⚡ Guitarist Jake E. Lee, known for his powerful work on Ozzy Osbourne’s Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin, has addressed the long-standing “Randy vs. Jake” debate among rock fans. While Lee is often celebrated for developing a distinctive style—notably avoiding the Floyd Rose tremolo system popular in the ’80s—he often struggles to receive the same recognition as his predecessor, the legendary Randy Rhoads.
💪 Harder to Play: Lee vs. Rhoads
Speaking on Tone-Talk, Lee acknowledged the polarizing nature of the comparison, which was particularly intense among shred guitarists during the 1980s. He noted that while some fans prefer his playing, others vehemently dismiss any suggestion that he could surpass Rhoads.
Lee then offered a specific point of comparison regarding the technical difficulty of their respective Ozzy contributions:
“I will say that my songs are a bit harder to play than Randy’s,” Lee asserted.
This claim suggests that, while Rhoads’s work is celebrated for its elegance and classical structure, Lee’s tracks required a different, perhaps more taxing, degree of technical precision or stamina.
🎼 The Unmatched Artistry of Randy Rhoads
Despite his assertion about technical difficulty, Lee was quick to offer high praise for his predecessor, naming one unique thing that he believes Randy Rhoads did better than anyone else: his classical influence.
“The thing that Randy did that I think nobody else has ever done as well as him is incorporating the classical thing into hard rock. And the way he did it, nobody’s ever done it as good as he did.”
Lee credited Rhoads with mastering the seamless integration of classical music theory and phrasing into the hard rock framework, establishing a style that remains unmatched and highly influential in metal guitar history.
Lee’s comments serve not to diminish Rhoads, but rather to assert the distinct value and difficulty of his own contributions during a pivotal era for Ozzy Osbourne’s solo career.