Tuesday 29 May 2007

Ozzy Ozbourne - Diary Of A Madman (1981)

Ozzy becomes the dark lord of metal with his second opus, cloaked in a mystical sleeve of black magic, sorcery and dungeon-like prowess, this is one of his finest works, showing that he truly was the creative force behind Black Sabbath, and a master of metal.
In Randy Rhoads we have a guitar wizard at work and on 'Over The Mountain', 'Flying High Again' and the title cut, are some of the finest guitar works you're likely to hear on any metal record. Ozzy is his usual mystical self, but no longer does he mournfully wail like the Sabbath god he was, but instead his solo outing sees a more mature messenger and general fighting for the metal armies, but also once again showing his sensitive side with some fine slower numbers such as 'Tonight' and the superb intro verse to 'You Can't Kill Rock n Roll' with its brilliant chorus which all true metallers at the time would have related to whilst punching the air with defiance!
The title cut is a classic, but then again, most of the tracks on offer here are solid tunes, yet many have become understated gems, such as 'Believer' and 'S.A.T.O', but you can't go wrong here, as 'Diary...' is probably Ozzy's finest record.
9/10

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