33 years ago today... Gone, but definitely not forgotten. Just listened to Diary Of A Madman this morning. Still so amazing to listen to after all these years.

Wow 33 years ago.....it doesn't seem that long at all. He was such a talented guitarist. Diary of a Madman is always on my playlist and it's really sad that this was the last album he played on.......his creativity & career were just starting to bloom.
 
You_Can't_Kill_Rock_&_Roll
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5iOEWuIwbU

Heh, with all the RIP threads lately, I jumped up and started to yell "Whaa!" then said "Wait a minute, he's been gone for years!"
 
We can only wonder at what he would have created if he had lived longer.

The reason I picked up the electric, the reason I decided to study classical music and, even after all those years, still my favorite guitar player.
 

moral of the story is,
don't let your roadie fly the plane.
 
 
RIP RR

Rain
The reason I picked up the electric, the reason I decided to study classical music and, even after all those years, still my favorite guitar player.

That's my story exactly, Rain. Got my first electric 9 months after he died. And when I graduated high school it was Randy that inspired me to go to college for classical guitar. I remembered from our past conversations that you were a fan too. In fact, when I posted this thread this morning, YOU were the one person that I knew would respond.

:) Yep, I remember that too. 
 
It's kind of cool to get back into his music as a guitarist so many years later. I've never been much of a shredder, so I took a different direction even though I admired him so much. Now I find myself trying to play some of his stuff, and even if the technique behind it doesn't always seem as elusive as it was when I was 12 or 13, there's just so much emotion in there...
 
When I started out, the solo in Over the Mountain was arguably my favorite guitar moment ever. It was like a punch in the gut, like the guitar was wailing what I felt, like the voice I didn't have. I just stood there, speechless, holding my breath.
 
Years later, I find myself practicing it more or less regularly - like something that you pick up and try every now and then, and put back for a while before you come back to it. I know I'll never play it with as much conviction and feeling as he did, but I keep learning from it.

I've got a couple favorites that I like to play when I'm practicing too. And you nailed it on the feelings he inspired when listening to him. He seemed to be evolving very quickly as a player, too. Listening to the difference between Blizzard and Diary, he was just incorporating everything he was learning into his style. I still think of the interview after he won the reader's choice award when he said, "I don't want to stop here."