Randy Rhoads Poll - How did he innovate the guitar?

[Cpt Matt Sparrow]

Paul and myself e mailed each other after the differing of opinion on how members of the site viewed Randy Rhoads and we decided it would actually be fun to see what the members here showed how they regarded Randy. Please do explain why you voted for who you do.

Cheers

Matt

[Jazznroll]

Ill say i dont know but there is somthing special about him and his playing that connect with me more then any other guitarist apart from hendrix.

[distortionplus]

I used the unique in every way, but did so as it was to me the best choice. I really think RR as an artist is to complex to explain with a sentence. IMHO his uniqueness can be defined in his ability to pick notes, licks, phrases, that seem to fit perfectly with the song. Many times the word classically influenced is used with Randy. He was not the first or the last to use this influence, yet I feel he was the best at doing it with feeling. Malmsteen covers Crowley on "Bat Head Soup". I ask which is more palatable?

Also his constant use of fills thrown in seamlessly defined him as unique I think. I don't know much about music theory, and may be describing this wrong but he could use dissonant sounding phrases that he could resolve beautifully.

[Lespauly]

I will say I think RR was one of a handfull of guitarist that where innovators--Robert Johnson-Albert King-Les Paul-Hendrix-Blackmore-VH-RR ..Every rock guitarist is just a copy of one or all of these players to me

[SLAGER]

I will say I think RR was one of a handfull of guitarist that where innovators--Robert Johnson-Albert King-Les Paul-Hendrix-Blackmore-VH-RR ..Every rock guitarist is just a copy of one or all of these players to me

Well said Lespauly, I totally agree with you. Randy was unquestionably both astonishingly talented and truly innovative (unless your a jealous old fool with a big ugly wart on your face). But, there are others that had these traits in other styles and similar impact on others.....Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Carlos Santana, etc. Not bad company to be in for a kid with only two "Pro" albums under his belt.

No one can take the genius he displayed away from him because he died. Chances are pretty strong that he would have continued to record some absolutely great stuff, with maybe even a few clunkers thown in. But he DID play on those albums - he DID write or help write those songs - he DID amaze live audiences around the world. Not even Lemmy can take away his actual accomplishments.

[oth]

I dont think he was an innovator.MAybve the JAckson design and headstock is an innovation.I certainly think evh's franken strat is.
His talent was creating perfect songs-musically and sonic wise.Over the mountain,crazy train,flying high are masterpieces. Perfect leads where not one note was frivolous.His rythmes were a wall of sound.His sound was gold and his use of effects were masterful.His feel dominates.

[Cpt Matt Sparrow]

I voted that he was one of a few innovators for the guitar (although as I will explain later I am not sure he is truly an innovator of guitar but maybe more of a musical innovator). He is my personal favourite heavy rock guitarist, but not my only favourite artist. In the genre of pop/rock there are obviously a few people before Randy, like Chuck Berry, Hank Marvin and Hendrix etc, who all did something different than their contemporaries pushing the guitar forward; then in the same genre people like Malmsteen and Vai opening up a whole new area on the guitar afterward and the term shred guitar ( a title I personally feel don't like)

For me, people like Alan Holdsworth, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa and recently John 5 have been a collective breathe of fresh air in not only being innovators but also very creative musicians who are individualists!

My personal favourite players other than RR are Carlos Bonell, Julian Bream and Logan Gabriel (Classical guitar), Matt Otten (Jazz), Django Reinhardt and Howard Allan (Gypsy jazz), Seasick Steve and Jeff Healey (Blues) and also John 5! John 5 just makes me smile. His music to me is so comical, intelligent and expressive!!

What was innovative about Randy? Like oth I don't know if I would call him innovative, maybe just extremely individualistic and talented the way in a compositional sense, he did his solos. They are so well structured and beautifully written, which is why I believe three decades later two albums of Ozzy songs still cause such a stir.

Matt

[The Flying Dutchman]

I choosed for the option "RR is unique in every way, as innovator, writer and showman".
I think it summarizes best my thoughts about Randy.

But it doesn't answer the question "Was/is Randy the leading innovator in the genre of rock guitar?"
On that I would say he was one of the handful innovators of hardrock/metal guitarplaying but (imo) not the leading one.

[whoopiecat]

I voted Randy in with the handful of innovators, and Lespauly pretty much nailed how I felt.
The Jackson certainly was an innovation in design...Randy's ideas did put a guitar company on the map with a unique body shape, no bones about it. Otherwise, Jackson would have been just another guitar company offering up a variation on the Stratocaster, which Kramer and Charvel were already doing.
Ed did have some good DIY ideas, but most were already doing the same (cheap body/1 pickup/1 knob), as they were broke. He just happened to be famous, so he got noteriety for it.
Not to be a prick, nor turn this into a vs. EVH thing, but tape and spray paint to a Strat body isn't really innovation...just an original paint-job. I would have said the same about Randy's PDV had he not come up with the Concorde idea...the PDV has a neat headstock, but, it's just a Flying V with an original paint-job.
Part of the reason folks gravitate to Blizzard and Diary, aside from the obvious, could be because we try to get a sense of where the man was going next. The bootlegs do give a great sense of that as well, as he was changing or adding to parts he already created...improving upon his own ideas and evolving...applying what he was learning from his studies.
It would have been nice to have had one album with Ozzy that wasn't a rush job. Bob, Don and himself would have come up with something grand.
Yes, I firmly believe had Randy lived, he would have seen the great need to get Bob back in the band, and Rudy's days would have indeed been numbered...buddies or not, the studio is no place to write someone's lines and show them how to play them.
Daisley's talents far exceeded those of Sarzo's...no contest.
Though some abhor Don's keys, that is the route Randy seemed to be going...they were onto something together. Bob was the missing part. Once the three of them got together, along with Ozzy's unique melodies...man...

[Cpt Matt Sparrow]

I have tried to 'blank out' ideas of him doing keyboard rock a la Journey later on !!!!! LOL

[whoopiecat]

Though Grunge was going to happen eventually, I'd like to think had he lived, Randy's influence would have helped kept the foolishness of poodle rock from happening.
I'd also like to think the guitar/keys more along the lines of Lord/Blackmore, than Cain/Schon

[Geo Sav]

I feel those coices were tough to make a decision. Randys playing made me as a individual want to study music on the guitar. learn modes and scales, arpeggios, finger picking . Not only to shred but study the guitar on a musical side too. Hard rock and metal didn't sound the same after those two albums. How many guitarists were playing classical guitar before those albums? Or the use of diminished arpeggios and chords. I could go on but I would be here forever.

[sik_kreations]

I voted Randy in with the handful of innovators, and Lespauly pretty much nailed how I felt.
The Jackson certainly was an innovation in design...Randy's ideas did put a guitar company on the map with a unique body shape, no bones about it. Otherwise, Jackson would have been just another guitar company offering up a variation on the Stratocaster, which Kramer and Charvel were already doing.
Ed did have some good DIY ideas, but most were already doing the same (cheap body/1 pickup/1 knob), as they were broke. He just happened to be famous, so he got noteriety for it.
Not to be a prick, nor turn this into a vs. EVH thing, but tape and spray paint to a Strat body isn't really innovation...just an original paint-job. I would have said the same about Randy's PDV had he not come up with the Concorde idea...the PDV has a neat headstock, but, it's just a Flying V with an original paint-job.
Part of the reason folks gravitate to Blizzard and Diary, aside from the obvious, could be because we try to get a sense of where the man was going next. The bootlegs do give a great sense of that as well, as he was changing or adding to parts he already created...improving upon his own ideas and evolving...applying what he was learning from his studies.
It would have been nice to have had one album with Ozzy that wasn't a rush job. Bob, Don and himself would have come up with something grand.
Yes, I firmly believe had Randy lived, he would have seen the great need to get Bob back in the band, and Rudy's days would have indeed been numbered...buddies or not, the studio is no place to write someone's lines and show them how to play them.
Daisley's talents far exceeded those of Sarzo's...no contest.
Though some abhor Don's keys, that is the route Randy seemed to be going...they were onto something together. Bob was the missing part. Once the three of them got together, along with Ozzy's unique melodies...man...

randy pretty much came up with the neck design.. and the body shape of concorde.. grover just had to "print". without randy imo there wouldnt be jackson..

[Stewie]

I choosed for the option "RR is unique in every way, as innovator, writer and showman".
I think it summarizes best my thoughts about Randy.

But it doesn't answer the question "Was/is Randy the leading innovator in the genre of rock guitar?"
On that I would say he was one of the handful innovators of hardrock/metal guitarplaying but (imo) not the leading one.

I went with 'Yes, RR innovated the guitar in a way that no one is comparable' but I would also choose the same as The Flying Dutchman, I agree 100% with what you say.
It is also quite hard to be a leading guitarist if you only have a couple of albums (2 if we only count ozzy's), and I think people would agree that if Randy happily stayed in Ozzy's band, the 3rd album would be even better than Blizzard or Diary (like whoopiecat said).

[Vtrockgod]

He was certainly a great talent and innovative, but everybody borrows from someone somewhere. The question is do you shamelessly steal (think Kingdom Come from Led Zeppelin) or do you take certain aspects and mold it into your own style? RR took different aspects of Glen Buxton, Mick Ronson, Ritchie Blackmore, Leslie West, etc. etc. and combined them in a way that made him unique. He wasn't the next "fill in the blank": he was the first Randy Rhoads. He's one of the few guys who used the tapping technique and did not sound like EVH. I think a great deal of Jackon's popularity and look (especially in the '80s) can be traced back to the concordes Grover Jackson built for him. He's an important figure in the melding of classical and heavy music. He had the ability to combine stellar technical chops with tastefulness in solos and hooks in his riffs. And his records with Ozzy are on anyone's short list of classic heavy records. I think he and EVH are the two most innovative/important/influential guitarists of the '80s.