Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Randy Rhoads (electric & acoustic guitars); Rudy Sarzo (bass); Tommy Aldrige (drums).
Recorded live in 1981. Includes liner notes by Phil Alexander, Ozzy Osbourne, Delores Rhoads.
Digitally remastered by Stephen Marcussen (Marcussen Mastering).
Just prior to the death of guitarist Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne was planning on releasing a live album. With Randy's passing in April of '82, Osbourne felt that it would be more appropriate to shelve the album in favor of SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, a live double set that featured only versions of his Black Sabbath-era material. By 1987, Osbourne finally felt that the time was right to issue the originally planned live effort featuring Rhoads, titled TRIBUTE.
TRIBUTE is simply one the greatest live heavy metal albums ever released. Rhoads' playing is consistently firey throughout, a fact that confirms how tragic his early passing was. The first eleven tracks are from the DIARY OF A MADMAN tour, including such exceptional Ozzy solo tracks as "Crazy Train," "I Don't Know," "Flying High Again," "Mr. Crowley," "Suicide Solution," and the Sabbath nuggets "Iron Man," "Children of the Grave," and "Paranoid." "Goodbye to Romance" and "No Bone Movies" are from an earlier solo gig, and the final track, "Dee (Randy Rhoads Studio Outtakes)," is a stirring solo guitar piece. TRIBUTE confirms that this early solo Ozzy line-up featuring Randy Rhoads was his finest.
