"We kinda came up with the concept a number of years back," ex- Psychotic Waltz guitarist Steve Cox says, "to do some choice old Ozzy and early Sabbath."

Ozzy tribute bands abound. They are to be found in places like Dallas, New York, Tacoma, Poland, Sacramento, Vegas, Italy, and North Carolina. Soon enough, San Diego will have one too. Introducing: Madman.

"We haven't gotten out and played yet. This project has been on paper for years. We tried out a lot of people and different things didn't work. Schedules didn't mesh, or, they weren't a musical fit. Javier [the drummer,]" he says, "was the last piece of the puzzle."

Madman have been in rehearsals for six weeks now. "We're still working on the outfits. And, I just scored my first Rhoads Jackson."

That's a type of guitar, a signature model that bears the name of Ozzy's most famous guitarist - Randy Rhoads, whom Cox will be taking the part of in Madman.

It was 30 years ago this March that Rhoads was killed in a plane crash in Florida. He was 25. He is considered one of the greatest of rock guitarists ever, even though Rolling Stone placed him at 36 on their revised list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.

Ozzy himself once said words to the effect that Rhoads sounded like "God entering his life."

"I've got the generation thing on my side. I'm 45. When I was wood shedding in high school and learning guitar," Cox says, "Randy Rhoads was it."

I'm listening to "Flying High Again," a live version, as I write this. Ozzy is a remarkably shitty singer live but fans love him for who he is and what he represents: the beginning of real metal.

Rhoads, on the other hand, was a musician with serious gifts enough to carry any band. He had that ability peculiar to some, but not all axe masters, such that he could sound like several guitarists at once. He could comp, and at the same time he could chop out in rapid and immaculate succession blistering pentatonic intervals at warp speed.

In addition to guitar skills suitable to the task Cox also has size on his side. He is 5'5"; Rhoads was 5'7". "He was a big influence. There was also Eddie Van Halen (#8 on the new Rolling Stone list,) and if you dug a little deeper, Michael Schenker (sadly, he did not make the list) and Uli Jon Roth (nor did he.)"

Cox is also a veteran of local bands Dance Macabre and Death From Above. He's performed in another tribute band called Hell Bent, who specialize in Judas Priest.

In Madman, Ron Lerma plays the part of Ozzy. He comes from a tribute band called Monsters of Rock. "He sings everything. He has that predominately upper chest almost nasally range." But can he inhabit Ozzy? "He pegs it. He's got Ozzy's weird inflection thing." Javier Vega plays drums and Pete Stone is Geezer Butler, the bassist.

"That Diary era was special. I got to see them a couple of times before Rhoads cashed in." For that main reason, and for the passage of time and membership changes this is a band that has ceased to exist in the real world. It is a tough act to reconstruct.

"Sequencing for the handful of Ozzy songs that were complex is real tough." He explains that sequencers are a form of multi track audio media.

"Diary of a Madman" and "Mr. Crowley" are examples of complex tracks with multi instrumentation, strings, and choral stuff. After doing all that, playing with these three guys has been a blessing. They've got their parts down cold. There's no wiggle room. It's more theater than music, in a way. For a tribute band at this level, you have to give the material a huge amount of dedication. It almost takes more focus than writing your own stuff."

What might the future hold for Madman? "We have no expectations, other than that we want to take this as far as we can go." Aside from sequencing all of Ozzy's musical frills, what else is coming up hard for the tribute act? "None of us look the part. I don't think we're gonna fool anybody by the way we look, but the sound," Cox says, "is right on.

Madman: Sat Sept 1, Brick By Brick