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OZZY
OSBOURNE - The Essential
Ozzy Osbourne - The man is a multiple legend in his own lifetime.
Not just as the vocalist of metal pioneers Black Sabbath, but also
as a solo artist and now (comedic) reality TV show star of MTV's
The Osbournes. But, the bulk of Ozzy's fame and notoriety
(besides the overblown bat and dove incidents) is his life as a solo artist,
which outweighs his Black Sabbath days both in years and output.
His doldrums after he got booted from Sabbath got kick-started
in the States when he met up with young talented guitarist Randy Rhoads.
Their prolific partnership was torn apart by Randy's untimely accidental
death but had Ozzy eventually check out some new players to fill
his shoes, and eventually landed with the man who has provided his now
trademark sound, Zakk Wylde. Of course Ozzy's foundation,
his wife Sharon, cannot be left out of the equation in contributing
to raising him to his current stature. With a dozen albums, cramming it
onto only 2 discs will leave some fans highlighting serious omissions,
but, like I always say, the hardcore fan should own all of his albums
already anyway. For Ozzy fans with only a couple recordings, this
represents the man's career quite adequately with 30 rocking songs from
Blizzard Of Ozz through No Rest For The Wicked to Down
To Earth. Some of the unforgettable songs include Crazy Train,
Mr. Crowley, Suicide Solution, Bark At The Moon, Miracle Man, Mama I'm
Coming Home, No More Tears, Thunder Underground, Dreamer as well as
two live tracks, I Don't Want To Change The World and two with
Randy Rhaods: the classic Sabbath track, Paranoid
and I Don't Know. The fact that some people can (& could've) made
more sinister readings into this Birmingham boy than merely being a Rock
& Roll rebel is still baffling. Eddie Williamson's concise notes tell
it like it is and may also fill in a few gaps on the man's elaborate life
and talent which you may not be clued up on (like how Ozzy and
Sharon met, the Ozzfest etc.). Far more than a rock & roll
lifestyle casualty turned into a comic TV figure, Ozzy is a rock
god deserving nothing less than respect.
6 / A
- PB
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