Editor’s Note: From Albumism’s inception back in 2016, we’ve remained unabashedly and unequivocally passionate about our mission of celebrating the world's love affairs with albums past, present and future.
But while our devotion to the album as an art form has remained steadfast, as evidenced by our deepening repository of individual album tributes and reviews, we’ve admittedly seldom taken the opportunity to explicitly articulate our reverence for the virtues of artists’ complete album repertoires as a whole.
Hence why we’ve decided to showcase what we believe to be the most dynamic discographies of all time in this recurring series. In doing so, we hope to better understand the broader creative context within which our most beloved individual albums exist, while acknowledging the full breadth of their creators’ artistry, career arcs, and overall contributions to the ever-evolving musical landscape.
We hope you enjoy this series and be sure to check here periodically for the latest installments.
OZZY OSBOURNE
Studio Albums: Blizzard of Ozz (1980) | Diary of a Madman (1981) | Bark at the Moon (1983) | The Ultimate Sin (1986) | No Rest for the Wicked (1988) | No More Tears (1991) | Ozzmosis (1995) | Down to Earth (2001) | Under Cover (2005) | Black Rain (2007) | Scream (2010) | Ordinary Man (2020)
Ozzy Osbourne might have missed out on a career in marketing. Very few artists, especially at his level of success, have managed to embrace evolving musical trends as well as Osbourne, maintaining his own personal sound, but not trapping him in 1970s amber. It's clear across his solo catalog, starting with Blizzard of Ozz, his debut solo album, made in the wake of his firing from Black Sabbath.
Osbourne, having toured with Van Halen when they opened for Black Sabbath, saw first-hand the value in working with a hot-shot guitar player, and grabbed Randy Rhodes, a California guitar teacher trying to break through in glam metal, for his new band. Rhodes was an Eddie Van Halen fan who latched onto the guitarist's speed and bombast, adding his own stunning technique and a sense of classical melody that metal hasn't heard before or since. The collaboration between Osbourne and Rhodes instantly rooted Osbourne in the present, if not the future, where Black Sabbath, now with lead singer Ronnie James Dio, felt like a lumbering vestige of the past.
As a burgeoning metal head in the 1980s, I came to Osbourne because of the controversy around "Suicide Solution," the Blizzard track some maintained was encouraging suicide. I decided to listen to the song for a middle school current events project and fell in love with Rhodes' guitar playing, which was impossibly fast, but improbably beautiful. The songs, minus the requisite Osbourne ballads, were a head-banging thrill. I was hooked.
Rhodes died in a plane crash in 1982, cutting short a brilliant career, and leaving behind two of Osbourne's best studio albums, Blizzard and Diary of a Madman. Osbourne was crushed, but also now understood the guitarist was the engine of his solo career and set off to look for a new collaborator, not to find another Rhodes. Osbourne made two strong albums with guitarist Jake E. Lee, Bark at the Moon and The Ultimate Sin, after which Osbourne (technically Osbourne's wife, Sharon) fired Lee, bringing guitarist Zakk Wylde on board.
Wylde provided a runway into the next phase of Osbourne's career: radio-friendly power ballads and heavier album tracks. The duo debuted on No Rest for the Wicked, which had some classic metal tracks like "Miracle Man." But the two perfected their formula on No More Tears, a huge-selling album. Wylde's sloppily acrobatic guitar gave the many gentle tracks a heavy metal energy spike, MTV putting their work into heavy rotation. Osbourne and Wylde haven't recorded together since 2007's Black Rain, but have occasionally toured.
Osbourne's 2020 solo album Ordinary Man featured producer/guitarist Andrew Watt, yet another Osbourne reinvention, with Watt reining in the guitars, while still giving the six-string acolytes some ear candy. But featuring guests like Elton John and Post Malone, it's Osbourne once again showing he wants to make the best-sounding album that also moves the most units. Even in his 70s. And it once again worked, giving him his eighth Billboard top 10 solo album.
Steven’s 3 Favorite Ozzy Osbourne Albums of All Time:
1. Blizzard of Ozz (1980)
2. Diary of a Mad Man (1981)
3. No More Tears (1991)
VISIT Ozzy Osbourne’s Official Store
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