Speak of the Devil

good for a piece of history. But....
Its nice that this show has finally been released on DVD. The stage set is a historic one and great to be preserved on video. Just a shame that it wasn't filmed with Randy Rhoads on lead guitar, who just missed this filming. How great would that have been.

The good: the stage set and show. Tommy Aldridge on drums. Rudy Sarzo on bass (although he has a one-dimensional stage presence, just bobbing his head and licking his fingers...it does get old after awhile). Brad Gillis does a good job on guitar, considering how fast he was thrown in there and had to learn the complex material. His guitar tone gets annoying after awhile, but he's still fun to watch. Also the camera doesn't dart all over the place a gazillion times a minute like alot of newer filmed concerts do. (i dont' know why they insist on editing alot of newer concerts that way...they're nearly unwatchable because of it).

Now for the bad: For anyone that thinks Ozzy sounds good....those vocals have been...

Great concert, glad it's being officially released
This is an old school Ozzy concert. Following the death of Randy Rhoads, Ozzy recruited Bernie Torme to play guitar, but that didn't last terribly long. To fill out the rest of the concert dates, Ozzy brought in Brad Gillis to play guitar with the band that was already in place. The lineup here is:

Ozzy Osbourne - Vocals
Brad Gillis - Guitar
Rudy Sarzo - Bass
Tommy Aldridge - Drums
Don Airey - Keyboards
John Allen - The Dwarf (hey, it's in the credits!)

When you look at all the combinations that have been in Ozzy's solo band over the years, this one isn't usually rated terribly high. I don't know why, because I thought this was an underrated combination. Given the year this was recorded (1982), the track listing is solely off Ozzy's first two solo albums, and the usual handful of Black Sabbath tracks thrown in there. I suppose the backlash against this lineup came later on, because I remember when this first came out, it was all...

Speak of the Devil DVD, Finally Official
I'm giving this five stars because of its historical and nostalgic value, and for the amazing performance of the band. The overdubbing on Ozzy's vocals would pull it down to a four if not for the quality of the whole package, which documents heavy metal at its glorious 1980's best.

This concert was recorded June 12, 1982 during the Diary of a Madman tour, less than three months after the death of Randy Rhoads. It's not the same as the CD version, featuring mostly songs from Ozzy's first two solo albums. Ozzy delivered the goods to the crowd at Irvine Meadows in California, bellowing and running around the stage like a...well, a madman...jumping up and down, clapping and headbanging relentlessly. He deserves credit for pulling off the rest of that tour after such a terrible tragedy.

Brad Gillis, Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge, and Don Airey are all spectacular backing up the Ozz-man. The performance of Gillis is nothing less than stunning. His solo after Suicide...

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