Favorite Ozzy guitarist

[Elric]

In terms of historical importance to rock guitar and influence it is not even remotely close: Randy. Jake, Zakk, et al are more or less nobodies in that context.

That said: I personally enjoy Jake more.

But I would never, ever, argue he was more *important* than Randy to the instrument or modern metal. So really I think a lot of people are answering either one question or both. I think the OP is most interested in the latter.

 

[romanianreaper]

So hard because Iommi, Randy, and Jake have been some of my favorite guitarists for different reasons. Iommi had the best riffs, Randy was the quintessential guitarist with the awesome playing but not just a metal guy, and Jake was the epitome of great 80's metal.

Jake E. Lee was up there with Lynch and DeMartini when I was in high school. Everyone wanted a blue Charvel because of him.

I loved Zakk's playing and Marshall tones but he was a bit after I already had those other guitar heroes in mind. I didn't like Zakk abusing the chorus pedal, that's for sure.

For me Iommi wins because he was that awesome and did it with fingertips missing, didn't have access to all of the amps and effects the other guys had, and just made everything sound so heavy.

 

[rupe]

Awww, does someone not have a sense of humor?

I do ..... obviously went over your head

 

[jabps]

Randy. And it's as simple as this - if not for Randy, it is fairly likely we'd never heard of any of the other guys... I can certainly make the argument...

Steve

Simple, to the point and dead on.

The one thing I always try and explain to younger guitarists is the impact that Randy had on players at the moment he hit. That's simply something that you had to experience it to fully appreciate and understand it. I've been lucky (I'm old lol) that I got to experience it twice in my life...EVH and then Randy. Obviously most things pale in comparison to Ed's impact but Randy moved the needle a ton. For many of us...Ed and Randy were like black and white. Ed had done so much for guitar and then came Randy, he showed us another avenue. More than that he showed us the possibilities. Further I'd say that the majority of people were like me at the time concerning Ozzy...he was just the burnt out former Sabbath singer that nobody gave a crap about and then like a slap upside the head this incredible music. Ozzy can never thank Randy enough.

Was seriously fun times as a young guitarist with guys like Ed and Randy...just opened the floodgates with Vandenberg, Vivian, Sykes, Lynch, Yngwie, Warren D not to mention guys like Gary Moore or Schon...and it went on like that for much of the 80's and the advance in playing and technique was mind blowing. I still think Randy...as a rock guitarist was only on the cusp of what he could have done. Even more amazing to me is to think that Ed, Randy and Lynch were all competitors on the LA scene at the same time. As a side note, Randy gets ripped for his tone, that's fine I understand but at that time when it all came out, most of us were analyzing his playing as opposed to his tone...as was the case for most guitarists of that era. The whole tone chasing thing would come later...at least it would for me.

As for Jake he'd be the second guy...I love Badlands but from a pure soloing standpoint his best work is with Ozzy imo. I'll always appreciate what Jake did for Ozzy.

 

[LowDesertSludge]

Zakk for me. Growing up hearing Perry Mason on the radio always left me in awe. Seemed sooo much heavier.

 

[metalmaniac93]

Randy. And it's as simple as this - if not for Randy, it is fairly likely we'd never heard of any of the other guys... I can certainly make the argument...

Steve

Simple, to the point and dead on.

The one thing I always try and explain to younger guitarists is the impact that Randy had on players at the moment he hit. That's simply something that you had to experience it to fully appreciate and understand it. I've been lucky (I'm old lol) that I got to experience it twice in my life...EVH and then Randy. Obviously most things pale in comparison to Ed's impact but Randy moved the needle a ton. For many of us...Ed and Randy were like black and white. Ed had done so much for guitar and then came Randy, he showed us another avenue. More than that he showed us the possibilities. Further I'd say that the majority of people were like me at the time concerning Ozzy...he was just the burnt out former Sabbath singer that nobody gave a crap about and then like a slap upside the head this incredible music. Ozzy can never thank Randy enough.

Was seriously fun times as a young guitarist with guys like Ed and Randy...just opened the floodgates with Vandenberg, Vivian, Sykes, Lynch, Yngwie, Warren D not to mention guys like Gary Moore or Schon...and it went on like that for much of the 80's and the advance in playing and technique was mind blowing. I still think Randy...as a rock guitarist was only on the cusp of what he could have done. Even more amazing to me is to think that Ed, Randy and Lynch were all competitors on the LA scene at the same time. As a side note, Randy gets ripped for his tone, that's fine I understand but at that time when it all came out, most of us were analyzing his playing as opposed to his tone...as was the case for most guitarists of that era. The whole tone chasing thing would come later...at least it would for me.

As for Jake he'd be the second guy...I love Badlands but from a pure soloing standpoint his best work is with Ozzy imo. I'll always appreciate what Jake did for Ozzy.

Well said!! I was there during that time period and started playing right when EVH broke out (Ace was my guitar hero for a short time before EVH came along). EVH was it for me until late 1980 when I heard Crazy Train on the radio. When I bought Blizzard the day it was released and in March 1981 here in the US and listened to it, I was floored. Randy definitely was a game changer in the same way as EVH was IMO and both had different styles. Now after Randy passed a slew of greats came out of which were mentioned above, but I also have to throw in Akira Takasaki (influenced by both EVH and Randy) and Ronni LeTekro plus others. I moved on after Randy and dug Brad, Jake, and early Zakk stuff up to Ozzmosis. The rest of Zakk's stuff with Ozzy is average at best. And then there was Badlands which was one hell of a band!!! Lynch was another main influence of mine.

 

[greatmutah]

I like them all

Seriously, Randy's at the top. It's true, without Randy, Ozzy wouldn't have been able to have other guitar players that we'd know or a career we'd give a damn about past Sabbath. Jake and Zakk, I personally think Jake is better (those fills in Never) but I like both and I like the albums both have done with Ozzy.

 

[Gorehog]

Definitely Randy. The playing,the songs.

Zakk was great on NRFTW but its not full of good songs. I hated NMT.mostly cuz the songs are too commercial for my tastes.

Jake played some cool parts and solos. But the songs didnt stand the test of time to me. I dont even own TUS. And rarely listen to BATM.

IMO, Ozzy was Iommi's singer. Therefore a new thread should be started--who was your favorite Iommi singer??

 

[IndyWS6]

Has to be Randy. Followed by Jake.

Diary of a Madman
Revelation (Mother Earth)
Mr. Crowley
Dee

Awe inspiring to this day...

 

[Shawn Lutz]

Randy Rhoads....the bar was set too high for Ozzy's other players I like Jake and Zakk but no where near Randy's class. Form me Joe Holmes was the best player to play with Ozzy since RR passed away...just my opinion.

Randy for me was guy who made me want to seriously play guitar and devote myself to learning his stuff. I started playing after I got electrified Christmas 81. What I liked was Randy and Eddie so that was my starting point. After reading about his classical influences I decided to check them out and fell in love with classical music which I probably wouldn't have gotten into at the time. His composition and theory knowledge also made me want to know why this shit sounds do good again that pushed me to learn scales, modes and theory. I was able to play some RR solos and Eruption within my first year of playing...I thought I was fairly good until a dude named Yngwie J Malmsteen hit the scene. Technically I was a cheater then as my speed was in my left hand and sloppy pickhand. You can't play Yngwie with all legato so it was off to the woodshed yet again.

Randy and Yngwie still to this day are my top two favorites.

 

[jrh_67]

Jake.. I can still listen to his playing on those albums and get chill bumps all these years later!

I saw them live with Randy and he was awesome also....

 

[gtrplr71]

1. Randy
2. Jake
3. Brad

I am with this guy although Jake on the ultimate sin was the album that did it for me.

 

[the crush 36]

100% agree with you on Zakk comment my thoughts exactly Thanks!!!!

I like all the guitarists Ozzy has had and here are my favorites. Sorry for the length...I started typing and got carried away..lol:

1. Randy Rhoads. Still blows my mind to this day. He has achieved God like status and is my favorite. But....would he be as highly regarded if he lived? If he went back to Quiet Riot, or played in another band and didn't have the Daisley/Kerslake tandem to bring out the best in him? Would he have made a VHIII? We'll never know. He wasn't around long enough to record a bad album. I didn't mean that as a knock on Randy...he was amazing, and was getting better every day and was more dedicated than anyone. Diary is still my all time favorite cd.
2. Jake E Lee: Jake definitely had some brilliant moments with Ozzy. Unfortunately for him, he played with Ozzy at the worst possible time, during Ozzys "glam years". Ozzy was competing with the Motleys, the Poisons, etc. I prefer Jakes Badlands stuff over his Ozzy stuff. He really hasn't released a cd that I haven't liked. He has a very unique style.
3. Zakk Wylde: ZW gets alot of sh*t on this board, and I think its unfortunate. I remember when I first heard Miracle Man, that blazing pentatonic lick and that wide vibrato at the end of the solo were killer! He had great stage presence and wrote some great songs with Ozzy. NRFTW was a good cd for a 19/20 year old kid. He had a great tone and fresh style, as everyone was sweeping back then. I have a hard time listening to some of the lyrics on that one though. No More Tears was great too, and had some killer riffs, solos, and more importantly...songs! Pride & Glory may be my favorite thing Zack did though. Book Of Shadows was good too. Unfortunately like alot of the others on this thread, he lost me with BLS, which to me is just too monotonous. He sounds to me like everything is just on auto pilot and he doesn't put the thought into it as he did his earlier stuff. Because of his output from 88-95, he should get a pass..lol
4. Brad Gillis: The first year I started playing guitar was when Speak Of the Devil came out. I loved his playing on that, and he stepped into a tough gig and did a great job! Here's a bootleg of Symptom Of The Universe from the SOTD show..enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCFu4-vQ6A Most of the show is on YT..its interesting to hear before Ozzys vocals were fixed.
5. Joe Holmes: Joe played great every time I saw him with Ozzy. He nailed everyones solos that he covered. Unfortunately, he didn't have the stage presence of Randy, Jake, or Zack, which hurt him alot. He also played with Ozzy during the grunge era, and dressed more like a grunge guy than a metal guy which hurt his image imo. I love the Farmikos stuff I've heard. Joe is the only guy to play the song "Diary Of A Madman" live with Ozzy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyOtm9ud3Ac
6. Gus G: Great player, but I haven't heard enough of his stuff. I heard the Scream cd, but its tough to listen to Ozzys over processed vocals, and listening to his new stuff just isn't the same as it was growing up.
7. Bernie Torme: Haven't heard much of him at all. I heard a recent cover he did of Mr Crowley that was terrible. I heard the stuff he did with Dee Snider was real good.

 

[sytharnia1560]

100% agree with you on Zakk comment my thoughts exactly Thanks!!!!

I like all the guitarists Ozzy has had and here are my favorites. Sorry for the length...I started typing and got carried away..lol:

1. Randy Rhoads. Still blows my mind to this day. He has achieved God like status and is my favorite. But....would he be as highly regarded if he lived? If he went back to Quiet Riot, or played in another band and didn't have the Daisley/Kerslake tandem to bring out the best in him? Would he have made a VHIII? We'll never know. He wasn't around long enough to record a bad album. I didn't mean that as a knock on Randy...he was amazing, and was getting better every day and was more dedicated than anyone. Diary is still my all time favorite cd.
2. Jake E Lee: Jake definitely had some brilliant moments with Ozzy. Unfortunately for him, he played with Ozzy at the worst possible time, during Ozzys "glam years". Ozzy was competing with the Motleys, the Poisons, etc. I prefer Jakes Badlands stuff over his Ozzy stuff. He really hasn't released a cd that I haven't liked. He has a very unique style.
3. Zakk Wylde: ZW gets alot of sh*t on this board, and I think its unfortunate. I remember when I first heard Miracle Man, that blazing pentatonic lick and that wide vibrato at the end of the solo were killer! He had great stage presence and wrote some great songs with Ozzy. NRFTW was a good cd for a 19/20 year old kid. He had a great tone and fresh style, as everyone was sweeping back then. I have a hard time listening to some of the lyrics on that one though. No More Tears was great too, and had some killer riffs, solos, and more importantly...songs! Pride & Glory may be my favorite thing Zack did though. Book Of Shadows was good too. Unfortunately like alot of the others on this thread, he lost me with BLS, which to me is just too monotonous. He sounds to me like everything is just on auto pilot and he doesn't put the thought into it as he did his earlier stuff. Because of his output from 88-95, he should get a pass..lol
4. Brad Gillis: The first year I started playing guitar was when Speak Of the Devil came out. I loved his playing on that, and he stepped into a tough gig and did a great job! Here's a bootleg of Symptom Of The Universe from the SOTD show..enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQCFu4-vQ6A Most of the show is on YT..its interesting to hear before Ozzys vocals were fixed.
5. Joe Holmes: Joe played great every time I saw him with Ozzy. He nailed everyones solos that he covered. Unfortunately, he didn't have the stage presence of Randy, Jake, or Zack, which hurt him alot. He also played with Ozzy during the grunge era, and dressed more like a grunge guy than a metal guy which hurt his image imo. I love the Farmikos stuff I've heard. Joe is the only guy to play the song "Diary Of A Madman" live with Ozzy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyOtm9ud3Ac
6. Gus G: Great player, but I haven't heard enough of his stuff. I heard the Scream cd, but its tough to listen to Ozzys over processed vocals, and listening to his new stuff just isn't the same as it was growing up.
7. Bernie Torme: Haven't heard much of him at all. I heard a recent cover he did of Mr Crowley that was terrible. I heard the stuff he did with Dee Snider was real good.

and yeah a mostly agree on the zakk thing although while I think NMT had some great songs on it zakks guitar tone leaves me cold.....to much chorus type effect with the solo tone

 

[Chubtone]

Jake.. I can still listen to his playing on those albums and get chill bumps all these years later!

I saw them live with Randy and he was awesome also....

In all the years of Randy vs. Jake vs. Zakk threads I have taken part in on the internet, this is the first time I have ever read about someone being old enough to have seen Randy live and preferring one of the other players.

I have found that peoples opinions are almost entirely formed by how old they are or when they really got into playing guitar. I know of no one who was way into guitar playing who witnessed the explosion of Randy Rhoads onto the heavy guitar world and then found one of the players following him "better". (I do now though and I can only ask when did jrh_67 first start playing guitar?)

I saw Rhoads, I saw Jake, I saw Zakk, I saw Holmes. Zakk is by far my least favorite though I do LOVE the riffs and his tones on the NRFTW album. I can't stand the chicken pickin' and the being married to the pentatonic scale at all costs approach though. That got old so fast.

 

[Badronald]

Jake.. I can still listen to his playing on those albums and get chill bumps all these years later!

I saw them live with Randy and he was awesome also....

In all the years of Randy vs. Jake vs. Zakk threads I have taken part in on the internet, this is the first time I have ever read about someone being old enough to have seen Randy live and preferring one of the other players.

I have found that peoples opinions are almost entirely formed by how old they are or when they really got into playing guitar. I know of no one who was way into guitar playing who witnessed the explosion of Randy Rhoads onto the heavy guitar world and then found one of the players following him "better". (I do now though and I can only ask when did jrh_67 first start playing guitar?)

I saw Rhoads, I saw Jake, I saw Zakk, I saw Holmes. Zakk is by far my least favorite though I do LOVE the riffs and his tones on the NRFTW album. I can't stand the chicken pickin' and the being married to the pentatonic scale at all costs approach though. That got old so fast.

No one said better.

The name of the thread is Favorite Ozzy Guitarist.

I'm old and Randy always left me cold. Good player, not so good tone, I just preferred Blackmore or Roth for the exotic stuff.

However I loved Ozzy. For me I'd have to go with Iommi.

 

[Anonymous]

Randy. And it's as simple as this - if not for Randy, it is fairly likely we'd never heard of any of the other guys... I can certainly make the argument...

Steve

but there was a randy and so we got the others, so as much as you might want to make up history you can't really...its as simple as that

I can create whatever hypothetical revisionist history I'd like in my response to this question. It's as simple as that.

Steve

 

[Chubtone]

No one said better.

I did put quotes around it......

 

[Bishop5150]

Randy. Without a doubt. I play in an Ozzy tribute band and still love playing crazy train. Guess I'm an odd one. But Jake's stuff is the hardest to play. Randy's stuff is very scalular which is more my style and background and Zakk's is very pentatonic riff oriented. Jake is very unorthodox. I had fits learning his solo's to Journey to the Center of Eternity, Lightnng Strikes, Ultimate Sin and Killer of Giants.

 

[Purpleibby]

I like each of them for their part.....I see a lot of Zakk bashing on here, fair enough....to each their own but the songs, tones, solos on NRFTW were pure awesome....If you take the stuff since NRFTW and NMT away I find it hard to fault Zakk, he was great. Those two albums are just fucking awesome........Jake I loved for his melodic sense in his riffs and solos were how he inspired me most. I loved Randy too of course, but did not care for his studio tones. The whole "vs." thing fans of rock/hard rock/metal have always tended to do is what gets old to me. I wouldn't want to imagine a world without all of ozzy's main guitarists/abums. We were blessed to get such great music/playing from all those guys.

Another thing, I've heard some folks say "glam years" on occasion about TUS....... glam was about style with no substance...I didn't and still don't give a damn about the flashy 80`s fashions as long as you were crankin' out good shit and good playing. You weren't a glam band to be counted with the likes of Poison if what came out of the speakers was kickin' ass. I mean come on, glam was Poison, Warrant, Faster Pussycat, LAGuns, Enuff Z'Nuff, Pretty Boy Floyd. The Ultimate Sin wasn't that, not even close.