metalshow_logo1That Metal Show starring hard rock guru Eddie Trunk, comedian Jim Florentine, and Inside The NFL’s Don Jamieson aired its fifth episode on VH1 Classic last night at 11 p.m.

Episode 5 began with the question, “Do people care about new music from classic hard rock bands?” Florentine made the point that the classic bands only play one or two of the new tracks live and he disliked the trend of rerecording and/or remastering old records. “That is why I ripoff Columbia house,” said Florentine.

Jamieson cracked that “Christine Sixteen” is now in the nursing home. The hosts agreed that the bands that have stuck to their guns such as Metallica, AC/DC, Judas Priest, and Motorhead still release albums that are worth buying and hearing live.

piazzaBaseball’s all-time greatest hitting catcher, Mike Piazza was this week’s special guest who is a die hard Heavy Metal fan.

“Johnny Bench is here?” joked Jamieson as Piazza was introduced.

Mike Piazza talked about his first Kiss concert between 1977 and 1978, as well as his uncle’s role in introducing Piazza to the universe of rock.

Trunk and Piazza told a story about a Guns N’ Roses show they attended at Madison Square Garden in 2001. Axl Rose did not make it on stage until 12:30 a.m., so Piazza and Trunk hung out at the open bar for far too long. Piazza did some entertaining drunk impressions of himself from that night.

Rose took the stage wearing team jerseys of the local team’s top players throughout the performance. He wore a Messier, Strahan, Jeter, and even a Metrostars jersey. A highly offended and intoxicated Piazza yelled at Rose while standing on his seat for most of the set. Later, at the meet and greet, Piazza confronted Rose who was very apologetic. Florentine joked, “That is why Axl has been isolated for the last 12 years.”

Trunk and Florentine interviewed Brian Johnson and Angus Young of AC/DC during a pre-recorded segment. They asked them the typical questions: Where have you been? School boy attire? Practical jokes…etc. A coffee chugging Young was barely audible throughout the short interview but he said that he couldn’t play without his uniform on. Throughout the interview Florentine seemed obsessed with Young’s rear end.

Trunk went 2 for 4 on this week’s “Stump The Trunk.” A familiar “Gary from the Bronx” [asked a question on a previous episode] stumped Trunk on a Sabbath Bloody Sabbath question, and another dude stumped him on a Spaghetti Incident question. Trunk answered Florentine’s young nephew’s question correctly as well as a Dokken bass player question posed by Jen of Long Island. Trunk’s seasonal average is now .474 (9/19).

amazon-rules-of-hellThe “Pick of the Week” is a Black Sabbath box set, The Rules of Hell, which features all of the Dio recordings. “I’m not gonna get it again,” said Florentine referring to the show’s opening discussion about re-issues.

The “Email of the Week” concerned the 80’s Kiss guitarist Vinny Vincent. Trunk talked about a sex change rumor and how Vincent sued Kiss for songwriting credit. Piazza did a Gene Simmon’s impression about Kiss’s superior lawyers winning the suit.

This week’s “Throwdown” was the “Battle of the Brits: Judas Priest or Iron Maiden?” Piazza and Florentine sided with Maiden while Jamieson and Trunk went with Priest. They seem to purposely split 50/50 every episode. Trunk argued that there would be no Maiden without Priest, and Jamieson added that, “they don’t mind working with a gay guy.” The debate broke down into better replacement singer, “Blaze or ‘Ripper’ Owens.” Predictably, Tim “Ripper” Owens dominated that quick discussion. The audience sided with Priest however the hosts never asked the audience how they felt about Maiden.

Season 1 Episode 5 featuring Mike Piazza is enjoyable, entertaining, and interesting but too short. Piazza was not as involved in the episode as Mike Portnoy, and I am sure Piazza had plenty of funny stories to share. Hopefully, there will be future specials that are one hour in length. Since, they filmed a couple shows a day, there were familiar faces and boobies in the audience; I am pretty sure Gary from the Bronx asked a question in an earlier episode and I know for a fact the large chested blond from last week was in attendance.

Watch the full episodes of That Metal Show on vh1classic.com now.

Next week’s episode features Ace Frehley of Kiss.