Resurrection Kings ~ Skygazer (album review) ... Proggy adventures to sooth the wild king!

Style: hard rock, metal, prog

Label: Frontiers
Year: 2021
Home: n/a

Members: Chas West ~ vocals
Craig Goldy ~ guitars/keyboards/bass
Vinny Appice ~ drums
Alessandro Del Vecchio ~ bass/keyboards

Resurrection Kings includes vocalist Chas West of Foreigner & Lynch Mob & the Jason Bonham Band, multi-instrumentalist Craig Goldy of Dio & Giuffria, bassist/keyboardist Alessandro Del Vecchio of Hardline & Jorn, & iconic drummer Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath, Dio, though he needs no introduction. Thus, supergroup is the name of the game here. This is their second release following their 2016 self-titled debut. The band started from Goldy & West doing some demos together. The power hitting label Frontiers liked what they heard & encouraged a formal line-up to be assembled. As I wrote that phrase I had Captain America calling for the Avengers to assemble, but it kinda feels like that. I'll confess that when this was shared with me this morning, while the line-up piqued my curiosity I have a lot of other stuff to listen to & blog about. Like I'm in the middle of reviewing all of Ace Frehley's solo albums & I'm a big Kiss fan. Its nearly sacrilegious to interrupt this journey through space. Then I saw this was released by Frontiers of Italy. Seriously, I believe anything they put out is worth a listen sooner than later, even if you're skeptical of what you're going to hear. Between that & the line-up, Ace will will have to float in space on his own for a bit. Sorry, Spaceman. I've reviewed Frontiers' albums before & heard so much by them that I truly believe they have more home runs than strike outs. I will review happily anything they have their name on, & I have never said that about any other label. I will be honest, they've had some releases that haven't done much for me, could have used a few less guitar fireworks & instead more memorable melodies, & were better ideas on paper. I'm not gloating & loving everything released by them by default, & readers of this blog know that I don't do that, even for musicians I adore. Yet, the production quality is always top, the artwork great, & I've never read any interview with a musician not thrilled to be working with them. As a bassist I know how important a good label is. For the record, I listened to tons of interviews when writing the history book "Drivin' Sideways: The History Of The Band Danger Danger", published 2019, on the '80's band Danger Danger & their spin-off the Defiants. Both are on Frontiers. This is not to mention that the label is by folks who really love music, truly, & have solid tastes not warped by trends & whose who parties in L.A.. They've given great comebacks to older bands who likely gave up on being on the charts again, & kept many musicians releasing albums when bigger labels catering to Millennials were not interested. They're like Metal Blade to heavy metal, Sub Pop to grunge, Verve to jazz. Given I know the woman, as in sat in her living room, who signed John Legend & the Black Eyed Peas & Billy Joel .... I've seen firsthand a CEO who puts money & trends first & hopes the music finds an audience. Frontiers knows music & have literally created a music revolution by having amazing product. The music came first & the audience appears, or if you build it they will come. Okay, okay, this is not a review of a label, but I've long wanted to give them a wave & it seemed like a great time. I'm also kinda hyping this album up without saying a word about it! So, sorry for the intrusion, back to Ace Frehley now ... sorry, I mean the Resurrection Kings! Given I've been listening to Ace's 1978 solo album on repeat, one thing that's ringing in my ears is music with personality & distinctive melodies. In the first minute of the Resurrection King's opening track, the title track, personality abounds! Electronic & acoustic drums, prominent keyboards, a moody proggy interplay of finger poppin' guitars & keys, double-tracked vocals ... this is really interesting. Emphasis on 'really.' Its also really great. I've probably listened to this opening track like six times today & its always a high energy proggy hard rock delight. I really like that its more than just a riff with a lead line & some ambiance & vocals laid over it. This feels more like a stew where everything is so intricate that if you take out one instrument the whole flavor collapses. My favorite part is when the rhythm guitar changes underneath the solo, then moving into something new as though the song has little chapters. It is subtle, cool & unpredictable. While after two guitar solos we also get a proggy keyboard solo to close the song out with ... totally breaking expectations right to the end. Its great to see keyboards given a stronger role in a band where they work with the guitar, as it makes this feel like something more than just a guitar focused band. Obviously, this is for folks who like their metal melodic & proggy, but shying on the safe side of proggy where its the influence without the style. Note, this raving is just the opening track! There's ten more & its a constant roll out of breaking expectations. Whitesnake has been used to describe the band. Moments of "Tears" might recall early '80's Whitesnake due to some melody quirks, along with the singing on "Troubled Soul" & "Fight Against Our Pride", yet I don't think that comparison does the band justice. This is not half as slick nor commercial. It also feels more coincidental than deliberate. Dio has also been mentioned. I can hear that on the rolling "World's On Fire" & slower "Angel Demons" & in West's powerful singing. But, its another weak comparison. West is a powerfully strong singer that fills up the air & lifts the music up with him, or I should say he's as dynamic as the music. When one thinks powerful singing Ronnie James Dio comes to mind. While two members played with Ronnie, again I think this is more coincidence than deliberate. The influences are worn on the sleeve here, but not deliberately imitated. Comparisons to other musicians is how we tell someone that if they like X then they'll like Y. As I enjoyed this album on repeated listens, including lip-syncing along, I've been trying to think who the Kings sounds like. I've got 700 reviews on this blog & more albums I've heard that  I've not written about & I'm drawing a blank. They've taken their influences & put their own personality into it for something unique. Not unique as in odd, but unique as in golden, must hear, impossible to find something bad here unique. I rarely write this & usually criticize bands for ignoring their personality to sound like everyone else. I'm finally finding a band that is doing what I want & the music is screaming to me how my recommended approach is right. This is an album I want to keep listening to & get cozy with. This has personality like Ace's 1978 solo album has personality with not a bad track. Its big without being in your face guitar pyrotechnics. I love that. I'm also biased as a bassist. The songs have emotion, versus just relying on riff after riff. Though, when the guitar wails like in "Savior Of Souls" its just a delight. Each song is full of little touches, while never cluttering up things with a wall of sound. The vocals & music work together instead of separate pieces that are disconnected. While the lyrics are something other than sex, or at least they lace sex under some more interesting themes. After awhile it becomes had to describe music, as sounds are really so abstract & personal on some level. I feel like I've gone in circles & not hit the target, but you should have picked up I'm really excited by this release & think it is something you must hear. Frontiers' track record remains intact & the Kings have an album to be very proud of.

Ozzy Osbourne ~ Blizzard Of Ozz (album review) ... Say goodbye to romance!

Style: heavy metal
Label: Jet Records
Year: 1981 (reissued/re-recorded 1992)
Home: England

Members: Band on 1980 recording: Ozzy Osbourne ~ vocals
Randy Rhoads ~ guitars
Bob Daisely ~ bass/gong/b. vocals
Lee Kerslake ~ drums/tubular bells

Additional: Don Airey ~ keyboards

Band on 1992 reissue: Ozzy Osbourne ~ vocals
Randy Rhoads ~ guitars
Robert Trujillo ~ bass
Mike Bordin ~ drums/gong

Additional: John Shanks, Mark Lennon ~ b. vocals

It's often forgotten today that Ozzy's last few albums with Black Sabbath were not the ground-breaking moments that Paranoid was, while without the saving voice of Ronnie James Dio Black Sabbath might have faded away as they largely did after Dio left. Ozzy too might have faded away or at least not become the Prince Of Darkness overnight if he hadn't blasted out into a solo career with such a stellar debut that not just gave him a new career but also influenced heavy metal as much as Paranoid a decade earlier. Blizzard Of Ozz could easily be renamed a blizzard of great guitar playing, great songs, great singing & great heavy metal. It's some of Ozzy's best song in years that decades later are still fan favorites. "Crazy Train", "Goodbye To Romance", "Suicide Solution", "Mr. Crowley" are the four singles that remain concert standards, out of a meager nine songs which is a good balance. The rest of the album (i.e. "I Don't Know", "No Bone Movies", "Revelation (Mother Earth)", "Steal Away (The Night)" & the fifty second Rhoads classically sounding acoustic instrumental "Dee" ) may not be so familiar to the casual fan but have only faded away because the chorus might not be as memorable. They burn with great riffs that may even eclipse the singles at times. The secret of success is really no secret as the album was as much under the creative control of guitarist Randy Rhoads as it was Ozzy ... some say the balance might even be tipped away from Ozzy. Ozzy came from Black Sabbath that featured ground-breaking guitar hero Tony Iommi. How do you follow that gig? You get a young kid, in this case a 23 year old guitar teacher & stand-in for a pre-MTV favorite Quiet Riot, who rips the house down with as much power but yet has a very different style & technique so the comparisons are a minimum. Considering Ozzy initially wasn't interested in hearing Rhoads' audition after a heavy day of drinking ... there's a little bit of luck thrown in. You really can't get two more different guitarists in style than Iommi versus Rhoads. Though, really, it's two different styles. Iommi was drawing from the 60's blues & prog-rock scene while Rhoads, in the same vein as Eddie Van Halen, was drawing on what was layed down in the 70's by such folks as Richie Blackmore & Iommi himself. & if one doesn't think that Rhoads is the key to the success of kicking Blizzard Of Ozz up an extra head-banging notch one only has to look at the legacy he left - every guitarist Ozzy has employed since has been under the shadow of Rhoads with comparisons happening regularly. Actually, many guitarists face comparisons with Rhoads, but few have come close to his magic. The only one I can think of the late Criss Oliva of Savatage but he's Rhoads in the raw ... vocalist brother Jon Olivia has more than a little Ozzy in him, too. No Ozzy solo album other than the 1981 follow-up also with Rhoads before his tragic death, Diary Of A Madman, has achieved such high accolades by both fans & critics & remained a favorite as Blizzard Of Ozz. There's been some good albums, such as the mid-career moment No More Tears, but none have had the impact of this initial debut. Note the remaster includes partial re-recordings of all the songs with only Ozzy & Rhoads remaining from the original recording due to original members Bob Daisley & Lee Kerslake suing Ozzy for non-payment of royalties. Linear notes don't say if Don Airey's keyboard parts have been retained, replaced or just ignored. For casual fans the difference may or may not mean anything or even be that important. For those who have picked up Ozzy's later greatest hits collections they will have already heard the re-recorded versions. It is it important, though. There is a difference in overall feeling & tone, though for some it'll be like the experience of hearing a remaster where a producer's attempted to turn an old mono recording into stereo or some other feat that makes big changes.

Geezer ~ Black Science (album review) ... Oh Elvis do you love me?

Style: heavy metal
Label: TVT Music
Year: 1997
Home: Britain

Members: Geezer Butler ~ bass/keyboards
Pedro Howse ~ guitar
Clark Brown ~ vocals
Deen Castronovo ~ drums

In the metal world & maybe rock in general, Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath is as iconic as you can get when it comes to bass players. There's players who are faster, fancier & funkier but Butler was setting a standard & rhythmic feeling while those who would prove to be potentially better were still in their britches. I personally call him my number one bass mentor. It's a lesser known fact that he wrote many of the lyrics to the Ozzy era hits, every one a much beloved metal classic & inspiration to metal musicians eternal. But, this doesn't mean a solo album is going to be good. Many musicians have gone out on their own with poor showings, if nothing else showing their limitations, though just as many have gone out to nothing but overwhelming praise, while some get faces filled with curiosity. Black Sabbath set the bar for metal & nobody, not even later line-ups or the reunion of the original, has been able to duplicate the early Black Sabbath feeling & albums. There's variations & competition but no duplication. Thankfully, maybe surprisingly or maybe not, Butler doesn't even try to duplicate his past successes with the second album from his solo band Geezer. 1997's Black Science with Geezer was two years following Plastic Planet, under the name G/Z/R with the same band but different vocalist. Ohmwork would be the, so far, final Butler solo album coming much later in 2005 with the same line-up as Black Science but now with Red Hot Chili Peppers/Chickenfoot drummer Chad Smith & going by the name GZR. None of the albums got gloriously overwhelming reviews but listening years later they've all held up extremely well with a timeless quality, something that can't be said for a lot of metal albums, with middle child Black Science probably being the best overall representation of the Butler solo efforts. They may not be heralded as legendary albums but they are better than a lot of what Butler's old band was producing around the same time in his absence & with rotating vocalists. Speaking of Sabbath ... Geezer follows the same moody & dark feeling, but it's not the drugged out dark of the Ozzy years. Some might call the arrangement style closer to the Dio years, but without Dio's fantasy lyrics. At the same time the band sounds more influenced by metal that was on the scene in 1997 than 1977. Kicking off with "Man In The Suitcase" one might think of Soundgarden with the sludgy detuned guitars. Sabbath was detuned but not sludgy. While "Justified" could be pulled from Metallica's repertoire. It's as if Butler inspired a generation & now is letting his students inspire him. It's an interesting approach that won't disappoint. But, there's two weaknesses to the album. The first is the layered guitars that drown out Butler's bass playing. Further, Butler has a particularly identifiable rhythmic quality, the bass players reading will understand, but the sludgy almost atmospheric guitars don't give themselves to galloping rhythms without a bit of tension & de-emphasizing of the bass. I can't help but think of the solo work of John Entwistle of the Who in comparison who aimed for dark sounds but wasn't drowned out in his own creation. The other downfall is that Clark Brown is a competent but not overly amazing vocalist. He doesn't have any particularly unique vocal tone or phrasing to bring to the album, which on some songs (i.e. "Area Code 51") becomes more obvious than at other times with a habit of quasi-growling. He sounds too much like too many of his contemporaries, which brings the album in line with the metal scene at the time but also doesn't help to distinguish Geezer. There's also some interesting inclusions in that Geezer includes a electronic element in the drums occasionally, so there's no doubt Butler is trying stay on top of current trends. The resulting industrial experiments aren't bad but Marilyn Manson so set the standard for this approach that it's hard not to compare, though Manson is far more dense. It's easy to forget that there's lots of experimental songs on the early Ozzy-era Black Sabbath albums ... which tend to be forgotten. Butler is no stranger to experimenting but we've become strangers to his experiments. Two interesting lyrical inclusions that merit mention are the songs "Among the Cybermen", a reference to evil cybernetic aliens on BBC TV's Doctor Who, & "Unspeakable Elvis" with its odd chorus "oh Elvis do you love me/oh evil Elvis Aaron Presley" ... supposedly, the album was inspired by Butler's childhood, though its not so obvious until these creepy yet playful un-Black Sabbath moments.

Black Sabbath ~ Heaven & Hell (album review) ... 2 sides of the same coin!

Style: heavy metal, hard rock
Label: Warner Brothers
Year: 1980
Home: England

Members: Geezer Butler ~ bass
Ronnie James Dio ~ vocals
Tony Iommi ~ guitar
Geoff Nicholls ~ keyboards
Bill Ward ~ drums, backing vocals

Few bands have replaced a key member, changed songwriters, updated their sound & found just as much success, particularly bands as musically influential in creating a genre, as Black Sabbath did in 1981 when they brought in horn waving elf Ronnie James Dio fresh out of Richie Blackmore's Rainbow. Dio took not just the vocal spot from iconic Ozzy Osbourne but also the writing spot from bassist Geezer Butler & helped moved the band away from being a gloomy blues based drug band to heavy 80's rockers reaching out to a new generation of fans as hair metal hit the airwaves. Many decried the plethora of changes, though in hindsight many may have forgotten that this reinvention came after Sabbath was on the decline. Heaven & Hell, the first of four outings from the new line-up, isn't strung with classic song after classic song like the 1970 legacy-making Paranoid, but it did contribute fan favorites "Neon Knights", "Children Of The Sea" the title track ... that are just as good as anything that came before & working hard to disprove the fans that said there was no Sabbath without Ozzy. The experimental nature of the later Ozzy albums, a weak point of contention for many fans, was largely retired for a more commercialized sound, while the drug & mysticism lyrics gave way to medieval imagery. It's easy to ignore the albums between Paranoid & Heaven & Hell & forget that this is actually a predictable steady progression of the band, it just came to fruition earlier than expected with Dio's arrival. It's really not a surprising change, nor by far a negative one & definitely reads more drastic than it really is. Tony Iommi's trademark de-tuned guitar lines remain slow & heavy with Geezer Butler's bass still slogging away ... a simplicity that would be lost in future heavy metal that came to believe guitars had to be fast & distorted to be heavy. Iommi plays like a big slow gorilla not a fast colorful tiger. While the lyrical move isn't really that big of a change as its more like two sides of the same coin. Decrying social ills remains a regular theme, with the step from witchcraft to medieval mysticism beyond distant cousins & both lending themselves to visual lyrics. The band couldn't have found a better writer without hurting the band, as would be shown by the weak material that followed after the departure of Dio & Geezer. Further, honestly, Dio is probably the better singer than Ozzy ever was or is. Ozzy has an instantly recognizable voice & style but he essentially just shouts, grunts & vocalizes with none of the range or control of Dio & if it wasn't for some great songs, both with Sabbath & in his solo career, one can only wonder if he'd be so popular as his vocals often sound sloppy. Dio & the boys proved to be a rocky partnership that produced The Mob Rules before collapsing & Dio forming his own band with replacement Sabbath drummer Appice, while successive Sabbath singers found the band at its lowest point, but a shadow of itself with only Iommi as a constant presence. The Dio era, as its called, was the light before the dark. Dio returned to the fold a decade later to produce Dehumanizer, again to see things crumble & eventually lead to a Ozzy reunion that produced only a live album & two weak studio tracks. Dio united again with the band under the moniker Heaven & Hell, making a strong case for the skeptics that still preferred Ozzy let alone that Sabbath was dead, with the powerfully dark The Devil You Know before his unexpected death in 2010. Of the four Dio era Sabbath albums, two are great, two are okay. But, the great ones are good enough to have divided the Sabbath camp into Dio fans vs. Ozzy fans. It's really two different bands. I saw Heaven & Hell/Black Sabbath in concert & didn't mind in the least that not a single Ozzy song was played. They weren't missed.

Badlands ~ Badlands (aka debut) (album review) ... The students of Zeppelin!

Style: hard rock, blues-rock, heavy metal
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1989
Home: Los Angeles

Members: Ray Gillen ~ vocals/harmonica
Jake E. Lee ~ guitars/keyboards
Greg Chaisson ~ bass
Eric Singer ~ drums

 

The line-up is the most impressive thing about this album & short-lived supergroup: guitarist Jake E. Lee who just left Ozzy Osbourne, bridging the gap between guitar gods Randy Rhoads & Zakk Wylde; the late Ray Gillen who sang with Black Sabbath; bassist Greg Chaisson who played with Yngmie Malmsteen's first band; & drummer Eric Singer of Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford & most notably Kiss. Later Singer would be replaced by Jeff Martin of Racer X, Michael Schenker & Dokken, while Gillen was replaced by John West of Lynch Mob, Cozy Powell & the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. But, other than this history buff trivia of a whose who, the album is like Asia - less than it's part. It's not bad & has it's enjoyable moments. Could be worse but it could be better. The trouble here is that these guys sound like everyone they've played with with, but not themselves. It rocks quite hard with a lot of musical varity & there's no question this is a powerhouse of talent. Guitars blast away throughout with abandon. Even the filler rocks due to the high proficiency & good intense arrangements that grab your attention & a heavy blues sound that has always been prominent in much 80's arena rock & pretty much can't go wrong. But, there's nothing particularly original about any of it. There's also a heavy dose of Zeppelin here. The music immediately reminds me of the equally-short-lived Zeppelin wannabes Bonham, which also features a departed lead singer & even look the same. "Dreams In The Dark" could be Whitesnake song if I didn't know better as it's a perfect David Coverdale imitation. While "Winter's Call" & "Seasons" are more Robert Plant than Robert Plant has been since the Plant/Page reunion. Now, let me say I love Bonham's first album & I love Zeppelin so I inherently enjoy this album. But, it's just not one full of surprises. I'd recommend it, if for nothing else, than an example of 80's hair rock at it's imitative 70's influenced best. There's nothing wrong with this release.

Ozzy Osbourne ~ The Ozzman Cometh (hits comp) (album review) ... Open the door & let the Prince of Darkness in!

Style: compilation, greatest hits, heavy metal
Label: Epic
Year: 1997
Home: England

Musicians: Ozzy Osbourne ~ vocals
Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee ~ guitar
Rudy Sarzo, Bob Daisley, Phil Soussan, Mike Inez, Geezer Butler, Robert Trujillo ~ bass
Lee Kerslake, Tommy Aldridge, Randy Castillo, Deen Castronovo, Mike Bordin ~ drums
Johnny Cook, Don Airey, Mike Moran, John Sinclair, Kevin Jones, Rick Wakeman ~ keyboards

The demos of "Black Sabbath" & "War Pigs," followed by: "Goodbye To Romance," "Crazy Train," "Mr. Crowley," "Over The Mountain," a live version of "Paranoid," "Bark At The Moon," "Shot In The Dark," "Crazy Babies," "No More Tears," "Mama, I'm Coming Home," a live version of "I Don't Want To Change The World," "I Just Want You" & "Back On Earth" with a bonus disc that includes an artist interview & basement tape recordings of "Fairies Wear Boots" & "Behind The Wall Of Sleep." Need I say more? If you know these songs you know how good this greatest hits album is. If you don't know the songs then you're obviously not a metalhead & here's the CD to start your metal path on. & if you only know Ozzy from his clown role on tv then you don't know Ozzy. These are the songs that have made him the Prince of Darkness. There's a few hits that aren't on this compilation, such as "Flying High Again," "Close Your Eyes Forever" with Lita Ford & "Miracle Man," but that would almost be splitting hairs & just complaining for the sake of it because what here is the best of the best for the casual fan wanting a taste of a musical god not a hard-core collector. If you don't like Ozzy after listening to this ... give up now cause you're never going to like him. Further, you're not worthy to be called a metalhead. Ozzy has more certifiable hits, dare I say metal classics even, than most of his solo musician contemporaries who have been around just as long & that's excluding his Black Sabbath catalog. I dare anyone to challenge this assertion. What's more amazing is that this package starts with his solo debut Blizzard Of Ozz from 1980 & ends in 1995 with Ozzmosis, thus excluding the great albums he's made since is chock full of more amazing metal. Most musicians would die just to have half of this collection to their name. Actually, the fact that this album includes 4 Black Sabbath songs, probably the idea of the sales department knowing that many of us would already have all these songs on their original releases, are sprinkle on an already perfect tasting cake & I'm saying this as a Black Sabbath fan too whose eyes pop out at the words demo version. Actually, honestly, the demo tracks with their poor production actually hurt the album as they are not reflective either of the other songs or Ozzy's solo career, particularly since they open it & take nearly 18 minutes to get through. But, But, what I particularly like about this collection is that it goes in chronological order so you clearly hear the progression of the Ozzy sound which is interesting in itself. Though, note, this album was reissued in 2002 as a single disc with "Shot In The Dark" replaced by "Miracle Man" & the 1980-81 songs have their rhythm section re-recorded by Ozzy's 2002 line-up due to unpaid royalties legal action. A sad footnote. But, anyways, I'm looking forward to Vol. II in another 20 years. Ozzy forever!

Dio ~ Diamonds: The Best Of... (hits comp) (album review) ... Going holy diving!

Style: heavy metal
Label: Vertigo
Year: 1992
Home: Los Angeles

Members: Ronnie James Dio ~ vocals/keyboards
Vivian Campbell, Craig Goldy, Rowan Robertson ~ guitars
Jimmy Bain, Teddy Cook ~ bass
Vinny Appice, Simon Wright ~ drums
Claude Schnell, Jens Johansson ~ keyboards

 
In honor of his death today, this review gets put up early form its place in the queue. Ronnie James Dio was a great singer, even if he's a walking elfin caricature who was performing as wild as ever well past retirement age. With Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell, and his own band RJD has seen a stream of hits come from his pen and through his distinctive vocals, putting a stamp on all bands that no successor has been able to match. I'll even confess that I actually might like the Dio era of Black Sabbath better than the Ozzy days or, aghast, the Tony Martin albums. But, really, those are three different bands. I do know, after having seen Heaven & Hell last year at Madison Square Garden Dio was probably the far better performer and had more control over his vocals than his foe Ozzy. The problem with Dio, the namesake band formed with fellow Sabbath alum Vinny Appice, is, perhaps due to line-up changes, the hits just weren't always there. They have but a few classics which makes this collection both good and bad. Good in the sense that it has all the hits ("Holy Diver," "Rainbow In The Dark," "Don't Talk To Strangers" & "We Rock") spanning their career from 1983-94 and if you're a casual fan this will complete the Dio requirement for your album collection. There's a few later songs that don't hold up as well so the album starts stronger than it ends but it'll take care of all your needs without you having to week through the entire up and down discography. But, listening just to their hits, Dio pretty much has everything you want from metal, both in terms of the band and the man. Rest in piece one of our rock icons!

Ozzy Osbourne ~ Just Say Ozzy (live) (EP) (album review) ... A strange affair for the Prince of Darkness!

(Click on heading to visit official website.)
Style: heavy metal, live
Label: Epic
Year: 1990
Home: England

Members: Ozzy Osbourne ~ vocals
Zakk Wylde ~ guitar
Geezer Butler ~ bass
Randy Castillo ~ drums
John Sinclair ~ keyboards

 

I've always found Ozzy live a bit of a messy affair compared to the perfection of the studio, something particularly encouraged by the blistering guitar of Wylde who to me always overplayed what to me are often simple riffs. The best part of this EP are the Black Sabbath tracks 'War Pigs' & 'Sweet Leaf' - featuring Sabbath bassist Geezer, no less, who I frequently tout as my bass playing idol - but both come at the end of 2 hits ('Miracle Man', 'Shot In The Dark') & 2 fillers ('Bloodbath in Paradise,' 'Tatooed Dancer') from No Rest For The Wicked album. This is a strange collection as it seems to have many roles it plays. At the time, according to the liner notes by Ozzy, it was the idea of the record company ... so, obviously the album was about taking further economic advantage of the current tour, which advertised the fact that it featured 1/2 of Black Sabbath. In hindsight, this concert is more a historical record featuring the last time Ozzy & Geezer would play together on tour before the Sabbath reunions while featuring the first of many tours with Zakk Wylde, who brought new life to Ozzy's dotted post-Randy Rhoads career. Also according to the linear notes this live version of 'Shot In The Dark' Ozzy prefers over the original studio version. Does he still believe that? Also, like many famous live albums, it should be noted that some parts were re-recorded in the studio afterwards. At one point in the first track Ozzy yells "Go crazy tonight." That's pretty much what they do on this show. So, this might be a great concert or it might be a historical piece depending on your point of view. The band drives ahead full-force & everyone is in prime form, though a 1/3 of the material may not be everyone's choice & the album too short by many fans standards