Happy 1st of October everybody, and welcome.....to the Blizzard of Ozz!!!
That’s right, October of 2022 will be dedicated to Heavy Metal’s big brother, Ozzy Osbourne! Thanks to a pretty brand new album, not to mention some health scares & moving back to England, I felt that it was only appropriate to call upon the energy of Ozzy to make our Halloween a bit more spooky this year. However, Osbourne’s solo career is impressive, and spread out over four decades. So, with such a library, it was necessary to split things up into 3 posts, and to start things off let’s travel back to the 1980s, and see what made this part of his career so iconic. Let’s begin!
Blizzard Of Ozz (1980/1981)
Upon leaving Black Sabbath on some rather bad terms, Ozzy recalled that "I'd got £96,000 for my share of the name, so I'd just locked myself away and spent three months doing coke and booze. My thinking was, 'This is my last party, because after this I'm going back to Birmingham and the dole". However, Jet Records owner Don Arden (Who also ironically had Black Sabbath on his payroll) signed Ozzy to a deal to make new solo material, and sent his daughter Sharon to L.A. to attend to his needs (aka “Protecting” his investment). Arden had hoped he’d come back to Sabbath, but that would not happen. Later, he tried to have Ozzy name his solo career “Son Of Sabbath”, but that didn’t happen either. Meanwhile, Sharon tried to convince Ozzy to form a supergroup with guitarist Gary Moore. As Gary recalled:
“When I lived in Los Angeles, G-Force helped him to audition musicians. If drummers were trying out, I played guitar, and if a bassist came along, my drummer would help out. We felt sorry for him, basically. He was always hovering around trying to get me to join, and I wasn't having any of it.”
In late 1979, under Don’s guidance, Ozzy would form the Blizzard Of Ozz. It would feature drummer Lee Kerslake of Uriah Heep, bassist-lyricist Bob Daisley (Rainbow & later Uriah Heep), keyboardist Don Airey (Rainbow & later Deep Purple), and Quiet Riot guitarist & guitar prodigy Randy Rhodes. Then, on the 20th of September 1980, and the 27th of March 1981 in the United States, the group’s first album was released. Also titled Blizzard Of Ozz, Jet Records would credit things simply to Ozzy, which in turned launched his solo career. Co-written with Daisley and Rhoads, it gave Ozzy considerable success, and while it accepted that Osbourne and Rhoads started the band, Daislet would later claim that him and Osbourne formed the band in England before Rhoads officially joined.
Blizzard Of Ozz would go on to chart high upon it’s release. It would make it to number 21 on the Billboard 200, number 8 on Canada’s top albums/cd list, and number 7 in Ozzy’s home country of England. It would eventually sell well also: in Australia it would be certified Gold at 35,000 sales, 60,000 in Britain on both the original & 2011 re-release (Silver), Platinum at 100,000 sales in Canada, and a whopping 5 times Platinum here in the United States, with sales equaling 5,000,000 copies. Pretty impressive if you ask me!
Best Track? You could pick any track off of this release, and you’ll find something fantastic! From the controversial Suicide Solution, to the mystical Mr. Crowley, there is a song for everyone on here. However, if I had to single out what I thought would be the best track, I would grant the proto Speed Metal giant Crazy Train that honor. From the first scream to the final notes, you’re strapped into a roller-coaster cart for one hell of an adrenalin fueled ride! Randy Rhodes really shows off his talent in this song, as his guitar work in Crazy Train is the stuff of legend. He never lets up during the entire run time, but his fingers are always steady on the strings, and in the process he never loses control. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me!
Crazy Train
Worst Track? To say that any song on Blizzard Of Ozz is bad would be insulting all of the fabric of space & time! Everybody in the band gave their all, and it shows. Not only that, but the production has aged remarkably well in the 40+ years since it came out, and it still manages to sound nice. If there was a negative thing to say, it would be that Blizzard Of Ozz is over 42 years old as of 2022, and that just makes my joints ache! Even his later output in the 80s don’t affect me like this, but Blizzard Of Ozz does.
Blizzard Of Ozz. Age aside, Ozzy’s first solo record is a phenomenal piece of 80s Heavy Metal, and acts as proof that Mr. Osbourne can be just as good on his own as he can be with Black Sabbath. If you want to listen to one of the building blocks of the 1980s metal scene & find out what made that time so special, then this is one blizzard you won’t mind getting lost in. Next album!
Diary Of A Madman (1981)
With the incredible success of his solo debut, Ozzy Osbourne & the rest of the band were already setting up & getting ready for their next release, and the public wouldn’t have to wait that long. Released on the 7th of November in 1981, there was only a remarkable 3 week recording period from February to March of that same year, so that shows the incredible skill that everybody had. As stated on Wikipedia:
“Although bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge are credited in the liner notes and pictured on the inner sleeve for the American vinyl and cassette release and later CD re-issues, it was bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake who performed all bass and drum parts on the original release. Aldridge has stated of the album, "I think it's pretty obvious that it's not my drumming on that album. I have never taken credit for that recording and have always given Lee Kerslake, whenever asked or interviewed, the credit he rightly deserves.”
Unfortunately, things didn’t completely fly completely straight during then. Also from Wikipedia:
“Daisley provided significant contributions to the album's songwriting, having written some of the music and most of the lyrics. Kerslake claims to have also had a hand in the writing of the album, even performing lead vocals on some of the original demo recordings. "'Flying High Again' was one of my ideas, 'Over the Mountain' was another. The basic (demo) tracks were just Bob's words, my vocals—though some of the words I wrote—and Randy's playing. It was unreal. And then we got Don Airey to come in and do the keyboards", he stated in 2009. Kerslake says he used a piano in the studio to write many of the songs with guitarist Randy Rhoads. Daisley and Kerslake were not given credit for their performance or songwriting contributions, a situation which resulted in a later lawsuit.
During the album's recording, Kerslake says the band members were given no money to live on, prompting them to approach management. Shortly after, both Kerslake and Daisley were fired. "Everything was working fine," said Kerslake. "It was only when Sharon (Osbourne) came in that we had a problem. When she started managing—taking over—she wasn't the manager until Diary of a Madman. Before that was her brother, David. He didn't really want to handle it. He had too much to do for Don (Arden) in the office. So she came in and it started to get edgy. But we never suspected a thing until we went away on holiday. Next minute, they're rehearsing with Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo, and going to America.”
Diary Of A Madman would go on to be quite a big hit. To date, it has sold 3 million copies worldwide, and it’s reviews are pretty positive! Steve Huey of AllMusic stated "it's not uncommon to find fans who prefer Diary to Blizzard, since it sets an even more mystical, eerie mood, and since Rhoads' playing is progressing to an even higher level". BBC Music referred to Diary Of A Madman as "a classic rock record in every way", "lifted out of the ordinary by the legendary rock axe god, Randy Rhoads". Finally, Canadian journalist Martin Popoff called Diary of a Madman "a lasting classic that stands as the definitive showcase for Randy Rhoads”. It’s ironic that so many reviews were so positive, since reviews from 1981 at first were not. As an example, J. D. Considine of Rolling Stone, opined upon the album's original release that “the songs here are little more than riffs with a vocal line pasted on top" and referred to Rhoads as "a junior-league Eddie Van Halen – bustling with chops but somewhat short on imagination”. The irony of that is the magazine would change it’s stance on the album, ranking it 15th on its 2017 list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".
So before I continue, I got a quick & funny story for you. It’s a few days before Easter of 2017, and my Mom & I are doing some shopping for the holiday. We stop inside a Rite Aid that used to be not far from my house, and she & I were just wandering around. I looked at the CDs they had for sale, and Diary Of A Madman just so happened to be one of the albums that was among the shelves. If I recall correctly, Mom jokingly asked if I wanted it in my basket that year, and I unironically answered yes. Sure enough, it was in my collection of goodies for 2017. A pretty good win if you ask me!
Best Track? Like Blizzard Of Ozz, you could pick anything off of Diary Of A Madman, and it will be a banger of a song. Again, there’s nothing bad on here, but my personal favorite would be DOAM’s opener, Over The Mountain. Kinda like Crazy Train, it’s a pretty speedy tune, but it never flies off the rails. Not only that, but Randy Rhodes once again shows off his guitar skills, as the electricity that flows from his fingers enters his guitar, and turns into a thunderstorm of music from the beginning to the last few notes. If you ever wanted to know what Randy is considered to be such a legend, Over The Mountain is a good example of that!
Over The Mountain
Worst Track? Pretty much any issue that Diary Of A Madman has is fundamentally the same as that of Blizzard Of Ozz. Especially it’s age, as of the 7th of November of 1981 it turned 40 years old. Again, that makes my joints ache, but the pain is ever so slight less when compared to Ozzy’s first solo album.
Diary Of A Madman. For some a superior release when compared to Blizzard Of Ozz, but for me it’s just as good & just as much fun. Despite that, this record is an evolution of Ozzy’s solo release, and the future for Mr. Osbourne & the gang seemed bright. However, tragedy would soon strike, and it would affect everyone. Next album.
Bark At The Moon (1983)
While on the Diary Of A Madman tour in Florida on the 19th of March, 1982, a light aircraft piloted by the band’s bus driver (Andrew Aycock) had it’s left wing clip the bus. From there, the plane grazed a tree, and in turn crash into the garage of a nearby mansion. On the plane was the pilot, the band’s costume designer Rachel Youngblood....and Randy Rhodes. All three would be dead, and it would send Ozzy into an incredibly deep depression. The tour would be canceled for 2 week, while Ozzy, Sharon, and Tommy Aldridge went back to Los Angeles to take stock of the situation, while Rudy Sarzo stayed in Florida with family.
The first guitarist approached to replace Rhodes was Gary Moore, but he refused. With a 2 week deadline to find a new guitar player, Rudy’s brother Robert Sarzo was ultimately picked for the job....but there was a problem. Former Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé flew to Los Angeles from England because he was promised the job, and once Sharon realized that the company had payed Bernie, he would be reluctantly hired instead of Robert. The tour would resume on the 1st of April, but Tormé’s blues-based way of playing was not a big hit with fans, and after a couple of shows he informed the future Ms. Osbourne that he was going back to England to work on a solo album he began before he flew over to the states. Ultimately, Night Ranger's Brad Gillis was picked to finish the tour. After that, Jake E. Lee of Ratt & Rough Cut would join as a member, and worked began not long after that on Ozzy’s 3rd album.
Released on the 15th of October, 1983, Bark Of The Moon would be an incredible hit with fans. It would peak at number 19 on the Billboard album chart, and in just a few weeks after it’s release, it would be certified Gold for over 500,000 sales here in America, and eventually it would sell over 3,000,000 copies. In the UK, it would be the third of four records to receive a silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, gaining this in January of 1984. However, things were a little bumpy during the recording process, and as Wikipedia says:
“Bark at the Moon is the only Ozzy Osbourne album on which the songwriting is credited entirely to Osbourne. However, guitarist Jake E. Lee maintains that he composed a significant amount of the album's music but was cheated out of his writing and publishing claims by Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon. Lee claims that after he had composed the songs and completed recording his parts in the studio, he was presented with a contract which stated that he would have no claim to any writing or publishing relating to the album. The contract also stated that Lee could not mention this publicly. Lee claims he signed the contract because he had no legal representation and because Sharon threatened to fire him and have another guitarist re-record his parts if he refused.
Osbourne himself admitted several years later in the liner notes to The Ozzman Cometh that Lee had been involved in the album's writing to at least some degree, stating that the album's title track was in fact co-written by the guitarist. Osbourne's bassist at the time, Bob Daisley, has mirrored Lee's account of the album's production, stating that he co-wrote most of the music with Lee and wrote the vast majority of the lyrics. Daisley has stated that he accepted a buyout from Osbourne in exchange for a writing credit. Osbourne's former drummer Lee Kerslake, who also played with Daisley in Uriah Heep after leaving Osbourne's band, stated that Daisley had been hired by Sharon Osbourne to write the Bark at the Moon album for "$50–60,000 or whatever it is. He was offered the chance to write with Ozzy. Words, music – write the album."”
Best Track? For me, the title track is the best damn thing that this album has to offer! Considering it’s the beginning of October & the Halloween season, I also felt it was rather appropriate to pick this song. At first, Bark At The Moon is a song of two identities: the atmosphere is dark & moody, but the instrumentation (and vocals to a lesser extent) is pretty speedy. At first, it doesn’t feel like it should work, but after a few seconds into the song, it all somehow comes together in one glorious whole. So much so, that at times it doesn’t feel like two different sides came together. In short, Bark At The Moon is perfect for this time of year!
Bark At The Moon
However, a good second place song would be the borderline symphonic track Waiting For Darkness. I say borderline, because there are some spots where a variety of pretty dramatic violin & cello play, and it’s actually kinda beautiful. The rest is still an excellent dish of patented Heavy Metal that only Ozzy & the gang can provide. The guitars are awesome, the drumwork cracks like thunder, Ozzy’s vocals are divine, the electric keyboard gets a little work in as well, and it’s all synched to a perfect mid-paced rhythm that melds everything together. I dare you to skip this tune!
Waiting For Darkness
Worst Track? Unlike Blizzard Of Ozz or Diary Of A Madman, I don’t think there’s any issue with Bark At The Moon. Compared to the previously mentioned albums, this one has aged considerably better. So much so, that despite the fact it’s turning 40 in 2023, the production makes things sound so much fresher. So much so, that I don’t feel old knowing that fact, and this will come up with the two albums coming up next.
Bark At The Moon. An absolute howl of a good time! Even without the guitar juggernaut that was Randy Rhodes, Ozzy & the gang were still able to crank out a hell of an early 80s classic. If you believed that the prior 2 releases felt old, then you might be refreshed by the content on this record. Next album!
The Ultimate Sin (1986)
Upon returning to the studio after a stint in the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse, Ozzy was presented with a giant pile of music from guitarist Jake E. Lee. However, he was cheated out of writing and publishing claims from the Bark At The Moon period of the band, and wouldn’t contribute anything else until a contract was put in front of him that guaranteed writing credit and publishing rights. Fortunately, that happened, and much of his music would for the basis of what would become Ozzy’s 4th studio album. Released on the 10th of February in 1986, it would remarkable go platinum in May of that year, and double platinum by October of 1994. However, there would be issues yet again.
The Ultimate Sin’s lyrics were written by bassist and lyricist Bob Daisley, but he would leave the group shortly before record the album, with a disagreement with Ozzy being the main culprit behind this action, and Daisley would not be credited for his songwriting contributions on the initial 1986 edition (though this changed on future pressings), and a hiring of the relatively unknown Phil Soussan would be done to replace Daisley. After the touring for The Ultimate Sin would finish up in 1987, Jake E. Lee would be unexpectedly fired by Sharon herself, and the reasoning for this remains a mystery to this very day. Soussan would also end up leaving not long after this, and Daisley would come back after burying the hatchet with Ozzy. Weird turnaround, don’t you think?
One final note. As stated by Wikipedia:
“Despite being one of Osbourne's most successful solo albums, The Ultimate Sin was the only album among Osbourne's back catalog to not be reissued or remastered in 2002. Though no official reason was given, rumors circulated that an ongoing legal struggle with bassist/songwriter Phil Soussan over his song "Shot in the Dark" was responsible for the album's failure to be re-issued. The only available CD version of The Ultimate Sin remains the 1995 remastered version, which is missing four measures of music between the first chorus and second verse of "Shot in the Dark" found on the original CDs, vinyl copies, and cassettes.”
Best Track? Shot In The Dark hands down! As a way to close out a fantastic album, this song was more than appropriate to do the job. This song would easily fit in a Film Noir: it’s moody, atmospheric, the instrumentation feels like a gunshot from the shadows, and Ozzy’s singing has never been finer. Even the music video kind of carries that Noir feel, despite everything being in color. Despite the ending going out with a mild whimper, the overall package more than makes up for this, and remains very potent.
Shot In The Dark
Worst Track? Nothing! As with everything album on this list, Ozzy’s 80s output is fantastic! Other decades may fluctuate in one direction or another, but Osbourne’s output in the 1980s was most definitely his flawless. Even with the few small dents in the armor, The Ultimate Sin & it’s kin in the decade of Reaganomics rank among the highest that the Blizzard of Ozz has conjured up!
The Ultimate Sin. Perhaps an even cleaner-sounding record than Bark At The Moon was, it continues to show off how much of a powerhouse Ozzy could be even when he wasn’t with Sabbath. If you looking for some of the crispest music from Osbourne’s time in the 80s, this should definitely be high on the list. Next album!
No Rest For The Wicked (1988)
Ozzy continued to struggle with drug addiction into 1987. A mix of Jake E. Lee leaving the band earlier in the year, not to mention that it was 5 years since the death of his friend Randy Rhodes. To pay tribute to his friend, Obsourne would release Tribute, which were a collection of live recordings from 1981. Come 1988, Ozzy would appear in the documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years. He told the director Penelope Spheeris that "sobriety fucking sucks", but in the late 90s Penelope would say the scene with Ozzy spilling orange juice was staged (A point or two in that movie were staged apparently). However, with all of this going on, there needed to be an album recorded, and a guitarist to be replaced.
Enter Zakk Wylde. After Ozzy listened to a demo cassette from him, Wylde would be immediately hired for the position. Along with John Sinclair on keyboard, and a returning Bob Daisley on bass (Who would be replaced after the album finished recording by Geezer Butler). With the pieces put into place, they would put their noises to the grindstone, and on the 28th of September in 1998, No Rest For The Wicked was released. It would peak at no. 13 on the Billboard 200, be certified Gold be December of that year, and since went Double Platinum. Nice!
Best Track? From an ending track on the prior album that’s awesome to a starting track that’s awesome, Miracle Man gets the spot! Not only is it a lovely swipe at infamous griftervangelist Jimmy Swaggart, but it’s a banger of a song in it’s own right! Zakk Wylde shows of his skills on this song, as he’s got what I can only describe has a “Steady Intensity” to his playing. Everybody else doesn’t lack in talent (That includes Ozzy’s singing btw), but it’s obvious that Zakk is definitely the star of the show. I can’t say much more, other than I dare any of you to skip this song!
Miracle Man
Worst Track? Much like everything else that came before it, No Rest For The Wicked is filled to the brim with great tracks. Not a single song on here sucks! If I had anything negative to say, it would be that I think the albums sounds a little too clean. There was a kind of rawness on everything else, and it’s not translated much on here. The production on this record is incredibly improved when compared to all of the prior releases, losing a bit of that primal feel you could hear on Ozzy’s prior output. Even The Ultimate Sin didn't have this feeling, and that’s technically when things began to change.
No Rest For The Wicked. Maybe too clean sounding when compared to the rest of Ozzy’s output in the 1980s, but it still retains the overall quality that the Blizzard Of Ozz established in this decade is still evident. For anyone that wants to listen to a cleaner Ozzy Obsourne release, Why not give this one a go?
And that concludes part 1 of my look at Ozzy Osbourne. The 1980s was the bedrock upon which Ozzy could fly on his own in the comic decades, and the albums that many fans still talk about today. Now, we move onto the 1990s, and onto.......the shorted part of his entire career. See you all around the middle of the month, but before then I got my annual list of anime chests for Breast Cancer Awareness month, and I’m sticking with vtubers again. Take care until then!
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If you’re curious about the albums in question, click on the links below for a listen:
Blizzard Of Ozz
Diary Of A Madman
Bark At The Moon
The Ultimate Sin
No Rest For The Wicked
Also, if you’d like better explanations on the history of the records I talked about here, head on over to Wikipedia for more detailed information.
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