Tag: randy rhodes

Ranking Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne. Man, what an icon for the world of heavy music. There would be no hard rock and heavy metal as we know it today if it weren’t for Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward when they founded Black Sabbath back in 1968. Picture that. The popular bands at the time were groups like The Doors and The Rolling Stones…and then, here comes Black Sabbath. They, quite literally, changed the world; and like so many of their contemporaries, their run at the top of the world was all too brief. For various reasons, Osbourne would be out of the band throughout the 80’s and 90’s before reconnecting and performing with Black Sabbath sporadically since 1997. Osbourne’s passing on Tuesday, just seventeen days after the final Black Sabbath show, truly feels like one of those deaths that marks the end of a chapter of your younger self. Ozzy Osbourne. I’m not sure there has been a bigger individual name in my lifetime that is more synonymous with heavy music.

In honor of his memory, and the killer tunes that he graced us with, now is your turn to choose YOUR favorite Ozzy (solo) tune. I will save Black Sabbath for a different time. Vote for your favorite below and then read on as I reveal my favorites from his wild career.

I was fortunate to see Ozzy perform live one time in 2007. It was at Ozzfest at the old Polaris Amphitheater in Columbus, Ohio before it turned into a Top Golf and a Swedish furniture store. It was a great show and I honestly remember being surprised by that. At that time, Ozzy was still largely in the public eye due to the popularity of his family’s reality TV show but I honestly didn’t think that he would still be able to perform. He proved me wrong. I wish that I had also got to see Sabbath, but it wasn’t meant to be, as Ozzy was sick for the 2005 Ozzfest and Sabbath had to cancel; leaving Iron Maiden to headline instead… Anyway, my introduction to Ozzy came from my dad’s Diary of a Madman cassette tape. That album still holds up and is the one that I hold in the highest regards from Ozzy’s career, although a decade later, No More Tears gives it a serious run for its money. Some of Osbourne’s greatest songs, though, would come towards the end of his life. His later works were introspective and I believe through this music was how he came to terms with his demons. My Top 30 songs from Ozzy’s solo career are below, in reverse chronological order:

  1. Patient Number 9 (2022)
  2. Ordinary Man featuring Elton John (2020)
  3. Under The Graveyard (2020)
  4. Let Me Hear You Scream (2010)
  5. I Don’t Wanna Stop (2007)
  6. Gets Me Through (2001)
  7. Perry Mason (1995)
  8. I Just Want You (1995)
  9. See You On The Other Side (1995)
  10. Mama, I’m Coming Home (1991)
  11. No More Tears (1991)
  12. Desire (1991)
  13. Hellraiser featuring Lemmy Kilmeister (1991)
  14. Road To Nowhere (1991)
  15. Breaking All The Rules (1988)
  16. Fire In The Sky (1988)
  17. The Ultimate Sin (1986)
  18. Shot In The Dark (1986)
  19. Bark at The Moon (1983)
  20. Over The Mountain (1981)
  21. Flying High Again (1981)
  22. You Can’t Kill Rock & Roll (1981)
  23. Believer (1981)
  24. S.A.T.O. (1981)
  25. Diary of a Madman (1981)
  26. Tonight (1981)
  27. Mr. Crowley (1980)
  28. Goodbye To Romance (1980)
  29. I Don’t Know (1980)
  30. Crazy Train (1980)

This weekend, raise your glasses to the Ozzman and turn it up to eleven.

Posted on by chadjhobbs 0

Pickerington bangs their heads with Quiet Riot at annual festival

Quiet Riot. The members that are continuing to carry on the legacy of the very important heavy metal outfit headlined the annual Picktown Palooza festival in the Columbus suburbs last weekend. The band was fantastic and were touring on their ongoing 40 Years of Metal Health (41 now) tour that began in 2023. Their story is one of triumph and tragedy alike, and they were sure to pay homage to their former band members that aren’t with us anymore; namely an iconic trio of rock stars that left this world too soon: guitarist Randy Rhodes, drummer Frankie Banali, and lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow. Anyone that dares refer to themselves as a metal head, ought to know the importance of 1983’s Metal Health record and what it meant for the future of the genre. Metal Health was the first metal album to every top the Billboard charts. Ever. It’s a great record from start to finish and I strongly encourage anyone to put it into their rotation regularly.

For starters, the festival has definitely grown tremendously since the last time that I attended. I believe that it was in 2019 when Dokken headlined and the event was held in the middle of town. It is now held on the campus of one of their huge high schools and was certainly much larger than in the past. Sponsored by local rock station, QFM 96, the concert attendance numbered in the thousands by my estimation. The show was highlighted not only by the hits but by deeper cuts like “Love’s a Bitch” and “Run For Cover” but the absolute highlight was being able to finally see “Thunderbird” performed live. You can check my video of that performance below.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZlkT7bgbJ34%3Fsi%3DQ3ysRCFJ-dbJ9HqI
Quiet Riot performing “Thunderbird” live at Picktown Palooza

The last time that I’d seen Quiet Riot was in 2007 at The Ohio State Fair when they played the Celeste Center with Slaughter. While classic era members DuBrow and Banali were still in the band at that time and the show was great, the set list was very short (only 8 songs for a headliner?!) and didn’t have enough stuff from their iconic album. Sadly, DuBrow would leave this world just three months after that gig at the young age of 52. The current era of the band righted those wrongs in Pickerington with a 15 song set that featured a heavy portion of the Metal Health record. Afterall, when you have an album that went 6x platinum, it’s wise to feature it in your live show. With that being said, however, I always encourage new music and I was happy to see the band play a song that wasn’t released until 2022; “I Can’t Hold On”. The song was a lost demo track written by DuBrow and Grossi back in the early 2000s that had been forgotten about until it was found on an iPod in 2021. The current band constructed the track from its demo status and released it two years ago.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=SmWZ2rDe1oQ%3Fsi%3D09_mTkyVlySpGB9W

They did that and more. The current lineup was energized and lead vocalist Jizzy Pearl (who has also sung for contemporary acts L.A. Guns, Ratt, and Love/Hate) had great control of the crowd. Drummer Johnny Kelly (formerly of Type O Negative, Kill Devil Hill, and Danzig) had the unenviable task of trying to fill the enormous shoes of Frankie Banali. Banali famously held the spot behind the drum kit from 1980 until his death in 2020 and poured his life into keeping the band’s legacy alive after DuBrow’s death in 2008 as was documented in the 2014 rockumentary: Quiet Riot: Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back. It is a fantastic film that documents the real life struggles of a band that seemingly had it all, lost it all, and the lifelong grind of trying to climb back to keep the dream and the music alive. It’s seriously a great film and a must stream if you haven’t already. Like I said, no small task for Kelly to sit in Banali’s seat. However, he played great and combined with iconic bass player Rudy Sarzo, the rhythm section was on point all night. Sarzo is one of those guys that has been around the heavy metal and classic rock band block, general good guy, and is well respected not only for his work with Quiet Riot but also in the following bands: Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Blue Oyster Cult, Whitesnake, The Guess Who and Geoff Tate’s Queensryche. The last of those, with Queensryche, I felt he was the star of the show when they played Columbus’ famed Newport Music Hall about a decade ago. The dude is a legend. Lastly, lead guitarist Alex Grossi, has held down that spot for nearly 20 years now. His playing did justice to those Cavazo riffs of the heyday era but he also made sure to pay homage to the all to brief career of the bands founding member; Randy Rhodes, as well. I hope that this incarnation of the band continues to tour for many years and perhaps for the 45th or 50th anniversary of Metal Health, they can play it in its entirety!

Quiet Riot Set List – July 13, 2024, Pickerington, Ohio

  • 1. Run For Cover (1983)
  • 2. Slick Black Cadillac (1983)
  • 3. Mama Weer All Crazee Now (1984) (Slade cover)
  • 4. I Can’t Hold On (2022)
  • 5. Sign of the Times (1984)
  • 6. Love’s a Bitch (1983)
  • 7. Condition Critical (1984)
  • 8. Thunderbird (1983)
  • 9. Party All Night (1984)
  • 10. Blackout in the Red Room (1990) (Love/Hate cover)
  • 11. The Wild and the Young (1986)
  • 12. Let’s Get Crazy (1983)
  • 13. Highway to Hell (1979) (AC/DC cover)
  • 14. Cum On Feel The Noize (1983) (Slade cover)
  • 15. Metal Health (Bang Your Head) (1983)
Posted on by chadjhobbs 0