On May 31st, music fans will have their first taste of re-issues from rock icon OZZY OSBOURNE’s catalog of work, with the releases of two albums which form the cornerstone of Ozzy Osbourne’s career as a solo artist: Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman (Epic Records/Legacy Recordings).
Long revered by rock fans around the world, these two albums created a template for hard rock in the 1980′s and beyond as they were marked by the ground-breaking and historic union of Ozzy and the late guitar hero Randy Rhoads. These definitive versions of 1980′s Blizzard Of Ozz (with previously unreleased bonus tracks) and 1981′s Diary Of A Madman are available individually on vinyl or CD, or together in a deluxe collector’s box. All versions were restored and remastered from the original analog sources by George Marino.
The 30th Anniversary Edition of Blizzard Of Ozz CD includes the original album in its entirety, restored and remastered for this edition, with bonus tracks, while the new Legacy Edition of Diary Of A Madman includes the original album in its entirety, restored and remastered for this edition, with a bonus second CD of previously unreleased live performances featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads with rhythm section Rudy Sarzo (bass) and Tommy Aldridge (drums). A single disc version of the remastered Diary Of A Madman will also be available.
For serious fans and collectors, the limited edition 30th Anniversary deluxe boxed set houses the restored and remastered vinyl and CD editions of Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman, the Ozzy Live compact disc. Beyond the music, the box set is highlighted by a variety of exclusives including an expansive 100-page coffee table book, a two-sided wall-size poster, a precise and detailed full-size replica of Ozzy’s iconic gold cross that he has worn for 30 years, and Thirty Years After The Blizzard DVD.
This new Thirty Years After The Blizzard DVD chronicles Ozzy’s years with Randy Rhoads features previously unseen footage of Ozzy and Randy filmed in 1981 & 1982; it incorporates rare archival photos and films; along with new and revelatory interviews with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, Lemmy (MOTÖRHEAD), STEVE VAI, NIKKI SIXX, ROB HALFORD, ZAKK WYLDE, BLACK SABBATH’s Bill Ward and more. The DVD also contains over 70 minutes of additional rare live performances and interviews; included is the premiere of more than 30 minutes of newly-discovered never-bootlegged footage of Ozzy and Randy from the Blizzard Of Ozz tour shot from the front of the stage at New York’s fabled Palladium on May 2nd, 1981. This new feature is a must-see for aficionados of Ozzy’s epic release, Blizzard of Ozz and its pivotal effect on rock & roll history.
Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman are landmark albums that took metal in a new direction in the early 1980′s, inspiring whole new generations of rock bands and fans. ‘Crazy Train’, the first single from Blizzard Of Ozz, has become one of Ozzy’s musical signatures, a perennial on the rock playlists and as part of Ozzy’s live performances.
Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition) tracklisting:
‘I Don’t Know’
‘Crazy Train’
‘Goodbye To Romance’
‘Dee’
‘Suicide Solution’
‘Mr. Crowley’
‘No Bone Movies’
‘Revelation (Mother Earth)’
‘Steal Away (The Night)’
Bonus Tracks:
‘You Looking At Me, Looking At You’ (Non-LP B-Side, Previously Unreleased in the U.S.)
‘Goodbye To Romance’ (2010 Guitar & Vocal Mix, Previously Unreleased)
‘RR’ (Previously Unreleased – Randy Rhoads guitar solo)
Diary Of A Madman (Legacy Edition) tracklisting:
Disc 1:
‘Over The Mountain’
‘Flying High Again’
‘You Can’t Kill Rock And Roll’
‘Believer’
‘Little Dolls’
‘Tonight’
‘S.A.T.O.’
‘Diary Of A Madman’
Disc 2:
Ozzy Live (recorded on the Blizzard Of Ozz tour)
‘I Don’t Know’
‘Crazy Train’
‘Believer’
‘Mr. Crowley’
‘Flying High Again’
‘Revelation (Mother Earth)’
‘Steal Away (The Night)’
‘Suicide Solution’
‘Iron Man’
‘Children Of The Grave’
‘Paranoid’
Diary of a Madman/Blizzard of Ozz 30th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set:
Box Set Includes:
Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Expanded Edition)
Diary Of A Madman (Legacy Edition)
Blizzard Of Ozz (180-gram LP – original album only)
Diary Of A Madman (180-gram LP – original album only)
DVD contains Thirty Years After The Blizzard documentary – and additional rare and unreleased performances and interviews.
With combined worldwide sales of more than 10 million copies, Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman have been awarded gold, platinum and multi-platinum certifications in a variety of countries including Canada, Korea, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Venezuela, the United Kingdom, Japan and the United States, where Blizzard of Ozz has been certified RIAA 4x platinum and Diary of a Madman is RIAA triple platinum.
One of the most iconic figures in pop culture, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy winner Ozzy Osbourne has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, approximately 50 million with his seminal metal band Black Sabbath and the rest as a solo artist.
Rick Warner from Bloomberg reports that the OZZY OSBOURNE documentary, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, will be shown at the 10th annual Tribeca Film Festival, which runs from April 20th to May 1st in New York.
God Bless Ozzy Osbourne (originally given the MUCH BETTER title ‘Wreckage Of My Past: The Story Of Ozzy Osbourne’), directed by Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli, recounts the turbulent career of the heavy metal musician turned reality-show star. The 91 minute film is also the first release from his son Jack Osbourne’s Jacko Productions.
Ozzy Osbourne’s four decade track record as a culturally relevant artist is unprecedented, but his personal struggles have been shrouded in secrecy, until now. Featuring never before seen footage uncovered from the archives and interviews with PAUL McCARTNEY, TOMMY LEE and others, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is the first documentary to take viewers inside the complex mind of rock’s great icon. Emerging from a working class family in war torn England, Osbourne and his neighborhood friends formed BLACK SABBATH and invented heavy metal. Plagued by self doubt, Osbourne the solo superstar went on a binge that lasted 40 years. God Bless Ozzy Osbourne will relive the highs of his triumphs as well as his journey to sobriety, which Ozzy regards as his greatest accomplishment.
Filming for God Bless Ozzy Osbourne began in January 2008. The documentary will reportedly include additional interviews with all the principal members of Black Sabbath, the various incarnations of Ozzy’s solo band, family and friends.
Jack Osbourne recently completed God Bless Ozzy Osbourne and talks about it with Artisan News below:
Tommy Clufetos is easily one of the most exciting drummers around today as his jaw-dropping performances on stage with Ozzy Osbourne left hundreds of thousands breathless. His drumming prowess is further validated as Revolver Magazine’s Golden Gods Awards has nominated him in the “Best Drummer” category, which is decided upon by fan voting. Click now on the link below to cast your vote for Tommy now and stay tuned as the winners will be announced live on April 20th at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles.http://www.revolvermag.com/beta/goldengods/voting
Tommy Clufetos states: “I’m honored to be nominated for ‘Best Drummer’ at this year’s Revolver Golden Gods Awards, and to be in the same company with such amazing musicians! I look forward to a great night.”
When I heard that two of heavy metal’s founding fathers were hitting the road together, it was a given that I’d have to travel from the end of the earth to civilization to catch the tour. Read the rest of this entry »
93 X Rocks are reporting that OZZY OSBOURNE has revealed to ABC News Radio that he, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward “are in the talking process” regarding a BLACK SABBATH reunion, and even a new album.
Osbourne stressed, however, that nothing is definite yet, in part because of the pressure the four of them will face if they make a new record. He said, “the problem that we have is that if we do an album and it’s anything less than where we left off, it’s gonna be a big anti-climax.”
The latest release from Rock House Method, one of the music industry’s leaders in innovative music tutorial DVD’s comes in the form of a 2 DVD set with instructor Gus G (Firewind, Dream Evil, Ozzy Osbourne). For fans of Gus G’s flashy brand of guitar pyrotechnics and his “take no prisoners” approach to soloing, this DVD set has been a long time coming. (Review here.)
According to an update from OZZY OSBOURNE / FIREWIND Guitarist Gus G., his Rock House Method instructional DVD, Lead & Rhythm Techniques, was awarded as the Best Instructional Video / Book of 2010 at NAMM 2011 this weekend. Go to this location to check out the package.
According to a press release for the DVD, which was released in October 2010, Gus reveals the secrets that have propelled him into the guitar stratosphere and shows you how to incorporate them into your playing. Learn the natural minor and Phrygian major scales, patterns, scale sequences and full neck runs he uses to take control of the fret board to form soulful leads that rip into shred masterpieces. Learn diminished sweep and chromatic arpeggios, emotional bending techniques and how to create a minor 3rd harmony lead. Gus reveals the chords, voicings, syncopated, pivoting staccato, interval, and clean picked rhythms that form the foundation of his style. He analyses many of his Firewind leads and song structures complete with full band backing tracks that you can use the apply what you learn.
DVD includes:
- More than 40 lessons
- 46-page interactive tab book you print from DVD
- Free life-time web membership for online support
- Behind-the-scenes photos and video
- Interview, live performances and more
- iPod-ready video
Language: English
Length: 120 minutes
Zones: The DVD is zoned to play anywhere in the world
Gus G.’s Lead & Rhythm Techniques is available for pre-order at this location.
Jack Osbourne, producer for OZZY OSBOURNE’s upcoming documentary Wreckage of My Past: The Story Of Ozzy Osbourne, says it’s done. Check out the Artisan News report below:
The film will be the first release from Jacko Productions, a company started by Ozzy’s son Jack. The film is said to be an intimate documentary that delves deep into the life of music icon Ozzy Osbourne. A sober Ozzy has reached a point of clarity as he looks back on a lifetime of unparalleled success, misdiagnosed disease, unrelenting fear and a recurring dependency on drugs and alcohol. This is a film about reconciling the past and looking toward the future.
After yesterday’s announcement of our first headliner SLIPKNOT, we are proud to add three more giants to the lineup of GMM2011.
Four years after his first GMM show as a solo artist, the legendary OZZY OSBOURNE is returning to the GMM festival arena with his 2nd European tour since the release of his new CD “Scream.” Ozzy himself obviously needs no introduction with worldwide album sales of 100 million (as a solo artist as well as a member of the Black Sabbath), his own Ozzfest festival and not to forget the popular reality TV show ‘The Osbournes’. On stage and backed by a brand new band, Prince of Darkness still delivers the goods. Ozzy live is synonymous with an amazing show seasoned with countless hits. Ozzy Osbourne is headlining on Saturday 25 June.
More than 40 years after they burst upon the rock scene, German legends SCORPIONS are on the final leg of their farewell tour. This year, the ‘Get your Sting and Blackout World Tour’ conquered American and Asian stages and now the Scorpions are returning to Europe, where the saga began all those years ago. The Scorpions’ popularity peaked in the seventies and eighties when ballads such as ‘Wind of Change’ and ‘Still Loving You’ stormed the charts. Still, song writers Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker never abandoned their roots, spoiling metal fans worldwide with fifteen-odd heavy albums including numerous classic rock anthems such as ‘Rock You like a Hurricane’. Unfortunately their first GMM appearance on Friday 24 June will also be their last, so don’t miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Joining Ozzy on Saturday will be JUDAS PRIEST. No band is more deserving of the epithet ‘Metal Gods’ than the Birmingham quintet. Back in the day, Priest pioneered heavy metal along with Black Sabbath; today, their illustrious career spans over four decades and they are still spearheading the genre they themselves helped create with their no-holds-barred attitude. In 2011, the Priest is embarking on a new world tour of prestigious arenas and major festivals, which obviously includes Graspop Metal Meeting.
Graspop Metal Meeting 2011 will be held in Dessel festival park over the weekend of Friday 24 June to Sunday 26 June. With leading bands from just about every metal and rock subgenre and a lineup that spans several generations of heavy music, there’s loads of fun to be had for metalheads both young and not so young. Graspop Metal Meeting is synonymous for three days of music and fun, 70+ bands, four stages and lots of fringe events to boot, including signing sessions, an outdoor festival fair, an indoor metal market, etc.Moreover, the campsite is second to none with its Festival Express Shop, excellent sanitary facilities and much more.
FIREWIND recently made waves across the US once again with their stellar new disc ‘Days of Defiance’ and the ensuing headline tour that rocked the states alongside Powerglove and The Absence. Now, as GUS G treks across North America playing with the icon OZZY OSBOURNE, he will take a break from his busy schedule and host tonight’s edition of Headbangers Ball on MTV2.
Tune in to hear the story of how GUS G got his start in metal all the way to playing arenas alongside metal’s most infamous madman. You’ll also see videos from FIREWIND as well as GUS G’s biggest influences such as Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Judas Priest, Ozzy and more! To view a clip of what you will see tonight, visit MTV’s official website ( http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/600404/gus-g-talks-about-linking-up-with-ozzy-osbourne.jhtml).
Headbangers Ball airs tonight (technically, Tuesday morning) at 3AM Eastern on MTV2. Check your local listings for channel information! ( http://www.mtv.com/ontv/schedule/?ch=2)
FIREWIND have received much praise since releasing ‘Days of Defiance’, landing GUS G on the covers of Guitar World, Rock Hard and countless other magazines around the world.
The Metal Den has obtained a rare Randy Rhoads guitar solo that was part of the OZZY show that was recorded live in Cleveland, Ohio on May 11, 1981. However, unlike the majority of songs from that night that were ultimately used for OZZY OSBOURNE’s Tribute album released in 1987, Rhoads’ legendary guitar solo spot in “Suicide Solution” featured on the classic live record is actually taken from another show that took place in Montreal, Quebec on July 28, 1981.
The Metal Den has obtained several unpublished photos of late great guitarist Randy Rhoads performing with OZZY OSBOURNE in Rochester, NY on April 29, 1981.
This coming December 6 is Randy’s birthday, and had he lived the ‘forever young’ pioneer of neo-classical metal would be staring down 54 years of age. One thing is for sure, Randy’s six string
wizardry will never be forgotten.
The Metal Den has obtained the holy grail for Randy Rhoads fans: NEVER BEFORE SEEN LIVE FOOTAGE!
Before he rocked the world with OZZY OSBOURNE, late guitar great Randy Rhoads blazed it up with QUIET RIOT. This audience-shot footage is from Randy performing an extended guitar solo with QUIET RIOT. This extended Rhoads footage
from the Starwood on 10/25/79 was the final scheduled show for the band that Randy was fulfilling after he joined on with Ozzy…QR reunion gigs didn’t happen until the following May.
Randy had already recorded “Blizzard of Ozz” at this point, which would ultimately be released on September 20, 1980 in the UK and on March 27, 1981 in the United States. “Blizzard of Ozz”, considered one of heavy metal’s greatest albums, has sold over 6,000,000 copies worldwide.
The dates for OZZY OSBOURNE’s anxiously-anticipated return to Canada are quickly approaching as the BLACK SABBATH singer will bring his crazy train first to Victoria, BC this Friday, November 12th.
These shows – in support of his album Scream (Epic Records) and latest single ‘Life Won’t Wait’ – are part the of the Ozzy’s in-progress 18-month world tour and will feature opening act HALFORD, featuring legendary JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford. The first leg of arena dates will mark Ozzy’s first headlining North American tour since 2007’s trek for his Black Rain album.
The fall dates will coincide with the release of an expanded two-CD version of the Scream album. This Tour Edition package will feature seven bonus songs: a mix of previously unreleased tracks and live recordings. Epic will also issue a four-sided vinyl edition that includes five bonus tracks: the three aforementioned songs from the Scream sessions and the live version of ‘Let Me Hear You Scream’, along with the single version of ‘Life Won’t Wait’ (the second single from Scream).
JUDAS PRIEST singer ROB HALFORD spoke with Steve Newton from Straight.com recently about his upcoming dates opening for BLACK SABBATH singer OZZY OSBOURNE. When asked what his fave Black Sabbath album was, the Metal God chose the band’s scary self-titled debut from 1970.
“It took 24 hours to make,” he says, “believe it or not, but the sound is absolutely mindblowing. If you just listen to the sound, how they were able to do that work in such a short space of time is extraordinary.
“I think a lot of musicians agree that generally your first record is very, very important,” he adds, “because you’re really coming from a very pure, new, uncluttered source. You’ve got nothing to prove because you’ve proved nothing yet; you haven’t really got a massive fanbase, so you’re searching to build that. Your record company’s not interfering with your music as they tend to do when you become successful—same with managers, agents, promoters. You’re really coming into your existence at a different level.
“If you look back at the history of your favourite band, generally the first couple are the ones that really kind of grab you. So that’s why I feel that first Sabbath album for me—much like Sad Wings of Destiny for Judas Priest—is a very important release.”
Halford has performed as the vocalist for Black Sabbath at three shows. He replaced Ronnie James Dio for two nights in November 1992, when Dio elected not to open a show for Ozzy Osbourne. Halford also replaced Osbourne in Black Sabbath on August 25, 2004 (his 53rd birthday) at an Ozzfest show in Camden, New Jersey, since Osbourne could not perform due to bronchitis.
Rolling Stone’s newest health columnist Ozzy Osbourne is already oozing verbal gems of hilarity, and author Dave Thompson archives the legend’s internal genius in Thompson’s new book The Wit and Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne.
After years of fronting Black Sabbath and four seasons of The Osbournes, Ozzy has developed a multilateral personality full of quirkiness and candidness, each side of which Thompson has captured in The Wit and Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne.
“I don’t know who Ozzy is,” Osbourne says of himself. “I wake up a new person every day.” Such is the mystery of heavy metal’s most beloved and beguiled figures, a mystery that intrigues longtime fans and pop culture observers alike.
Excerpts of The Wit and Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne can be found online. The book can be ordered here.
F+W Media is a book and magazine publishing company based in Cincinnati and New York. Dave Thompson is a music biographer and 40-year Black Sabbath super-fan that has interviewed Ozzy Osbourne and written about the musician for a variety of publications in the US and the UK. Thompson has published over 100 music-related books.
Be it the perfect holiday gift for the heavy metal enthusiast or simply a nostalgic look back at one of rock ‘n’ roll’s most legendary figures, The Wit and Wisdom of Ozzy Osbourne encapsulates the countless quote worthy moments of one of music’s most notorious figures.
