Ozzy Osbourne vs. Ronnie James Dio

[That 70s Guy]

Ronnie James Dio

 

[Big Ears]

^ Forbidden would take a lot of work. All the rap elements would have to be removed, including Ice-T's rapping, Tony Martin's rapping, Tony Martin's out of character swearing, the inappropriate production, and the strange drum sound. Underneath, there might be some salvageable material.

 

[Lynch]

Dio is the better singer, but Sabbath's first six albums with Osbourne are superior to the on-off Dio era. Ian Gillan, Ray Gillen and Glenn Hughes are all vastly superior singers to Osbourne, but the material did not match. My favourite Sabbath singer is Tony Martin, although only Tyr stands out. I live in hopes that Iommi and Martin make another album together.

I voted for Dio. If voting between the first Sabbath album and Heaven and Hell, I would vote for the Osbourne album.

I don't see any indication in the first post or the poll that says to compared ONLY Sabbath era Ozzy to Sabbath era RJD.

If you aren't comparing entire careers, you are falling short on both singers.

 

[Lynch]

I am waiting for possibly Tony Iommi to give the go ahead to the re-mastering and re-releasing of the Tony 'the cat' Martin era Black Sabbath albums especially FORBIDDEN although Tony Martin voice is 'shot' on it. I bought the cd when it was first released back around 1995/6 and thought it was ok but subsequently sold it. The other Tony Martin Black Sabbath albums are HEADLESS CROSS, TYR & CROSS PURPOSES so come on Tony you've got plenty of time on your hands now Sabbath have finished.

E-Z

You are missing The Eternal Idol, which to me was the best Martin-era Sabbath album, followed closely by Headless Cross.

 

[Vader]

I love Ozzy but Dio is probably my favorite vocalist of all time.
Between him Bruce & Rob so... Dio , with much respect to the Oz.

 

[E-Z]

You are missing The Eternal Idol, which to me was the best Martin-era Sabbath album, followed closely by Headless Cross.

Yes your 100% correct about The Eternal Idol that's a killer album and a personal favourite of mine as well but the only reason that I didn't include it with the other Tony Martin albums was that it is still available but yes it's a really good listen.

E-Z

 

[Lynch]

As for my vote, I love the vast majority of what Ozzy did in both Sabbath and as a solo artist (well, anything pre-1995). But to me, Dio is one of the two or three best and definitely top two hard rock/metal vocalists of all time (along with Rob Halford). For me, it's not even a contest. As much as I love Ozzy, I love Ronnie that much more.

 

[Trickster]

Ozzy

 

[Magic]

The Prince of Darkness. Ozzy is arguably one of the most prolific and significant heavy rockers of that genre. Not to mention a damn good lyricist and saaweeet melody writer.

 

[Vader]

The Prince of Darkness. Ozzy is arguably one of the most prolific and significant heavy rockers of that genre. Not to mention a damn good lyricist and saaweeet melody writer.

Ozzy doesn't write very many lyrics at all. In Sabbath almost all the lyrics were written by Geezer Bulter. Solo, lyrics fell to whoever else who was in the band at the time who had a perchance for wordsmithery.