BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) FLYING HIGH AGAIN
I’m going with songs that are Ozzy, not Sabbath. This cuts out a good chunk of his musical accomplishments. “Paranoid”, “War Pigs”, “Sweet Leaf”, and other Sabbath songs are hard rock and metal staples. Without these songs music would not be the same. A lot of what rock and roll is today came from Ozzy’s early work in Sabbath. Still, the man has had a remarkable solo career. I could of went with “No More Tears”, or “Bark at the Moon”, or “Shot in the Dark”, or just about any single Ozzy put out in his 30 year career. I’m going with my personal picks here because in reality you can’t go wrong with the “Prince of Darkness”. I’m going with “Flying High Again” as my number four. The song just screams movie montage to me involving a convertible or pickup truck. Sadly this would be one of Randy Rhoad’s last hit singles with Ozzy. It’s just a fun song and if these two had been given time to create more I have a feeling the evolution of metal would have been sped up another ten years.
(THREE) MR. CROWLEY
On his first effort after leaving Sabbath Ozzy unleashed “Blizzard of Ozz” onto the world. The album had a few big hits, but one of my favorites is “Mr. Crowley”. The guitar work here by Randy Rhoads is rocktastic. The solo is considered to be one of the best guitar solos of all time. You listen to it now and you’re still amazed by how bad ass he was. The song is inspired by the books of Aleister Crowley, of the biggest occult writers of all time. The song just has a feeling to it that you shouldn’t be listening to it. It feels wrong and evil, but the work on it is as pure and divine as heavy metal can get. Go figure.
(TWO) MAMA, I'M COMING HOME
The “Mama” he speaks of is Sharon Osbourne and “coming home” is in reference to his “retirement”. Despite that, this song pretty much had everything going for it. Lemmy from Motorhead cowrote it, it was a Top 40 single, and it’s one of Ozzy’s best works. It’s not loud, over the top, or full of rage. It’s from a different place and showcases one of the rare occasions where Ozzy’s voice is made for down tempo work. An interesting fact about the video is the look of it all. A more surreal video was made, but Ozzy scrapped it for a more subdued and eerie video. Does the smoke and fog effects seem a little familiar to you? Like maybe the “Teen Spirit” video by Nirvana? Well, they should. It was directed by Samuel Bayer, director of both the iconic Nirvana clip from 91 and this vintage Ozzy from 92. This song just rocks. It might be my favorite Ozzy song, if it weren’t for…
(ONE) CRAZY TRAIN
Ozzy’s best song is the first single released after leaving Black Sabbath. You just can’t argue that. The only way you can say any Ozzy song is better than this is if you’ve worn yourself out on this. Yes, the ONLY way to not like this song is to of listened to it a million times and you simply just want to hear something else. Even in THAT scenario, it’s unlikely you’d dislike this song. This song is part of pop culture and is played on classic rock radio stations in heavy rotation. In 50 years when Ozzy is long gone, he will always be remembered for this song. Kelly Osbourne’s grand kids are going to go to college based on the royalties of this song. It’s just that crazy good.
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