Customer Reviews

Diary Of A Madman

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

Buy the original mix of these early Ozzy albums, not these 2002 remixes/remasters. So the story goes, Sharon was a little ticked when bassist Bob Daisley, and drummer Lee Kerslake, wanted royalties for the songs they wrote. For shame! Casual Oz-fans don't know this, but the diehards do: Daisley and Kerslake (especially Daisley) were major songwriters for this band. Sharon had then-current Ozzy members Mike Bordin (Faith No More) and Rob Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies) re-record the bass and drums.

Sharon's pettiness has gone as far as purposely mis-spelling names of musicians she has disputes with. Witness "Bob Daisy" (Daisley) and "Phil Susan" (Soussan) appearing on Ozzy reissues. Pathetic, Sharon.

The original versions and the 1995 remasters do contain the original bass and drum parts. They are not hard to find. They are not even hard to find at good prices. They are also easy to spot. The original issue CDs on Sony have a white spine with red text. The 1995 remasters have a little tiny picture of the cover within a coloured square that says OZZY. Both sound fine and are superior to the 2002 remix.

Take a stand. Don't buy this. There's no reason to. Yeah, there's the live bonus track. Rather than buy this, just pick up a copy of the original 12" single. They too are not hard to find. If you buy this CD, you don't own the real Diary of a Madman.

Some people will say, "Oh come on, this album doesn't sound bad, it sounds fine to me." Sure, casual Oz-fans might not notice the difference because they don't know how it's supposed to sound. You can tell the difference. It doesn't sound right. And let's face it, there's just something creepy about Sharon having two guys re-record the parts, who were just highschool kids when this album was first made. These guys never met Randy Rhoads. Daisley and Kerslake have been consistently snubbed and put down by the Oz-camp for almost 20 years now. If you care at all about integrity, then you need to buy the original mix, the version that contains performances by the guys who actually wrote the songs and were in the studio when the magic was happening.

As an added insult, Sharon said, "Because of Daisley and Kerslake's abusive and unjust behaviour, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums." Fresh sound? Isn't that like George Lucas claiming that Star Wars was better when Greedo shot first?

Avoid. Besides, as a collector, it's way more fun tracking down something that's a little more scarce.

No stars.

When Ozzy and Sharon first reissued this album (and Blizzard) with bonus tracks back 'round the turn of the millenium, it was a travesty. Y'see folks, Sharon's a great manager, there is no doubt out that. But she also holds legendary grudges. So when original band members Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley had the audacity to sue the Osbournes for unpaid royalties, they responded by erasing their bass and drum parts on the last reissue, and having them replaced by Rob Trujillo and Mike Bordin. See my scathing review for details.

You can't mess with a classic (cough cough George Lucas) so I'm pleased to report that Ozz and Sharon have done the right thing, and reissued the original Diary of a Madman. It didn't sound right otherwise.

Diary and Blizzard are my favourite two Ozzy albums, with Diary getting the edge for being less overplayed and a tad on the heavier side. Riffmongers will fall to their knees upon hearing the monstrous "Over The Mountain". "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll" displays some of Randy's most impressive fretwork alongside a melody that simply kills. "Tonight" is possible my favourite song, a beautiful dramatic ballad-like piece anchored by Daisley's catchy bass work. You can't go wrong with the adrenaline pounding "S.A.T.O.". And the closing title track looms ominously over the end of a life cut tragically short.

As far as bonus material goes, that's the meat & potatos to this edition of Diary. A live concert featuring the lineup of Osbourne/Rhoads/Sarzo/Alridge. Remember when Randy Rhoads Tribute came out, and Ozzy claimed in the liner notes that they were the "only recordings" of he and Randy live? I knew he was lying!

This 11 song live album is incredible. More raw than Randy Rhoads Tribute, this sounds untouched with studio fixes. Nonetheless, every song here is duplicated on Tribute. It also has some great Ozzy moments, such as the opening to Iron Man. Trying to get the crowd to say "Yeah" at the count of 3, Ozzy proclaims, "What the ****'s the matter with you dummies?"

Listening to there recordings, it reminds me of when I first heard Randy Rhoads. I couldn't imagine a guy playing that great, somehow merging classical and rock music the way he did. The guy's musical vocabulary was all but unrivaled. A tragic loss, and the release of additional Randy Rhoads live material is a treasure to us Ozzy fans.

There are a handful of nice photos, but no liner notes. Shame, that.

5 stars!

I have to admit that ever since I heard about the 30th Anniversary special editions of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman that were to be released shortly the release of Ozzy's tenth studio album, Scream, I've been anxious to see what would happen with those "special editions". The little note insert in the Scream album advertising Blizzard and Diary special editions claimed that the original musical performances had been restored, I could only hope so. I'm a huge Ozzy fan and feel that those two albums are sacred rock/metal albums, therefore the 2002 remasters sounded to me like someone butchered two of my favorite albums. Well friends, now that these new editions of those metal classics have been released I can safely say that these editions are actually worth buying. These editions sound great and I feel that one of the biggest travesty in rock n roll has been corrected at last, and maybe fans can forget all about the awful 2002 re-recorded tracks.

Diary might be my favorite Ozzy album; I can't tell you how many times I've played this one. "Over the Mountain", "Flying High Again", the title track and others are true metal classics. I figure I'd be wasting time if I were to go into details with the songs; the true Ozzy fans are probably very familiar with this album already. The original performances have been restored and the sound quality is great, this special edition was done properly. The 2002 remasters are now only collector's items, in the future people may wonder about those remasters wanting to know why people were so upset with them in the first place (that's the only good thing I can say about owning them, oh and the liner notes were very nice).

The Diary remaster gets 5 stars because it includes something extra, the second disc of unreleased live content which is a very welcome addition. In case you are wondering the live disc is NOT Tribute, I admit that I was skeptic myself when I looked at the track listing but after hearing it all the way through I can confirm that it's a different show. I'm not sure exactly which musician played on this live album but I'll have to admit that it sounds terrific and much better than I anticipated it would, not as good as Tribute but still very good! Ozzy's songs are excellent live versions and the Sabbath material is just as good, the band delivered and offered quite a performance. Ozzy sounds very energetic and his interaction with the crowd works, Randy is amazing as always. If you're wondering if this is worth the purchase, I'd say yes. The sound quality, the original tracks and the bonus 11 songs live disc makes it all worth it (I really hoped for something more out of the Blizzard special edition, like the Mr.Crowley Ep with You Said It All or something like that).

It's hard to believe that 30 years have passed since this metal classic was first released. This is the version of Diary that should have been released in 2002; the restored performances and the included live disc almost make up for the 2002 disasters. The 30th Anniversary special editions are nice upgrades but Diary even more so because of the extra content which justifies the purchase. While Blizzard comes in a jewel case CD, Diary is in a digipack format and looks neat along with nice pictures (some unseen). 5/5 stars for this edition of an absolute classic, it does justice to not only Ozzy but also Randy Rhoads.

After finding guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads, Ozzy and his band released his classic solo debut album, Blizzard Of Ozz. The album contained many favorites and would become a classic. He proved that he could do well on his own without Black Sabbath and after a first successful album and a tour of it, Ozzy released Diary Of A Madman his second solo effort. He was now fueled again and ready to rock. Ozzy's Diary of a Madman gives much of the same as Blizzard of Ozz, another solid album with great songs.

Over The Mountain is about the best an opening song gets, fast, heavy, catchy and full of energy it just explodes and it really sets the tone for the album, a very good live song and one of my favorite on the album. Flying High Again is a great bad boy anthem, in which Ozzy says : "mama's gonna worry I've been a bad, bad boy...", just great stuff. You Can't Kill Rock n'Roll is very poetic and reflective with great lyrics and it has a message, that no one can kill what is rock n'roll and Ozzy is right about that. The song starts slowly and builds up to become quite a song, another favorite. Believer is a rocker but is probably my least favorite song on the album, not bad but it could be better.

Little Dolls starts with memorable drum rolls, a great creepy song in the way only Ozzy can do it, catchy riff and just a great song. Then follows the ballad Tonight reminiscent of Goodbye to Romance on Blizzard Of Ozz but only better, Ozzy gives a touching performance here. S.A.T.O. is a solid song but it reminds me more of Iron Maiden with the galloping sounds and all, I really like it but it's just to say I found it does sound like Maiden. Then comes the epic title track Diary Of A Madman, an amazing song that is somewhat an autobiography for Ozzy, the song is amazing with the choir and I don't know why it wasn't performed live more often. As a bonus for the remaster edition you get a live performance of I Don't Know from Blizzard, I like this version and it's a nice bonus but it's unfortunate that there isn't an unreleased song.

The sad thing is that Ozzy wouldn't give Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake royalties which they deserved and as a result had to release new editions of both Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman. Those new remasters would erase their contributions and have Ozzy's current members play over the tracks just so he wouldn't have to pay them. Pretty mean and unfair if you ask. Ozzy may not recognize the difference but old fans do, maybe it wouldn't bother a new fan because he won't notice but there clearly is a change. It's not that they sound terrible; it's for the sake of having the original music. Bob and Lee helped Ozzy in his rise to fame and this is how he repays them? Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Try to get the original and not this remaster. A good thing about the remasters however is that you get expended liner notes from Ozzy which are worth reading and really interesting.

Diary Of A Madman would mark the end of an era.This would unfortunately be Randy's last album with Ozzy as he would die tragically in a plane crash. His contribution to Ozzy's work could be heard, he was an amazing guitarist and he died too early. Diary is a great album, right up there with Blizzard and Ozzy's best work. Another classic album worth getting for any Ozzy fan. It might be sometimes overlooked because Blizzard contains Ozzy's more famous songs but Diary is just as good and well worth a listen, just remember not to get the 2002 remaster!

In 1980, the deposed original lead singer of Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, made an absolutely brilliant career comeback with BLIZZARD OF OZZ, which went multi-platinum with its hard-hitting, well-produced sound featuring the lightning-fast riffage of young, up-and-coming guitarist Randy Rhoads. Hailing from California, and the original lead guitarist of the hard-working (but at the time, hardly known) Quiet Riot, Rhoads brought a very upbeat American sound to an otherwise all-British-veteran musical cast, and was an instant hit with the young crowd. Rounding out Ozzy's backing band were the well-respected Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake on bass and drums, respectively. After a completely sold-out smash tour, Ozzy made his first in a long line of lineup shakeups, replacing Daisley & Kerslake with Rudy Sarzo (not coincidentally, another Quiet Riot veteran) and Tommy Aldridge. Randy Rhoads was back in great form, branching out more so on this album; as a result, most songs don't start out like a "Crazy Train" clone. This album is more polished than the previous, and contains more of the wonderfully atmospheric keyboards by fifth member Don Airey. Ozzy's songwriting hits on familiar themes relating to individualism and what his eyes have seen.

Things get off to a fine start with "Over The Mountain." As with "I Don't Know" from his 1980 solo debut BLIZZARD OF OZZ, Ozzy sure knows how to start his albums off in blistering form, with Randy Rhoads employing similarly fast riffing to great effect. Things get even better with the spirited "Flying High Again," with begins with a rather slow guitar crunch and bass/drumbeat and, as a result, sounds very different from most songs of the Rhoads era. Although the pace picks up at the verse second-halves and choruses, and contains a more conventional-sounding Rhoads guitar solo, it shows that even the early Ozzy era has some variation in sound. It also shows that Italian-born Rudy Sarzo was truly one of the best bass guitarists around, being much more prominently featured here than he would be on Quiet Riot's first two releases in 1983 and '84, on which he would be sorely under-appreciated by the egomaniacal Kevin DuBrow. But the best song on the entire album comes next: "You Can't Kill Rock & Roll" is an incredible anthem that begins like a ballad, with soft keyboards and low-register singing, till it whips into the hard-hitting choruses. Again, very different-sounding than other Ozzy songs of this era; in this case, even Randy's guitar solo sounds different! Don Airey gets a lot of quality time in on keyboards, creating a real multi-dimensional effect to this song.

"Believer" starts out with a menacing riff with sinister bells ringing in the background and is a deep, heavy track that is nevertheless polished to a smooth finish. "Little Dolls" begins with a pounding, syncopated drumbeat and rolls into a bass-heavy mid-tempo groove. Musically, it's a remarkably upbeat song (considering the voodoo theme) and features a surprisingly spacey-sounding guitar solo. "Tonight" is the album's ballad; more of a power-ballad than the light "Goodbye To Romance" found on the previous album, with one wicked Rhoads guitar solo. Again, Don Airey's light & sweet keyboards punctuate the proceedings and creates a real ambience here. Clocking in at nearly six minutes, this song has pretty much everything; Randy Rhoads does a minute-long outro that is fast and fluid. It literally gives me goosebumps!

For the final stretch, we get the stomping "S.A.T.O." (no, I don't know what the initials stand for), which has a real rollicking feel to it, and again sounds very different than anything on BLIZZARD OF OZZ. It has many quick stops & starts and kind of reminds me of something that a great Southern Metal band would do, like Molly Hatchett, albeit in polished form. It fades out quickly & goes right into the title song, which is an incredible 6:15 epic that has taken its rightful place as an all-time Ozzy classic. I love Ozzy's poetic, haunting lyrics as he sings eloquently about mental illness: "Screaming at the window/Watch me die another day/Hopeless situation, endless price I have to pay." It's a great way to end a great album. Like BLIZZARD OF OZ before it, DIARY OF A MADMAN is a must-buy for any Ozzy fan.

MOST RECOMMENDED

Oh the good old days.You know back when Ozzy Osbourne was the coolest thing since sliced bread.Every song on here is a classic and dont let the critics fool you the ballads are not sappy at all.On Tonight and You Cant Kill Rock And Roll Ozzy sings like a man deeply in love which he was.He was in love with Sharon and also in love with simple rock and roll.The album starts off with the metallic Over The Mountain which is a great song and ends with the dark "ballad" Diary Of A Madman.Some of the songs on here such as S.A.T.O. and the Alice Cooper esque Little Dolls are criminally underrated.Believer is one of Ozzy's greatest but the best version is on Tribute.Flying High is an ode to marijuana and is still remarkably on the classic rock stations.All in all this is Ozzy Osbourne's best album and showcases some of Randy Rhoads best guitar playing.

You actually still can buy the real version of this album on this site if you look hard enough.This version however is strictly for the die hard Ozzy fan who wants 2 versions.Everyone else should buy the 1995 remaster which features the original musicians.

Im extremely ticked off at Ozzy and Sharon.If they gave half a damn about their fans they would rerelease these albums in their original glory with the original musicians.This is the worst thing ever to happen to music.Ever.This is worse than Milli Vanilli.Doesnt Ozzy Osbourne have a conscience anymore?Is he on drugs again?That would explain this cruel treatment.I used to have this on vinyl and it was great but it got scratched.I demand that Ozzy will come to his senses and rerelease this with the original musicians.This is awful.

Seriously.... This is a cheap re-issue without Bob Daisley & Lee Kerslake. Even worse, Daisley wrote almost all of the lyrics on Blizzard and Diary. I have pledged, never again will I spend so much as a penny on anything Osbourne related. Boycott the re-issues. If I want any of the non-fake Ozzy albums, I will buy them used. This reissue is about as cool as an AOL CD.

Ozzy, while having a bit of talent back in the day, is now as commercial as Britney Spears. Most anything he has done lately is written by hired songwriters, his band is basically a bunch of hired goons. This is coming from a guy who used to talk about how great Ozzy is, as with the other 50 or so "boycott this garbage" reviews here. These re-issues are the nails in Ozzy coffin, and effectively demonstrate his (and Sharon's) lack of respect for his/their own legacy. I'm disgusted.

Shame on you Ozzy.
Shame on you Sharon.

I have a collection of over 1000 CDS and this is the first the collection and NO other CD in the passed 7 years of collecting has bettered it. I don't care what the critics say, this record is flawless! It may be full of ballads...well...GOOD! Ballads are the main attractors, especially when they're as good as these. My favourite songs have to be You Can't Kill Rock n' Roll, and of course Flying High Again! Let it bring you as much pleasure as it has always brought me!