Randy Rhoads

Warning: I come not to praise Randy, but to bury him.

 Shortly after Classic Rock magazine featured an article about Randy Rhoads, now Guitar World is doing so as well.  I’ve reached my quota of RR articles for my lifetime.

 Background.  After Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath in 1979, he had to begin a solo career by default.  His now-wife Sharon Osbourne took it upon herself to assemble a band around him:  Randy Rhoads (guitar), Bob Daisley (bass), and Lee Kerslake (drums).  They recorded Blizzard of Ozz, an excellent debut album, followed it up with Diary of Madman (Rudy Sarzo took over on bass, Tommy Aldridge on drums), and on tour for the second album, Randy was killed in a freak accident.  The tour bus driver took him up in his private plane (against Randy’s objections) and crashed the plane into the tour bus.  Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis took over for the remainder of the tour, eventually replaced by Jake E. Lee for two albums, then Zakk Wylde.

 I’ve mentioned before my introduction to Ozzy through Speak of the Devil, though shortly afterwards I did tape Blizzard, Diary, and Bark at the Moon, which by that time (1984) had been the most recent Ozzy album.  Listening to these albums always brings me back to memories of high school in France, listening to them on tape (remember the Walkman?) riding the school bus.

 Quiet Riot.  Before Ozzy, Randy was in this band, which only became famous AFTER Randy joined Ozzy’s band.  Their top album is Metal Health.   I never liked Quiet Riot, and I was never a big enough Randy fan to get the original QR albums (Japanese imports) with Randy on them.  From what I understand, the biggest impediment to QR’s fame and fortune was Kevin Dubrow’s unlikeable personality, off the chart even by the lofty standards of prima donna rock singers.   Randy was apparently considering leaving Ozzy after the Diary tour, but whether he would have retreated into obscurity to pursue classical music, or rejoined QR, no one seems to know.  This is part of why I consider him so overrated:  we have no idea what he would have done had he not had his talent “cut short” by his freak airplane death.   

 Blizzard of Ozz.  “Crazy Train”, “Mr. Crowley”, and “Suicide Solution” survive from this album into Ozzy’s live set, but I prefer “Revelation: Mother Earth”.  But from “I Don’t Know” through “Steal Away (The Night)” there isn’t a bad track on the album. 

 Diary of a Madman.  A good follow-up, but I really only like the title track.  “Flying High Again” is the track which survives in the set.  The rest is decent, but seems more like filler than strong songs: the consistent quality of the last album isn’t here.

 Ozzy-Randy Tribute.  Three Sabbath tunes reluctantly played with no great enthusiasm, and the rest is solo material.  This was released in 1987, five years after Randy died.  I’ve listened to it once or twice but it didn’t impress me.

 Impression.  Randy can play guitar.  Better than Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Ritchie Blackmore, Angus Young, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, David Gilmour, Frank Zappa, Robert Fripp, the Iron Maiden & Judas Priest twins, or least of all, Tony Iommi?  Not in a million years.  Randy added in a super-pretentious “acoustic/classical guitar” ingredient (which has been done by…umpteen other guitarists before him, and since), which we add to “died in freak airplane accident” results in “guitar god without equal”.  No, I don’t think so.  What I find especially damning about him was his attitude towards Black Sabbath and Tony Iommi:  “I’m MUCH better than that.”  Who did he think he was? 

 Wylde v. Randy.  This is why I prefer Zakk Wylde.  He doesn’t believe that acknowledging Tony’s genius takes away from his own talent, such as it is.  I don’t think of Wylde as being so much as 5% less than Randy, but since Wylde is still alive, we can’t criticize Randy, so Wylde ends up relatively underrated between the two.  For that matter, Jake E. Lee isn’t any worse than Randy.  Undeniably, Rhoads was certainly the most likeable of Ozzy’s solo guitarists.  He was shy, good-natured, and rarely indulged in the decadent rock excesses of his peers – a polar opposite from someone like Michael Schenker.  For his part, Wylde strikes me as fundamentally down-to-earth and unpretentious, even if he does pile on the Yankneck (CSA from New Jersey) and biker images a bit thick.  Black Label Society is essentially a Motorhead tribute band.  If you’re not going to do anything truly original on your own, why not just stay with Ozzy?  Like I said, however, I’m not convinced Rhoads would have blazed a unique, revolutionary new guitar trail had he survived the Diary tour.    

 Bottom line:  Randy’s role in Ozzy’s career can be safely appreciated without ignoring Tony, Jake or Zakk.  Let’s keep him in perspective and enjoy his albums, but not elevate him to a (guitar) god or saint he never was.