It was brought to my attention that my post last Thursday was under-researched and lacking a certain respect that should be shown to great musicians. An anonymous reader made a few comments regarding these issues. My first reaction was to delete these comments as they reflected poorly on my blogging ability (which can be a bit suspect at times since I tend to "blog off the top of my head.") I immediately regretted deleting the comments as it doesn't show much appreciation for good constructive criticism. Here are a few corrections to my post last Thursday:
I misspelled Randy Rhoads' name! Pretty lame. That correction has been made. How can I properly pay tribute to someone if I don't spell their name right?
Secondly, I feel a little more than ashamed for trying to honor Randy Rhoads and at the same time belittle Ozzy Osbourne. Obviously Rhoads wouldn't have chosen to play with a second-class performer or musician (and in fact he would probably not like it much if I accused Ozzy of being any less than first rate). On top of this, I have actually been a fan of Ozzy Osbourne for more than a decade. I probably listened to him more in my youth than I do (okay, so I am still very much in my "youth"), but I still enjoy his music to a great degree today (and NOT just because of the guitarists).
If you are unfamiliar with Ozzy's music, I would suggest these tracks (my favorites): Diary of a Madman (from Diary of a Madman), Bark at the Moon (from Bark at the Moon), Shot in the Dark (from The Ultimate Sin), entire Tribute album, Crazy Babies (from No Rest for the Wicked), Mama, I'm Coming Home and A.V.H. (from No More Tears), Perry Mason and See You on the Other Side (from Ozzmosis). That's a good list for now I suppose. I haven't heard much of his newer material, but Black Rain has been on my list of albums to check out for a while now.
Another good point of which I was completely ignorant is that the "red jumpsuit bassist" featured in the video is actually deserving of as much honor as Randy Rhoads. His name is Rudy Sarzo and played with Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot.
I'm going to start taking the advice "to take the good with the bad." I don't expect that I won't make any mistakes in my blog posts in the future, but I am going to make an effort to improve the quality and reliability of the information I post. I know I won't be able to please everyone, but I will try to be fair-minded.
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7 comments:
It is good to take the good with the bad; it will make both your writing/blog and self stronger. Now, I completely disagree with one thing:
It is completely possible to honor Randy "Not-Red-Jumpsuit-Guy" Rhoads, while completely dissing on Ozzy. I don't have any beef with Ozzy, but these are two very different people and musicians who played together in a band; they are not soul mates or symbiotic beings. Randy's awesomeness/suckiness has nothing to do with Ozzy's awesomeness/suckiness. Liking one or even the band as a whole does not require liking every member of that band or any other musicians that he/the band chose/chooses to play with. If that was the erased criticism, then Ozzyfied should practice his logic. Maybe find some fun logic puzzles that he can play with.
I don't mean to be overly rude to Ozzyfied, because I neither know him or am able to read his original comments, so perhaps he made an astounding and logical point. It does seem a waste of time though to get upset at a blogger for even remotely implying that Randy Rhoads was awesome and Ozzy is not. Truth be told, I agree that it was the guitarists that carried Sabbath musically. Ozzy is a terrible singer. His lyrics may be good or pleasing, but the Ozzy himself knows he sucks and has admitted so. I once saw/read an interview with him where he admitted that half of the time he (when he couldn't come up with a creative vocal melody of his own) he would just copy whatever Iommi had come up with for the guitar riff/melody.
Ozzy isn't delusional. Let's not as fans be delusional either.
I quote this elopingcamel poster:
"Liking one or even the band as a whole does not require liking every member of that band or any other musicians that he/the band chose/chooses to play with. If that was the erased criticism, then Ozzyfied should practice his logic. Maybe find some fun logic puzzles that he can play with.
I don't mean to be overly rude to Ozzyfied, because I neither know him or am able to read his original comments, so perhaps he made an astounding and logical point. It does seem a waste of time though to get upset at a blogger for even remotely implying that Randy Rhoads was awesome and Ozzy is not. Truth be told, I agree that it was the guitarists that carried Sabbath musically. Ozzy is a terrible singer. His lyrics may be good or pleasing, but the Ozzy himself knows he sucks and has admitted so. I once saw/read an interview with him where he admitted that half of the time he (when he couldn't come up with a creative vocal melody of his own) he would just copy whatever Iommi had come up with for the guitar riff/melody.
Ozzy isn't delusional. Let's not as fans be delusional either."
My response:
No one said that you had to like everyone in the band to make it whole. BUT...you are forgetting one thing, the band mates (in Ozzy's case) were all like family. They ALL went through the rough times, the happy times and the tragic times, they were a bond, not just a band.
ALSO, Randy Rhoads and Ozzy were a GREAT writing team, they have written some of todays (still played) classics. There will never be a team such as Ozzy and Randy. I hate to correct you as well, but Ozzy wrote most of the stuff for Sabbath. He also created Sabbath, they replied to HIS ad for bandmates.
Now, also, what singer ever in the history of music has EVER said that they knew they were good singers?? Not a one!!!
You are deadly mistaken on the fact that Ozzy said he could not come up with a creative vocal melody of his own. I have every single piece of sheet music and almost 90% said written by Ozzy Osbourne and whomever else. He ALWAYS came up with the melodies, he'd hum them, and hope to remember them going to the studio, he'd hear Randy play just some made up riff and tell Randy to play it again, that it was great...infact...that's how Suicide Solution was discovered and Goodbye To Romance. Ozzy had the lyrics in his head to both songs and Randy just happened to fool with his guitar for both those songs and that's how those two were born. So, please do not tell me about Ozzy saying he sucked at not coming up with a creative vocal. I have hundreds upon hundreds of sheets of music proving otherwise. Also, that is false about stealing riffs from Iommi! I won't even go into explaining that whole false statement...would take too long.
I also have dozens of videos and some very rare ones where he talks about him and Randy and him and Daisley and writing and all...please do research first before making comments about me playing with puzzles.
Almost every single album Ozzy made went platinum and double, triple and quadruple platinum.
I am not going to sit here and keep defending the Ozzman, he needs no defending, just feel I need to educate people that do not know a whole lot. I am NOT here to start trouble...I am a LADY afterall...and I do not know the age of this poster elopingcamel, but I am sure I have yrs and yrs on him/her.
Ozzy himself has viewed my myspace account that is completely dedicated to him, Sabbath, Randy Rhoads, and anyone and anything to do with him. He spent an entire weekend looking over my site (about 3 weeks ago) and all my blogs and videos of some rare stuff that even he forgot about, and he was amazed, flattered and humbled.
I have been voted a few times over as the most loyal and Ozzyfied fan on myspace.
Nuff said, I am tired.
To call Ozzy overrated would be the understatement of my life. 75% of his songs were cover songs and the other 25% was a step away from being a cover song. His only good song was November Rain. Overrated. I do love him in those phone commercials though.
I apologize for implying your were male, ozzyfied. Also, That is actually really sweet that Ozzy checked out your site so extensively. In all sincerity, that is very cool.
To begin, your knowledge of all things Ozzy far surpasses mine. Of this we are both in complete agreement. I do not claim to know much about Ozzy, Sabbath, Rhoads, Iommi, etc. I am a lukewarm fan at best. I looked for that interview, but could not easily find it online, so I will redact my earlier statements that "Ozzy himself knows he sucks and has admitted so" and that "he would just copy whatever Iommi had come up" at least until I can find it. It has been a few years and it is very possible that my memory of it is less than clear.
Moving on, I think we are arguing two different things. While I may not be the biggest Ozzy fan out there (obviously you are a far greater fan than I ever have or ever will be), I can certainly appreciate his music. Yet, the point I was arguing was that it is not necessary that anyone like Ozzy in order to like Randy Rhoads or pay homage to him. I appreciate how close a bond the band members had with each other. Yet, it is irrelevant to the point I argue. They could be more than friends. They could be brothers. They could be lovers. It matters not. Their relationship with each other has no bearing on a fan liking one and hating the other. Maybe Ozzy or Randy wouldn't like it. Who cares? A fan of their music does not need their approval to be a fan.
To end, Steven has already made my argument fairly pointless by saying that he actually does like Ozzy AND Randy, so there doesn't seem to be a need for me to "defend" a position he doesn't hold. I'm also glad that you aren't one of those fly-by-night flame posters that just likes to stir the pot and then flee. I would love to check out your Ozzy site so if you feel the desire, please link to it.
p.s. I'm 26. I'll let you decide if that means you have years and years or just a few on me.
Well elopingcamel...yes I have exactly 20 yrs right now on you, in 2 months I will have 21 yrs, LOL.
But anyway, I undewrstood what you were saying, I was just trying to explain that this was not a typical bond they had. Yes, of course one can love Randy and not Oz or vice versa...but they were as they even said, a family. Regardless...a fan is a fan, no matter if of just one musician, or two or the entire band. I personally am crazy about Randy Castillo (R.I.P), the longest running drummer Oz had (9 yrs). But, that is another whole discussion.
Do you have a myspace account?? My site is set to private...too many people came to my site and stole all my tags and .gifs I made, so there is no more of that happening.
Please let me know via email that is in my other post here that I left and didn't care if it is out for everyone to see. LOL
ALSO, I am NOT even going to bother and waste my typing to this Matt person's comment, that was the most ignorant thing I have ever read. Just a hater, and he is NOT worth my time nor my intelligence. LOL. I laughed while reading his post.
Yes, TY, I was sooo excited when I was informed that he saw my site, I could hardly contain myself. LOL
I have been a fan of Sabbath/Ozzy for 31 yrs, so you can see why I have all this knowledge and the deep love for this man and his music.
I really don't/didn't think you were dissing on Ozzy. It seemed to me that you merely said his singing voice was overrated. This is true, Ozzy can't sing, but he didn't build his career on his singing voice. He created a sound and an image that was completely original and has inspired countless bands since. He did so by surrounding himself with only the most talented musicians he could find, like all of his amazing guitarists, most especially Randy Rhoads. The Ozzy of today is only as respected as he is because of the image he built for himself and his amazing ability to surround himself with amazing bandmates.
That is the impression I got from your original post. Ozzy himself is overrated, but because he surrounds and has always surrounded himself with such amazing talent, he has lifted himself to amazing heights. That accomplishment is in no way overrated and makes Ozzy himself that much more amazing.
I appreciate the discussion here. Thanks for reading and participating everyone!
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