Album Review: Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Ozz (1980)

Ozzy Osbourne has courted a lot of controversy throughout his career, most notably for his public shenanigans, which range from biting the head of a dove at CBS headquarters, pissing on the Alamo, and of course, biting the head off a bat.  However, he also attracted attention for all the wrong reasons when a teenager shot himself dead after listening to the song, "Suicide Solution", a song which is featured on the album I'm reviewing here, Blizzard of Ozz.  Like Judas Priest, Ozzy copped a negative reputation among the parents of teenagers over their misinterpretation of song lyrics and coincidental events surrounding the song's broadcast and public sale.  However, given moral panic's proclivity for hyperbole, emotionalism and reactionary behavior, time and time again we see such events as being what they really are - rooted in fearmongering and ignorance.  "Suicide Solution" is not only a great song, if anybody knew anything about understanding song lyrics they would know that it has absolutely nothing to do with encouraging suicide in any way, shape or form.  It is about the perils of excessive alcohol consumption.  In any case, the album endured needless controversy, and I'm glad that it is still here today for fans to enjoy.  Blizzard of Ozz, Ozzy Osbourne's debut album after leaving Black Sabbath, is a pearler of an album, with the late, great Randy Rhoads providing some of the most famous axe riffs in the heavy metal business.  There's not a bad song on this album - "Revelation (Mother Earth)" is perhaps a bit too long, being over six minutes in length, but otherwise there are no real fillers to speak of here. Plenty of Ozzy fan favorites here though - "Crazy Train", "Mr. Crowley" and "Goodbye to Romance" should all be familiar to most metalheads, and perhaps even for those whose interest in heavy metal is at best fleeting.  A legendary album from a legendary singer.  A-

Album Review: Ozzy Osbourne - Under Cover (2005)

Production wise this album is adequate, and Ozzy with his trademark vocals sounds as good as he always does, however the album's Achilles heel lies in its concept. It just doesn't sound right when Ozzy Osbourne tries to cover the Beatles' "In My Life", or "All The Young Dudes" with the same level of finesse of the originals. And when initially reading the track listing, I could quite easily visualize listening to some potentially great covers - "Rocky Mountain Way" and "Sunshine of Your Love" show some of this potential, but still fail to fully meet expectations, especially so with the former. But the latter is most certainly one of the highlights on this album, and truth be told should've been released as a single rather than the flaccid "Mississippi Queen." Despite the inclusion of several guest musos and it's competent production, this album I'm afraid isn't a strong point of Ozzy's. Low points come from his hero Lennon, "Working Class Hero" and the slightly better "Woman."  B-