Kapo_Polenton
Well-known member
This 100%. Essentially QR was lame AF. Bubble gum garbage with some cool out of context riffs.
Randy Rhoads 12/06/1956 - 03/19/1982
- Thread starter watson503
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Find a video of an interview with him. He comes across very kid like.
EVH story is pretty boring. He, Alex, and I forget the tech's name, sat around a large conference table with a few of us engineers and management.
Project was a small bluetooth speaker that looked like a guitar amp - this before anyone else had done one. They ended us passing on it.
He was the most quiet of the three but chimed in when it got to component quality and the affect on tone.
Got to go off on a bit of a tangent with him cause I piped in about the importance of transformers.
He kinda lit up and got that trademark grin and then he and I went back and forth a little.
They were firm upon arrival - no pictures, no handshakes, no fawning. First thing that struck me was how small he was.
He looked pretty fragile too. Who knows how his health was at the time. The other really, really strong vibe was that Alex was
extremely protective of him.
If you didn't know better you would have thought he was his bodyguard when they were touring our facilities.
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Kapo_Polenton
Well-known member
Hard to say, his style was already on display in 79'. But yeah, seeing other guy's in your circle is going to have an effect on playing and phrasing. That's art.
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
The 3 last books that came out about Randy, including the Bob Daisley book and Rudy Sarzo’s book talk about Randy ready to quit over the firing of Bob and Lee and being talked out of it by Bob. There’s also a semi recent video interview with Bob and Lee where they make that claim. It’s certainly possible they were lying, they definitely got fucked over by Ozzy and Sharon. But when you consider the other sources and the fact that it was well known Randy was going to quit the band it certainly seems probable to me. Even Delores and Kelle are on record saying Randy wanted out. I think even Ozzy said it. That Black Sabbath album that Randy hated was agreed to under the condition that it fulfilled his contractual obligations to Ozzy so he could quit.
As for RR just being a nice quiet kid, there’s simply no evidence to suggest otherwise. The only time I’ve ever heard of him even raising his voice was when Kelly G pointed a gun at him.
As for RR just being a nice quiet kid, there’s simply no evidence to suggest otherwise. The only time I’ve ever heard of him even raising his voice was when Kelly G pointed a gun at him.
Lightbulb just went off.
Devin Bronson, and he wasn't a tech.
He was a consultant for the middle man between us and the EVH brand.
Hotshot player himself and a cool hang. Had a couple lunches with him prior to the meeting.
http://www.devinbronson.com/home.html
Kapo_Polenton
Well-known member
I just listened to a Full in Bloom interview with his bro and sis and they said he was def. not an angel on tour or before hand with QR and that he was a regular kid in his early 20's doing stupid $hit from time to time. He did get more serious after being on tour with Ozzy though. Likely because the travel and drugs/booze/ antics turned him off the excessive lifestyle.
I would have loved to hear what Randy could have done with some of those Sabbath tunes. Symptom of the Universe he would have no doubt ripped it a new asshole just like he did Children of the Grave.
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
He was not a Sabbath fan and did not want to do that album at all. But I agree. It could have been epic if he got into it.
Kapo_Polenton
Well-known member
Yeah a lot of the Sabbath tunes sort of drag on or have a sluggish tempo which worked for the time but not as high energy as Ozzy's stuff imo. but on the good ones, you can tell which tunes he was ok with playing based on how much he put into the lead. Iron Man for example, zero interest/effort really.
cragginshred77
Well-known member
I grew up in Fresno and am soooo bummed to have missed that concert. I was in the 7th grade and ma would not let me go to devil worshipping shows that young, but man did I want to
braintheory
Well-known member
I can’t say what Randy could or couldn’t do without those guys. All I’m saying is despite other guys being technically better players than him with also better tone lol, none of them imo could remotely touch him with the best leadwork he composed. He was just much more gifted in that dept whether it was helped/nurtured from others or not. Him & Marty are literally the only players I can think of that wrote fast leadwork that still could actually move me, even give me goosebumps sometimes and told coherent story in their solos from beginning to end with the notes all having meaning. This is a much rarer talent than most realize I think. It’s the total opposite of the type of leads EVH did and the players that were more inspired by his approach. I personally always hated that more noodly style without much substance or cohesiveness to the entire solo holding together musically
Some guys need that nurturing from others to bring out their best work and that’s ok. I think I’m kinda like that too
Mr. Willy
Well-known member
I get what you’re saying. While Daisley did aide greatly in constructing the tunes, Randy wrote/constructed his solos completely on his own. Many of his solos are stories within stories. I consider Mr. Crowley to be the greatest metal solo of all time. I still get goosebumps on that solo to this day. Almost moves me to tears in its sheer beauty.
braintheory
Well-known member
Agreed 110%. Same for me. I seriously consider it the best guitar solo of all time for me in anything rock or metal (that first solo I mean). It was just stunning. It actually dethroned stairway to Heaven for me as the best of all time, but that’s still a very close 2nd for me and also timeless. No More Tears’s solo is also up there for me (why couldn’t Zakk stay like that lol). These other players guys mention here also have their own great things going for them, but they imo never came close to the musicality in that solo and to me especially not EVH or Yngwie, but just my opinion I suppose
braintheory
Well-known member
Honestly, as someone who has a master’s & post master’s in music in Classical guitar I think theory is overrated in how much it actually helps. So much of the most moving musical ideas I don’t feel can truly be explained by theory or logic. Those are the musical ideas that just came from some source of inspiration & spontaneity in the artist (not the formulaic musical ideas). Randy is imo one the guys that had that. I find theory helps more when we’re stuck with what to write next, but that doesn’t really get those magical musical ideas out that are just unexplainable, more just the transitional parts of the pieces that don’t do as much for me anyway
braintheory
Well-known member
This whole thing about who was first with sounding classical or starting tapping really doesn’t matter to me. It’s not a race, but more imo about who actually did it most effectively to serve the music. And for that criteria I don’t think any of these guys were within light years of Randy with his emotional depth his best leads were able to communicate. Honestly Randy coulda chose to have a more jazzy, bluesy, country or whatever flavor he wanted to rather than classical and I bet he would’ve been just as effective because he had that rare compositional talent over others in the genre. Just for playing alone many were better, but his gift is way rarer imo. I think many of these others just tried to be classical for the sake of doing it (almost a showy thing) and it just wasn’t too effective imo. Often it was quite cheesy actually, especially with MAB lol
Great post because it's dead on accurate .
I lived thru that era.
When Randy Rhoads came upon the scene, everyone knew a new Sheriff was in town, when Blizzard Of Oz was released .
When Diary Of A Madman came out, Eddie Van Halen wasn't the talk of the " Town " anymore .
Eddie's technique was replicated to the max, but Randy's compositional style and tone was Zeroxed to death, more so than EVH's .
When Randy Rhoads came upon the scene, everyone knew a new Sheriff was in town, when Blizzard Of Oz was released .
When Diary Of A Madman came out, Eddie Van Halen wasn't the talk of the " Town " anymore .
Eddie's technique was replicated to the max, but Randy's compositional style and tone was Zeroxed to death, more so than EVH's .
Your comment alone proves you definitely DID NOT live through that era because none of what you said is true . Eddie was the undisputed king through the entire 80's .
Floyd Eye
Well-known member
Like I said earlier, it depended on who you ran with. Even then there was a sub culture in
“ Heavy Metal”. VH appealed to women, preps, jocks and to a lesser degree stoners. Stoners gravitated towards heavier music. You’re still right though just based on output. Randy made 2 phenomenal albums then died. Hard to stay on top when you’re dead. Frankly though after the 1984 album VH really weren’t kings anymore. I got to LA in 84 ( I think ) and was there until 87. VH wasn’t really on my radar or anyone else I knew either by then. GnR, Motley Crue, Tesla, bands like that were big with the people I knew.