Ultimate Rhoads

So Ozzy and Zakk go their separate ways, and he gets replaced with this dude. This dude sounds...well, identical so Zakk in my opinion. Same squeals, ultra-wide vibrato, all that. We'll see how his writing ability compares.

He ain't no RR, that's a fact.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmOOnq_bPQ8
His version of Mr. Crowley

Does nothing to me. Not a massive fan of Zakk the man, but... I'm starting to think of that song by Cinderella, Don't Know What You Got (Till Its Gone)

I think Gus G suits the Ozzy that Ozzy has become... and also suits the winning formula of the whole Ozzy Osbourne sound/package of recent years.

I think Ozzy at this stage in his career is too tired/uninspired to go out and innovate metal like he once did, by finding another guitarist with Jake E Lee or Randy's flair and individuality.

The gig to get with Ozzy was quite a few years ago. Now-while great for any musician's cv to play with Ozzy-it is more like a session guitarist type gig than being a part of the ever rising and dynamic Ozzy train.

Matt

With all of the guitarists Ozzy has recorded with, the first album they appear on the Osbourne camp always plays it safe and has the dude sounding quite a lot like the guitarist they have replaced. They put blinders on Jake when he came in to track BATM and allowed him to express himself way more freely on The Ultimate Sin. Zakk sounded a shit load like the guitar work on The Ultimate Sin on No Rest but was completely someone else on No More Tears. And this new guy is destined to repeat. Sharon wants at the least, the same commercial response to a new Ozzy album as the one he got from his previous release, while hoping for the bigger response so what worked before has a damn good chance of working again. It does seem that every other Ozzy album takes a different approach though and that is a safe play unto itself too.