Metal Sludge — In a brand new interview with REVOLVER magazine, Ozzy Osbourne gives an in-depth interview that covers his career from Black Sabbath to his latest recording Patient Number 9.

Ozzy at some point is asked about Van Halen, and his answer was interesting for sure.

REVOLVER writes: “Osbourne has his own Van Halen memories. In 1978, the young Southern California band was opening for Black Sabbath on the European leg of their Never Say Die! tour, not long before Ozzy was pushed out and forced into a successful solo career. “[Eddie] was such a great guy. They came to our local pub and it was good fun,” recalls Osbourne.

“But David Lee Roth, he’s lost a couple of nuts and bolts. When you meet him, it’s like, ‘What’s wrong with him?’ He’s like somewhere else, you know?””

The interview also covers the Randy Rhoads versus Eddie Van Halen subject.

“Van Halen was part of a new breed of flash guitarist that included another force of nature in the form of Randy Rhoads, who was an essential ingredient in establishing Osbourne at the beginning of the Eighties with Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman. Like Van Halen, Rhoads followed the cosmic, seemingly limitless example of Jimi Hendrix on the instrument, but with new sounds and techniques.

“They were arch enemies,” Ozzy remembers. “Randy didn’t have a lot to say about Eddie. They were very, very similar guitar players. Eddie took that tapping thing to another level. Randy could do that, but he liked people like Leslie West.

“It amazes me that you get Eddie, you get Randy, and you go, ‘No one’s ever gonna top that.’ But there’s a new thing round every corner.””


Read the full article at REVOLVER