Ozzy Osbourne
Diary of a Madman
Released in 1981 by Jet Records
Heavy Metal / Hard Rock
Personnel:
• Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals, Producer, Harmony Vocals
• Randy Rhoads – Guitar, Producer
• Bob Daisley – Bass, Gong, Producer, Harmony Vocals
• Lee Kerslake – Percussion, Drums, Bells, Tympani
• Johnny Cook – Keyboards (uncredited)
1. "Over the Mountain" – 4:31
2. "Flying High Again" – 4:44
3. "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll" – 6:59
4. "Believer" – 5:17
5. "Little Dolls" – 5:38
6. "Tonight" – 5:50
7. "S.A.T.O." – 4:07
8. "Diary of a Madman" – 6:14
The Album
For all those connoisseurs of the heavier things in life, I present you “Diary of a Madman”. Another land mark release from the Ozz. One thing that can be said of Ozzy, he always has surrounded himself with the best musicians and six stringers over the years, and the original cut of this album has the best- Randy Rhodes, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake, with a great keyboardist, Johnny Cook, who ultimately didn’t receive credits on the original. Ozzy was funny that way, not giving the credits to his musicians, and I feel this is his biggest musical business flaw.
The tracks for this album were made at the same time as “Blizzard of Ozz”. Some would say the best tracks went on “Blizzard”, but I disagree. “Diary of a Madman” has a great production, a production that was a bit more polished than “Blizzard”, and the songs are very consistent throughout the whole album. The consistency in this album is Randy, Bob, and Lee and these three musicians will always be linked to Ozzy, whether he likes it or not. “Diary of a Madman” has its flaws, like the vocals appearing to be ‘placed’ on the songs, and the lyrics are seemingly generic at times. Don’t misunderstand me here, Ozzy is very coherent and has no filler in his vocals, and uses his vocal talents to the utmost in this album. What catches my attention the most on “Diary of a Madman” is the fact that this album doesn’t contain the catchy mainstream singles that “Blizzard” had. "Diary of a Madman" has a musical flow to the songs, there doesn't appear to be any chops between songs or like any of the songs are out of place. This to me makes “Diary” the better of the two albums. This album definitely sealed Ozzy’s influence in metal history, laying down the tracks that would bind heavy metal and hard rock together forever. The band made perfect pace transitions between hard rock and metal, and made the transitions seamless, and that is metal history!
The Music
1. “Over the Mountain” ~ The opening song is a hard-hitter. Great opening drum riff and tight guitar riff, clean vocals that work with the rhythm section. This is one thing the rhythm section did for Ozzy, the rhythm flows very well with his vocal ups and downs.
2. “Flying High Again” ~ Ozzy’s testimonial to party life….”I’ve been a bad bad boy, no use saying sorry, it’s something that I enjoyed”. The guitar solo mid song is fantastic. This song is fun, one of those songs you just love to sing along to, a very catchy tune.
3. “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” ~ This song is a beautiful song. The song has a melodic pace and builds momentum before the chorus. After the second chorus, you get treated to an awesome solo from Randy. This is my personal favorite song on this album. “Rock and Roll is my religion and love”
4. “Believer” ~ This is the darkest song on the album. The lyrical material is dark. The guitars are dark and sinister. The percussion is droning. A brilliant song, IMO. It fits well with the flow of the album.
5. “Little Dolls” ~ Opens with a mini-drum solo. This song is a trippy song, with several different pace flows and twists. Randy has a great guitar display. The lyrical material is about voodoo dolls and curses. The song goes on a bit too long, otherwise it is a decent song.
6. “Tonight” ~ A ballad. A nice song, IMO. The energy is high in this song and the lyrics are very emotionally moving. The melodic flow of the song is awesome and the musical arrangement is spectacular. This song shows Ozzy does have a spiritual side.
7. “S.A.T.O” ~ This song has a really cool opening riff. This is vintage Ozzy riffage, and the solo in mid song is signature Randy Rhodes. The vocals are clear and Ozzy uses his vocal scales to the max. In case you didn’t know, S.A.T.O stands for “Sharon Arden, Thelma Osbourne”, which is a play on words for her real name Sharon Thelma Arden-Osbourne”.
8. “Diary of a Madman” ~ The title track, which is a peek into the inside of Ozzy’s mind. A very melodic song. It has a catchy riff and haunting vocals. The string arrangements add a very special sound to this song. The song is a bit long, but adds enough twists and solid solos to keep it interesting. The sinister chanting at the end of the song, gives me the creeps, though.
My rating for listening pleasure 4/5.
Diary of a Madman
Released in 1981 by Jet Records
Heavy Metal / Hard Rock
Personnel:
• Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals, Producer, Harmony Vocals
• Randy Rhoads – Guitar, Producer
• Bob Daisley – Bass, Gong, Producer, Harmony Vocals
• Lee Kerslake – Percussion, Drums, Bells, Tympani
• Johnny Cook – Keyboards (uncredited)
1. "Over the Mountain" – 4:31
2. "Flying High Again" – 4:44
3. "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll" – 6:59
4. "Believer" – 5:17
5. "Little Dolls" – 5:38
6. "Tonight" – 5:50
7. "S.A.T.O." – 4:07
8. "Diary of a Madman" – 6:14
The Album
For all those connoisseurs of the heavier things in life, I present you “Diary of a Madman”. Another land mark release from the Ozz. One thing that can be said of Ozzy, he always has surrounded himself with the best musicians and six stringers over the years, and the original cut of this album has the best- Randy Rhodes, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake, with a great keyboardist, Johnny Cook, who ultimately didn’t receive credits on the original. Ozzy was funny that way, not giving the credits to his musicians, and I feel this is his biggest musical business flaw.
The tracks for this album were made at the same time as “Blizzard of Ozz”. Some would say the best tracks went on “Blizzard”, but I disagree. “Diary of a Madman” has a great production, a production that was a bit more polished than “Blizzard”, and the songs are very consistent throughout the whole album. The consistency in this album is Randy, Bob, and Lee and these three musicians will always be linked to Ozzy, whether he likes it or not. “Diary of a Madman” has its flaws, like the vocals appearing to be ‘placed’ on the songs, and the lyrics are seemingly generic at times. Don’t misunderstand me here, Ozzy is very coherent and has no filler in his vocals, and uses his vocal talents to the utmost in this album. What catches my attention the most on “Diary of a Madman” is the fact that this album doesn’t contain the catchy mainstream singles that “Blizzard” had. "Diary of a Madman" has a musical flow to the songs, there doesn't appear to be any chops between songs or like any of the songs are out of place. This to me makes “Diary” the better of the two albums. This album definitely sealed Ozzy’s influence in metal history, laying down the tracks that would bind heavy metal and hard rock together forever. The band made perfect pace transitions between hard rock and metal, and made the transitions seamless, and that is metal history!
The Music
1. “Over the Mountain” ~ The opening song is a hard-hitter. Great opening drum riff and tight guitar riff, clean vocals that work with the rhythm section. This is one thing the rhythm section did for Ozzy, the rhythm flows very well with his vocal ups and downs.
2. “Flying High Again” ~ Ozzy’s testimonial to party life….”I’ve been a bad bad boy, no use saying sorry, it’s something that I enjoyed”. The guitar solo mid song is fantastic. This song is fun, one of those songs you just love to sing along to, a very catchy tune.
3. “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” ~ This song is a beautiful song. The song has a melodic pace and builds momentum before the chorus. After the second chorus, you get treated to an awesome solo from Randy. This is my personal favorite song on this album. “Rock and Roll is my religion and love”
4. “Believer” ~ This is the darkest song on the album. The lyrical material is dark. The guitars are dark and sinister. The percussion is droning. A brilliant song, IMO. It fits well with the flow of the album.
5. “Little Dolls” ~ Opens with a mini-drum solo. This song is a trippy song, with several different pace flows and twists. Randy has a great guitar display. The lyrical material is about voodoo dolls and curses. The song goes on a bit too long, otherwise it is a decent song.
6. “Tonight” ~ A ballad. A nice song, IMO. The energy is high in this song and the lyrics are very emotionally moving. The melodic flow of the song is awesome and the musical arrangement is spectacular. This song shows Ozzy does have a spiritual side.
7. “S.A.T.O” ~ This song has a really cool opening riff. This is vintage Ozzy riffage, and the solo in mid song is signature Randy Rhodes. The vocals are clear and Ozzy uses his vocal scales to the max. In case you didn’t know, S.A.T.O stands for “Sharon Arden, Thelma Osbourne”, which is a play on words for her real name Sharon Thelma Arden-Osbourne”.
8. “Diary of a Madman” ~ The title track, which is a peek into the inside of Ozzy’s mind. A very melodic song. It has a catchy riff and haunting vocals. The string arrangements add a very special sound to this song. The song is a bit long, but adds enough twists and solid solos to keep it interesting. The sinister chanting at the end of the song, gives me the creeps, though.
My rating for listening pleasure 4/5.
