ZAKK WYLDE: The Best Thing For RANDY RHOADS Was Hookin' Up W

[Geo Sav]

I think both albums are flawless. I can't imagine what a third album Would have been like.

[No1UNo]

I love the guitar tone on DOAM and the moodiness and frenzy of Randy's playing; the icing on the cake is the title track opus - AMAZING composition. I think the album being rushed shows up in the Believer solo (which has pieces of Mr. Crowley's solo in it) and the absence of a composed solo (only a guide track) on Little Dolls. You Can't Kill Rock and Roll should've been released as a single and would've really launched the album farther had Randy & the rest of the band continued on with the '82 tour and not been side-tracked with the accident, Ozzy's further withdrawal into substance abuse, and getting out of the Jet contract with the live Speak of the Devil album. I also love the mixing of the drums and sound of the bass better on DOAM.

Blizzard was definitely a "feel good" album...I love it just as much but in a different way. It just flows from song to song, and Randy's guitar tone is a bit fuzzier but great at the same time. The first track, "I Don't Know" hooked me - particularly the tempo changes in the song into the light middle section and then back into the solo...love the opening with the fade-in of the recorded gong being played backwards. I wish the drums could've been mixed the way they were on DOAM, but I'll take it the way it is. A very classic album with "Revelation" serving as the album's great piece of work - an amazing composition that builds to a creshendo with the frenzied solo. You've got to love Randy's ingenious way of weaving in classical elements to both albums but leaving them alone enough to still be rock and roll.

I will listen to those 2 albums until the day I die; they've always been the ones I'd take to a deserted island if I had a limited choice of what I could bring...and of course, something to play them on and a way to power it!

[AndrewT1976]

That's weird about the Little Dolls solo. I never really noticed it was so empty sounding. I just thought it was Randy being ethereal in his note selection. Come to think of it, it's kind of like a Pink Floyd guitar solo. Kinda cool.

[Geo Sav]

To this day I em fascinated at how big the chords sound on Flying High Again. Like HUGE.

[electricmombie]

Ozzy had just left Sabbath, and needed to start over. He had a leg-up on Randy for his experience in the business playing with Sabbath, so he could show Randy the ropes. Randy offered Ozzy confidence and belief in himself as a songwriter, and to stand on his own two feet. Bob and Lee themselves found it a win-win in that they each were able to play and write with Ozzy and Randy, and, really, they all brought out The Best in each other. The live and studio chemistry of Ozzy, Randy, Bob and Lee remains timeless and immense. They all complement one another so naturally and beautifully. Genius stuff, really. Randy had the opportunity and freedom to develop and grow, just as Ozzy did, and Bob did, Lee as well.. It's sad when the business side and unforeseen tragedy squelch a great thing in the bud. Called Ozzy albums or not, I hear a whole unified band when I listen to 'Blizzard' and 'Diary', or any of the 'Live E.P.' stuff, the Chelmsford bootleg.. Everyone involved got a very welcome leg-up from being involved with one another. This is a band that was very in-the-pocket, and Magically So. Thank God they made those two albums and did what they did. I love the "Little Dolls" solo the way it is. It emphasizes melody and songcraft over anything else. It fits the song. Not bad coming from an album that was supposedly rushed. Still my favorite of the two albums, 'Diary Of A Madman' is..