Immediately following the death of
Ozzy Osbourne's dear friend and collaborator
Randy Rhoads, tentative plans for a live recording from the
Rhoads tours were quickly scrapped. Instead, the deeply troubled singer opted for a pair of one-offs at New York City's
Ritz club. No one had any idea what
Ozzy would do, and an evening of
Black Sabbath covers was the furthest thing from everyone's mind.
Ozzy had been portrayed as a washed-up, vocally challenged frontman by his ex-bandmates, and the perception was that
Ozzy could no longer sing the original
Sabbath material. Hiring
metal producer
Max Norman to man the boards,
Ozzy enlisted
Night Ranger guitarist
Brad Gillis to play the role of
Tony Iommi for the evening. The show itself took on an ominous tone with a chair visibly propped up on the edge of the stage; upon it rested a spiral notebook containing the lyrics to all the
Sabbath songs of the evening, from which
Ozzy read throughout the show. Still,
Speak of the Devil is strengthened by the classic combo of
Rudy Sarzo and
Tommy Aldridge on bass and drums, undoubtedly one the best rhythm sections of
Ozzy's solo career. And immediately, it becomes obvious that
Brad Gillis was the right man for the gig. Playing
Iommi to a tee,
Gillis effortlessly leads the band through some of the best of the
Sabbath catalog;
Speak of the Devil ends up solid throughout, if somewhat unremarkable at times. Listening to the remastered version, there's no doubt that the vocals feature some heavily doctored patch-ups, but regardless,
Ozzy proved his point to his ex-bandmates. Following the recording, due to the uncertainty surrounding the
Ozzy camp,
Gillis would jump ship and rejoin the ranks of
Night Ranger. ~ John Franck