Released: 1981
Tracks: 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
Best track: Diary of a Madman, barely edging out S.A.T.O.
Track to skip: none
Great album. Diary of a Madman is the second and unfortunately last studio album that paired Ozzy with guitarist Randy Rhoades. I think this album is very slightly over-produced, but there’s no denying that the band is significantly more confident on this release than on Blizzard of Ozz. In a way, this is like Led Zeppelin 1 vs. Led Zep 2 – they come out on this follow up with such authority that you can’t help but be awed by the power of it. I mean, as far as a 1-2 punch, I can’t think of any other metal bands that did it as well as Ozzy did. Speaking of playing with authority and confidence – check out Randy’s guitar playing on Flying High Again, esp. the solo. Great song and a deserved classic. Actually, Randy Rhoades’ guitar playing is all-around better on this album. You know, if that’s even possible. I should probably mention that Rhoades is one of my favorite guitar players EVER and I’m probably a little biased.
There are no skippers here, even though there are a couple of moments of “less-than-greatness”. I really like You Can’t Kill Rock and Roll as a song, and there’s some fantastic playing on there, but the chorus lyrics confuse me a bit. I’m not one to love “pro-rock” songs and I’m not sure what the chorus of the song has to do with the rest of it. Is it about music critics? Did people think Ozzy was some sort of prophet? I don’t get it. I just kind of ignore the chorus because it’s kinda cheesy. Still, on the whole I like the song. Little Dolls is a song I’m torn on – I absolutely love Rudy Sarzo’s bass playing on here and I certainly like the song, but it’s never one I go out of my way to hear. I have to say, though, that the song construction is quite cool. I love that the pre-chorus is where the title is sung, not to mention Sarzo’s great bass work in that part. I’m also torn on Tonight; sometimes I think it’s kinda cheesy, but then sometimes I just love it. I think that this song in particular is one of the songs that suffers from the over-indulgent production. There’s just too much going on there.
A few nit-picky things, but that’s it for any points taken off. The rest of the album is absolutely stellar. Over the Mountain and Flying High Again make a perfect 1-2 punch to open the album and Believer…oh, man, what a fantastically evil song. Those riffs sound so demonic and are pure awesomeness. It’s just a great heavy song. Man, I especially love that verse riff. Brilliant. When we get to the last two songs of the album, SATO (stupid periods) & Diary of a Madman – WATCH OUT. These two songs are so absolutely awesome and two of the best songs Ozzy’s ever done. SATO is a constant stream of bad-assness. That main riff is excellence in songwriting. This is one of those songs that you’ll never hear on the radio, but for me it’s got a similar feel to Steal Away from Blizzard – which just happens to be my favorite song Ozzy & Randy ever did. SATO merges perfectly with the album’s closer, Diary of a Madman. Holy crap, that guitar intro to Diary is one of the coolest things Randy Rhoades ever wrote. One of the many things he did that makes guitarists have to pick our jaws off the floor. Diary of a Madman is such an excellent song and an unexpected closer. I mean, you think that it can’t get any better than what you’ve already listened to for 35 minutes and then this absolutely magical piece of music comes on and completely redefines this already great album. I love the addition of the strings on this tune; I just wish they were placed a bit better in the mix. Still, the subtleness works in their favor.
So what’s the verdict? I don’t know. I love both this and Blizzard of Ozz. I think the compositions are better on Blizzard by a hair, but the actual performance and attitude on this album is better. I think that both are absolutely essential metal albums and each are representations of the perfect blueprint for heavy metal albums. Everybody shines on this album and there’s so much to love here. I have no idea which is a better album, this or Blizzard. They’re equal in my eyes and really are parts 1 & 2 of this slab of greatness.
Rating: 96
November 24, 2008, 
1:32 pm
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