For all of us mere mortals who lived outside of Southern California this was the first any of us had heard of Randy Rhoads. He came out of that same Pasadena scene that EVH and George Lynch came out of, albeit a couple of years later. He played on the first two Quiet Riot albums, but they just slipped by without gaining much attention.
As soon as you heard the opening to I Don’t Know, you knew you were hearing something special. A killer tone, sound, and a great band around him made all the difference. This and Diary Of A Madman are Ozzy’s best albums and that’s all down to the band with great playing and great songwriting. The only dodgy moment on this record is Goodbye To Romance, which is alien to everything else on the album, the rest of the album is just killer and it revitalized Ozzy’s career that’s for sure. Crazy Train, Mister Crowley, and Suicide Solution are all bonafide classics in their own right and a guitar hero was born. The solo in Suicide Solution, especially live, was a sight and sound to behold. Randy is sadly missed and we only have a small body of work to enjoy but he left was killer.
9.5/10 from the Grooveman.
