Label: Epic Records (Japan), EICP 1454
Style: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock
Country: Marston Green, Warwickshire, England (3 December 1948)
Time: 50:46
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 359 Mb
There
are few artists that have come about that can make a huge portion
cringe at just the mention of their name. Ozzy Osbourne, after his
departure from the great Black Sabbath, wandered for a year looking for
exceptional musicians to work with and make a solo album. Ozzy had met
the then unknown Randy Rhoads, a local guitarist that was in the band
Quiet Riot, who had released a few albums in Japan, and were rather
popular there. A man in Randy Rhoads who was just born to play the
guitar. Osbourne had chosen him only after Rhoads tuned up and played
some riffs and scales. From then, metal history was made. Blizzard of
Ozz is Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo album, and remains a favorite of the
metal community to this day, spawning popular songs like Crazy Train and
Mr. Crowley, that even people who don't listen to metal or Ozzy's music
could recognize after a few measures.
The sound on Blizzard of Ozz
is mainly based around Ozzy's rather nasal voice, and Randy Rhoads ultra
heavy guitar tone. The bass sound usually seems rather hollow, and the
drums provide solid beats without too much flair, and seem to be rather
danceable (i.e. Crazy Train's drum beat during the verses). Randy also
provides a lot of classical influence, especially in his solos. Although
there have been some guitarists to hint at classical in the past, Randy
was fixated on classical playing. The solos and fills add great amounts
of melody to the songs. A great example of his classical playing is the
solo acoustic performance Dee, and fantastic ballad Goodbye to Romance.
Throughout
the album, though, Ozzy also hints at themes that were ever-present on
Black Sabbath albums. Suicide Solution is a warning of how alcoholism
can ruin your life, and can even be a method of suicide. There is a part
that people have claimed as subliminal, where it sounds as if he's
saying "shoot" or "do it," but it was ruled out of court as a
combination of sounds that formed to make those sounds. Yep, that's
right, idiots brought this song and band to court! The song itself is
vicious in its approach, with a very simple drum beat. It contains no
real solo, though. There is also the song Mr. Crowley, which hints at
themes of Aleister Crowley, famed satanist amongst other things.. The
song also starts off with a very memorable, yet haunting organ part, and
contains several mind blowing solos. It is one of the highlights of the
album.
Blizzard of Ozz, though, isn't a perfect album at all. Ozzy's
voice is extremely nasal at some points, and on Crazy Train, it sounds
as if there's a roomful of lambs bleating out constantly. The guitar
tone, also, can sometimes be annoying. "No Bone Movies" is an absolutely
dreadful song, whether it is about pornography or horrible horror
movies. The guitar playing is absolutely boring, with cliched
pseudo-blues riffs, except for the great slide solo of course. Over all
of that, Ozzy does his "lamb bleating" thing, and it is extremely
annoying. Steal Away (The Night) is another bad song, although I can't
really put my finger on it. To me, it sounds like a ripoff of Van
Halen's Running With the Devil, and the song just sounds too "poppy" and
out of place on the album.
Overall, this is a rather great metal
album. It is a milestone of 1980, and kickstarted that particular decade
with a bang. It contains some of Ozzy's best songs, and some of Randy's
best guitar work. It isn't without it's flaws, though, however at the
end of the day it should be bought post haste.
(metal-archives.com/reviews/Ozzy_Osbourne/Blizzard_of_Ozz/810/)
01. I Don't Know (05:16)
02. Crazy Train (04:56)
03. Goodbye to Romance (05:35)
04. Dee (00:49)
05. Suicide Solution (04:18)
06. Mr. Crowley (05:02)
07. No Bone Movies (03:52)
08. Revelation (Mother Earth) (06:09)
09. Steal Away (The Night) (03:28)
10. You Lookin' at Me, Lookin' at You (Non-LP B-Side) (04:14)
11. Goodbye to Romance (2010 Guitar & Vocal Mix) (05:47)
12. RR (Outtake Guitar Solo) (01:13)
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