Product Description

Just prior to the death of guitarist Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne was planning on releasing a live album. With Randy's passing in April of '82, Osbourne felt that it would be more appropriate to shelve the album in favour of SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, a live double set that featured only versions of his Black Sabbath-era material. By 1987, Osbourne finally felt that the time was right to issue the originally planned live effort featuring Rhoads, titled TRIBUTE.
TRIBUTE is simply one the greatest live heavy metal albums ever released. Rhoads' playing is consistently firey throughout, a fact that confirms how tragic his early passing was. The first eleven tracks are from the DIARY OF A MADMAN tour, including such exceptional Ozzy solo tracks as "Crazy Train", "I Don't Know", "Flying High Again", "Mr. Crowley", "Suicide Solution", and the Sabbath nuggets "Iron Man", "Children of the Grave", and"Paranoid". "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies" are from an earlier solo gig, and the final track, "Dee (Randy Rhoads Studio Outtakes)", is a stirring solo guitar piece. TRIBUTE confirms that this early solo Ozzy line-up featuring Randy Rhoads was his finest.

Track Listing

1. I Don't Know
2. Crazy Train
3. Believer
4. Mr Crowley
5. Flying High Again
6. Revelation (Mother Earth)
7. Steal Away (The Night)
8. Suicide Solution
9. Iron Man
10. Children Of The Grave
11. Paranoid
12. Goodbye To Romance
13. No Bone Movies
14. Dee

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51755 in Music
• Released on: 2002-05-20
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

A Guitar Hero
Randy Rhoads is one of the most highly praised guitarists in the Metal genre. His mix of Classical and contemporary guitar styles, which now seems clichéd, was a truly original and genuinely outstanding skill, so much so, that no guitarist has been able to match his sincerity in the canon of `Neo-Classical' guitar.
This live record serves as testament to his ability. To some extent, he sounds even better than he did on his albums with Ozzy. Not forgetting Ozzy; for all the controversy of his actions of the 1980s (and the present) it is surprising to hear his talent in a live format.
Despite the huge focus on Rhoads, this is Ozzy's finest live record, even more so than any Sabbath official release or bootleg.

Randy's album!
This might have Ozzy's name on the front, but let's face it this is the late, great Randy Rhoads showcase. Basically a live overview of the Blizzard/Madman albums with some inventive takes on old Sabbath cuts, Rhoads just completely shreds his guitar and creating great music for Ozzy to prance around and shriek over. Ozzy is also sounding pretty good whilst the rhythm section (Aldridge drums/Sarzo bass) are as tight as ever.

This album doesn't have a version of the title track off "Diary of a Madman" although I suppose that would be almost impossible to replicate live, but has some classic renditions of the Blizzard lineup ("Crazy Train", "Believer", "I don't Know" the list goes on!), as well as some immaculate solos by Randy (after a smoking version of "Suicide Solution") and Aldridge, as well as my personal fave "Revelation: Mother Earth" complete with Airey keys work.

Also included is the rather haunting recording session of Rhoads' classical guitar workout "Dee" and some very poignant and interesting liner notes by Ozzy and Randy's Mom.

For me, a great testament to Ozzy's best guitarist. Never again would Ozzy's music sound so honest and crafted.

May the spirit of Randy's playing never die

Great Album
put simply, this is a great album for anyone who likes the songs from diary of a madman or blizzard of oz (this is a live album taken from a tour after the second of the two of those albums, diary of a madman). It includes all of ozzy's best songs from those albums, with a fantastic guitar solo by randy rhoads at the end of suicide solution, and a not-quite-so-good-but-still-good drum solo at the end of steal away (the night). The only improvement would have been if it had some newer stuff, but you casnt have everything !