Ozzy Osbourne - Randy Rhoads Tribute

Day Four. It's time for a live album. I'm not big onto live albums, but it just so happens that this is one of the first albums I ever purchased. I was in middle school when the "Osbournes" TV show was on air. People kept referring to Ozzy as the Prince of Darkness. I thought that was awesome and went out to buy an Ozzy album. The reason I chose this one was just because there was a guitar guy on the cover. Little did I know that the guitarist was Randy Rhoads and he would become my favorite guitarist.

All the classic Randy-era songs are represented here and they are even stronger than their studio counterparts. Some of the best Black Sabbath songs also make an appearance, and man, Randy makes them even flashier with his quirks and lead fills. The way he mimics the bass line on Paranoid adds more spice to the song. All the squeals and gentle inserts of pinch harmonics and higher pitched power chords on Children of the Grave adds even more vibrancy. Hell, he does this to every single song. He embellishes everything and makes it sound alive.

And those solos.... HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Some guitarists sort of just shred their asses off for 16 measures or so. But Randy's solos build and relieve tension as they climb towards a breathtaking climax and then gently navigate back towards the main riff with a beautiful stream of passionate notes. These solos are songs in and of them selves. It's incredible.

It's probably important to note that Randy played a pivotal role in heavy metal guitar playing. Metal has pretty much stuck with pentatonic scales up until, and even throughout, the 80s. Pentatonic scales are still widely used today. Randy departed from that by infusing a touch of minor and major scales like they did in classical music. Not that rock n roll and classical music are equivalent, but when Randy blazes through an arpeggio, the classical flavor is definitely there. In fact, that was his goal all along: to fuse classical music with rock n roll guitar playing. Did he succeed, or what?

If you just need one Ozzy album, or just one live album, get this one. It'll melt your face. Fun fact: I actually listened to this before I heard Black Sabbath.