Any artist is going to want to play the best they can on their instrument whenever they first pick it up. No one gets into the business to be second best at anything, but Ozzy Osbourne knew better than anyone that it was better to have his own voice than worrying about how technically gifted you were.
Because as much as ‘The Princess of Darkness’ is known for being one of the founders of heavy metal, he had his limits on how much influence he wanted to have. For instance, while he loved the idea of being a ‘Fifth Beatle’ for most of his life, Osbourne never considered being on that same level. The Fab Four were untouchable in his eyes, but by the standards of metal, Osbourne did for metalheads the same thing that Elvis Presley did for rock and roll fans back in the day.
From day one, Osbourne was playing up his persona as a slightly sinister figure, but by the time he was kicked out of Black Sabbath, he no longer had that superpower anymore. He was now dangerously close to becoming a casualty of the music industry once Sabbath drafted in Ronnie James Dio, but when Randy Rhoads walked into the audition room, Osbourne knew that he had the potential to be a fantastic solo artist.
It was going to take a lot of work on his part, but Rhoads’s greatest strength was taking the pieces of Osbourne’s melodies and turning them into works of art. Compared to every other shredder in California, Rhoads had a vast love of classical music, and outside of his own pieces like ‘Dee’, songs like ‘Mr Crowley’ sounded so beautiful because of the symphonic way that he played guitar.
But Rhoads was far from the first person to think of that idea. There were already bands like Van Halen that had been around since Osbourne’s time in Sabbath, but whereas the frontman could approve of what Eddie did, he was dumbfounded listening to someone like Yngwie Malmsteen for more than a few minutes.
Sure, there were moments on Malmsteen’s records that were absolutely god-tier from a guitarist’s perspective, but Osbourne knew Rhoads could blow him out of the water, saying, “There are guys who’ll go wingly-wangly up and down the fretboard, and some have emotions and others don’t. Randy and Eddie Van Halen were at the winning post, and everyone else is a close second. I mean, this Yngwie Malmsteen guy must have the capability to do some amazing things, but it’s too cold; it’s too much for the mind to take in.”
And throughout Blizzard of Ozz, Rhoads proved why he was far more versatile than the typical shredder. A song like ‘Crazy Train’ could have been a showcase for his talents, but he breaks up his fast runs with melodic shredding, whereas Malmsteen will simply melt everyone’s face off and go through as many scale arpeggios that he can within a certain timeframe before finishing the tune.
It’s easy to look at Malmsteen’s playing the same way an athlete might look at their fastest runtime, but if there isn’t anything for the audience to latch onto, it’s a lot of effort for nothing. Most artists are meant to bring their own musical colours to rock and roll, and while people like Rhoads painted amazing sonic pictures, Malmsteen’s records can be like staring into the sun. It’s very bright, but if you look at it for too long, it’s going to start burning.
