Blizzard Of Ozz

RANDY RHOADS

Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath was fantastic. Ozzy Osbourne solo is meh. As Ozzy does not write the music or even the lyrics. His albums depend on the musicians that write songs for him; in this case Randy Rhoads and Bob Daisley. The songs are ok, somewhere in between the styles of Rainbow and Whitesnake, but not outstanding and it sounds very 1980. As I like Ozzy, it gets three stars. (I dislike Sharon even more after reading this Wiki page).

Very appropriate to see this album here now. It is definitely one of the best albums ever. This and Diary of a Madman are classic, but this has always been my favorite. Crazy Train, I Don't Know, Mr. Crowley are 10/10. The whole album is solid. Goodbye to Romance is one of my favorite Ozzy slow songs... 5/5

Well, clearly this is the right time for me to FINALLY listen to the album that I grew up amidst but never listened to. I grew to love Crazy Train thanks to a remake decades ago by Pat Boone, which lead me to the Ozzy song... now finally I am listening to the rest of the album and am so surprised at how much I love it! Fantastic and deserving of being on all the T-shirts!

May he rest in darkness. Great album

I was a little on the young side to partake when this came out (indeed in my preteen years found this and music of similar ilk to inspire a certain genuine and unironic dread, alongside horror movies, as if the "bad art" could somehow get me). Half a dozen years later it featured prominently in the rotations of my stoner friends, though I was always more on the Zeppelin end of the early metal spectrum, along with 60s -70d era psychedelic rock. I came to be a fan of early Sabbath, but never got much into Ozzy's solo career. I doubt I ever intentionally listened to this straight through, though I'm sure I heard it all a good few times courtesy of said friends. Listening now it strikes me as quite fully realized. I still prefer old Sabbath, and my honest personal rating would probably be around 3.5, but I'll round up if for nothing else as a nod to Randy Rhoads, surely a strong contender for the dumbest, most arbitrary far-too-early deaths in rock and roll.

The man died recently. A lot of his legacy can be defined by his work in Black Sabbath, which was notable for pioneering heavy metal as a whole. Osbourne's stage antics and signature vocal style made him a staple of '70s rock music, but heavy drug and alcohol use made him difficult to work with as tensions rose between him and guitarist Tony Iommi. Kicked out by 1979, Osbourne was a wounded dog before his manager convinced him to go solo with an album deal on Jet records. Pull a few strings, get a few session musicians (who are incidentally also writing the songs with Osbourne) and you've got Blizzard of Ozz. It sounds a bit like Sabbath if they didn't have Iommi's moments of brilliance. His theatrics shine brightest on the more odd numbers like Mr. Crowley, but Steal Away The Night is a welcome change of pace for an album that is basically over after that. Not necessarily a great album but not a bad one either. I can see why this made Ozzy a household name. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: In the light of Ozzy's death and the public reaction to it, I truly feel like we don't have the mythos surrounding him without this album. Sure, he was better with Sabbath, but this album is an instrumental part in making him a legend. Without it we wouldn't have Ozzfest or Keeping Up with the Kardashians (believe it or not). I remember being an impressionable young teenager and seeing his likeness in video games like Guitar Hero and Brutal Legend, which cemented him as the "prince of darkness" in my mind. Yes, it should be on the list.

How the original 1001 list can even be called a list with no solo Ozzy? This is a huge gap now solved by someone good enough to remember the prince of darkness.

Prince of Darkness! Such a different sound than Black Sabbath. It's been a long time since I've listened to this album. It's pretty damn solid, although the first half is better than the second half. You Looking at Me, Looking at You is a downright pop song....and I didn't hate it. Pretty solid first solo album.

Heavy metal. Un megahit. Un 4.

Ozzy was a treasure, and it's always good to be reminded of that. I'm not sure that this album had a big impact on me other than the always-awesome Crazy Train.

Because great Ozzy album or because he just passed? Doesn’t matter it kicks ass

It's funny how everyone and their dog was Ozzy's biggest fan now that he's dead. I remember when it was very uncool to be into this shit, and girls sure didn't think it made me retro and hot when I was wearing Ozzy shirts and slamming beers. Yes that's some kind of hipster thing to say, but fuck all of you. You hypocrites. Anyway, this is a good enough album but there are really only 3 fantastic songs on it. His Randy Rhoads era could be turned into one decent album if you culled the filler shit. And Ozzy's best album is No More Tears by a long way. But this is still a 4/5.

Good old Ozzy. I don't really know how much input he had into this album but it's well produced and standard fare for Metal heads.

Ozzy’s first solo album and it showed that he was more than capable of solo work after Sabbath with some on lyrics from a few others. This album has some real classics on it that are hard to forget. Even the lesser known songs on this are still great rock songs or ballads. Overall it was a solid first solo album that may have been more generic rock than the metal Sabbath made. 7.5/10

I love Ozzy's voice, but this wasn't the best vehicle for it

Listened to this already it seems. Good stuff, I just think I'm a bit tired of Crazy Train 3 Always felt this style of "heavy metal" was kind of a joke. It's so upbeat, fun and accessible. And even more because of the popularity probably. It has carried over into pop music. Goodbye to Romance is a hidden banger tho.

Not a bad album stand alone, crazy train is a great song, but I wouldn’t replace any of the black sabbath albums for this, or listen to this over them. So I can’t find room for it on the list.

I really like early Black Sabbath, but strangely enough I've never really listened to any of Ozzy's solo work (other than songs that have gotten airplay). Good stuff overall, not as good as early BS though. RIP Ozzy.

Solid comp that serves as a reminder of why Osbourne is so lauded – the man invented metal itself alongside Sabbath, and wasn't content to stop there. Enjoyed the track selection here, doesn't feel too focused on any one era or project, and I was happy to see Mr. Crowley on here, a song I always felt got overshadowed by Crazy Train. Wish there was some Sabbath to contextualize things but I'm sure rights got in the way of that. Think this is a solid add to commemorate the man and acknowledge his contributions, even though every Black Sabbath LP ever is already in the main 1001.

RIP Ozzy, but also... this is just kind of generic hard rock, innit? It's still good of course, but I don't think there's a single song on here except maybe "Mr. Crowley" that holds a candle to anything off the first three Black Sabbath albums.