Ultra rare BADLANDS doc!!!

[Matt White]

Check this shit out!

[DLR Bridge]

Was trying to watch this while putting the 3 year old to bed. She kept asking if this was Van Halen.

Grate live Devil's Stomp!

[jhale667]

I used to have this on VHS... so kewl. Jake's a huge influence. Coincidentally a friend just sent me this, which I'd never seen before...




Can't hear the bass, and barely the drums, but Ray and Jake are killing...

[binnie]

If they'd worked with a really good producer, they coulda been huuuuuuge.

[DLR Bridge]

I don't think Voodoo Highway could have been produced any better. I'm afraid the usual band infighting coupled with Ray's bad habit had more to do with them not getting much further than they did.

[binnie]

I don't think Voodoo Highway could have been produced any better. I'm afraid the usual band infighting coupled with Ray's bad habit had more to do with them not getting much further than they did.

Certainly.

But I think a really good producer would have pushed them in terms of song-writing rather than sound. They had very good songs. With a truly gifted producer they might very well have had great ones.

(I actually prefer the first record to Voodoo Highway..........)

[DLR Bridge]

Good point.

Opposite for me. Voodoo Highway's dirty, rough around the edges production value suited them just right. The sheen of polish on their debut made them sound a bit too much like everyone else at the time.

[ELVIS]

With a truly gifted producer...

Does that even exist these days ??

[DLR Bridge]

Does that even exist these days ??

Well, we're actually talking 20 years ago at the moment. That STP producer, Brendan O'Brien, was/is pretty decent, no? There's a scat hand full out there.

[ashstralia]

Does that even exist these days ??

this bloke has a pretty decent record...(pun intended)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Wallace_(producer)

[binnie]

Andy Wallace, Colin Richardson, Andy Sneap all of the stop of my head.......................

Steve Wilson, too......

[binnie]

Good point.

Opposite for me. Voodoo Highway's dirty, rough around the edges production value suited them just right. The sheen of polish on their debut made them sound a bit too much like everyone else at the time.

If you excuse 'Dreams In The Dark' I don't think that the debut is particularly polished production-wise. I always thought that it had the better songs on it, too. Each to their own, however.....

[DLR Bridge]

No. You're wrong.






Just kidding.

[DLR Bridge]

this bloke has a pretty decent record...(pun intended)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Wallace_(producer)

A Graceful choice Ash!

[Mr. Vengeance]

Not only were Badlands a great band, but their tunes have held up much better than a lot of the other bands from that era.

[sonrisa salvaje]

Didn't they have a 3rd record at some point? I think i remember them releasing something else later on, perhaps the follow up to V-Highway that was never released until much later?

[binnie]

Didn't they have a 3rd record at some point? I think i remember them releasing something else later on, perhaps the follow up to V-Highway that was never released until much later?

Yes: it was called 'Dusk' and it was essentially the demos for the third record that they never got to record. Don't let 'demo' put you off - if I hadn't told you, you'd probably just think it was a Badlands album proper because the raw sound works for 'em. 'Dusk' was also a lot heavier than 'Voodoo....'

[DLR Bridge]

What he said.

[conmee]

Brethren and Sistren,

"Dusk" was released years later, originally a "demo" for the label prior to Ray's passing (obviously). Because I couldn't find this or Jake's "A Fine Pink Mist" solo album, I purchased them for sixteen cents ($0.16) from a Russian pirating site. I did send an email to Jake's last known working address telling him it was my only recourse and I'll put $30 ($15x2CDs) cash money in his hand if I ever see him (he lives in Vegas).

Mind The Gap!©®™

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[DLR Bridge]

Walking Attitude and The Fire Lasts Forever are the stand outs IMHO.

[sonrisa salvaje]

Awesome. I have been meaning to track that cd down or download it but like most things when i get in front of the computer to order it or check i tunes i never can remember what the hell it was i was looking for. The thread has saved the day.

[sonrisa salvaje]

I heard Eddie Trunk the other night talking about the upcoming Jake interview on That Metal Show. Somebody asks him if he would ever consider working with Ozzy again and he said he would consider it but he would have to be given credit for his writing the songs on Bark at the Moon. The record says Ozzy wrote all the songs and lyrics which is silly. Supposedly, Jake says that he doesn't want the money at this point; only the credit and respect that he deserves for writing the music.
Give the man his due i say. Ozzy has never given anyone credit for shit. (or should i say his devilish partner)

[conmee]

S.S.

Considering Sharon went out of her way to have bass and drum parts re-recorded, I doubt Jake will ever be formally acknowledged. Notice also how not one song from Ultimate Sin (in which Jake and Phil - who penned Shot In The Dark - are credited on that album) isn't even on Ozzy's "The Essential Ozzy Osbourne" compilation. Giving credit where credit is due isn't something Sharon likes to do...

Mind The Gap!©®™

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[DLR Bridge]

Didn't she fire Jake via telegram or something ridiculous like that? Not sure how much stock to put in the Wiki these days.

[sonrisa salvaje]

Didn't she fire Jake via telegram or something ridiculous like that? Not sure how much stock to put in the Wiki these days.

I don't doubt it. This is the same woman that had Iron Maiden egged.

[sonrisa salvaje]

S.S.

Considering Sharon went out of her way to have bass and drum parts re-recorded, I doubt Jake will ever be formally acknowledged. Notice also how not one song from Ultimate Sin (in which Jake and Phil - who penned Shot In The Dark - are credited on that album) isn't even on Ozzy's "The Essential Ozzy Osbourne" compilation. Giving credit where credit is due isn't something Sharon likes to do...

Mind The Gap!©®™

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I never noticed that or thought about it. Certainly you could have included Shot in the Dark because of its MTV popularity but from a music standpoint i would say Killer of Giants is a must have on anything called Essential Ozzy.

[binnie]

I think everyone would admit that 'Bark....' and 'Ultimate...' were a step down from the first two Ozzy records, but they're better than is often remembered (I reviewed Ultimate Sin). A lot of the problem is the '80s production makes things feel rigid, but if you can get past it the songs are better than people think. I'd certainly take those two records over the Zakk Wylde era (no offence to Zakk).....

[sonrisa salvaje]

I think everyone would admit that 'Bark....' and 'Ultimate...' were a step down from the first two Ozzy records, but they're better than is often remembered (I reviewed Ultimate Sin). A lot of the problem is the '80s production makes things feel rigid, but if you can get past it the songs are better than people think. I'd certainly take those two records over the Zakk Wylde era (no offence to Zakk).....

I agree with you. I always liked Ultimate Sin and thought it was undervalued. Years of Ozzy and Sharon trying to bury the record haven't helped its legacy either. The only Zakk era record that is close imo is No Rest for the Wicked. I was always fond of album tracks like Demon Alcohol and Breaking All the Rules.

[jhale667]

Didn't she fire Jake via telegram or something ridiculous like that? Not sure how much stock to put in the Wiki these days.

I've always heard it was for the incident when Ozzy flipped on Sharon and said "Time to die, darling" - and started choking her out... I've heard Sharon tell that part of the story on TV, but NOT the part I heard from his tech... supposedly Jake was living with them at the time, was there when the incident happened, tried to pull Ozzy off her, who then took a swing at HIM - and got drop-kicked (in self-defense, mind you) for it.

Yep, may or may not be true, but the version I heard he bascially got fired on the spot for saving her life...


But considering we're talking about Sharon? I tend to believe it...

[Mr. Vengeance]

I found a big dropoff between Bark at the Moon and Ultimate Sin. Ultimate Sin being heavier on keyboards and less heavy. Bark at the Moon I would put very close to the first two albums, although it's impossible to touch Blizzard and Diary.

[conmee]

With the exception of So Tired, I think BATM holds up well to the previous two albums. But it was also a slightly different direction in that the music wasn't infused with the same level of virtuosity or classical influences. In some ways, I prefer the MUSIC of some of the songs on BATM. I think despite the fact no one could ever replace Randy, Jake did a hell of a job, and in many of his interviews (I'll post a few from mid-80s), he absolutely hated any keys on BATM and US.

Anyhow, I hate the production, especially the drums, on US. I think it also suffers with Ozzy during a time when he barely had his wits about him from one day to the next. I also thought Jake, who doesn't care much for bullshit, seemed both aggressive and fed up on US. Fed up on songs like Thank God For The Bomb (ATBL-esque) and Fool Like You (CT-esque); aggressive on Never; and given some room to express himself on Killer Of Giants. I still like Shot In The Dark, a nice little departure. Ozzy and Sharon weren't sold on the song, but the producer demanded it be included. I think Sharon just didn't want to give anyone writing credits on the album.

When I was a kid in 1984, it was BATM, Shout At The Devil, and 1984 we're regularly replayed on my Walkman, so I have a sentimental attachment to BATM.

And I prefer Randy and Jake to Zakk for the most part.

Mind The Gap!©®™

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[FORD]

Just to throw another wrinkle into the question of who wrote what on Bark At The Moon, I recall an article in Circus magazine which was published literally about a week before the plane crash that killed Randy Rhoads. In this interview, Ozzy said that his plans were two record the next two albums in short order, just as he did with Blizzard and Diary, and that the albums would be called "Bark At The Moon" and "Killer of Giants". He also specifically mentioned the song "Rock n Roll Rebel" and even quoted some lyrics he (or somebody) had written for it.

So clearly there are parts of those two albums that were written before Jake joined the band. Whether any of it actually was recorded though, who knows? 30 years later and it's never leaked.

[conmee]

FORD,

I've read similar but if you take any of what Bob Daisley has to say (he gives music credit to Jake specifically on BATM, RnRR, CoE, and Slow Down) some of the lyrics (like DLR) for BATM and US were floating around in Ozzy's head for years. In fact, BATM was code for Ozzy wanting to go get all fucked up and "bark at the moon." So yes, I think the floor plan so to speak was already thought of for the next two albums, but I'm not sure if there was any extant recordings/riffs Randy left behind. I mean for sure it wasn't like 5150 or better yet Back In Black where significant work had taken place prior.

Mind The Gap!©®™

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[conmee]

GUITAR WORLD - November 1986

How To Succeed Without Really Whammying

By Steven Rosen-Guitar World-November 1986

Virginia-born Jake E. Lee stands virtually alone in the arena of electric guitar players. The lanky guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne is one of the very few guitar gladiators confronting the beast of heavy metal without a vibrato bar Armed solely with his modified Fender Stratocaster and 10 digits, Jake reproduces sounds and effects others could only attempt with a whammy bar and, like David against Goliath, he has proven that one need not go into battle wielding a steel straw. A listen to Bark At The Moon or the more recent The Ultimate Sin displays his unique use of finger vibrato, neck-bending and beyond-bridge tweaking to make up for the absence of bar. And even Ozzy-originally an unbeliver-was instantly converted once he heard Jakes whammy-less approach. Now holding the chair once hallowed by the late Randy Rhoads, one of the more apt students of the shimmy bar, Jake has had a difficult case to prove.



But the verdict is in and the thumbs are up and Jake E. Lee is making heads turn. Lee began playing at age 13, when he picked up his sisters beat-up acoustic. The first song he learned was the Guess Whos No Time and in no time he was fronting his own original bands in his stomping ground of San Diego. There was a notion that this city lying 120 miles south of Los Angeles was too far from the musical mainstream and, packing his guitar, he moved north. Ratt, a one time local band in San Diego, were just breaking into the L.A. club circuit and within a month of his arrival, Lee had a gig. But this was relatively short-lived.



Stephen (Pearcy) was mainly why I quit Ratt. He was getting ridiculously drunk onstage and announcing songs wed just played and forgetting words. He was embarrassing.



Consequently, Jake referred Pearcy to Warren DeMartini, also from San Diego, and Lee went through a series of local bands. Ultimately, he joined Rough Cutt-for all the wrong reasons. I felt bad about that because I didnt like the band that much and I only joined because of the Dio connection and because I wasnt doing anything. I hated to see another guitarist lose a gig.



Rough Cutt ,too, failed to keep his attention and when the audition for Ozzys band landed in his lap, he-reluctantly-traded licks with the rest of the hopefuls. He has gone on to become a major light, his playing consistently exciting, inventive and sleek. His only lacking quality is knowing what time of day it is-he was 45 minutes late to the Ozzy audition, late for the first flight of the first date on Ozzys American tour and an hour late for this interview (but well worth waiting for). But his responses are to the point, timely and honest, and once he takes off on a subject, the hands of the clock may move visibly forward before he finishes his comment.


We give you Jake E. Lee: the man who hates time and tremolos

...

GW: You had far more input on The Ultimate Sin than you did on Bark At The Moon. Did you want to become more involved or was that just a natural process?



Jake: It was thrust upon me, more or less. I wanted more input. Every band Ive ever been in I had almost complete control over. Except for Ratt, which was almost a partnership between me and Stephen (Pearcy, vocalist), but I had control over the music. It was like a Van Halen/Roth thing. Stephen had control over the clothing and the show and I had control over the music. So I was used to being in control of the music in a band. And I wanted it that way.




GW: How much input did you have on Bark At The Moon?



Jake: Most of the music was mine. Rock N Roll Rebel, Bark At The Moon, Now You See It, (Now You Dont), Waiting For Darkness and Slow Down were mine.




GW: How easy or difficult is it working with Ozzy in regards to presenting him with material?



Jake: On Bark At The Moon I approached it really cautiously because I was the new guy and I could be out at any second. So I just played him riffs and if he liked the riff then the whole band would work on it. When I write a riff, I dont just write a riff-I write a verse and a chorus and everything around it. And Bob Daisley (bassist on Bark At The Moon) might change a part here or there and Ozzy might change a part and that was it really. I didnt argue too much if I didnt like the way something was coming out. Id go, I dont really like this and theyd go, Well, what do you know? And Id go (in sheepish voice)I dont know anything. Lets change it.

The strings on Bark At The Moon I hated; So Tired I hated. Actually, I didnt mind when it was done as a four-piece band, but then they schmaltzed it up with all the strings and I hated it.

 So Id present something and theyd fight, debate, say it sucked or whatever. Everybody contributed a little bit and it didnt necessarily come out the way I imagined it would. On the Ultimate Sin, while Ozzy was in the Betty Ford clinic, I got a drum machine, one of those mini-studios, a bass from Charvel-a really shitty one-and I more or less wrote entire songs. I didnt write melodies or lyrics because Ozzy is bound to do a lot of changing if I was to do that, I just write the music. I write the riff and Ill come up with a chorus, verse, bridge and solo section, and Ill write the drum and bass parts I had in mind. I put about 12 songs like that down on tape and when he got out of the Betty Ford clinic it was, Here ya go, heres what Ive got so far. And Id say half of it ended up on the album.




GW: Does Ozzy interpret your songs in a similar way to what you originally heard in them?



Jake: He almost always does something different than what I expect him to. He sang a lot bluesier on this record (The Ultimate Sin) than I thought he was going to. Sometimes Ill write something weird that I think hell like and hell say, Thats too weird, are you on acid or something? This isnt Frank Zappa. And Ill write something simple that I think he might like and hell go, Thats pop, what is it? So its a weird little area-it cant be too commercial sounding and it cant be too weird. I think it can be pretty weird-sounding, but in Ozzy Osbourne you can get away with a lot. But he doesnt want it getting too weird. Especially on this record; we almost played it safe on this album. We didnt go out on a limb. We didnt try to make it commercial, but we kept what we thought Ozzy could get away with without raising too many eyebrows.




GW: Thats why a song like Shot In The Dark was a surprise because it borders on FM pop.



Jake: Yeah, we had our doubts about that. I write a lot of songs like that-most of the songs Ive kept have been really commercial or really weird-and I wasnt so sure of that when Phil (Soussan-bassist and writer of Shot In The Dark) first presented it. It was getting kind of commercial and Ozzy wasnt too sure of it either. But Ron Nevison (producer) gunned for that one and it worked out alright.




GW: What was it like working for the first time with Ron Nevison?



Jake: (takes a moment and grins) :Ill be diplomatic-he was hard to work with. He doesnt have a very open mind; he hears things his way and he thinks thats the way it should be done. And I heard things my way and I think thats the way it should be done. And there wasnt a whole lot of compromise. It was mostly who felt the strongest about something and argued the longest won out. There were parts on the album where I said, Definitely not. I dont want it that way, this is the way it has to be. And hed argue, but Id win if I felt strongly enough about it. And then there were parts where hed argue and if I didnt feel that strongly about it Id say, Okay, have it your way. It wasnt like trying something in the middle; we were buttin heads through the whole record.




GW: Did the problems lie in the songs themselves or the sounds of the record?



Jake: Everything really. Not so much song structure really; it was more the production and the sounds. Because he liked the way we had written most of the songs. There were some songs where he halved a verse and had a chorus come in quicker, but it was mainly the production.




GW: What type of guitar sound do you like to hear?



Jake: It depends on the song. I got the same guitar sounds more or less through the whole record, which I didnt want to do. I brought in 16 heads and 12 cabinets; all the cabinets were loaded with different things, EVs, Celestions, JBLs, everything, so I could get a good sound. And so I could get a different sound if I wanted. And I finally got a good, basic sound after a long time. We cut the stuff I wanted to use that sound with and when it came to the other songs , I said, Okay, Id like a different sound here. And Ron said, Why? And I said,Because I dont think it should all sound the same. I had just talked to Phil Collen of Def Leppard and he said they try different guitars and different sounds and mix and match. And he (Ron) said, Well, what? You want to sound like Def Leppard? And I said, No, but I dont want it to sound like one single sound for the whole album. And he said, Well, its a good sound and I dont think we should mess with it. And we argued about that for quite a bit and I finally said, f**k it. I want to play guitar. I wanted a lot more variety in the guitar tone.




GW: I cant imagine that would be a healthy situation to work in.



Jake: I didnt go into the studio with the attitude of, Oh boy, I get to play today, lets see what I can put down! I went in there thinking, Oh sh*t, what are we going to argue about today?




GW: How was Ron Nevison different than Max Norman (producer of Bark At The Moon)?



Jake: Max doesnt have as much control over Ozzys stuff as he does with other peoples stuff. Because Max Norman, more or less, got his start with Ozzy and worked on the first couple of records. Max was basically an engineer and because of the sounds he got he became a producer and other bands started using him as a producer. I hear that hes strict and has a lot of control in the studio, but when he works with Ozzy hes back to being an engineer. So there was a lot of difference between Ron Nevison and that. Although Max made me try harder to get the doubled rhythm tracks (Jake doubles and triples all backing tracks) more in sync with each other than Ron did. Max wanted them almost perfect, whereas Ron liked just a little bit of difference. He thought it sounded cool that way. With Max there were times when I thought it was good enough and hed make me do it again; with Ron there were times when I didnt think it was good enough and hed say it was fine. I listen to the rhythm tracks now and they sound fine, so I guess I didnt have to be as tight as I thought.




GW: Its funny that you would double and triple-track your rhythm parts because in other areas you seem to be such a purist; you dont use a vibrato bar, before joining Ozzys band you really didnt use any pedals

.

Jake: A purist? Probably more of a masochist is a better way to put it. I thought bars were cheating because you could tune the guitar down and do all that other sort of stuff that I do, so you dont need a bar. And you could do fake echoes like I do, so echoes were cheating. Flanging was covering up something that was boring that you should have made more interesting in the beginning. And thats the way I felt before joining Ozzy, but I still feel like Im cheating.

I know Warren (DeMartini-guitarist for Ratt) has gone back to the same thing that I used to do; hes only got an equalizer now. I saw that when they were opening for us in England and I said , Thats a nice set-up youve got, Warren, and he goes, Yeah, I got it from this one guy I used to see all the time. He got a real cool sound, but hes pedal-mad now. He made me feel guilty about it.

"You have to play a lot cleaner and pay more attention to what youre doing. If you screw up theres no echo to cover you and flange to cover your sloppiness. Thats the way a real guitar player should play.




GW: When youre playing big halls, dont you need some echo to flesh out the sound?



Jake: I do, Ive gotten spoiled. I dont use as much echo as a lot of people do, I just put a little in there so its not real dry-sounding. I move now more than I did when I was in Ratt or Rough Cutt because Ozzy wants that. When it was the club days you had to play good because record people might be there, but now Im more or less compromising a little because Im moving a lot more. Im moving more because Ozzy wants it and the audience wants it. If they just want to hear me play clean they can listen to the record-thats me standing there and playing clean. But I know I always wanted some showmanship when I went to a concert or otherwise Id just buy a photograph of the band and listen to the record. So I do need a bit of help.




GW: Are you saying you play better on record than you do live?



Jake: I play cleaner. I wouldnt say better because some nights I think I play better than whats on the record. Theres more passion and more fire.




GW: The fact that you dont use a vibrato bar is a big part of the Jake E. Lee style. How did that develop?



Jake: Oooh, everybody who uses a bar is going to hate me (laughs) and everybody uses a bar. What Brad Gillis does with a bar is pretty innovative, some of what Eddie has done with a bar is fairly innovative. I dont think a lot of what he has done with a bar is innovative, but he has brought it back. It had been done before and its a cool sound, but he doesnt rely on it like some people do. Its real easy to hit a harmonic at the 5th fret of the G string to start a solo and when youre done with the solo to hit the E string and hit the bar. Thats easy. Im not saying that Eddie relies on that because obviously hes a great player. But a lot of people do use the bar when their brain or their heart quits thinking about the music. They need to have a filler and thats why I think a bar is cheating. 

I think young guys should learn how to play without the bar and then once theyre pretty happening they can start incorporating the bar. Thats what I always planned on doing, but then Ive never gotten around to it yet. I havent gotten good enough yet. You put a guitar with bar in my hand and I go crazy, whacko. You might as well super glue my hand to the bar because thats all I want to do. Im useless when theres a bar on there, so for my own good I dont use a bar.




GW: Did you have more freedom on The Ultimate Sin since there were no real keyboard parts?



Jake: That was something I insisted on, because Ozzy kept saying, weve always had a keyboard player, where is a keyboard player now that were writing songs? On Bark At The Moon it was real easy when we didnt know what to do to say, Don (Airey-keyboards), make some kind of noise. So while we were writing the new album I more or less insisted that we didnt have a keyboard player. I said. Look, if we can write a song without keyboards, it will add that much more when we get to it. I wanted to write the songs and not having anything filling up space besides the bass, drums and guitar. If something didnt work we would change it musically. Write a new guitar part or change the old part. So we brought the keyboard player (Mike Moran) in after all the parts were done. We did demos all the time we were writing and we had keyboards there that belonged to Ozzy and I played a lot on the demos.




GW: I didnt know that you played keyboards.



Jake: Yeah, thats what I started on. I started playing keyboards when I was six and Im classically-trained. I took classical piano two to four hours every day till I was 16. I went to the Music Conservatory when I was 12 and I was the second-youngest person ever admitted there. I was supposed to be a real promising piano player.




GW: What happened?



Jake: I hated piano! Piano was what kept me from playing football and baseball with the other kids. But I was always musically-inclined and my sister happened to have a guitar sitting around the house, and when I picked it up I said, This is the one. I started playing guitar and quit playing piano. My parents wanted me to be the next Van Cliburn, but I wanted to be the next Van Halen.




GW: You later joined Ratt and then Rough Cutt; how did you hear about the spot in Ozzys band?



Jake: Someone contacted me about it and at first I said no because I didnt want to step into Randy Rhoads' shoes. Its hard enough to replace a good guitar player-and I dont want this to sound callous-but when they die they turn into a legend. And thats really tough. I didnt want that. Id make it on my own and I didnt want to be compared to somebody else for the rest of my life. But I went down there anyway and I think there was a list of 25 guitar players and we all spent 15 minutes in the studio, each doing whatever we wanted to do. We had our pictures taken and they were given to Ozzy and he picked three of us: George (Lynch-Dokken) was one of them and he was flown to England and given first crack at it. And there was me and Mitch Perry left in L.A. Ozzy came down and we auditioned at S.I.R. and I got it. And I was 45 minutes late! The guy who found the guitar players (Dana Strum) said that Ozzy almost walked out the door; he said, f**k it, if this guy doesnt care enough to show up on time and hes going to be this kind of problem, forget it. I dont care how good he is. But the guy kept him there.




GW: Did Ozzy remark about the fact that you dont use a tremelo bar?



Jake: Yeah, the first thing he said was, Do you know how to play a guitar with a wang bar on it? And I said, Of course, anybody can play a guitar with a wang bar, but I dont like it. And he said, Well, why dont you think about using one? Because I dont think you can play some of these songs without one. And I said, I can. Ill show ya and after rehearsal he said, Yeah, fine, it sounds like youve got one, I dont care. As long as it sounds good you dont need to use one.

He was almost under the impression that a modern guitarist cannot play without a bar because youre limiting your vocabulary that way. I proved him wrong, I hope. I cant think of anyone new who doesnt play without a bar.




GW: The guy from Y&T, Dave Meniketti.



Jake: Yeah, thats true. And Jeff Watson (Night Ranger). I know Jeff and he and I were sitting around celebrating how we dont use bars and we were making fun of players who did one night at the Rainbow. And Brad (Gillis) was sitting at the next table, but we were just joking around.




GW: When you sit down to record a solo, what goes through your mind in terms of notes and effects?



Jake: There are basically three different ways I work a solo out. Thank God For The Bomb is a good example of one of them. I tape everything we ever play during rehersals and I edit it down to little bits that make sense or are good and I put it on a master copy. Then I group them into songs on another tape. On Thank God For The Bomb I tried playing a different lead everytime we played it and so I ended up with 50 different leads for it. And what I did was I pieced that together out of all those solos. I just took the best bits from every solo and put it in one solo

Another way I do it is I sit there and listen to the rhythm on tape and Ill put the guitar on the other side of the room. Ill listen to the rhythm over and over and Ill hum it in my head and Ill wait until ideas start coming and a melody appears and Ill write it in my head and then Ill pick the guitar up. Thats probably my favorite way of doing it. Thats the way a real musician would do it; hed play whats in his head and not automatic riffs. Im not that good yet, and I still got into the riff. I did it this way on most of the songs and then I pieced them together for Thank God For The Bomb and Lightning Strikes.

Then theres a third way where I dont have anything worked out, nothing in my head, and I just walk in the studio and say, Roll the tape, lets see what comes out. Those are like jams and I did that on Shot In The Dark and Never Know Why. When I dont know what Im doing, thats what comes out. And the solo in The Ultimate Sin is really just an exercise in arpeggios.




GW: The solo on Slow Down (from Bark At The Moon) seemed to be really effective.



Jake: I liked that solo. I think it was my favorite solo on there. It might be my favorite solo that Ive ever done because its really melodic and it has a lot of fire, which is what Id like to play like.




GW: Is that what you strive to be as a player?



Jake: Yeah, but I dont get comments on that solo too often. I dont get comments on my solos much anyway.




GW: Is that true?



Jake: Well, I do now but I didnt so much on the first album. Kids would come up and say, Hey, youre hot, youre great, but I actually got a lot of compliments on the way I moved. They would say, Hey man, you move better than anybody. I thought Eddie Van Halen moved cool. I got a lot of general comments like that but on this new tour a lot of people are telling me my leads are happening.




GW: Maybe on the first album you were still living in the shadow of Randy Rhoads?



Jake: Yeah.I still am.




GW: Were you a fan of Randys?



Jake: Mmm..yeah. I thought he was the best new guitar player post-Eddie. I thought he was the most promising one Id heard. I was sad when he died. In fact me and Warren DeMartini got drunk that night toasting Randy Rhoads.

There was one show (with Ozzy) were there were these kids off to the side, so I went over to see what they were doing. They all had Randy Rhoads tee-shirts on and they kept pointing at the shirts and going Number One and then theyd point at me and flip me off. I thought, What the f**k? Give me a break. I went over there after the show and I said, Wearing a Randy Rhoads tee-shirt only reminds Ozzy that hes lost a friend and nobody else in the band knew the guy. Randy is not around to appreciate it, I dont appreciate it. Im glad you liked randy, but you dont have to shove him in my face.




GW: About your soloing, do you think playing classical piano had any influence on the notes you choose?



Jake: Maybe, because Ive always been aware of modes. Thats one of the first things you learn in theory and when I started playing rock I began applying modes to it right away. Nobody was really doing that when I was first starting. They were either playing blues scales or pentatonic or Dorian or Aeolian (minor) or your basic rock scales. But I would hear Phrygian scales which is sort of Egyptian and think that would work. I always wondered if these guys knew about modes. I dont think they did. When I was 16 and playing in bar bands I would stick in modes and back then, not many people heard them. So I would say classical had a lot to do with my lead playing.




GW: Being in a band like Ozzys, do you ever have the feeling of other players looking at you to see what youre going to do next?



Jake: Yeah, waiting for me to f**k up. I feel a little pressure but it doesnt bother me. On the first record I felt it because there were a lot of guitar players who wanted the gig and they said,Okay, this is the guy he picked, lets see what hes got. I did feel that every time I went in to play something because I knew there were going to be a lot of people listening to see if I did any good or not. Im not the kind of person who really cares what other people think. I play what I like and if somebody else likes it its great, theyre a friend of mine. If they dont like it we can still be friends but I really dont care. I didnt feel it so much this time, but I do feel it every once in awhile. There are guitar players who still come up to Ozzy and go, Im the guitar player you should have got.




GW: Do you ever feel obscured playing in Ozzys band? In terms of people recognizing what you do?



Jake: No, if anything, I think I get more attention than I deserve as a guitar player. If somebody comes up to me and goes. Man, youre Number One, youre the best guitar player in the world, I start feeling stupid. I go, Nah, there are guys better than me. But if somebody comes up and say, You really suck, youre nothing compared to Randy, then I go, Hey, f**k you, Im good. Im probably 10 times better than youll ever be. No I never feel obscured at all.

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[binnie]

Man, I'm loving this thread.

A couple of random thoughts:

1) I would LOVE for there to be DVD versions of the Ozzy concert films featuring Jake (from BATM and US tours, I believe). The performances were EPIC (and infinitely superior to the woeful 'Speak of the Devil' concert, which is over-dubbed to hell - why release that on DVD?)

2) I have yet to hear anyone play the outro solo to BATM correctly (listen to Zakk mess it up live annoys me). Not being a guitar player I have no idea what Jake is doing there that other players do not seem to be able to replicate.

3) The 'problem' with US is the same with so many records from the mid-80s: the production. Too 'big' and therefore sterile. I believe it is Ozzy's best-selling record, however, which amazes me. For all of its flaws, however, I love the record and think it is superior to anything Ozzy subsequently recorded until 'Scream'.

4) Jake penned two of my favourite riffs of all time. Both with Badlands - 'High Wire' and 'Soul Steeler'. Both make me harder than a guy who's just spent 20 years in prison and walked straight into a strip joint.

[Coyote]

2) I have yet to hear anyone play the outro solo to BATM correctly (listen to Zakk mess it up live annoys me). Not being a guitar player I have no idea what Jake is doing there that other players do not seem to be able to replicate.

In a nutshell, he's just playing arpeggiated chords, coupled with a melodic run, with a harmonized arpeggio at the very end.
And, imo, Zakk doesn't mess it up live, he's just playing it how a single guitarist would play it, while adding his flavor to it...

[conmee]

The BATM tour stop in Salt Lake City has most of the songs and pretty good quality on YouTube.... you can see in BATM some serious stretches Jake does on that final bit... there's also a recurring stretch he does in the opening riff and throughout that most tabs don't catch.

In video #1, I ran into this guy on a forum board somewhere, and he does an impromptu short version just to demonstrate the stretch, which Jake plays.

http://youtu.be/c8ANsyVpgWU

In video #2, you can see Jake playing it live. The Salt Lake footage is pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhwz7...-6bIYq6PSmdJng

In video #3, you see Gus G sitting down to discuss how he approaches some Ozzy classics, and shows one of the stretches Jake employs on BATM. A lot of people don't like his tone, I'm not a big fan, but I think Gus is pretty cool dude with a cool attitude and sense of humor, music/playing aside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EI9q0...-6bIYq6PSmdJng

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[conmee]

Brethren and Sistren,

By the way, apologies for turning this into more of a Jake thread than Badlands thread (as it started). I'm a fan of both obviously.

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[Coyote]

.....

[conmee]

.....

Coyote,

This guy is pretty good, I used this video to get started on BATM because he actually plays some of those stretches a lot of other guys just work around. I've had this video bookmarked for awhile.

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