Review of Ozzy Osbourne 1981 Diary Of A Madman [US Release April 2, 2002]

Ozzy Osbourne 1981 Diary Of A Madman
[US Release April 2, 2002 orig bass+drums replaced]

1. Over The Mountain (4:31)
2. Flying High Again (4:40)
3. You Can't Kill Rock And Roll (6:46)
4. Believer (5:14)
5. Little Dolls (5:36)
6. Tonight (5:43)
7. S.A.T.O (4:06)
8. Diary Of A Madman (6:15)
9. I Don't Know [Live] (4:56)

A travesty. A joke. Rubbish. Due to Mrs. Sharon Arden Osbourne, the jewish woman married to Black Sabbath singer Ozzy, she had this album partially re-recorded and made to sound weak and lifeless. Without soul. Just like her.

Sharon had it done in order to not pay what was rightfully due to original bass player Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake.

If you are only needing this to hear the notes Randy plays, or the words Ozzy sings, ok, but this is not enjoyable like the original viny releases.

The 1995 CD releases are superior to this, and superior even to the new, and 'brittle sounding' anniversary releases from 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diary_of_a_Madman_%28album%29

The 2002 Diary of a Madman reissue was derided by fans due to its replacement of the original bass and drum tracks by Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake.

Osbourne's 90s touring band (bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin) replaced Daisley's and Kerslake's original instrumentation.

Fans and critics generally felt the move was dishonest and resulted in a far inferior product.

In 1986 (see 1986 in music), Daisley and Kerslake had sued Osbourne in court, eventually winning songwriting credits on Diary of a Madman.

Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, said in a press conference that "because of Daisley and Kerslake's abusive and unjust behaviour, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums.

The "re-recorded" versions of the album released in 2002 contained no disclaimer stating anything had been changed on the album. The record company eventually began putting a "featuring re-recorded drums and bass parts" sticker on the cover.