While we are looking at the career retrospective of the band who is credited with inventing metal, Black Sabbath, we must now look at their former frontmen whose legendary career parallels, if not eclipses that of the ever-awesome Sab Four. We now look at the stellar career of none other than Ozzy Osbourne.

We begin our journey back to the lonely Los Angeles hotel room in 1979 where the disgraced singer formerly of Black Sabbath retreated in shame after the humiliation of being ousted by his own bandmates for drunken, stoned, irresponsible behavior where he acted not at all like a team player. The music industry were not about to take their chances on such an incorrigible lout who could not even be counted on for showing up for his own concerts after a coke-fueled binge with members of Van Halen, only ending up to oversleep and miss the show. For Ozzy in the spring and summer of 1979, this was the very end. He tried to pull together a band, but it was not happening. The only thing he saw was that he would return to England in shame and defeat.

He sat alone in a darkened hotel room watching television, eating pizza, drinking and drugging. Even former bandmate Bill Ward saw it in him in those final days with the band that he was on a fast track to self-destruction. His substance abuse was out of control. He was loaned money, but used it on a cocaine binge. Black Sabbath's manager Don Arden's daughter Sharon went to his motel room to collect what he owed, but when she saw that he had spent the money on drugs, over $500, she went off on him. She then saw that he was in a seriously dangerous state of depression and dark thoughts. He apologized for his misuse of funds, then confessed the whole story of his woeful state of being fired from Black Sabbath and how bleak everything looked for him. He had been manipulated by everyone and he had nowhere else to turn. Sharon listened, then told him, "I want to manage you."

There was hope, finally. It was time to get to work on rebuilding Ozzy Osbourne and the band which would bear his name.

Ozzy in the center with prospective bandmates to complete his nascent musical vision, 1979:

Eventually, Ozzy auditioned for established musicians before settling on bassist Bob Daisley of Rainbow and drummer Lee Kerslake of Uriah Heep for his band, But he needed a guitarist. He auditioned for several, having to deal with plenty who did not fit quite what he was looking for. Finally, bassist Dana Strum, who would go on to perform in the band Slaughter, told him of a local guitarist named Randy Rhoads who was popular with a local band called Quiet Riot in the Burbank area. Ozzy decided to give the young guitarist a shot. The short-statured guitarist stepped in, while Ozzy lie on a couch, completely wasted out of his mind. Rhoads warmed up with a few practice licks, and Ozzy, while beyond stoned in another universe, in his words, was blown away by what he heard. There was a spark about this guitarist. He told an assistant, "Tell him he's got the gig."

When Ozzy was sober enough, he was told that he had hired a guitarist. To which Ozzy panicked: "Oh, no! I hope he can play!"

But Ozzy would rest assured, this young guitarist in his twenties, Randy Rhoads, could very well play.

Ozzy with his new band called Blizzard Of Ozz, 1980. Note the facial hair on Ozzy:

There was a kinship that Ozzy discovered in Randy Rhoads. As an astute guitar teacher, Rhoads was able to help Ozzy communicate his musical ideas in a way he found lacking in Tony Iommi. Randy Rhoads was steeped in classical music and practiced relentlessly on his instrument. It was also ironic that Rhoads, however, was not even really inrerested in Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath. Ozzy appeared to want to distance himself from his former group and create something new.

The new band created what was the debut of the reinvented Ozzy, on the album called 'Blizzard Of Ozz'. Released in September 1980, The album was intended to be the debut of Ozzy's new band, not the introduction of Ozzy as a solo artist. Ozzy came from a band environment and wanted to proceed as such. Rhoads and other members of the band insisted on this to the record company.

Of course Ozzy was not against duplicating his "devilish" persona from his Black Sabbath days, he was perfecting it and redefining it in ways unimaginable:

Randy Rhoads was considered a local guitar rival at the time to Eddie Van Halen, whom he emulated while incorporating his classical influences. He felt himself more drawn to Alice Cooper. He was quiet, whose guitar expressed more of his inner "demons".

The 'Blizzard Of Ozz' album became a solo Ozzy album in spite of the band's attempt to control their influence. The album was intended to be the first by Blizzard Of Ozz featuring Ozzy Osbourne, at the band's insistence. But other forces controlling Ozzy's career prevailed.

"I Don't Know" kicks off the stellar album, a startling stretch from the mediocrity he was releasing during the latter years of Black Sabbath. The lyrics reflected that of "I'm Just a Singer In a Rock 'N' Roll Band" by The Moody Blues: I can't give you answers as to why the world is in the shape it's in. There was a strange dependence on a music performer, like a Bob Dylan or John Lennon, to be a spokesperson as to why things were the way it was and what to do about it. And many musicians did take up the mantle to handle the pressing issues facing society. But a musician such as Ozzy simply replied, "Don't ask me, I don't know."

The second song is considered Ozzy's signature song as a solo artist, "Crazy Train." The song touches on fears of the Cold War that make people want to shut down from it all. Greg Leon, the guitarist who replaced Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot, explained that the iconic riff came from experimenting with various tempos of "Swingtown" by Steve Miller. The song opens with a dark, menacing riff that continues in an "up" vibe. The Eddie Van Halen style in the lead guitar part is there, but is uniquely Randy's. The song would enter the top ten list of most memorable, iconic guitar songs and solos of all time and firmly establish Ozzy as a superb solo performer in his own right.

"Goodbye To Romance", a ballad, was the first songwriting collaboration between Ozzy and Randy Rhoads. The song is in fact a lament about Ozzy's ouster from Black Sabbath and the hope that one day he would meet his friends at a later time. The "romance" of a broken partnership.

"Dee" is a short acoustic Spanish guitar piece Randy Rhoads composed for his mother Deloris, who helped shape his songs musical aspirations as the leader of a music school in Los Angeles.

The song completing the first side, "Suicide Solution", remains one of the most controversial songs of the rock and metal canon, but this controversy is unfounded. The song would later be cited as promoting suicide for many young impressionable, troubled fans, but the song requires a deeper look: The "solution"in the song's title refers to not a way to end a problem, but is a scientific term for a chemical, such as a saline solution. The "suicide solution" refers to the slow death by alcohol consumption over time. Or perhaps not so slow. Ozzy indicated that it was written in reference to a "friend" unspecified who was dying by degrees due to his alcohol addiction. It was also supposedly a reference to Bon Scott of AC/DC, who died earlier in 1980 due to alcohol poisoning. But above all, it was most likely about Ozzy himself, due to his decline while "medicating" his depression following his ouster. The song is distinctive in that it features no guitar solo.

Ozzy live 1980:

On Side Two, the songs continued as follows:

The first song on the second side was one of Ozzy's biggest classics, "Mr. Crowley". The song, a sort of tongue-in-cheek homage to a prominent figure in the mythos of rock and metal, Alister Crowley, poked fun and curiosity at his appeal and legendary status. Alister Crowley was, of course, the British mystic who was credited as being "the most evil man in the world", according to the British press. Having died in 1947, he exemplified the self-fulfilled life as a person regarded as a satanist, but his mystique was a bit deeper than this. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin was drawn to him and lived in his lodgings in Britain and became a huge promoter of his material. The appeal of Crowley was more in the vein of his beliefs not as an avenue of "satanism" in the way that people commonly understood it, but as a means of self-determination. Ozzy poked fun at this mythos in the song. Randy Rhoads created some of the greatest guitar solos in this track as well.

The next track, "No Bone Movies", was a denunciation of the obsession with porn videos that seemed to occupy the lives of many. The revulsion was obvious. This was a fairly standard song.

"Revelation (Mother Earth)" was the epic statement song from the album where Ozzy decried pollution and the destruction of the planet. The song was poignant and powerful. Rhoads' guitar work was impeccable on this.

The album concludes with "Steal Away (The Night)", a joyous rebounding song full of fast tempos. Ozzy concluded the song on a positive note.

I was not really certain as to what to think of Ozzy doing an album with songs like "Crazy Train" and others in 1980. I always felt that when an artist did a solo album, it was just an interim project before they went on to an established band. It really wasn't anything like Black Sabbath. I felt that I had "moved on" at that point.

It was strange, because I later found that Blizzard Of Ozz was in fact intended to be the name of the new band fronted by Ozzy, as he had attempted to do in 1977 when he first left Sabbath, with no success. This time, as I heard the album, it had a fighting chance for success. However, Blizzard Of Ozz was later labeled on concert bills as "Blizzard Of Ozz featuring former Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne", which as later translated as Ozzy Osbourne, and, in spite of Rhoads' and the band's insistence to the record label, Blizzard Of Ozz simply became the name of the album bearing Ozzy's name. He had become a solo artist, this was not a band. This was to become evident very quickly.

But as I heard songs like "Crazy Train" and other songs, something intrigued me about the song. Rhoads was touted as a sort of Eddie Van Halen clone in Los Angeles, but there was something a little darker and more studious about his approach. The harmonics and how he carried himself throughout the song made me want to watch what else he could do. I was about to find out within the year.

Randy Rhoads with Ozzy live 1980:

For over forty years, fans have been led to believe that Ozzy Osbourne was a solo artist with a revolving door of musicians who more or less helped fulfill his purpose in becoming the most recognizable musician in rock and metal. This was not always the case, but it was soon about to be. As far back as 1977, when Ozzy had briefly left Black Sabbath while dealing with personal problems, he attempted to form his own solo band called Blizzard Of Ozz, as solo artists were not so much a "thing" and departing artists formed bands to make a new start in their careers. Ozzy initially attempted to duplicate his success in Black Sabbath with a new band of musicians helping him to realize his creative vision. It was not long before these musicians became part of that dreaded revolving door syndrome of many bands and artists of the 1980's.

Blizzard Of Ozz was intended to be the name of Ozzy's new spinoff project. Randy Rhoads and the others in the band were insistent of that with their record label. But, while the band was being promoted as "Blizzard Of Ozz featuring former Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne", the name recognition of Ozzy Osbourne became first and foremost in the promotion of the debut album. It was not helped by a series of incidents revolving around the original members.

At one concert, Ozzy found himself unable to sing for long periods of time without ruining his voice altogether. He pleaded with his bandmates Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake to postpone going onstage in order for his vocal cords to recover and recuperate. Sharon Arden considered this an act of betrayal against her star client whom she was managing and sent both members on their way out. For the tour she replaced them with bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge. The "band" was hardly the unit now that it originally set out to be. This shift would create problems for everyone involved.

The new album, 'Diary Of a Madman', was released in November 1981.

Meanwhile, Ozzy was making headlines in his attempts to returning to the public consciousness. He solidified his credentials as the master of shock rock when, during a meeting with record company executives in a goodwill gesture in 1981, he was presented with a collection of doves. In customary form that was Ozzy at that point, in his intoxicated state, he took one dove in a moment of frustration and promptly bit its head off. Sharon Arden, who was present at the time, laughed hysterically at this that she urinated on herself. Others were horrified at this that they ousted him from the event. One thing was certain: For his reputation as being rock's ne'er-do-well for the past few years, he had returned as the malevolent Prince Of...Darkness.

The album opens with "Over the Mountain", one of Ozzy's most notable tracks. The lyrics point to his desire to expand the listener's consciousness with his wild ambitions. The song features incredible guitar soloing by Randy Rhoads in a crunching, driving series of riffs.

The standout track of the album, "Flying High Again", continues in this vein of Ozzy's confidence of bringing the listener to a higher plane. "I can reach the mountains, let me touch the sky..." Such was the renewed confidence of the former disgraced Black Sabbath singer that he was beginning to find himself. And on top of that, the stellar guitar solo featured Rhoads triple-tracking the lead for an amazingly heavy. powerful effect. This remains the other high moment of Ozzy's solo career in addition to "Crazy Train".

The third song, "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll", became an anthemic ballad for Ozzy, a statement of purpose. The renewed career of one of rock's most revered frontmen was compromised by bureaucrats and others in the hierarchy of the rock and roll industry, and this hellion was not being given his due. All Ozzy wanted to do was rock. "Rock and roll is my religion and my law." Who could argue with that? Why argue with that?

The final song on the first song was another statement of purpose, "Believer". This was a song urging persons with self-doubts to keep on pursuing their goals. "Dreams that have shattered, may not have mattered, take another point of view." The song had a menacing riff, but drove the point very well home.

Ozzy's revamped band 1981, with bassist Rudy Sarzo at right:

The second side of the album begins with "Little Dolls", a song about voodoo dolls. The song has great riffs, but it was later admitted that the song was rushed and Randy Rhoads performed a guitar lead that did not match his otherwise excellent abilities. Regardless, the song was upbeat and reflected Ozzy at his peak on this album. Everything Rhoads did was imbued with a sense of conviction and menace, even in this abbreviated number.

The next song, a standout radio track, "Tonight", is a touching power ballad of loneliness and misfortune. Ozzy's pain and grief is touching, and Rhoads compliments it with superb guitar leads in the outro solo. Piano adds a poignant touch. One becomes in touch with Ozzy's sense of personal regret as he sings, baring his soul.

The third song, "S.A.T.O" is a track about a sort of love triangle, Sharon Arden and Thelma Osbourne, to whom Ozzy had been married for a number of years, He had grown fond of the woman who was now guiding his professional life and career, but felt torn with his current wife. The song is decent with powerful riffs, but not quite a standout track. It remains upbeat as a deep track space-filler song.

The previous song segues into the album's closing title track, where the darkness of Ozzy's persona is explored in a slow, macabre piece mirroring "Heaven And Hell" by Black Sabbath. The song is dramatic, haunting, and filled with scorching guitar lines. The song is a perfect album closer.

For all of Ozzy's contempt for his former band opting to continue under the Black Sabbath moniker with a vocalist that was not him, he apparently was not averse to changing his own band lineup. Blizzard Of Ozz was the name of his band, this was a band format with a certain chemistry with something to offer in Ozzy's musical vision. But soon, as Sharon Arden took over his management, she began to call shots and remove band members at will due to perceived "disloyalty". On the tour, they were replaced with Randy Rhoads' former bandmate bassist Rudy Sarzo in Quiet Riot, and Pat Travers' drummer Tommy Aldridge. Did fans seem to notice or mind?

Such would soon become the practice in metal in the 80's. A band would no longer be a unit but a series of revolving door lineups which orbited around a particular lead figue which could be dismissed for any number of reasons. In addition to Black Sabbath, other bands with shifting lineups would include Whitesnake, Megadeth, and later Guns 'N' Roses. Band members became hired hands. And now Ozzy had no lasting lineup.

It would take a tragedy, however, to require a lineup change more necessary in Ozzy's band than a mere firing.

Ozzy tour concert pic 1981:

Meanwhile, Ozzy was busy becoming the biggest shock rocker since the heyday of Alice Cooper ten years before. And he was doing it in style: For one, Sharon trapped him a hotel room in San Antonio, Texas, and removed his clothing to prevent him from exiting. The extremely drunk Ozzy would not let this stop him. He threw on some of her garments, including a dress, and proceeded to hit the streets. And then came one note of infamy from Ozzy: In his highly intoxicated state, he urinated on the wall of a building--only to be arrested due to the fact that he had just soiled The Alamo. He was banned forever from playing in the state of Texas due to his desecration, though the ban was later lifted.

Such incidents were not uncommon. Also one of his most notorious acts occurred during a concert in Des Moines, Iowa. Someone threw a live bat on stage, and Ozzy, playing on his incident with the doves previously, decided to bite what he thought was a rubber toy bat. He bit into it and threw the animal aside. As he noticed the creature flapping its wings, he heard above the din As a result, Ozzy was taken to the hospital where he received a series of painful rabies shots. Such was the life of the newly crowned king of outrage, The Ozzman.

The Diary Of a Madman tour was a full-on extravaganza which was intended to have such props as a giant hand launching various projectiles into the crowd. Ozzy was to appear out of the hand at the beginning of the show. However, the prop was not working properly.

Ozzy did have a midget dwarf servant he named "Ronnie" come out to serve him drinks onstage. This person was so named as a taunt against Black Sabbath's new height-challenged frontman. Ronnie James Dio said in an interview that Black Sabbath fans had no problem with Ozzy, but Ozzy fans had nothing but contempt for Black Sabbath being fronted by Dio.

In spite of the fun and shenanigans going on during the tour, things were about to come to screeching, ugly halt.

Ozzy with the dwarf "Ronnie":

One would have wished the lineup featuring Randy Rhoads would have continued forever. He was a phenomenal talent seeing his rapid rise to reinventing guitar for the Eighties. But there were troubles on the horizon. For one, living in the shadow of one of the biggest rock stars from the 70's now becoming even bigger in the new decade was not an easy call for the young guitarist. Rhoads was becoming very uncomfortable with the kinds of people and fans Ozzy was attracting. He also was not a fan of playing music from Ozzy's previous band, he disliked Black Sabbath's music. He wanted to do music other than metal, he wanted to leave rock and roll and study classical guitar. And above all, he was fed up with Ozzy's drunken, stoned, and grossly unprofessional behavior. He wanted to leave the band very soon once the tour was over.

It all came to a head in the middle of March 1982. Rhoads had told Ozzy he was sick and tired of his drunken antics and that he was leaving the band. In response, Ozzy punched him. It was something Ozzy would live to regret.

On the 19th of that month, the tour bus made a stop in Leesburg, Florida, for mechanical repairs. The bus driver, Andrew Aycock, decided to take an airplane flight at a local hangar and invited members on the bus for a quick buzz around the area. The band was concerned about Aycock's condition, saying that his judgment was compromised after driving all night, as well as Aycock having a fight with his wife on the ground. But for inexplicable reasons, Randy Rhoads, who dreaded flying, decided to go on a flight with the band's cook and seamstress Rachel Youngblood. The plane barnstormed around the area when the wing clipped the side of the bus. It spun out of control when it then crashed into a house. All three on board died, Aycock, Rhoads, and Youngblood. Observers on the ground noticed that Rhoads appeared to be in a struggle with the pilot, who seemed to want to target his wife with the plane, and Rhoads bravely intervened to save the plane from hitting the band on the bus. But fate sent the plane out of control where it crashed.

Randy Rhoads:

My reaction toward 'Diary Of a Madman' was even greater than the first album.
I was amazed at the triple-tracked guitar solo in "Flying High Again", heavy and relentless like a hard rainfall of notes. The whole album with songs such as "Over the Mountain" and "Believer" were some of the hardest songs ever on an album. Ozzy was definitely making a name for himself in metal as a solo artist.

And he was also making a name for himself as "Public Enemy #1" as the most evil, most dangerous figure in rock and roll. This was the beginning of "satanic panic" in rock and metal, when public burnings of rock albums by churches began and Ozzy was vilified as a threat to morals and decency. But the Ozzman just kept laughing it off. He was just having fun. His lyrics showed something more to him than his madcap revelry: "I can see through mountains, watch me disappear, I can even touch the sky."

A radio staple, "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll", had lyrics which rubbed me the wrong way as a new Christian, "Rock and roll is my religion and my law". "Idolary! Worship of rock music!" But later I understood that Ozzy was committed to the cause of rock and roll in spite of the naysayers and people trying to guide his career. He was in charge of what he wanted, well, for the most part (think Sharon).

Ozzy 1981:

Ozzy, without question, was completely devastated by the death of Randy Rhoads. He felt extreme guilt over not being able to prevent Rhoads' boarding of the plane in the early morning hours. He told Sharon, "It's over." He wanted to retire from music. But Sharon told him to keep going, Randy would have wanted him to continue.

So as the band struggled to resume the tour, Ozzy brought on two interim guitarists to fill Rhoads' slot, which was a tough call, as Rhoads was simply irreplaceable: First was guitarist Bernie Torme, whose playing style was vastly different from Rhoads, and then Brad Gillis, who was on loan from new band Night Ranger, who had just been signed. Gillis was at first unfamiliar with Ozzy's material and even more unfamiliar with Black Sabbath's catalog, but after receiving some of both Ozzy's and Sabbath's albums, he listened to them and quickly learned and practiced them for the tour. His style was more suitable for Ozzy's style, and he fit well for the band. Ozzy was grateful for Gillis to complete the rest of the tour in 1982.
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The result of the collaboration with Gillis was a new double-live album, 'Speak Of the Devil' (In Britain it was titled 'Talk Of the Devil'), a compilation of live Black Sabbath songs recorded in September 1982. Released in November of that year, it was a fairly decent album of live material. Two songs were released as singles, "Symptom Of the Universe" and "Paranoid".
Ozzy himself had problems remembering many of the lyrics to Black Sabbath songs he had not sung in years, so he relied on a notebook of lyrics to refresh his memory. The venue in New York was a cramped theater with over a thousand fans, and the band had a limited budget for the performance.

The tracks included:

Track listing
All songs written by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward.

Side one

1. "Symptom of the Universe" 5:41
2. "Snowblind" 4:56
3. "Black Sabbath" 6:04
Side two

4. "Fairies Wear Boots" ) 6:33
5. "War Pigs" 8:35
6. "The Wizard" 4:43
Side three

1. "N.I.B." 5:35
2. "Sweet Leaf" ) 5:55
3. "Never Say Die" 4:18
Side four

4. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" 5:34
5. "Iron Man"/"Children of the Grave" 9:12
6. "Paranoid"

In the next several months, Ozzy sought to find a new permanent guitarist. Even without Rhoads' passing, he would have to audition for a new guitarist as Rhoads expressed his desire to leave the band to pursue classical guitar studies. Ozzy found his new guitarist, Jake E. Lee, a guitarist from Los Angeles who had stints in Ratt and Rough Cutt, who was known to be a very capable guitarist locally.

Ozzy insisted that Lee learn to play with a tremolo bar, or whammy bar, on his guitar, as Rhoads had done. A whammy bar is a common device on the bridge of a guitar which enables the strings to bend in pitch, to sound lower or higher. Lee replied by saying he was not a "whammy bar kind of guy". He demonstrated to Ozzy that with his playing style, he did not need one. Ozzy was impressed, and from there, the band began to work on the next album, 'Bark At the Moon'.

Released in November 1983, the album hit #19 on the Billboard charts. There was a point of contention about songwriting credits: Officially Ozzy is the sole songwriter, but Jake E. Lee insisted that he shared in co-writing. However, due to the finagling of Sharon Osbourne (whom Ozzy had married in the summer of 1982), Lee was cheated out of songwriting credits, which Sharon was accused of doing with many musicians associated with her husband. Lee says he was forced to go along with this, having no legal representation, and that if he did not go along with her schemes, he would be fired from the band and replaced with a new guitarist. Bassist Bob Daisley, who wrote many of Ozzy's lyrics, attested to his legal and creative predicament as he was also co-writer on the album.

The opening track of the album, the title track "Bark At the Moon", is hailed as one of Ozzy's finest songs and showcases Lee's abilities as a guitar player. The popular MTV video to the song borrows both from 'The Strange Case Of Dr. Jeckyl And Mr. Hyde' by Robert Louis Stevenson and from the Wolfman horror movies. Ozzy is depicted as a mad scientist who ingests a formula which transforms him into a werewolf, a twist on the Stevenson novel where a decent doctor morphs into a dangerously debauched character. The makeup work on Ozzy where he becomes a "Loup Garou" wolf-beast is stunning and effective, with hair and outsized claws.

The second song, "You're No Different", opens with synths, which had become standard in rock and metal by 1983. The song has a ballad-esque feel and is more of a pop song. The lyrics touch on the fake outrage of a society obsessed with Ozzy's newfound reputation as a rock and roll provocateur and "shock artist". Ozzy accuses the rest of the world of hypocrisy. He believes the rest of "puritanical" society would love to spend a day in his shoes having fun and causing trouble.

The third track, "Now You See It, Now You Don't", is a marching rocker punctuated by wild synth swoops. The lyrics appear to be about some altercation with an "overbearing woman" (referring to Sharon?) with whom he has issues. Jake E. Lee's guitar work is impressive on this track.

The final song on the first side is a definite anthem, "Rock And Roll Rebel", one of Ozzy's finest moments where he is defiant against all who wish to kill his fun. In fact, he alludes to the Orwellian forces in the book '1984', referring to the Ministry Of Truth dealing in pretense, a Ministry Of Peace, a Ministry Of Fear, and a Ministry Of Grace, among others, all dealing with suffocating rules and slapping hands of those wanting revelry and a good time. Ozzy was breaking all their rules, and for that, the forces that be were afraid. Ozzy even mocked their contention that he "worshipped the devil", but was it not they who "manifested the Incubus"?

"Center Of Eternity", the first track on the second side, begins with the tolling of a church bell, like "Black Sabbath", and a Druid-style chant. The song then kicks in with an uptempo rhythm. The song is fine, but rather standard and not groundbreaking.

The next song, "So Tired", was the second single off the album. It was a quiet, melodic piece, a power ballad, one that Ozzy felt he regretted doing because it failed to represent him as the bad boy of early-mid 80's rock and roll. It wasn't a bad song, just not indicative of Ozzy's cutting nature as the new hellion of rock. Sometimes "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath seemed like more of a rager than this piano-laden number. Had Ozzy given in to the demands of MTV? A video was made for the song.

A rather uptempo pop-metal song follows, "Slow Down". This keyboard-laced rocker is one of the happier numbers, but it shows that Ozzy had found his place in the new radio-friendly atmosphere of MTV-metal in the early-mid-80's. It was "in", but not particularly groundbreaking. But the fact that metal, particularly of the L.A. Sunset Strip variety, was on the ascendant, perhaps this was as groundbreaking as one could expect. This was one of the better songs on the album, a bit of hope and lightness.

The dark feel returns on "Waiting For Darkness", a song incorporating both heavy riffs and keyboards, a common practice. Was Ozzy better off since his departure from Black Sabbath? He seemed to have acquiesced to his status as an MTV rock figure. Black Sabbath at the time was undergoing an identity crisis, but Ozzy seemed to have found himself in his new persona and musical output, even if Randy Rhoads was no longer a part of it. This was one of the advantages of MTV's embracing of metal in the early-mid 80's. This song was not a bad album closer, just as long as Ozzy, the co-founder of metal, had a voice in propelling it along in metal's second decade.

The tour behind the album which featured Jake E. Lee brought an unwanted response. Many Ozzy fans, still mourning the loss of Randy Rhoads, were unreceptive to the arrival of Jake E. Lee and let him know so on no uncertain terms. Many of them held up posters and banners of Rhoads in front of Lee as he performed onstage, often many with captions reading "We Want Randy", "Randy Rhoads #1", etc., and these fans would flip Lee the middle finger. This was very disconcerting to Jake E. Lee.

Of course Lee was no Randy Rhoads, and no one could replace him. Jake E. Lee was a very capable guitarist himself and was a very popular figure in the L.A. music scene. But he winced at the actions of these "fans" of Ozzy. Why did they have to shove the memory of Randy Rhoads in Lee's face, to insult the new guitarist, and why did they have to remind Ozzy of his own personal loss?

There are a few interesting facts about Lee's induction into Ozzy's band: Lee was originally asked to join Ronnie James Dio's new music project after leaving Black Sabbath. As Lee's band Rough Cutt was being managed by Dio's wife Wendy, the guitarist was summoned to audition for the band, but the slot later went to Vivian Campbell. Lee was told that Dio wanted Jake to play in "simple block chords that wouldn't trample over Ronnie's vocals."

Interestingly, this was not Lee's first encounter with an Ozzy audition: In 1979, while selecting members for his new band, Ozzy was torn between Lee and Dokken guitarist George Lynch. Ultimately, the guitar slot of course went to Randy Rhoads. After Rhoads' death, Ozzy did keep Lynch on hand during the remainder of the tour but never had Lynch play with his band. This put Lynch in a difficult position as he had been forced to quit his job in Los Angeles to become a fill-in member, which never really happened. Fortunately he returned to Dokken to a measure of some success.

'Bark At the Moon', however, became a very successful album, seliing over three million copies. In May 1983, Ozzy performed on Heavy Metal Sunday at Us Festival, which featured a number of top and rising metal and hard rock acts that weekend in California.

Ozzy and Jake E. Lee at Us Fest '83, where Ozzy's hair was not as long as before as he had shaved his head a few months before:

I was very impressed with the 'Bark At the Moon' album, with such songs as "Rock And Roll Rebel", "Slow Down", and the title track. I never made comparisons between Jake E. Lee and Randy Rhoads. Of course Rhoads was a phenomenal player who was so far away from every guitarist in terms of talent, but I just heard great playing on these new recordings that fall of 1983. Metal was a new thing that year, well, it never really left, but everyone was so hungry for it that it was at the top of the charts due to the success of Rhoads' former band Quiet Riot with 'Metal Health'. Lee's former band Ratt was rising as well, as they were about to become the biggest thing by the summer of 1984 with the 'Out of the Cellar'. So for all of us young metalheads, there was simply great metal, and greater metal. We never really cared about micro-analyzing the nuances of guitar playing as long as it rocked.

This was also the infamous tour that year, in 1984, where Ozzy toured with openers Motley Crue. This was the one where he allegedly snorted ants on a drunken, drugged out binge. This solidified Ozzy's reputation as a madman who would stop at nothing to being the most outrageous figure in rock and roll. However, Jake E. Lee said that this never really happened. Some members of Motley Crue were aupposedly there and witnessed this spectacle, and perhaps they could have vouched for it, but of course they were also trying to compete with Ozzy's reputation as being rock and roll bad boys with their own antics.

Interestingly, in the spring of 1984, I found a copy of Christian magazine 'Cornerstone', which featured articles and interviews with famous musicians. One interview showed Ozzy explaining his own beliefs and attitudes. Ozzy was shown as a very likeable, pleasant guy with a sense of humor. As far as his beliefs went, he said, "I'm a Christian person. But do you need to go to church to be a good person? Do you need to pass out leaflets to people? A Christiian is a person who has good vibes within themselves." He also applauded Christ for ending the practice of "human sacrifies", which "hurt" others, by the Jews--even though human sacrifices were prohibited by God in the Old Testament. When the interviewer said that Jesus told others, "Follow me", Ozzy cautioned him by saying, "Well, so did Hitler!" So while Ozzy did not come across as the devil-figure that people had made him out to be in the press, his actual knowledge of Christianity and Scripture of course was fuzzy. But that was okay, because this was Ozzy.

Ozzy and Lee live 1984:

And on July 13, 1985, Ozzy joined his bandmates in a one-off reunion of Black Sabbath at Live Aid where they performed "Children Of the Grave", "Iron Man", and "Paranoid". Ozzy was in top form and exuberant, and the band's performance was excellent that day.

Ozzy with Tony Iommi onstage at Live Aid:

Here is an awesome photo of Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi at Live Aid that should have been included in the Black Sabbath retrospective, but is a welcome addition to a major milestone in Ozzy's career. Geezer plays a red BC Rich Ironbird bass at the event. Geezer was always the other showman in Black Sabbath.

Black Sabbath group pic at Live Aid. Tony Iommi throws the horns:

In 1985, Ozzy had spent time at the Betty Ford Center for treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. When he returned, Jake E. Lee gave him a substantial amount of material he had written for Ozzy while the frontman convalesced. Things had gone south for Lee and Ozzy, who had noticed a "festering cancer" having set in their relationship. Ozzy said that when he asked Lee about his opinion about something such as a musical idea, Lee would shrug his shoulders and walk off. Ozzy and Lee shared a house in Los Angeles, but neither of them spoke. It was not because they hated each other, Ozzy said, but because they
really had nothing to say.

Much of Lee's frustration stemmed from the lack of acknowledgement for his contributions to Ozzy's albums. He felt that he was being ripped off in his songwriting. When Ozzy returned from rehab, Lee insisted on a contract where he received his fair share of songwriting credits. Bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley returned to the band but left after a disagreement with Ozzy, and was replaced by incoming bassist Phil Soussan.

In February 1986, Ozzy released his next album, 'The Ultimate Sin'. Originally titled 'Killer Of Giants', the name of the album was changed at the last minute. The album became Ozzy's highest charting album as metal was undergoing a renewed spike in popularity. The album eventually achieved Double Platinum status.

The album opened with the title track "The Ultimate Sin". This was perhaps the heaviest song on the album, with a menacing, sinister rhythm portending to the evils of power and corruption. The video to the song once again depicted Ozzy in a comical "J.R. Ewing" of 'Dallas' role where a mysterious female haunts him.

The next song, "Secret Loser", seems to be a confessional song by Ozzy where he does not appear to be quite the success he portrayed himself out to be. He has his inner demons, his inner addictions, and he has to fight them at every turn. The song is rather standard for mid-80's mainstream metal.

The third song, "Never Know Why" begins with guitar feedback from Jake E. Lee. The song is another heavy offering from Ozzy on the album, a bit on the commercial side but worked rather well. Like on "Rock And Roll Rebel", Ozzy questions his critics who are at loss as to why he is such a hit with his fans and why he takes so much grief for wanting a good time. In the chorus he sings. "You'll never know why we rock." Is it not self-explanitory? Did rock and metal need an explanation? Definitely one of the highlights from the album.

The fourth track on the album, "Thank God For the Bomb", is a social commentary much like "Children Of the Grave" on Black Sabbath's third album 'Master Of Reality' and the message of environmental doom and despair on "Revelation (Mother Earth)" on 'Blizzard Of Ozz'.
The song was an uptempo rocker, but still rather standard. Ozzy lamented the idea that mankind seemed to have no qualms over nuclear annihilation. Not a bad song, but not particularly groundbreaking.

The final track on the first side, "Never", opens with some impressive guitar work by Jake E. Lee. The song deals with man's sorrows and pain waiting for some sort of redemption to take it all away.

Ozzy 1986:

Side Two opens with one of the more popular songs on the album, "Lightning Strikes". This was a catchy number, a sort of anthem of Ozzy declaring himself as the god of all that was rock and roll, in a word. It wasn't the most radical statement in rock and metal, but in 1986, the fact that rock and metal were on the rebound was reason enough.

The next song, "Killer Of Giants", begins in ballad-esque fashion. The song becomes another criticism of the logic of war. Ozzy plays on the Biblical tale of young shepherd David smiting the giant Goliath into a morality play on the leaders of the free world attempting to rid the globe of perceived monsters. Like "Children Of the Grave" and "Revelation: Mother Earth", Ozzy delivers another polemic about the sad state of mankind and the attempts to acquire security.

"Fpol Like You" begins with a chime-y intro, continuing into a familiar chord progression as consistent with the other songs on the album. He cakks into question the person's falsehoods, the object of the song. Ozzy may have had cognitive problems relating to his indulgence of drugs and alcohol, but he seems to be perceptive on the fickleness of human behavior all along.

The final song on the album, interestingly enough, was "Shot In the Dark", the standout track which closed out the album. The seductive bass line and guitar riffs crunched throughout the song. The song became in fact Ozzy's first song to hit the Billboard Hot 100 at Number 68. The song was in fact written by incoming bassist Phil Soussan several years before in his previous band Wildlife in 1983, but was re-written for Ozzy during this time. A popular video was released on MTV for the song. Who was the mysterious woman in the video?

The tour behind 'The Ultimate Sin' was memorable in that it featured rising metal band Metallica, who had succeeded as a thrash band in reaching within the Top 30 on the Billboard charts with 'Master Of Puppets'. Metallica were always huge fans of Black Sabbath, whom they had considered an influence. When the band began to play Black Sabbath songs in front of Ozzy, he thought they were just giving him a hard time. He asked why they were doing that, were they just rattling his cage? They replied, "We're mad for Sabbath." This comment struck Ozzy as odd. "Sabbath-mad?" He was surprised that people actually still listened to Black Sabbath. Maybe his previous band wasn't so "dated" after all. They obviously had a huge impact on these newcomers Metallica.

The tour marked transition between the old (Ozzy) and the new (Metallica) in metal. Ozzy was still relevant, but here was a younger band playing a harder, faster style of metal. They were angry and bold. Metallica with their 'Master Of Puppets' was the beginning of a shift in what was really going on in metal in 1986. Ozzy's visibility as a solo artist pretty much coincided with the arrival of MTV in 1981, but here was a Bay Area band which had no MTV videos to speak of; their success was due widely by word of mouth. They were ignored by radio, and yet their success continued to rise without it. Fans at Ozzy concerts were either emboldened by Metallica, while others were put off by this louder-than-loud metal band that did NOT fit the parameters of "acceptable" metal. Drummer Lars Ulrich noted that when they opened for Ozzy, many in the audience cheered, "Yeay!!" Others shouted, "Boo!!" The rest said, in confusion, "Huh??"

The band actually liked the title track, "The Ultimate Sin". This was Ozzy and Jake E. Lee at their heaviest.

Tragically, the 'Master Of Puppets" tour ended in disaster in September 1986 when bassist Cliff Burton died in a horrific bus crash on an icy highway in Sweden.

Ozzy with Metallica 1986:

Happy 73rd birthday to Ozzy today!!

:birthday::clap::guitar::notworthy:rock:

In 1986 Ozzy made his acting debut as Rev. Aaron Gilstrom, a fire-and-brimstone preacher warning about the dangers of rock and metal in the movie 'Trick Or Treat', starring Marc Price, otherwise known as Skippy from 'Family Ties'. It may have been a wonderful idea for Ozzy to play against type, but honestly he did not come across as very convincing. It was just slurring Ozzy in a Southern Baptist suit and tie, not drawling in televangelist fashion. The movie also featured Gene Simmons as a radio figure, as the KISS co-frontman was experiencing his wave of success in movies at that time.

The movie was about a young teen who summons the spirit of a deceased metal icon who reeks havoc on the local populace. This movie played into the fears of Tipper Gore and the PMRC as well as so many Christians who were obsessed with "satanic panic" in rock and metal.

At that time, I was out of metal, at least until the end of the next year, and while I had seen Ozzy's videos for the album on MTV repeatedly, the album did not particularly grab me. In fact, the cover art for 'The Ultimate Sin' I found repelling. It was one of those album covers such as 'Hell Awaits" by Slayer that I as a good Christian had no problem wanting to ban. Something about Ozzy looking like a demonic caricature put me off. Yes, I was not the guy with the biggest sense of humor about the music form which got me into rock and metal several years before.

The music at that point felt rather standard, as one could expect from MTV metal at the time. Looking back, it was an improvement over 'Bark At the Moon'. The video for the title track was amusing, with that enigmatic girl who showed up in a parody of 'Dallas' as well as "Shot In the Dark". Interestingly, in spite of its popularity, the album was not later remastered.
Even Ozzy said this was his least favorite album as it was too predictable.

This would also be the final album to feature guitarist Jake E. Lee.

Ozzy live 1986: