J
JDs Couch
Well-known member
Ok, 999x lol
stratjacket
Well-known member
I don’t have preference, I really liked and enjoyed both and never got into the comparisons.
But if I did want to compare I think it’s hard to compare 2 albums from RR to a 45 year career from EVH. Should the comparison be VH I & II to Randy’s 2 albums or should it be Women and Children First and Fair Warning since those came out the same years?
But if I did want to compare I think it’s hard to compare 2 albums from RR to a 45 year career from EVH. Should the comparison be VH I & II to Randy’s 2 albums or should it be Women and Children First and Fair Warning since those came out the same years?
jabps
Well-known member
Yes it was a completely different band.
People forget or maybe have not paid attention but timelines are important here. QR 2 was released in 1978. Blizzard was released a year and half later and then Metal Health was released 5 years later. That's alot of time to grow as an artist which Kevin did, then throw in Carlos who often gets overlooked now and Quiet Riot was a completely different band.
Metal Health IMO is a classic and essential listening. It literally legitimized the entire LA movement that would dominant for the next decade. Which oddly enough is what all of those bands on that scene had hoped VH1 would do for them but didn't.
jabps
Well-known member
Few more thoughts on Randy.
I get his tone is now criticized but at the time, it was not. I've said this many times but growing up in that era, we just didn't analyze guitar tones like everyone would come to do. Everyone sounded different back then and that's about as deep as we got. If us kids could get a Marshall and an Ibanez Tube Screamer or Boss OD, everyone kinda built their own tone. I mean Neal Schon dominated the charts during that era and he had a vastly different guitar tone. Alex Lifeson, again vastly different. All guys that were releasing huge albums during RR's time.
Now when I listen to Randy do I wish it was better? Yep but mainly so players wouldn't make a big deal about it now, I always put it in context at the time. Not to mention all that brilliance came out of two albums recorded less that a year apart starting in 1980. And again, going back to tone in 1980, EVH's tone had not ascended to the benchmark at that time. Context in all this really matters. Zero doubt had RR lived he would have grown tonally as well.
Last thing on Randy - one of my favorite bits is the breakdown section in S.A.T.O starting at the 1:46 mark to the end of the song, especially where he catches that harmonic with the bar - all of that is just perfection to me, even his rhythm tone which slices like a knife.
Edit - one other thing, freaking Bob Daisley puts on a damn master class in bass playing on those two albums - I really couldn't imagine listening to them any different than they are now.
I get his tone is now criticized but at the time, it was not. I've said this many times but growing up in that era, we just didn't analyze guitar tones like everyone would come to do. Everyone sounded different back then and that's about as deep as we got. If us kids could get a Marshall and an Ibanez Tube Screamer or Boss OD, everyone kinda built their own tone. I mean Neal Schon dominated the charts during that era and he had a vastly different guitar tone. Alex Lifeson, again vastly different. All guys that were releasing huge albums during RR's time.
Now when I listen to Randy do I wish it was better? Yep but mainly so players wouldn't make a big deal about it now, I always put it in context at the time. Not to mention all that brilliance came out of two albums recorded less that a year apart starting in 1980. And again, going back to tone in 1980, EVH's tone had not ascended to the benchmark at that time. Context in all this really matters. Zero doubt had RR lived he would have grown tonally as well.
Last thing on Randy - one of my favorite bits is the breakdown section in S.A.T.O starting at the 1:46 mark to the end of the song, especially where he catches that harmonic with the bar - all of that is just perfection to me, even his rhythm tone which slices like a knife.
Edit - one other thing, freaking Bob Daisley puts on a damn master class in bass playing on those two albums - I really couldn't imagine listening to them any different than they are now.
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