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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Staying In / History / Film Stay In: Ozzy Osbourne: Speak of the Devil, Live from Irvine Meadows '82

Posted by Grant Brissey on Tue, Sep 18, 2012 at 10:01 AM

In Ozzy Osbourne: Speak of the Devil, Live from Irvine Meadows '82, we get full footage of the hour-and-fifteen-minute set. This is less than three months after guitar player Randy Rhoads famously died in a freak plane accident in Florida. He's replaced here by Night Ranger's Brad Gillis, who's no slouch himself, and he gives the requisite guitar solo to prove it. That's followed by Tommy Aldridge's impressive drum solo, for which Osbourne disappears. (He's probably just drinking some water backstage.) Throughout, Ozzy's looking somewhat middle-thick and at times a bit weary/lethargic—he and Rhoads had been good friends and collaborators—but his singing never falters from that powerful and slightly sinister bent.

The gothic stage embellishments and visual effects are gloriously early-'80s, and the A/V quality is ingloriously early-'80s. Unlike the Speak of the Devil record, in which Ozzy recorded an evening of Black Sabbath covers not long after Rhoads's death, here we get fresh Ozzy solo material (e.g. "Mr. Crowley," "Crazytrain," "Flying High Again," etc.), as well as some Sabbath staples. Overall, it's a medium-interesting snapshot of the band rallying from what could have been an insurmountable tragedy. Recommended equipment: Loud-ass entertainment system and a fully loaded bong.