Ozzy Osbourne is one of the most important characters in popular culture. Godfather of heavy metal, reality show star, entrepreneur of his festival (which in turn helped popularize the so-called nu-metal), and even actor, Ozzy is an endearing character wherever you see him, a symbol of everything he represents the rock.
Although in the US his music always managed to sneak into the popularity charts, in UK the most popular and anticipated songs during his presentations are those hymns that made him famous on Black Sabbath. There will never be missing that crazy man (one of your uncles, surely) who in his concerts shouts in despair “Paraaanoooiddd!!”.
Although his songs have accompanied movies, video games, and even NFL games, for many, it has been inevitable to get carried away more by his status as a symbol than by music. Without further ado, here we leave you the 10 Career Highlights Of Ozzy Osbourne, as well as a top of which has been his best productions in 40 years of a solo career.
Crazy Train
Why blame your best-known song when this hit from 1980 revived it in every way? After his departure from Sabbath, the singer fell into an abyss of drugs and alcohol from which, he managed to get out with the help of his family and his agent. It was time to win back the world. Together with original Quiet Riot guitarist, virtuoso Randy Rhoads, he formed an unbeatable duo and “Crazy Train”, a song born out of fear of the Cold War, reached No. 9 on Billboard saying: Ozzy is back.
Mr. Crowley
A chilling subject, suitable to understand why the nickname “Prince of Darkness.” To speak of Aleister Crowley is to delve into the most important occultist of the 20th century. Although years later, Osbourne admitted in an interview for Rolling Stone that before writing it, he had no idea of his work.
Osbourne reflects in the lyrics what Crowley represented for him: a false idol, while the keyboard solo at the beginning of Don Airey is a gloomy journey into the unknown.
Over The Mountain
For whatever reason, his next album, Diary Of A Madman, still doesn’t get the attention it deserves. The last work with Rhoads before his tragic death, this song was one of the heaviest and fastest they ever did. Osbourne’s imaginary always leaned towards fantasy travel and for “Over The Mountain”, it incites the famous astral travel. Lee Kerslake’s (Uriah Heep) drums are jammed and intense.
Bark At The Moon
His second hit worldwide, he returned in 1983 now alongside the brilliant and much-underrated guitarist, Jake E. Lee. Memorable riff, flawless production, and a cover art devised by Sharon Osbourne with the help of makeup genius Greg Cannon (responsible for effects on MJ’s “Thriller”).
Shot In The Dark
Speaking of underrated albums, The Ultimate Sin is the most overlooked on Ozzy Osbourne’s discography despite including gems like “Killer Of Giants,” “Lightning Strikes,” “Secret Loser,” and “Never Know Why.” Not even Ozzy is entirely satisfied with the end result. “The songs weren’t bad, they were just very strange. Everything felt and sounded the same. There was no imagination. If there is an album that I wanted to mix and do better, it would be The Ultimate Sin. “
Demon Alcohol
By now, it looks like the title of the article should change to Justice for Ozzy. This is another of the great themes of his career, an autobiographical journey towards the frontman’s forbidden temptation for alcohol that would end up as the B-side of “Miracle Man”. For No Rest For The Wicked, he recruited his most recurring partner for the first time: Zack Wylde. That distortion so characteristic of the American gave freshness to the formula and laid the foundation for what would be the most epic album in Ozzy’s work.
I Don’t Want To Change The World
The golden age of heavy metal was about to end to make room for the reign of alternative rock and grunge. But the Prince of Darkness still had a lot to prove to the world. Now with Wylde, where the four strings of Mike Inez, inventive and with a lot of prominences (a few years later he would end up joining in Alice In Chains).
Perry Mason
For many perhaps the name Perry Mason no longer means anything. Instead, Ozzy’s generation fondly remembers the famous television show where a daring lawyer solved intrepid cases in the mid-1950s (a show based on literary works from the 1930s). Again, the keyboards look like their early years amidst Zack’s eternal bending. This was thanks to the hand of the late John Purdell, who came up with the idea before Rick Wakeman, master of the keyboard at Yes, would record to disk.
I Don’t Wanna Stop
What did they say? Was he just going to be MTV’s petty dad? After years of absence from the studio, Ozzy Osbourne returned with a fine album to his account, Black Rain, introducing an entire generation to a Prince seeking to regain his credibility. Again, the British reminds us that he is here until the body endures. Wylde’s timeless bends and solos were joined by two virtuosos: Mike Bordin (Faith No More) on drums and Blasko (Rob Zombie) on bass. Too bad Kevin Churko’s mix is so saturated throughout the album. Did Rick Rubin Learn at Academies?
Ordinary-Man
Ballads have been a constant in each of his albums. But it had not reached a point as emotional and sincere, as “Ordinary Man”. Collaboration with Elton John, Slash, Duff McKagan and Chad Smith, a true dream team to review a life of successes, falls, excesses but especially, of recognition. Ozzy Osbourne, an artist who obviously feels before the twilight of his life. No, he will not die like a common man. But as the great one who helped to forge a genre at different times in the 20th century.