REVIEWS:
Probably metal's ultimate madman, Ozzy Osbourne began his career as the lead vocalist for the pioneering band Black Sabbath. After he was fired from Sabbath after Never Say Die, he began a solo career. What distinguished Ozzy's solo work from his older Sabbath days was that the lyrics were somewhat more thoughtful and not inane and cartoonish like Sabbath's, and he always had a great ear for finding guitarists, as such phenomenal and influential guitarists as Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee, and Zakk Wylde have all made their mark on Ozzy albums. His 80s work (particularly the Jake E. Lee period with Bark At The Moon and The Ultimate Sin) is particularly exceptional, with his distinctive voice and the virtuosic guitar playing in abundance.
Ozzy also gained fame around that time for doing such outrageous things (while drunk, of course) as biting the heads off bats and doves and pissing on the Alamo and being accused of causing teens to commit suicide from his song lyrics - an outrageous claim. Ozzy's albums may not have the innovation and legendary status of his previous band's albums, but they are arguably more entertaining and accomplished with a heavy supply of anthemic hooks, although his later work has since declined.
The 80's were a great decade for guitar albums, and along with Van Halen's debut which kickstarted it a few years earlier, the return of Ozzy Osbourne showcased yet another innovative six string genius - the classically trained shredder Randy Rhoads, whose inventive riffs and mind-blowing solos are all over the place here. With Ozzy's lyrics taking a more thought-provoking, even if sometimes cartoonish and overly 'rock and roll anthem', approach, and his vocal performance as strong as ever, this made for a legendary pairing. The ripping and infectious "Crazy Train" is one of the most immediate examples, and is a fine all-around track - the song really lives up to its' title as well, truly showcasing what it's like to 'go off the rails of a crazy train'.
The second half opener "Mr. Crowley" is even more stunning, with a gripping organ intro, intriguing lyrics about the mysterious Alistair Crowley, a breathtaking hook, and two jaw-dropping Rhoads solos that are sure to leave you on the edge of your seat, making it arguably the highlight of Ozzy's solo career because of it. For unreal drama, Rhoads delivers the goods on "Revelation (Mother Earth)", which practically is a revelation in itself as one of the greatest examples of metal guitar playing in the 80s from one of its' true legends, while the acoustic instrumental "Dee" (even if it is only 50 seconds) is one of his trademarks that showed Rhoads had even more to offer. He also gives a greater depth to the already emotional, melodic ballad "Goodbye To Romance", which is Ozzy's heartfelt farewell to Black Sabbath.
Thankfully, there's even a bit of goofy humor in the horror film-esque "No Bone Movies", which has a hilarious hook, and it does a fine job of contrasting the eerie aforementioned epic "Mr. Crowley" and the controversial "Suicide Solution", an excellent riff-driven highlight which in song, is a tribute to late AC/DC vocalist Bon Scott, but in court, an upset parent saw it as a song that drove his son to commit suicide (which turned out to be a false accusation). Rounding out the album are the two weaker tracks in the aggressive, thought-provoking opener "I Don't Know" and the energetic closing track "Steal Away (The Night)". Although solid songs, they pale in comparison to the mostly great metal tracks which come between them that make Blizzard Of Ozz a solid album.
COMMENTS
Great album; every song is good. "Crazy Train," "I Don't Know," "Suicide Solution," and "No Bone Movies" are wonderful, straight-ahead guitar rockers, and "Mr. Crowley" and "Revelation (Mother Earth)" are very impressive epic-style pieces. I especially love the latter--outstanding, gloomy vocal melodies and top-notch rhythm and lead guitar playing. It sounds very cool coming after "No Bone Movies" and directly before "Steal Away the Night." Definitely a guitar metal classic; I am torn between an 8 or a 9 for this one.
A very quickly recorded followup to Blizzard Of Ozz, and it's definitely apparent throughout the songs - Diary Of A Madman lacks the impact and consistency of the debut, and tragically, it was the last Ozzy release to feature the talent of Randy Rhoads, as he was tragically killed in a plane crash a year later, leaving metal fans to wonder what the young guitarist could have accomplished afterwards. In any case, Rhoads does leave his mark, especially in what is considered his signature song, the classic rock and roll anthem "Flying High Again", and his presence also lifts the booming "Over The Mountain", which has interesting references to science within its' lyrics, a good melody and more blazing Rhoads guitar work.
Neither of those first two numbers, as sold as they are, match the power of the best Blizzard Of Ozz tracks, although the fiery guitar inspiration of "S.A.T.O." and "Little Dolls" certainly do, while the most dramatic and carefully crafted epic - the maniacal title song - comes at the end of the album. That track doesn't save the rest of the album from being a slight disappointment, though, as the promising but far too lengthy, repetitive and generic "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll", and the second rate "Believer" and "Tonight" are also relatively unsatisfying. This release does have frustrating inconsistency and a feeling of a rushed product, but the epitaph to the Randy Rhoads era is still solid nonetheless, and the finest was yet to come.
The third Ozzy album Bark At The Moon marked tne debut of newly hired guitarist Jake E. Lee, and it begins in explosive fashion with the cartoonish, anthemic title track, which was the first song Ozzy and Jake wrote together, which is appropriate, since it gives both of them the opportunity to rise to the occasion. The rest of the album effectively builds on that song and becomes quite a prototypical 80s metal release, which is a good thing as it shows powerful consistency from start to finish, since practically every song is its' own effective statement in one way or another.
"You're No Different" is one of Ozzy's best ballads, boasting not only inspiring lyrics, but airy synthesizer work that adds to the mood, a challenging song structure, and of course a thrilling solo. "Now You See It (Now You Don't)" is an even better example of how the synth sound incorporates into the album's feel, working its' magic especially well with an unpredictable appearance during the second verse, helping out a Sabbath-esque track boasting a distinctive riff. Meanwhile, the first half closer, "Rock And Roll Rebel", is a song that goes far beyond "generic rock song status" in defining Ozzy's ambition as a songwriter, as here he lyrically voices his disgust toward critics and those who associate him with all things "evil". The song's no slouch instrumentally either, of course.
The second half works even better, being every bit as monstrous as the creature portrayed in the opening title track. "Centre Of Eternity" boasts great atmosphere and moves along in unstoppable fashion, with the monks and organ in the intro of the song giving it an excellent push. The second ballad on the album, "So Tired", is another breathtaking example of Ozzy's ability for ballad-writing as one of his most sincere songs (probably dealing with his wife and inspiration, Sharon), and the beautiful melody and bridge makes it my personal favorite. "Slow Down" again shows the Ozzy and Jake machine out of control (they're certainly not about to 'slow down'), while the thrilling closer "Waiting For Darkness" is an epic worthy of "Mr. Crowley" and "Diary Of A Madman", as the song gives off a feeling that the darkness has already come,
Overall, all cylinders are firing on Bark At The Moon - Ozzy's in great form as usual, Jake E. Lee shows himself to be a complete player of Randy Rhoads' caliber, maybe even a little more exciting for some people's tastes (Rhoads was in fact seriously missed, as he Ozzy once considered quitting for good because of that tragedy, but you wouldn't know it here). The end result is one of the great 80s metal albums - very likely the best of Ozzy's solo output.
The Ultimate Sin was a delayed followup to Bark At The Moon, although the layoff doesn't faze the teamwork of Ozzy and Jake E. Lee much - the consistency may be slightly less than the previous release, but in some cases the album is an improvement. Lyrics wise, this is arguably the best Ozzy's ever been - his words pretty much steal the show, as the man is at his most meaningful and thought provoking on the critical subject of the horrors of war throughout a number of tracks (and as suggested by the album's title). It's also a bit more of a live sounding, raw affair, which is appropriate, so the title track is the quintessential song here - a booming drum intro, a dirty riff, desperate anti-war lyrics and vocals, and more electrifying guitar work from Jake E. Lee, another true guitar master.
Ozzy and his band also show their considerable ability to turn otherwise generic arena metal numbers in "Secret Loser" and "Never Know Why" into absolute sonic explosions, which actually benefit from the messy production. It certainly helps that there are great melodies, riffs, and solos to be heard on both. If those two tracks are to be considered sonic explosions, however, then "Thank God For The Bomb" must be armageddon come true, as Ozzy howls over how hopeless everything has become, with the mind-numbing riff to "Never" a perfect counterpart to close the first half, with all hope seemingly trailing behind in the dust.
The side opening "Lightning Strikes" is more of the same, with good song dynamics and instrumental assault, although it pales somewhat compared to the monster epic track "Killer Of Giants". Setting up with a quiet acoustic intro, the ride slowly builds up from a desperate plea to end all the horrors of war to an absolutely masterful solo section that Randy Rhoads would be truly proud of, capping the gem of the album. The following "Fool Like You" is the most complex song instrumentally, with challenging riffs, solos and hooks throughout, while Ozzy's biggest hit single up to this point, "Shot In The Dark" wraps it all up perfectly, an excellent all around song, great chorus, good riff, cool bassline, brilliant solo, and dark, solid lyrics. Ozzy and his guitar wizard triumph yet again.
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This is very often considered to be the strongest album Ozzy ever released, and ironically, his motivations for releasing this live record in the first place weren't even related to him. After the death of Randy Rhoads, and coping with all the shock that came with it, Ozzy debated for several years whether or not to actually release which were supposedly the only known live recordings he had with Rhoads actually in the lineup, and in the end, he made the right decision to do so. Not that it's actually the most revelatory album in the world - here, the band goes through eight of the nine songs from of Blizzard Of Ozz (and even "Dee" appears at the end as a series of studio outtakes - more on this in a minute), just two from Diary Of A Madman (the still plodding "Believer" and "Flying High Again"), and three Sabbath covers. The band is professional enough on stage that the songs don't really sound any worse than before, but with a few exceptions, they're not noticeably different either.
There are enough moments here that add at least a little bit to the historical importance inherently present here anyway, though, also factoring in that the Blizzard songs are done well enough that casual fans could even skip that album in favor of this one. And no, Tommy Aldridge's boring drum solo right at the end of the otherwise faster and more exciting take of "Steal Away (The Night)" isn't among those moments (come on, do we really need that on a Rhoads tribute album?). Rhoads' longer guitar solo in the middle of "Suicide Solution", however, is - it's performances like these that leave no doubt about how much talent he actually possessed in that aspect, or how well he could pull off his virtuosity in a live setting. Not really much else to say about the other solo numbers - I guess the coda of "No Bone Movies" has even more excitement as a show closer, but I can't really say anything about the others that don't apply to the studio versions. They're not really worse at all, with the exception of possibly "Mr. Crowley", which does sound a bit thinner than before, but otherwise still good.
As far as the Sabbath covers go, however, while I could totally do without a mercifully shortened "Iron Man" that cuts off right before the solo section (what the hell's that?), "Children Of The Grave" and especially "Paranoid" rule. Tony Iommi's not nearly as good a soloist as he is a riff writer, while Rhoads is pretty much the opposite - his own solos in both songs are extremely impressive, probably even better than on the original versions, and it's great how he adds subtle additions to the main grinding riff of the former and absolutely blows the roof off the place with his phenomenal solo in the latter (probably the most treasurable moment here - it's no coincidence this performance made it onto Ozzy's hits album).
Finally, almost as a Beatles anthology-like curiousity comes the aforementioned studio outtakes of Rhoads' acoustic instrumental "Dee". While these 4 minutes are not really something you can casually listen to all the time, it does make one realize how much potential talent he could have had as a composer of classical guitar instrumentals, as this piece really does quite a bit in its' 50 seconds. It's little insights like this one that make this otherwise standard-issue sort of live album worth owning - other than the fact that it works as a compilation in replacing Blizzard and boasts a great treatment of those two Sabbath numbers, there's really not a lot of surprises here. But that doesn't mean those few surprises aren't great, or the music contained within isn't very good.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Zakk Wylde enters Ozzy's revolving door of guitarists for this one. While Wylde certainly exhibits the technical ability of his predecessors, his playing has somewhat less personality and excitement than either Randy Rhoads or Jake E. Lee. No matter, though, as the songs here still boast a great amount of energy, entertainment and hooks, even if No Rest For The Wicked shows that the 'horror movie' mystique is growing a little stale (and the increasingly more generic and workmanlike tendencies would continue on into the 90's), as evidenced by tracks like "Devil's Daughter", which is a bit predictable, campy and cheezy, not to mention it also recycles that laugh at the end from "Crazy Train" (how bad can you get?). I could also say the same thing about the subject matter of "Crazy Babies" (an accurate representation of Ozzy in a 'fucking' interview), which is certainly fun, but just doesn't boast as memorable of a hook as his past hits.
There are a few tracks on here, though, that keep the songwriting from being more than just a step down from The Ultimate Sin, though, and the finest of these is unquestionably the epic "Fire In The Sky", as the keyboard-laden 'satanic' mood of it works perfectly with the introspective feel of the lyrics, making it a great successor to the last album's "Killer Of Giants", and one of the finest songs in the man's career. The opening track "Miracle Man", meanwhile, is a nice explosive song that stays faithful to Ozzy's opening track formula, and "Breaking All The Rules" is another solid, if slightly cliched, example of his humorous life philosophy being set to music within the refrain of the title.
The rest of the tracks are capably formulaic as well, with the second half's "Bloodbath In Paradise" having a decent bombastic feel to it (though the melody is just a tad bit too similar to "Devil's Daughter"), while the last two tracks "Tattooed Dancer" and "Demon Alcohol" are enjoyable 'racing down the night road' rockers that bring the album to a good, if not exactly riveting or essential, conclusion. In all, this is actually one of Ozzy's more consistent albums, as there isn't really a bad song on here, but the 'cartoonish' subject matter is taken to a bit more serious than necessary extent, and like I said, the songs are a bit more generic than usual. Still good, though, and relentlessly entertaining enough for at least a low 7.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
I really hate the existence of record company ripoff albums like this one. Apparently, the idea behind this release is a live EP consisting of four album tracks and a couple Black Sabbath songs featuring former bassist Geezer Butler playing with Ozzy, Zakk Wylde and Randy Castillo. According the liner notes, Ozzy wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea behind which this thing was to be put together, but after listening through the shows from the No Rest For The Wicked tour, his thoughts supposedly changed, and in fact he felt there were great performances there. Personally, I don't see what he's getting at. All of the actual material represented here is good, but the problem is that there's nothing in the performances that really adds at all to the originals. Plus, one of these performances is particularly iffy and uninspired, but I'll get to that later.
As for the Ozzy solo tunes, maybe "Miracle Man" might be slightly more energetic than before, but like "Tattooed Dancer" and "Bloodbath In Paradise", they're more or less exactly the same as the originals. Is the guy hearing something I'm not???? "Shot In The Dark" fares a little better, only because of the guitar solo at the end, but something just doesn't sound as inspiring about it. And can anyone tell me who needs a shortened "Sweet Leaf" running into a bland runthrough of "War Pigs" (which seriously lacks any kind of vocal conviction and fire) to close this off? Ozzy diehards and completists, that's who. Like I said, the music is hardly bad, but since there are much more comprehensive examples of Ozzy, and this one has simply nothing to offer anyone already interested, then I'd say pass. Even if it can be found cheap easily...
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A somewhat generic retread of earlier successes, Ozzy's first album in the nineties (second with yet another guitar wizard Zakk Wylde) certainly shows that he's lost some of his fire, but it also shows that he's not quite washed up yet. Despite some painfully cliched songs here - the predictable, flat, and extremely cartoonish opener "Mr. Tinkertrain" dealing with a child molester sticks out like a sore thumb, as does the cheezy, filler-quality "Zombie Stomp" (if that wasn't evident from the title), there are a couple true classics here - the title track, which actually came together very quickly. It may be the finest song in Ozzy's catalog next to "Mr. Crowley", and that's saying a whole lot. A killer opening bassline from Mike Inez starts things off, with a passion-filled melody and memorable chorus only beginning things - it's a prelude to a stunning orchestral middle section filled with drama that sets up a mind-blowing solo, while "Time After Time" just may be Ozzy's greatest contribution in the ballad department ever, and Wylde truly comes through for him yet again with an electrifying solo.
The rest of the album is unfortunately lame and uninspired by comparison, although some of it is worthwhile and entertaining. "Mama, I'm Coming Home" and the closing "Road To Nowhere" are pleasant ballads that are actually quite good, and "I Don't Want To Change The World" is an energetic, soaring riff-rocker, but these are simply weaker rehashes of what he's already done better on previous albums. "Desire", meanwhile, is a half-hearted rocker with bad lyrics, especially in the chorus that consists of, you've got it, 'it's the same old desire, nothing has changed, nothing's the same, crazy train, crazy train'. Blah. "Hellraiser" is a similar parody-like effort from a once convincing madman, and "Sin" is just dull filler.
If this was the only 90s release Ozzy ever did, despite Zakk Wylde's amazing and inspiring moments, I'd think he didn't have close to the talent and substance that Randy Rhoads and Jake E. Lee had, but this is probably indicative of the weaker material - his performance of the older classics on Live And Loud is explosive, and his Pride & Glory project (which goes into a different heavy Southern rock direction) and subsequent solo album (a more acoustic feel) eventually proved me wrong. No matter how hard Wylde tries here though, he's ultimately unable to make No More Tears anything more than just a good but not great (mediocre if it weren't for a couple gems) effort, but the studio albums wouldn't get any better from here.
COMMENTS
I really want to disagree with you because I absolutely love so many things about this album but you're right on a lot of things. Zombie Stomp is dumb while the crazy train reference in desire makes you wonder if they were desperate for lyrics. BUT being a wannabee guitar virtouso I must say Zakk is great on this. Mama Im comin home shows his ability to write a beautiful song without having to rip up the fretboard and the title track gives one goosebumps when the slide guitar intro starts up over the amazing bass line. Not to mention the fade/crunch effects of the guitar and bass on Time After Time satisfy the carnal urge of headbanging in all of us and you dont have to be a guitar nerd to enjoy listening to the intro solo on the Road to Nowhere. i want to give it an 8 or 9 so bad but then i hear mr tinkertrain
(reviewed by Nick Karn)
A double disc live affair recorded during the No More Tears tour, Live And Loud is probably one of the better concert albums to come along - it definitely helps that Ozzy's performance is full of life and energy, and he sounds totally inspired and into the songs. He even offers inspiring wisdom ("let me see your fucking cigarette lighters", "raise the fucking roof", "I can't fucking hear you") throughout. Meanwhile, lead guitarist Zakk Wylde is simply unstoppable, adding his unique twist to the old and new material, even perfectly executing former lead guitarist Randy Rhoads' extremely difficult parts with perfect flair, and throwing in a few ideas of his own during his guitar solo spot. This helps most of the songs to even eclipse the studio originals (the greatest Ozzy songs, "Mr. Crowley" and "No More Tears", are the top highlights here), so the collection proves to be a much better overview of the man's career than The Ozzman Cometh best-of collection that later followed. It's even got the unexpected reunion of the original Black Sabbath lineup towards the end (Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward) on worthwhile performances of their signature song and "Changes". I'd go as far to say that if you're new to Ozzy and his legacy as a solo artist, this is the place to start. It's that great.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
The live performances on the preceding album's tour (captured effectively on Live And Loud) were to be Ozzy's final shows ever, but eventually he reconsidered and released his 'comeback' record Ozzmosis. This release is considerably darker and heavier than No More Tears, but most of the tracks here are also long, slow, dragging, monotonous, uninspired and lacking hooks, despite the strong quality of the popular 'classics' here - "Perry Mason" and "I Just Want You", which are unfortunately placed right at the beginning of the album. The former song dealing with the fictional detective lyrically and has a dark, evil grind, complete with a nice solo, while the latter has amazingly poetic lyrics that flow together well in a dramatic sing-along track.
Unfortunately, it's not until the final closing track "Old L.A. Tonight", a great ballad that recalls the emotional Ozzy of old, that any song is too worthwhile. The rest of the tracks all go on just a tad too long with virtually no energy or emotion to them, particularly the painfully repetitive first side closer "See You On The Other Side", which could possibly be the longest 6 minute song in rock history - it is 6 minutes, right? Seems more like twice that. I guess you could say the same about such mediocre songs as "Thunder Underground" (which is at least thought-provoking), "Denial" and "My Jekyll Doesn't Hyde" (a truly stupid song title). Not surprisingly, lead guitarist Zakk Wylde would depart after this release to concentrate on his solo debut Book Of Shadows released a year later. That album was clearly where his heart was at the time... it's not like he really made his presence known here on this mostly uninspired, but to its' credit not terrible, collection that I don't think should even have happened. Hang it up, Ozzy, before it gets any worse... it's been a great ride, but you're done.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
The plan for Ozzy Osbourne's greatest hits release The Ozzman Cometh was to record three new songs with a new backing band, but on account of a busy touring schedule that never happened, so as a result this compilation contains only one unreleased new studio track, "Back On Earth", which is a surprisingly strong leftover from the Ozzmosis sessions. The most curious thing about The Ozzman Cometh, however, is the presence of two early Black Sabbath demos to the beginning of the collections, which is yet another example that the man is stuck in the past just a bit too much, although the version of "War Pigs" with the original lyrics is more profound and interesting, but only a tenth as powerful, as the original.
Also a curious choice is the live performance of "Paranoid" on the Randy Rhoads' Tribute (which, to be fair, is an incredible performance), and a bonus second disc containing two more Sabbath demos - I mean, considering how many hits are missing, isn't this an insult to fans by including demo-quality songs that could easily have ended up on a Sabbath anthology? Even if that's what it may be, however, casual fans will still get more than their money's worth with a package that also includes some excellent metal classics - "Over The Mountain", "Crazy Train", "Mr. Crowley", "No More Tears", "Bark At The Moon", and "Shot In The Dark" are just a few key tracks in the memorable Ozzy legacy, and on that level, this succeeds as a compilation.
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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
Ugh. You know, I thought I had warned the guy to hang it up a couple reviews ago, but NO, following an endless touring schedule (reuniting with Black Sabbath and playing the festival he founded, Ozzfest, for instance) he just had to go release another studio album for the first time in 6 years. Unsurprisingly, Down To Earth continues the gradual decline of his career, with another set of boring slow grinding songs that are little more than pale derivatives of what the man had explored earlier in his Black Sabbath and solo career. This time, however, the song material is of even worse quality than Ozzmosis, as the inspiring hooks and riffs only exist in a couple of tracks (and even then they're not that great). Even former guitarist Zakk Wylde hates most of this album, which should tell you something. And two of the songs are co-written with Mick Jones of Foreigner. What's up with that?
Hmm... where to begin. The most bothersome and dull portions of the album are probably the first three and last three tracks here. The opening lead single "Gets Me Through" is pretty much your typical 'comeback' anthem, with a really lame and tired grinding riff with annoyingly self-referential lyrics, "Facing Hell" totally wastes its' cool synth intro by making its' verse melody a slowed down version of "Perry Mason" and its' chorus a boring grind, and "Dreamer" is what you would get if you threw all the ballads Ozzy ever wrote into a blender and have the result played in about the dullest way possible. Plus the lyrics are a pale "Revelation (Mother Earth)" rewrite. And of course, "Black Illusion", "Alive" and "Can You Hear Them?" are all astoundingly dull tracks to end the album on - the only thing that stands out among them all are the pretty bridge (and annoying self-referential lyrics again) on the last one.
The middle tracks really aren't that much better, but they do salvage the album from going even further down into the wastebasket at least a little. Two of them are actually highlights - "No Easy Way Out" has a fun little riff straight out of the Sabbath songbook (I wouldn't be surprised if it was a direct ripoff of a later period song, in fact) and the chorus is by far the most enjoyable part of the album, and "Junkie" is probably the single catchiest number here, which doesn't say a whole lot, of course, but it does have another good riff and thoughtful lyrics on the subject. There's also "That I Never Had" (an OK attempt at a punk number), the overblown short piano confessional "You Know (Part 1)" and another formulaic ballad "Running Out Of Time", none of which I feel like talking about. Blah. Don't buy this album unless you're a completist and/or Ozzy diehard.
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