What do you all think about the guitar playing and legacy of Randy Rhodes? At the beginning of his carrear he was often accused of being an EVH clone. He was also credited with bringing the whole classical music element and influence to metal music, although you could detect the classical music elements before Rhodes in EVH's 'Eruption' solo and even before that with Ritchie Blackmore as well.

Do you all feel that all of the admiration and recognition heaped upon Rhodes is well deserved or not?

well deserved, Thank god we got those years with Ozzy, instead of Quiet Riot. Those albums speak for themselves. He was a god, Jake Lee and Zakk Wylde came along and made great records, but they didn't sound like Randy. Randy is god. I prefer Ritchie and EVH, even Yngwie, doesn't mean Randy wasn't the man though.
[Edited 2/27/07 12:38pm]

HERO.

Just a beautiful spirit/artist who wrote some great music because he knew how.
His music has influenced others (including Ozzy's other guitarists) but a lot of people don't even know who he is. His life was cut too short but that makes him into a legend.

None of this makes him a "hero", saving a baby from a burning building makes you a hero.

Slave2daGroove said:

Well, yes you are correct. Its just that the term 'guitar hero' is often applied to the great guitarists as an admiration for their stunning abilities on the instrument. Perphaps 'guitar master' or 'guitar great' would be a more apropriate title for them.

Randy Rhoads was at the right level. Not overhyped (like SRV or EVH..who I both love) but he was given a lot of respect. People said a lot of kinds things about him as a person too. He was the cat that made me want to sit down and learn scales.

"Blizzard" and "Diary" are great LP's and his solo in "Over The Mounatin" still slams..even though it was a "dummy" solo that really wasn't supposed to be used.

SPYZFAN1 said:

What it is, kindred spirit? Yeah, I've ALWAYS mentioned Randy as one of my all time favorite guitarists on this site. He influenced me a lot when I was 13, that's for sure. I wore out Blizzard and especially Blizzard. I used to play the shit out of "Goodbye To Romance" in my bedroom, learning the solo note for note. I remember in Jr. High during lunch, sitting in the bleachers with a few other cats and some girls, showing off, playing this solo on my portable Rockman amp and my black Les Paul copy. Getting the praise from the girls was worth more than gold back then. To see the gleam in their eyes while I played that solo was something else. THAT'S what I always think of when I think of Randy. A hella player who had a lot of style and flash and disipline. Traits I admired and acquired from him. Check out his work pre Ozzy with the o.g. lineup of Quiet Riot. The cat's playing in a way, is better there than with Ozzy. Cool ass image. My main guitar today is a white V. One day, I'm going to get another V but black with white polk a dots all over it. Just like Randy's.

HERO!!!

Guitar hero. He and Edward Van Halen were like Jaco and Stanley: people always compared them but if you were smart you'd listen to them both.

He was years before Yngwie in putting classical influences in rock.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...NoQt5pKe5g

http://www.youtube.com/wa...HdXP8419-A

http://www.youtube.com/wa...CJJCNSVd-U

blackguitaristz said:

The appregios on the solo on "Over The Mountain" will do wonders for your picking technique. And check out the lick on the outro of "Tonight" at 4:47 - 4:52

carlcranshaw said:

I grew up practicing to both of these albums and that outro still gives me chills. The song Diary of a Madman still kills me with it's basic chords but just being a beautiful piece of music that I never get sick of playing. He's set a bar for writing guitar based music to me. Call it metal, call it whatever, he wrote music.

I love the Diary of a Madman track. By the time it gets to that heavy part you can't help but start tapping... no stomping your foot and banging your head. It's such a shame he died cause He could of kept pushing his playing to be less glam and more errie and heavy. Those first two albums have the only Ozzy solo songs I can listen to (Apart from You're No Different, the track just gets me). Ozzy has been less than mediocre since. In fact I should mention I rencently found out Ozzy didn't even write lyrics on his solo albums let alone with the Sabs. So he couldn't sing too well and wasn't really part of the creative process. I have no respect for him or his horrible wife... Honestly she has done some awful things. Sure he was a charismatic frontman but that's it.

rainman1985 said:

I think Ozzy made good records up til 95.

lilgish said:

Flying High Again was my favorite with the Ozzy/Rhodes combo.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Hero nobody like him since, ozzy has always had great guitarists and Zakk stands out from the pack, but nobody is like Randy. I'm so glad I got to see perform live. For me I have seen one of the great rock guitar legends.

Brutha B whazzup?? You had a portable Rockman amp back then? Wow you were a rockstar back then too! I agree you with you Carl..The ending solo in "Tonight" is incredible. It sounds like the tape was rolling and Randy just played what was on his mind.

lilgish said:

You thought No More Tears was anything other than mid-tempo, lifeless, radio drek? What about Ultimate Sin? I thought that was a pretty weak glam metal record. No Rest for the Wicked was an attempt to go heavy that just didn't hit the mark for me, Zakk Wylde is a pretty unimaginitive song writer for my tastes.

lilgish said:

You thought No More Tears was anything other than mid-tempo, lifeless, radio drek? What about Ultimate Sin? I thought that was a pretty weak glam metal record. No Rest for the Wicked was an attempt to go heavy that just didn't hit the mark for me, Zakk Wylde is a pretty unimaginitive song writer for my tastes.

Randy Rhoads was the real deal as far as guitar heroes go. He was a master composer, player and teacher, and above all, a lover of music and a lover of the instrument. The fact that, when he was on breaks from touring and recording with Ozzy, he would head back to LA to teach players of all levels, really speaks volumes about his calibre as a man and a musician.

Steal Away is one of my favourite Randy tracks - that riff is just immense .

SPYZFAN1 said:

Yeah, u know the one that u can clip on your belt on your waist. Rockstar at 13? Maybe to the little girls in 7th grade, but otherwise...nah. I was just some little scrawny black kid with a big ass afro who wore Journey t-shirts.

..B that's too funny!..I had the little Peavy Studio Pro amp that had "Clean" and "Saturation" settings. I used to bring my white Squier Strat in and jam on "I Don't Know" to the metalhead chicks in the lunch room. (lol)..then had to turn around and play "Purple Rain" for the sisters.

Yeah my fro was meduim length ("Jimi Plays Berkely" style) and I had the iron-on "Journey Escape" tee. ..ahh memories!

Rowdy said:

While on tour, he would also scour the local phone books to seek out classical teachers to take lessons from them. Randy Rhoads is anything but "overhyped". He made me want to become well-versed musically, as far as theory/scales/chords are concerned. He had a cool image as well.

Another amazing thing was his ability to perfectly overdub complicated parts perfectly.

My next favorite from the Ozzy camp is Jake E. Lee. Loved his Badlands group.
[Edited 3/1/07 1:38am]

Definitely a hero...I love "Dee" and " Revelation (Mother Earth)"...two extremely beautiful songs. So sad that his life ended too early. He seriously had a musical talent.

H-E-R-O!!

I wish we got a couple more albums out of him. i read an interview with him right before he died and he talked about how he wasn't happy with his work on the Diary Of A Madman album. little did he know how much he would blow up after that album/his death.

He played real fast, but that's about it. Prince plays with more heart.

Hero. Most definitely. It was a sad, sad day when he died.
Beyond wondering what he would've gone on to do, I've often wondered what Ozzy's career would have been like if he had been around longer.

I still have my copy of Guitar Player magazine with Randy on the cover from the year he died-almost in perfect condition.

2freaky4church1 said:

Oh God, who gives a flying f*ck? We're talking about Randy Rhodes, not comparing everything under the sun to his bloody purpleness!