A Worthy Tribute to One of the Best Guitar Players Ever
Written: Oct 09 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great spotlight on the guitar work of Randy Rhoads
Cons: Might be a bit too heavy for some listeners
The Bottom Line: This is just great rock at its finest. This set of live songs has some of the best work ever done by this team.
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| BlackBear's Full Review: Tribute by Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads (Guitar) |
Randy Rhoads was a mainstay of the band that Ozzy Osbourne formed after his break with Black Sabbath. Most listeners recall Rhoads from that time period as the phenomenal riff player for many of Ozzy's big solo hits. However, Rhoads was already "famous" as one of the founding members of Quiet Riot at the tender age of 17. When Rhoads died at the young age of 25 in a bizarre aircraft accident (he was "buzzing" the band's tour bus in a small plane and right wing clipped the side of the bus) in 1982, it was a tragic loss that could have been easily avoided. Oddly enough, Rhoads was not under the influence of any drugs, although the pilot (Andrew Aycock) had cocaine in his blood stream.
Five years later, Ozzy put together a group of live recordings that spotlighted Rhoads fabulous guitar work named Tribute and dedicated it to Delores Rhoads, Randy's mother.
Most of the music on this album comes from Ozzy's first two solo albums, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, although there are some good titles from his Black Sabbath days that he played with Rhoads on tours.
It opens with the gothic song I Don't Know, which was the first track from Blizzard of Ozz. This live version is far superior to the studio version because the intro gives over to a pounding riff by Rhoads that is nothing less than amazing. The band was obviously at their peak when this recording was made because the vocals and background consistency was perfect.
Moving on into Crazy Train, Randy once more dominates the power of the track with his guitar while Ozzy brings it all together with the vocals. It's hard to believe that Rhoads was ever anything less than a super star. Randy was always the type of player who felt free to change things up when playing live and catching those spur of the moment changes in these recordings is one of the little things that makes this such a great album.
Believer has a wonderful bass line that backs up Randy's guitar as he screams through this title with Ozzy at the helm leading the way.
Followed by one of Ozzy's most controversial hits, Mr. Crowley, Randy adds depth to the darkness behind the tune and the story that Ozzy is telling in the vocals.
Flying High Again is a rocking standard of early Ozzy work with Randy taking full advantage of the live show to play with the riff to improve the track. I think that this is a far better version than the studio release from Diary of a Madman.
One of the best ballads that Ozzy has ever made, Revelation (Mother Earth) also shows Randy's great skill as he tones things down to a slower pace. Many guitarists can rip and roll or play slow, but few have the ability to do both with greatness. Randy was one of those rarities.
Although the focus of this album is Rhoads, Steal Away (The Night) features a fabulous drum solo from Tommy Aldridge as well as the fine guitar work.
Suicide Solution has perhaps the best guitar solo ever recorded (at lest ever released) by Rhoads and he threw in a few really cool riffs as well.
After that, the remaining tracks are covers from Black Sabbath, starting with the best version of Iron Man that I've ever heard. It's really tough to out do the creator of a song. Randy shows his talent really well with pick ups and his skill with the instrument is far better than Tony Iommi has ever been.
Children of the Grave is next, an odd title but most likely here because it wasn't as well known as the other Black Sabbath hits, thus easy to get away with using as a cover for the road. As with everything else, this is a good solid number for Randy.
Paranoid is also a main number that Ozzy continued to use from his days in Black Sabbath and Randy's efforts has it placed as number 11 of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks of all time.
Then we are given the treat of the best ballad (I think) that Ozzy has ever produced, Goodbye to Romance. Randy really shows his talent as a classical player in this track. Simply incredible.
The last song track is a fun type of tune called No More Bone Movies from the Blizzard of Ozz album. and to tie everything up, there is a set of studio out takes from when Rhoads was recording the song Dee as a tribute to his mother. This set really highlights the way the man thought and shows his methods and style as he is putting a tune together.
While I perfectly understand that not everyone is keen on the heavy metal venue of rock, I think that this album offers at least two or three really good tracks to any fan of guitar playing. Personally, I like the entire thing.
Recommended:
Yes
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BlackBear
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Member: Joseph Black Bear
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
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Just a guy who loves reading, videos, RPGs and collects various toys.
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