Diary of a Madman by Ozzy Osbourne
Diary of a Madman is the second solo studio album by British vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. It was recorded from the 9th of Feb to the 23 of March 1981. It was released on November 7, 1981, and re-issued on August 22, 1995. An altered version appeared in 2002 with the original bass and drum parts removed and re-recorded. In 2011, a Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition was released. Diary of a Madman was the final album to feature the work of guitarist Randy Rhoads prior to his death in 1982. This is also drummer Lee Kerslake's final appearance with Osbourne. Although bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge are credited in the liner notes and pictured on the inner sleeve, it was bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Kerslake who performed all bass and drum parts on the original release. Daisley also provided significant contributions to the album's songwriting, having written some of the music and most of the lyrics. They were not given credit for their contributions. According to a 2005 interview with Daisley, even though Don Airey is credited for having played keyboards on this record, it was in fact a musician named Johnny Cook (who had worked with Daisley in Mungo Jerry) who recorded the keyboard parts, as Airey was on tour with Rainbow at the time. The album features several songs with acoustic/classical guitar intros, including "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll", "S.A.T.O.", "Tonight", and the title track. To date, the album has sold over 3.2 million copies worldwide. Diary of a Madman was re-released in 2002 with the original bass and drum tracks (recorded by Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake, respectively) removed and replaced by new recordings by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin. In May of 2011 Sony Legacy re-released Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz, with the original bass and drum tracks restored. These are the Deluxe 30th Anniversary Editions with demos, rarities and previously unreleased live material. The set includes remastered editions of both albums on CD as well as vinyl. The two-disc Diary of a Madman portion of the package features a second CD entitled Ozzy Live, containing a previously unreleased live performance from the Blizzard of Ozz tour. The package also features a DVD documentary entitled Thirty Years After The Blizzard.
Ozzy Osbourne’s second and final studio album with guitarist Randy Rhoads is the pinnacle of their collaboration. Released in October of 1981, <i>Diary of a Madman</i> is the result not only of the duo’s road-honed chemistry, but of a creative line-up that had gelled into a world-class songwriting machine. But therein lies the sad legacy of <i>Diary</i>. In addition to being Rhoads’ final studio performance—he’d be killed in a plane crash at age 25, while on tour with Ozzy not long after the album’s release—the true songwriters were almost written out of history. Though bassist Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot) and drummer Tommy Aldridge (Black Oak Arkansas) are credited on the album’s sleeve, they didn’t play a note on <i>Diary</i>. It was actually Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake who played bass and drums, respectively (they also played on Ozzy’s 1980 solo debut, <i>Blizzard of Ozz</i>). In fact, Daisley wrote the bulk of <i>Diary</i>’s lyrics, and both he and Kerslake contributed musical ideas, but weren’t credited for the first 20-plus years of the album’s existence. This resulted in a successful lawsuit by the duo that prompted Sharon Osbourne to hire Rob Trujillo (later of Metallica) and Mike Bordin (Faith No More) to replace Daisley and Kerslake’s parts on the 2002 re-issues of both <i>Diary</i> and <i>Blizzard</i>. When fans objected, the original parts were reinstated in 2011. Legal wrangling aside, <i>Diary</i> is a true gem. The opening track, “Over the Mountain”, absolutely smokes, boasting some of Rhoads’ most torrential guitar moves. “Flying High Again”, meanwhile, is a double entendre that combines Ozzy’s well-documented fondness for narcotics with the rejuvenation of his career after being sacked by Sabbath. And the power ballad “You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll” is Ozzy’s love letter to his vocation, propelled by Rhoads’ seamless transition from nimble neo-classical to searing heavy metal—and back again. Built over a beefy Daisley bassline, “Believer” boasts a twisting riff that sounds like it may have inspired Glenn Danzig a decade later on <i>Danzig II</i>. Kerslake’s military march on “Little Dolls” underscores a voodoo-inspired lyric, while “Tonight” sees Ozzy invoking a Beatles-esque vocal melody over pure AM gold. “S.A.T.O.” may or may not stand for “Sailing Across the Ocean” but it’s easily the album’s secret ripper—and one of the most impressive songs this line-up produced. Last but not least, the sweeping presentation and <i>Omen</i>-like choir of the title track lay the foundation for the kind of satanic panics that Swedish occult rockers Ghost would perfect 35 years later.
