Two Words, One Answer.
Ozzy Osbourne
 Blizzard of Ozz $7.99 buy the 1992 remaster of this album,not this sacrilage that this is.if you want to re-record the album re-record it.don't just re do certain parts. in it's original form this is a bonafide 5 star release.  No More Tears $7.99 How many good albums has Ozzy Osbourne really made as a solo artist? Four? Three? In 29 years? The man gets a lot of slack, first for being the original frontman of the greatest heavy metal band of all time, and lately for being a reality television star. But really, some of his albums are a little bit embarrassing, and this isn't one of the better ones. It was loudly applauded back in the 90's, when people were just happy he hadn't committed suicide or homicide, but looking back, there's not a lot on here to hold my attention. Incidentally, I went to see Ozzy touring for this album, on the now-humorously named No More Tours. I'd already owned the record for a few months, but the only songs that stuck out live for me were the Sabbath numbers and the selections from BLIZZARD OF OZZ and NO REST FOR THE WICKED. I jumped and cheered when he played "No More Tears" and "I Don't Want to Change the World", but I wasn't really that excited about them. This album is mostly Ozzy-by-numbers. The funky, then-contemporary sound of the title track aside, these songs stick closely to the garish pop metal that Ozzy had been trading in ever since THE ULTIMATE SIN, although they're helped quite a bit by the distinctive guitar work of Zakk Wylde, who (Randy Rhoads fans be damned) is truly the best guitarist Ozzy has ever worked with in his solo career. His heavy-but-nimble and instantly recognizable leads work wonders on even the most pedestrian material here. And sadly, there's a lot of pedestrian material here. There's clumsy "ooh look how controversial" numbers like "Mr. Tinkertrain", songs where Ozzy drones on about what a crazy rock and roller he is ("Hellraiser"), and songs about nothing in particular ("Zombie Dance", "Road to Nowhere"). Ozzy himself has never claimed to be a great vocalist, but he has a very small number of vocal melodies he turns to, no matter what song he's singing, and he can be monotonous to listen to over the course of an album if steps aren't taken to work around his limited range, and unfortunately they don't do that here. So in the end, you have a little over an hour of typical Ozzy: mid-paced metal getting by on reputation, and salvaged somewhat by a fantastic lead guitarist. If you're an old-time Ozzy Osbourne fan, you've probably accepted these faults and think this album kicks ass and that I don't know what I'm talking about, but anyone trying this out somewhat objectively will hear what I mean within the first three tracks. Be warned. Even his new album (BLACK RAIN) is better than this.  Diary of a Madman $7.99 buy the 1992 remaster of this album,not this sacrilage that this is.if you want to re-record the album re-record it.don't just re do certain parts. in it's original form this is a bonafide 5 star release. "flying high again" and "over the mountain" are 2 of the OZZMAN'S best |
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