Top Songs
Essential Albums
- Ozzy Osbourne’s second and final studio album with guitarist Randy Rhoads is the pinnacle of their collaboration. Released in October of 1981, Diary of a Madman is the result not only of the duo’s road-honed chemistry, but of a creative lineup that had gelled into a world-class songwriting machine. But therein lies the sad legacy of Diary. 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 Diary. It was actually Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake who played bass and drums, respectively (they also played on Ozzy’s 1980 solo debut, Blizzard of Ozz). In fact, Daisley wrote the bulk of Diary’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 Diary and Blizzard. When fans objected, the original parts were reinstated in 2011. Legal wrangling aside, Diary 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 Danzig II. 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 lineup produced. Last but not least, the sweeping presentation and Omen-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.
- No one expected much from Ozzy Osbourne after he was booted from Black Sabbath in 1979. Holed up in an LA hotel, slowly drinking himself to death, he was widely regarded as washed up. Enter Sharon Arden, daughter of Don Arden, the mobster-manager who’d helped Sabbath secure fame and fortune. Convinced Ozzy was finished, Don Arden gifted the singer’s contract to his daughter—and soon, the future Sharon Osbourne swooped in to help Ozzy get his act together. Said act was largely based around Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads, who was considered Eddie Van Halen’s only real competition in the shred-lord revolution of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Rhoads was young, classically trained, and ferociously talented—all qualities that made him exactly the kind of nitro-boost Ozzy needed to reignite his flagging career. Along with Aussie bassist and lyricist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake—both veterans of the UK hard-rock wizards Uriah Heep—Rhoads and Ozzy recorded one of the most important albums in heavy metal history: The 1980 classic Blizzard of Ozz. Decades since the album’s release, its raucous lead single “Crazy Train” is still Ozzy’s most recognizable solo track. Propelled by an unstoppable Rhoads riff—as well as by lyrics about the Cold War arms race that somehow doubled as a metaphor for Ozzy’s unpredictable personality—the song announced a bold new era for the singer. Its follow-up single, “Mr. Crowley,” only underscored Ozzy’s remarkable rebirth, even as his mispronunciation of infamous English occultist Aleister Crowley’s name became immortalized for the ages. The intro by Rainbow keyboardist Don Airey is straight out of a vintage Hammer horror flick, and the song’s doomy pace is reminiscent of Ozzy’s work with Black Sabbath—but what really sends the song into the stratosphere is Rhoads’ searing neo-classical solos. Elsewhere on the album, “I Don’t Know” provides a sharp contrast to circa-1970s Sabbath: Alternately aggressive and melancholy, decorated with a dizzying Rhoads performance, it’s as much a declaration of agnosticism as it is a statement of musical intent. “Revelation (Mother Earth),” meanwhile, is a pro-environment song written long before such topics were in vogue; its power comes in an instrumental maelstrom, led by Rhoads and Airey, in the song’s latter half. And the moralist anti-porn anthem “No Bone Movies” is a catchy boogie rock oddity that also discourages masturbation. “Goodbye to Romance” was reportedly the first song written for the album. A kiss-off to Ozzy’s glory days with Sabbath, the vocal melody recalls his beloved Beatles, as Rhoads plays a delicate baroque figure. It’s followed by “Dee,” Rhoads’ classical acoustic instrumental dedicated to—and named after—his mother. And the rip-roaring “Suicide Solution” became controversial five years later, when the parents of a suicidal teenager sued Ozzy and the record label, claiming their son killed himself immediately after listening to the song (Daisley, who wrote most of the lyrics, has said they’re actually about Ozzy drinking himself to death). Blizzard of Ozz became a lightning rod again in 2002, when Sharon Osbourne enlisted Ozzy’s then-current bassist Robert Trujillo (later of Metallica) and drummer Mike Bordin (Faith No More) to re-record Daisley and Kerslake’s parts for a reissue. After significant public backlash, the original bass and drum tracks were restored for a 2011 remaster. That release, along with later editions, also include the non-LP “Crazy Train” B-side “You Looking at Me, Looking at You.”
Albums
Singles & EPs
About Lee Kerslake
Lee Kerslake was the drummer for Uriah Heep from 1972 to 1979. Prior to that, he'd played with a band called Gods, releasing three albums with them. He also found the time, while still in Heep, to play on David Byron's and Ken Hensley's solo albums, among other efforts. In fact, in 1976, he recorded a final album with Gods. He eventually rejoined Heep, but not before recording with both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. Lee Kerslake died on September 19, 2020 after a long battle with cancer; he was 73 years old. ~ Gary Hill
- FROM
- Bournemouth, Dorset, England
- BORN
- April 16, 1947
- GENRE
- Rock