But it is a momentous week for BTTF fans...

Yay for the inclusion of Zed-Zed Top. But there's no metal version of Busted's Year 3000?!?!?!? (I'll bet I'll get slated for liking that song, but I have my reasons...)

dr-baker wrote:Yay for the inclusion of Zed-Zed Top. But there's no metal version of Busted's Year 3000?!?!?!? (I'll bet I'll get slated for liking that song, but I have my reasons...)

Oh, i love anything that can be considered 'faux'