Brad Gillis and Speak of the Devil

[AmpliFIRE]

one of my all time fav tones...

 

[Meathead]

This album was an eye opener for me when it came out when I was a kid. For me it had some of the best versions of some Sabbath tunes, and I love Gillis' tone and playing. The solos sound like Brad was just winging it, just created on the spot. He's a great improv rock player.
Brad was one of those guys that really overused the whammy bar but I liked his style and it didn't bother me for some reason.

I think that Brad is an amazing player that had some big shoes to fill and not alot of time to prepare for it. He was most definitely winging it and under the circumstances, I think that he crushed it and I was fortunate enough to see RR twice..

I met him after they did the speak of the Devil show here in NYC and he couldnt have been cooler or more down to earth..

Kage

I read that Ozzy asked Brad to join the band, I would have loved to have heard some Ozzy albums with Gillis.
Brad turned him down to be with Night Ranger. Brad's career would have been more profitable and he would have become a household name if he would have played with Ozzy for a few albums.

Very underrated player IMO. He had a unique sound and a unique playing style that was great for hard rock back then.

 

[hellaboogie]

This album was an eye opener for me when it came out when I was a kid. For me it had some of the best versions of some Sabbath tunes, and I love Gillis' tone and playing. The solos sound like Brad was just winging it, just created on the spot. He's a great improv rock player.
Brad was one of those guys that really overused the whammy bar but I liked his style and it didn't bother me for some reason.

I think that Brad is an amazing player that had some big shoes to fill and not alot of time to prepare for it. He was most definitely winging it and under the circumstances, I think that he crushed it and I was fortunate enough to see RR twice..

I met him after they did the speak of the Devil show here in NYC and he couldnt have been cooler or more down to earth..

Kage

I read that Ozzy asked Brad to join the band, I would have loved to have heard some Ozzy albums with Gillis.
Brad turned him down to be with Night Ranger. Brad's career would have been more profitable and he would have become a household name if he would have played with Ozzy for a few albums.

Very underrated player IMO. He had a unique sound and a unique playing style that was great for hard rock back then.

I was just talking about this with a buddy the other day

 

[Gainzilla]

This album was an eye opener for me when it came out when I was a kid. For me it had some of the best versions of some Sabbath tunes, and I love Gillis' tone and playing. The solos sound like Brad was just winging it, just created on the spot. He's a great improv rock player.
Brad was one of those guys that really overused the whammy bar but I liked his style and it didn't bother me for some reason.

I think that Brad is an amazing player that had some big shoes to fill and not alot of time to prepare for it. He was most definitely winging it and under the circumstances, I think that he crushed it and I was fortunate enough to see RR twice..

I met him after they did the speak of the Devil show here in NYC and he couldnt have been cooler or more down to earth..

Kage

I read that Ozzy asked Brad to join the band, I would have loved to have heard some Ozzy albums with Gillis.
Brad turned him down to be with Night Ranger. Brad's career would have been more profitable and he would have become a household name if he would have played with Ozzy for a few albums.

Very underrated player IMO. He had a unique sound and a unique playing style that was great for hard rock back then.

Agreed to all. He was knee deep in Night Ranger and did Ozzy a favor, let him know from the beginning that it was temp gig until he could find a suitable replacement.

previously, he had played in a Funk Rock band called Rubicon. I actually saw them play live at Cal Jam II in '78. Jack Blades was in the band with him and they left to form Night Ranger.

The guy was a Whammy bar pioneer for sure, Steve Vai and other credit him with a bunch of stuff... He did go overboard with it sometimes( it was what he became know for so Like EVH and tapping, he kind of had to go crazy with it) but He did some really neat musical phrasing with it and I definitely borrowed my share from him.

 

[Code001]

It's nice to see some Brad Gillis love. He's about the least talked about member in Ozzy, but he left a strong impression with that live album, in my opinion. I would have loved to hear him make a few albums back in the day.

 

[Red_Label]

Nuther fan of Gillis here. I've never been into whammy bars much, but the tasty phrasing that he did with it on some of the Night Ranger stuff has always stuck with me.

I actually saw Night Ranger four times and they were always good. My first concert was actually Night Ranger opening for ZZ Top back in '83 or '84.

I remember one of their shows years later, me and some friends were in town for it early in the day and we were hanging-out at the local mall. Brad and Jeff were cruising the mall on a mission to get some item from the local radio shack. They were headlining that day and you'd think that they would have sent their tech(s). But anyways.. we ended-up following/stalking them for their time at the mall. We were just stupid teenage kids...