Quiet Riot was a staple of the late 1970s club scene in Los Angeles, contemporaries of the likes of a young band by the name of Van Halen. But whereas the big-time came calling on the latter band, Quiet Riot was left to languish by record companies, who were by then busy trying to cash in on disco and new wave. After releasing two records in Japan only, the band would temporarily go on hiatus when, in 1980, their superstar guitarist, Randy Rhoads, was selected to be the sideman to recently fired Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. Tragically, Rhoads’ life would be cut short just two years later in a plane crash while on tour in Florida. But, not before he had turned the world on its ear with his fiery, classical-inspired lead playing on Osbourne’s first two solo records.

There’s just a few days left of Amazon’s celebration of heavy metal with their
50 $5 Metal Albums sale. For only $5 each in MP3 format, there are some insanely good must-have metal albums up for sale through the end of March, like Metallica‘s …And Justice For All, Judas Priest‘s Screaming For Vengeance, Black Sabbath‘s Heaven And Hell, Quiet Riot‘s Metal Health, and many more, including some really great “Best Of” compilations.

I picked out a few here below, but be sure to check out the main sale page to see all the albums available now for only $5 each.

Metallica …And Justice For All
Danzig Danzig
Judas Priest Screaming For Vengeance
A Perfect Circle Thirteenth Step
Pantera The Best Of Pantera
Van Halen Van Halen – Best Of Volume 1
Megadeth Megadeth – Greatest Hits: Back To The Start
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath – Heaven And Hell
Cinderella Night Songs
Rainbow Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow
Testament The New Order
Anthrax Spreading The Disease
Kiss Kiss
Queensryche The Best Of Queensryche

March 19 marks a sad day for fans of rock and heavy metal. Two astonishingly talented guitarists, both leading, pioneering figures in their genre and era, died on this date. Paul Kossoff, lead guitarist of rock band Free and Ozzy Osbourne‘s Randy Rhoads died only 6 years apart. Both at the young age of 25.

Ask a cross-section of heavy metal fans who the greatest ever guitarist of the genre is and you can bet your last guitar string the name of Randy Rhoads will not be far from most lips. After Ozzy Osbourne left Black Sabbath he was looking for a guitarist for his solo project. So the story goes, Ozzy heard Rhoads warming up and hired him on the spot, so impressed was the Prince of Darkness with the teenaged guitarist.

Born December 6, 1956, in Santa Monica, California, Randy Rhoads began his reputation as a talented young musician in the heavy metal band Quiet Riot, playing on the band’s first two (very limited release) albums. But it was with Ozzy Osbourne that he became known, and still is known, as one of the greatest guitaristsof all time. Amazingly, Blizzard of Ozz, which contains the well-know song “Crazy Train” and Diary of a Madman are the only two albums Rhoads released with Ozzy before his life was tragically cut short.

Looks like Quiet Riot is back.

That’s right, you heard me, Quiet Riot, the 1980s heavy metal band famous for their cover of Slade’s “Cum On Feel The Noize,” is back on tour and with new singer Mark Huff.

Check out the band’s MySpace page to listen to a sampler of classic tunes they re-recorded with Huff on vocals. The sample track has “Cum On Feel The Noize,” “Metal Health/Bang Your Head,” and “Slick Black Cadillac,” and I have to say, it sounds damn good. Also, below, you can watch a video of Huff performing “Metal Health/Bang Your Head” with Quiet Riot at a show they played last month in Denver.

Except for a one-year break-up between 2003 and 2004, Quiet Riot has still been making albums and touring all these years up until original singer Kevin Dubrow‘s death from an accidental overdose of cocaine in 2007.