Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads Tribute – Live Album From 1987 Is Priceless, Old School, Heavy Metal History
OZZY OSBOURNE RANDY RHOADS TRIBUTE – How often do you turn to your collection of music, whether it be CDs, vinyl, cassettes or (gulp) 8 tracks for that refreshing listen in Old School? And as you rummage through your music collection, you find that one Old School release you haven’t listened to in quite some time? It happened to me a couple of days ago. This Old School album I’ve revisited is Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads – Tribute. I have this live Heavy Metal masterpiece on CD and cassette, once owning it on vinyl. This is a “double-album” release and all 14 songs are on one CD.
Why do I refer to this album as a masterpiece you question? This is the first and only live Ozzy Osbourne album that features the infinitely legendary Randy Rhoads (Randall William Rhoads) as guitarist. Randy Rhoads passed away at age 25, back on March 19, 1982. It was a “freak” small plane accident that took Randy Rhoads away from us all, halfway through the Diary Of A Madman tour. I won’t get into anymore details about this sad story… the internet is loaded with the complete story on this horrible day in Rock Music history.
There are three Black Sabbath classics heard on this live album: Iron Man, Children Of The Grave and Paranoid. Randy Rhoads did these Black Sabbath classics spectacular Metal justice on Tribute. Yes, Tony Iommi is the originator and guitar master of these Black Sabbath songs, there is no dispute. If anything, Randy and Tony are on the same Metal tier in my most honest Metal opinion. Two entirely different guitar styles and two unique legends of Heavy Metal and Rock history are they both. Each guitarist has carved out his individual Metal legacy for all eternity. What more can I say about that?
As I listen now, some 24 years after this live album has been released, the chills still run up and down my body when I crank these Heavy Metal classics up… just as it happened to me in 1987. When a live album or any album for that matter, can never lose it’s euphoric Metal vibe that it gives me, such as this one, then I Metal ordain it a Metal Masterpiece. I’m forever left spellbound by listening to Randy Rhoads play his riffs, leads and solo’s throughout this entire live album. The studio out-takes of Randy Rhoads playing Dee never ceases in capturing my full attention. The all encompassing Metal high I get from hearing these live versions of Flying High Again, I Don’t Know, Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley is a personal feeling that is priceless.
Randy Rhoads has a featured guitar solo on Suicide Solution and it is a dizzying listen into just how immense, influential and dynamic his guitar playing was… and forever will be. Ozzy’s vocals on these live songs sound just incredible to my ears, it’s vintage Ozzy. There will never be another Ozzy Osbourne, just like there shall never be another Randy Rhoads. These two ultra-amazing men of Metal created two magical albums together with Blizzard of Ozz (1980) and Diary Of A Madman (1981). Those were two back-to-back Heavy Metal albums that essentially catapulted Ozzy’s solo career to iconic heights and made Randy Rhoads, the guitarist, an everlasting influence and legend.
Both of these iconic Heavy Metal albums are celebrated on this live Tribute album and Ozzy Osbourne paid tribute to Randy Rhoads through it’s release. The guitar playing and song writing of Randy Rhoads shall be celebrated forever by this Metalhead. This is a live album that belongs in every Hard Rock and Metal fans collection of music, I can’t fathom any reason otherwise. Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads – Tribute is a live album that captured important Heavy Metal and Rock music history, which will be passed down for Metal generations to come.
The band as listed in the “original” album liner notes:
Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
Randy Rhoads – guitar
Rudy Sarzo – bass
Tommy Aldridge – drums
Track Listing For Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads – Tribute:
I Don’t Know
Crazy Train
Believer
Mr. Crowley
Flying High Again
Revelation (Mother Earth)
Steal Away (The Night) (With Drum Solo)
Suicide Solution (With Guitar Solo)
Iron Man
Children Of The Grave
Paranoid
Goodbye To Romance
No Bone Movies
Dee (Randy Rhoads Studio Out-Takes)
* Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads – Tribute was produced and engineered by Max Norman. The executive producer was Ozzy Osbourne.
* Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads – Tribute was released March 19, 1987, on Epic Records.
The combination of knowing that the month of March marks the passing of Randy Rhoads and speaking with “DeadDave” of Dead Daves Radio.com about Old School Heavy Metal over this past weekend, prompted me to dig out this classic work of live Heavy Metal… without my even thinking about it. I guess needing to listen to Ozzy Osbourne Randy Rhoads – Tribute was imbedded in my Metal sub-conscious, all along this past week.
I met “DeadDave” for the first time in my Metal life at the COLD, KOPEK, Egypt Central, Oceans Divide and Maddam Ink. concert at the Crocodile Rock Cafe on Saturday, March 19th. I’ll tell the world this much… “DeadDave” is one cool dude who likes his Horror, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Thanks for the conversations “DeadDave” and for the Metal knowledge you shared as well.
Long Live Ozzy Osbourne.
Rest In Peace, Randy Rhoads.
Stone.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
March 23, 2011 at 10:45 am
>Randy Rhoads passed away…on March 19, 1982.
Four days ago was the 29th anniversary of his death!? Already?
Randy Rhoads was a guitar god! He and Ozzy made the perfect metal song-writing team!
Well, in his memory check out the Japanese boy reincarnation of Randy Rhoads:
March 23, 2011 at 11:12 pm
Metal time flies by, huh? I did visit that link… that little guitar prodigy dude is something else! I remember seeing him on the news a couple of years ago and it is such a good story.
There is “that something” about those Classic Ozzy songs that brings back cool memories of growing up in the 80’s. Randy Rhoads and Ozzy helped a ton with putting those Heavy Metal “building blocks” together for us all.
March 23, 2011 at 3:59 pm
This is a fantastic live album! Spot on about Suicide Solution but the live version of Mr Crawley blows me away as well.
March 23, 2011 at 4:03 pm
ps. Clarification here, apparently the release of the live tribute album was the reason why Jake E Lee left the band. Shame because Lee’s career never
March 23, 2011 at 11:19 pm
I really dig Jake E. Lee. His band Badlands was and still is a an all-time favorite of mine. A short lived band, they kicked some butt regardless! Rest in peace, Ray Gillen.
March 24, 2011 at 6:08 am
I only heard a few odd tracks from Badlands, I also remebered I liked what I heard.
March 25, 2011 at 11:28 am
I remember reading Guitar World prior to the release of this album, and being excited that finally this album was going to see the light of day. This album had been talked about for years and how it had been shelved and finally I was able to hear for myself, no youtube around then and it was hard for me to get ahold of any bootlegs so this was first opportunity to hear Rhoads live for the first time, and all I could do was listen, the man was incredible and he died so young.
March 25, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Oh, how I yearn sometimes for the days when we had to “scrape around” for “anything” about our bands… then, I don’t think I could handle that kind of scarcity now! Regardless, those “good old days” do bring about fond memories don’t they Manny?
Thinking back to the day when we all heard the news about Randy Rhoads passing away… it’s equaled to the news of hearing about the loss of Dimebag. (To me anyways). The passing of Randy and Dimebag did not make them guitar legends… they were already legends beforehand. I have a Metal feeling you’ll agree with me.