I recently had some fun at the expense of the upcoming all-star homage to Randy Rhoads, Immortal Randy Rhoads – The Ultimate Tribute. But now that all-star homage has come back and bitch-slapped me but good: the first single, a cover of “Crazy Train” by Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Rudy Sarzo (every band ever) and Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath and at least one variation thereof), is fuckin’ GREAT.

As good as the original? No, of course not. But the musicians involved have done exactly what you’d want them to do: they’ve struck a balance between being true to the original and making the song their own. It’s not just a rote-yet-inferior recreation. I dig it.

Listen to “Crazy Train” below, courtesy of Rolling Stone. Immortal Randy Rhoads – The Ultimate Tribute comes out March 3 on UDR. Fingers crossed the rest of it as interesting as this!