Music: Who played it better?
A totally unfair comparison, but that's what I do. Here is Corey Heuval doing a single take of a monster of song from Ozzy's second solo album, LIKE A BOSS
I am a fan of acoustic covers of killer rock tunes. Just call me a sucker for it.
Ozzy’s early solo work was interwoven with the guitar genius of Randy Rhoads, and we have two albums of his efforts with Ozzy, Blizzard of Ozz and the follow up of Diary of a Madman.
The second album is in many ways more polished than the first.
Plenty of great tunes, but the one that I really grooved on was the title track, Diary of a Madman1.
It starts with Randy solo on the nylon string guitar, steel string guitar and electric, doing his killer triple-track recording to make it super thick and lush that no chorus pedal could ever deliver (that was his thing, the ability to exactly play the part multiple times)2.
It then goes into a pedal-tone riff that just rips. Ozzy enters in the mix, and he and Randy weave a path through this tale of madness and insanity.
Multiple crescendos ebb and flow, culminating in a wicked solo (I mean, it is Randy after all).
That is what Corey Heuval has to work with in his arrangement. How will he pull off the dynamic changes? Will he be able to deliver the tension, and counter melodies?
Surely, he will only be able to play this as an instrumental, right?
RIGHT?
RIGHT?
Well, listen for yourself, and tell me what you think.
I will admit, when he began singing it, I got a little weepy, Corey brings his own panache to the song, takes it his own way, but it is still all Ozzy and Randy. That is respect!
If you are not familiar with the original, this is as laid down on the original LP, in all its Randy Rhoads glory.
This is also one of those songs that I learned how to play note for note. Literally hundreds of hours grinding away on this.
Believe me, this is almost impossible to pull off, to play with the exact same dynamics, timing, and touch on different instruments and have it come out in the mix like it was just a single, PHAT tone. Randy made it look easy. Don’t be fooled
I kinda like Corey’s version. I can understand the words better!
After listening to both, first I have to agree with Maggie (commenter from above) about being able to understand the lyrics better.
IMO, I think that if Randy was still alive, he’d be impressed (just as much as I was) with the guitar parts!