Metallica ...For Whom The Bells tolls at The Sphere

Metallica ..ONE

James Hetfield meeting some inferior genre artist at the Raiders game. Metallica the unofficial band of the Raiders. James reminding Ice-Cube he has Cate Blanchett....

Marty Friedman, Scott Ian and Dave Ellefson on Randy Rhoads and his impact. it is clear not everyone thought Ozzy Osbourne was the focus.

hey @Forbes one of these bands has the top selling metal debut in history, the other is Metallica...

great job, A leaguers on AND off the stage @5FDPChrisKael

Metallica deserves the praise, but let's not forget what pieces of shit Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Darth Hideous were/are and the lies they told to ruin an all time great band: The Blizzard of Ozz.

While Metallica deserves the top spot as the greatest heavy metal band of all time, Black Sabbath certainly deserves votes for being the Godfathers of Heavy Metal. Iron Maiden belongs in that conversation as well. But what often gets overlooked, thanks to Ozzy Osbourne's dishonesty, his treatment of the musicians who helped resurrect his career, and the actions of his horrible manager and wife, Darth Hideous, is what might have happened had The Blizzard of Ozz remained a band. Think about that lineup: Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, and Ozzy Osbourne as their frontman. Four musicians who came together and created two of the greatest albums in heavy metal history in an incredibly short period. Imagine if they had stayed together. Imagine what Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake could have accomplished over another five or ten years of writing, recording, and touring together. The Blizzard of Ozz might have become one of the greatest rock bands of all time, potentially rivaling even Led Zeppelin. And here's what makes the historical revisionism surrounding this band so ridiculous: Ozzy Osbourne could have been remembered as the frontman of TWO of the greatest heavy metal bands in history. Black Sabbath, the band that helped invent the genre, and The Blizzard of Ozz, the band that helped revolutionize it. What an extraordinary legacy that would have been! Instead, Ozzy and Darth Hideous chose to build the mythology of a solo artist at the expense of the musicians whose songwriting and performances made those records legendary. And let's not forget, Diary of a Madman is an absolute masterpiece. In my view, it's as close to an objectively perfect heavy metal album as you can get. The songwriting, arrangements, musicianship, and Randy Rhoads' extraordinary guitar work are simply on another level. The tragedy isn't just that Randy Rhoads died at 25. It's that we'll never know what this remarkable collection of musicians might have accomplished had they remained together. The Blizzard of Ozz had the talent to become one of the greatest bands in rock history. Their legacy should be celebrated as a band, not reduced to a footnote in the Ozzy Osbourne solo mythology.

I don't think there's much debate that Metallica is the greatest heavy metal band of all time. But there are certainly a few other bands that deserve consideration. For the sake of argument, let's acknowledge that Black Sabbath founded heavy metal. Sabbath absolutely deserves votes in any discussion about the greatest metal band of all time. They also have a legitimate claim to being the most influential heavy metal band in history. Of course, when you consider the sheer number of people Metallica has reached and influenced, they might have an argument for that distinction as well. But Sabbath came first. Tony Iommi and company laid the foundation upon which everyone else built. Iron Maiden should certainly receive votes, too. Here we are, nearly 50 years after their formation, and they're headlining stadiums in the United States, reaching heights that arguably eclipse even their commercial peak in the 1980s. And let's not forget that Iron Maiden had the balls to stand up to those two pieces of shit, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, during the infamous Ozzfest debacle in August 2005. In many ways, that moment reinforced Maiden's stature as a band that didn't need to bow down to anyone. They were already metal royalty, and their continued ascent only strengthened that position. But there's another band that rarely gets mentioned in these conversations, and I believe they might have become the greatest heavy metal band of all time had history unfolded differently. The Blizzard of Ozz. Randy Rhoads. Bob Daisley. Lee Kerslake. And Ozzy Osbourne as their frontman. Think about the extraordinary collection of talent in that band. Randy Rhoads was revolutionizing heavy metal guitar. Bob Daisley was an exceptional bassist, lyricist, and songwriter. Lee Kerslake brought tremendous musicianship, songwriting ability, and a powerful rhythmic foundation. And Ozzy, whatever his shortcomings, was the perfect voice for what those musicians were creating. Together, they produced two of the greatest heavy metal albums ever recorded: Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. And they accomplished that in an astonishingly short period. Unfortunately, because Ozzy Osbourne and his wife, Darth Hideous, chose to promote the Ozzy Osbourne solo narrative rather than properly celebrate the band responsible for those masterpieces, The Blizzard of Ozz has never received the recognition it deserves as a band. One of the great acts of historical revisionism in heavy metal. And here's the irony: I believe that decision actually diminished Ozzy Osbourne's legacy rather than enhanced it. Imagine being able to say you were the frontman of Black Sabbath, the band that essentially created heavy metal, and then became the frontman of another band that arguably produced two even greater albums. What an extraordinary legacy that would have been! Instead, the Blizzard of Ozz identity was pushed aside in favor of the Ozzy solo brand, leaving generations of casual fans believing those albums were simply Ozzy's creations, with Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake serving as hired musicians. Nothing could be further from the musical reality. And that's what makes this such a fascinating hypothetical. Had Randy Rhoads lived, had Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake remained, and had The Blizzard of Ozz continued creating music as a band, how high could they have climbed? Could they have eventually challenged Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, or even Metallica for the title of greatest heavy metal band of all time? We'll never know. But based on those first two albums, I wouldn't have bet against them.

Randy Rhoads iconic guitar solo Crazy Train While I was in Vegas seeing Metallica at the Sphere, we had an off night between shows. So, on Friday night, we went out to dinner, walked around the Strip, and eventually came across a piano bar. We decided to go in. At some point during the evening, someone requested "Crazy Train." Of course, people in the bar were enjoying it, and the piano player was entertaining the crowd, talking his way through different parts of the song as he played. But things got really interesting as he approached Randy Rhoads' iconic guitar solo. He started telling the audience that he couldn't do it, that the solo was simply too difficult. Of course, he was clearly building anticipation, because what happened next was incredible. He launched into the solo, translating Randy's guitar work to the piano, seemingly note for note. And the reaction from the people in the bar was absolutely incredible. They went CRAZY! It was at that moment that something really dawned on me about what makes "Crazy Train" such an iconic song. Yes, it's an incredibly well-written song with one of the most recognizable riffs in heavy metal history. But what elevates it from a great song to an all-time masterpiece? IT'S THE GUITAR SOLO, STUPID! youtube.com/shorts/kdO6uLQKT… Randy Rhoads' solo takes an already great song to another level of greatness. It's not simply a display of technical brilliance. It's a composition within a composition, with its own melody, structure, and emotional impact. And hearing it translated to the piano made that even more apparent. What fascinated me most was watching a bar full of people absolutely lose their minds during the solo. They weren't listening to Randy playing guitar. They were listening to someone recreate his masterpiece on a piano, and the reaction was extraordinary. That's the genius of Randy Rhoads. His solos weren't just guitar solos. They were musical compositions that could stand on their own, regardless of the instrument playing them. Nearly five decades after Randy helped create "Crazy Train," that solo still has the power to bring a room full of people to its feet. That's what separates a great guitarist from a truly legendary musician.

The Lord of the Riff Tony Iommi