where does randy rhoads still stand?

skyguitarworks

skyguitarworks

New member
the dimebag question got some interesting answers, lets see everyones thought on another icon.......for years i was a randy fanatic, and still am at heart, i think randy made one helluva mark with so little recoreded material.

whats your thoughts?
 
Ummm, they're both dead? :D

I haven't heard much of Dimebag's playing and have heard tons of Randy's. I'm too biased.
 
MadAudio said:
Ummm, they're both dead? :D

I haven't heard much of Dimebag's playing and have heard tons of Randy's. I'm too biased.
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don't wanna compair, just want peoples thoughts on one of my biggest influances.
 
Joking aside, I thought Rhoads was jaw dropping. I remember when "Blizzard of Ozz" came out and how I was floored by his tone and ability.
 
I actually though Randy's tone was horrid, sort of the worst possible combination of the stompbox mentality of the day.

Still, his playing always makes me smile. He was so melodic, and he knew how to get in and out of a fill or a solo clean every time. Absolute genius. :)

Haven't listened to Dimebag, but I am suspicious of persons always photographed wearing baseball caps. At least if they aren't baseball players. :p
 
mshilarious said:
I actually though Randy's tone was horrid, sort of the worst possible combination of the stompbox mentality of the day.
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You could be right. I may be looking back with rose-colored headphones on. And remember I had that record on vinyl. Someone stole it years ago though dammit......

But compared to what else was going on at the time, he had pretty good chops IMO.
 
mshilarious said:
I actually though Randy's tone was horrid, sort of the worst possible combination of the stompbox mentality of the day.
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I think Randy's tone was great. Live, it was phenomenal. Listen to TRIBUTE. In addition, his studio tone on CRAZY TRAIN is awesome... it was achieved using some kind of studio delay (AMS?), not a stomp box.

As far as your comment about "stompbox mentality", I think it's true that more people use the devices today than "back in the day."
 
Nandoram said:
In addition, his studio tone on CRAZY TRAIN is awesome... it was achieved using some kind of studio delay (AMS?), not a stomp box.

As far as your comment about "stompbox mentality", I think it's true that more people use the devices today than "back in the day."
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Crazy Train is a great song with a horrible guitar tone, sorry.

These days there is an appreciation among even beginning guitarists for a decent tube amp. "Back in the day", I didn't know a single guitarist with a tube amp. Maybe it was a question of cost, I don't recall. I'm not saying what Randy used, I don't know, but among his legions of fans, most of them were using Boss Metal Zone pedals into solid state Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, or worse. There was nothing like the Epi Valve Jr. around. The POD of the day was the Tom Scholz Rockman, which a lot of people ran into a solid state combo.
 
Nandoram said:
I think Randy's tone was great. Live, it was phenomenal. Listen to TRIBUTE. In addition, his studio tone on CRAZY TRAIN is awesome... it was achieved using some kind of studio delay (AMS?), not a stomp box.

As far as your comment about "stompbox mentality", I think it's true that more people use the devices today than "back in the day."
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i'll second that. his tone was as unique as his playing style.

i think when people try to compare him to guitarists who've come out since, the focus is on speed. speed is an excellent tool to have in ones arsenal but doesn't necessarily define a guitarist's greatness. style on the other hand. that's why i love to hear slash play...style.

yup. even by today's standards randy rhoads is still great!
 
mshilarious said:
These days there is an appreciation among even beginning guitarists for a decent tube amp. "Back in the day", I didn't know a single guitarist with a tube amp. Maybe it was a question of cost, I don't recall. I'm not saying what Randy used, I don't know, but among his legions of fans, most of them were using Boss Metal Zone pedals into solid state Marshalls, Fenders, Peaveys, or worse. There was nothing like the Epi Valve Jr. around. The POD of the day was the Tom Scholz Rockman, which a lot of people ran into a solid state combo.
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it was cost. all of the good guitarists i knew (who had money) used tube amps. if i had enough money back then, i'd have been playing through a marshall tube. they sounded excellent with a tube screamer. but us 'po' folks were stuck with solid state. usually peavey. -sigh-

i knew quite a few who used the rockman also...through tube amps. but you could always tell when someone was using a rockman because they all sounded the same.
 
mshilarious said:
I actually though Randy's tone was horrid, sort of the worst possible combination of the stompbox mentality of the day.
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Thank you, I thought I was the only one. His tone was brittle crap IMO, and I can't listen to Blizzard.

His tone was a little more polished on Diary and from there I gained more appreciation of him in his songwriting and soloing.

Would be nice to hear how he'd sound if he was alive a few more years when production values improved.
 
skyguitarworks said:
the dimebag question got some interesting answers, lets see everyones thought on another icon.......for years i was a randy fanatic, and still am at heart, i think randy made one helluva mark with so little recoreded material.

whats your thoughts?
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As much as I liked him and every other guitarist that Ozzy ever had with him,
Tony is still the man,as well as Geezer and Billl.
 
Randy was the reason I stuck with playing guitar in high school. I was so taken by Tribute. I literally ran home from the bus stop every day to go and practice the Tribute tab songbook.

I don't know if its the usual post-mortem spin, but the image that I've seen of Randy was that he was truly one of the good guys in the world of guitar heroes. A student of the instrument and a humble fellow.

Even though his tone wasn't great by today's standards, I have to give him credit for at least upping the mids in his guitar tracks. It gave it a kind of Mick Ronson type of feel (plus his suspiciously Ronson-esque metal mullet, and his Ronson-esque white LP Custom). Thankfully Metallica had yet to come along and ruin guitar tone forever by scooping out the mids.

I embrace mids :)
 
RR was awesome and I think "Tribute" supports that opinion. The "standard" for good guitar sound has come a long way since the 80's, but I think his live tone was pretty decent (not what I would go for if I was a professional guitarist but still listenable). In terms of technical prowess, invintiveness and style he was miles ahead of his hard rock/metal peers. $.02
 
IMO a big part of the problem was that Blizzard in general was not a good sounding album. I believe it was recorded on a tight budget and could have even been self financed by Ozzy, but don't quote me on that. Tribute and Diary sound much better across the board.

As far as his playing, I think he was great. He could be a little derivative from EVH and also the general neoclassical thing going on then, but he was tasteful and melodic about it. You can go back and listen to his riffage so many years later and maybe it doesn't sound mind blowing but it still sounds solid and smooth, not silly and forced like a lot of the stuff from that era.
 
defining RR tone...

take a cardboard box from a Budweiser case, fill the box with a bunch of socks and install a 5" whizzer cone and a jack...

portable Blizzard sound.

Maybe it will be a new module for a POD?
 
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