OZZY OSBOURNE — Tribute (review)

OZZY OSBOURNE — Tribute album cover Live album · 1987 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Negoba
The Best Ozzy Album, The Best Randy Album, Best Live, Maybe Best HM

Virtually every musician goes through a clone phase. Eddie Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Yngwie, they've all had so many imitators. For awhile, I was a Randy clone. And this album was my textbook. I think I've played every note on this album, most of them during live gigs. This is one of the key heavy metal guitarists, finally recorded at his peak. Finally we get to hear him at full power.

One of the things that really drew me in on this album was Randy's tone. Randy's multitracked guitars on the studio records seemed a bit cheezy to me even in the 80's but here it's just Randy full power on. It's hard to say how much was done post-production, but when this album came out the tone was just huge. The Suicide Solution solo was simply the most amazing thing I'd heard since Eruption. But throughout, Randy is heard just wailing. Despite his small stature and shy personality, on this record Ozzy actually allows the guitars to equal his voice and the result is amazing.

The big classics are here: "Crazy Train," "I Don't Know," and "Mr. Crowley" all just amazing. The studio out-takes from the "Dee" recording are very nice, showing just how delicate a human Randy was but also how meticulous. "Crowley" is probably Randy's masterpiece and here it sounds just great.

My biggest beef with this album is the inclusion of "No Bone Movies" and "Goodbye To Romance" and the exclusion of "Over the Mountain,"S.A.T.O", or "You Can't Kill Rock n' Roll." I'm not sure exactly what the set lists were in those days, but "Over the Mountain" was certainly in there at many points and there are great recordings of this circulating. Of course, it makes the second album a bit more essential.

In any case, this is a metal guitar player guide to how it's done. Absolutely essential.
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