Ozzy on the hunt for a new guitar player

[Panamark]

My brother's son thinks Zakk is the shiznit...
He met him personally in Perth and Melbourne
on the last tour Ozzy did in Australia.
My nephew reckons he was a great bloke
and treated his fans like best buds...
So good health, poste haste Mr Wylde !!!

[Seshmeister]

Slash and Zakk seem to be the guitar heroes of the new generation which is a bit like going on a spaceship, landing on a strange planet where the monkeys have taken over and then realizing it's planet Earth in the future...

[yah]

Getting Jake E Lee back would be smart as long as he can still shred out,
that would give this tired Ozzy show way more energy.

[atomicpunk5151]

Getting Jake E Lee back would be smart as long as he can still shred out,
that would give this tired Ozzy show way more energy.

I think the Ozzy camp (ie Sharon) wants Ozzy to be the focal point, not some great guitar player taking the spotlight.

Did you hear how low Gus G was buried in the mix. Also those damn keyboards were loud and upfront. Was Don Airey back or did Brett Tuggle get another gig.........lol!

[Vinnie Velvet]

Getting Jake E Lee back would be smart as long as he can still shred out,
that would give this tired Ozzy show way more energy.

You never know.

[yah]

I think the Ozzy camp (ie Sharon) wants Ozzy to be the focal point, not some great guitar player taking the spotlight.

Did you hear how low Gus G was buried in the mix. Also those damn keyboards were loud and upfront. Was Don Airey back or did Brett Tuggle get another gig.........lol!

Yeah, I agree...
Unfortunately many of the younger fans just know the songs and Ozzy is their focal point rather than the musicians who actually recorded them or played them live in the glory days of the early 80's.
Gus G was quite low in the mix and just like the Stones in the late 80's -those keyboards are too strong.
If Sharon wants the Ozzy show to sound more like kareoke versions, she is succeeding!

[indeedido]

I dug Zakk a lot up until Ozzmossis. When he hit the scene he was bad ass. Then it just fizzled out.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Am I right to assume that the "pinching" is referring to the extremely irritating squealing that that Zakk-wannabe is doing ??

Christ, that damn squealing is like Brad Gillis with a fucking whammy...

[binnie]

Gus's performance was remarkably underwhelming............

[jhale667]

Yes. No. Yes.

Am I right to assume that the "pinching" is referring to the extremely irritating squealing that that Zakk-wannabe is doing ??

Yup..."pinch" harmonics, AKA "pings"...

Christ, that damn squealing is like Brad Gillis with a fucking whammy...

OK, gotta disagree with you there, Gillis' bar-technique was groundbreaking, perhaps beyond King Edward's even...


But then, I have several guitars with Floyd Roses, and a coupla spares lying around, so I might be slightly biased...

Gus's performance was remarkably underwhelming............

Agreed. The pings were so overused they became grating...like I said, I thought Zakk overdid 'em more than everyone, but apparently not....
It also sounding, just from a guitarist's standpoint, that he learned Zakk's versions of Randy's Solos rather than going back to the originals (oh wait - you can't, unless you own older CDs), or at least the solos on the "original" versions.

Sounds like he was pretty much clueless (but how old is he, 23?) initially, and they gave him the 90s "Live and Loud" DVD and said "learn this".

[atomicpunk5151]

There is a interview up with Gus G and how he got the Ozzy gig.

He is also set to play the LA (Sunset Strip) show this Sat 9/12 with Ozzy.

BLABBERMOUTH.NET - New OZZY OSBOURNE Guitarist GUS G.: It's An 'Honor' To Step Into ZAKK WYLDE's Shoes

On how the whole thing came about:

Gus: "I got a message on my MySpace page from Rob 'Blasko', Ozzy's bass player, asking me what was doing, if was living in America or not and saying that he wanted to talk to me. I never thought he'd want me for something like that [playing with Ozzy]. I initially thought that maybe he wanted to talk to me about doing a project or something and then he told me that one of Ozzfest's managers was looking for me. The manager said that they wanted me to fly out to Los Angeles immediately for a show that Ozzy was about to do in Anaheim, California."

On his first audition in Los Angeles:

Gus: "I went to the studio and they asked me to start playing right away. I met Ozzy's band first — the bass player and the drummer — and we jammed for quite some time, just to 'feel' each other's playing. While we were playing, Ozzy showed up and started to sing the songs, thus giving a huge boost to the whole thing. When it ended, everybody else came into the room and shut the door behind them — Ozzy, Sharon [Osbourne, Ozzy's wife/manager], the band, the managers… You can imagine how anxious I was feeling at this time! Then they came out and said that I got the job and that we're gonna play that BlizzCon show together."

His thoughts on Zakk Wylde:

Gus: "Zakk is a tremendous guitar player, just like all the guys that have played with Ozzy. In fact, Zakk is my favorite Ozzy guitar player ever and my biggest influence of them all! It's quite an honor for me to step into his shoes."

On the treatment he's going to give to all the Ozzy classics:

Gus: "Ozzy has had all those great guitar players in his band over the years and each one of them had a different approach to playing the songs, whether it was Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee or Zakk Wylde. I studied all those approaches quite thoroughly. You have to respect those songs and play them the way people want to hear them. Should I turn 'Crazy Train' into a power metal song? No way, man!"

[Seshmeister]

Gus: "Zakk is a tremendous guitar player, just like all the guys that have played with Ozzy. In fact, Zakk is my favorite Ozzy guitar player ever and my biggest influence of them all!

Pffftt...

[Diamondjimi]

Pffftt...

My thoughts exactly....

[binnie]

Well, Gus is entitled to his opinion. Sounds to me like he's trying to smooth over the waters given the circumstances in which Zakk was axed.....

[Panamark]

Kinda drops his cred down several notches though !