silktempest's Full Review: Blizzard of Ozz [Bonus Track] [Remaster] by Ozzy O...
OZZY OSBOURNE fell off with the bottom of its last bottle after VAN HALEN stole another BLACK SABBATH show from their 1978 disastrous tour.
Left for dead, his beloved wife Sharon presented him a young guitarist, huge fan of TONY IOMMI and playing for then-unknown QUIET RIOT, called Rhandy Roads. OZZY balls fell on the ground after a mesmerizing performance of Paranoid...
And the rest is history, made alongside former URIAH HEEP members Bob Daisley (bass) and Lee Kerslake (drums), a tight, huge rhythmic session.
Rhandy was second to Eddie Van Halen only in what regards Mammoth virtuosity. He was more delicate and humble, not prone to egomanship and more explicitly influentiated by Baroque. He trully loved OZZY and they quickly become musical twin souls. He brought everything OZZY wanted for his post-SABBATH tenure in - speed, enormous hooks, showmanship.
Blizzard of Ozz is OZZY's statement on survival. He made thru it. The record is a depiction of afterlife, for Heavy Metal that is much, indeed, this is a timeless classic of the genre. And hugely influent.
I Don't Know's galloping inexorability (predating IRON MAIDEN's Powerslave) leads to the conclusion that confusion and uncertainty may be guiding lights. OZZY is surprisingly confident. Crazy Train embraces looliness and unpredictability as twin guns for striking with a vengeance (and that biting solo is still unmistakable, Rhoads' Eruption, but live is unquestionaly superior stuff, check out Tribute). Goodbye to Romance is the mellowy ironic kissoff.
OZZY unleashes his past demons with ease whereas his bandmates display there's much more to this record than the anguished bark of the Madman. Dee is the brief interlude (and Rhoads' premature signature instrumental piece). Suicide Solution covers OZZY's near-fatal addiction to booze and the sorts, don't take it as a suicide anthem. It's a downspiral lament from an once rotten man dignified by survival and self-steem. Not all survive those hardships, the tortured screams of Rhoads' guitar are just perfect. But nothing prepares listeners for the creepy organ and the even creepier Classic motifs of OZZY and Rhoads' masterpiece Mr.Crowley, poking fun on that famous sorcerer...
Then the record folds smoothly. No Bone Movies is a quite successful parody of Terror movies, with theatrical delivery and impossible to take seriously vocals from OZZY. Revelation (Mother Earth) shows OZZY could keep on with his mystical ballads without his SABBATH pals (Sympton of the Universe, Solitude, Planet Caravan etc). Steal Away (The Night) is a fine closer, a crowling beast with downthrodden members spiting revenge on TONY IOMMI.
I still love BLACK SABBATH beyond any of the former members' solo records. Nevertheless, I have to admit OZZY took his revenge quite impeccably. As much as SABBATH itself, with masterful Heaven and Hell, RONNIE JAMES DIO onboard.
Rest in peace, Randy. Even though the Madman itself is not keen on resting as he re-recorded the record with studio musicians (don't be fooled by the remaster label there's much more than that) for money matters, his former bandmates wanted their rights and Sharon her children's milk...See ya!
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