Great Metal Albums of 1981: Ozzy Osbourne- Blizzard of Oz

“Heaven and Hell” proved for Black Sabbath that there was life after Ozzy, however, in 1981, Ozzy’s debut solo album “Blizzard of Oz” proved for him there was life after Sabbath. Since his departure from the band in 1978, the Oz had been battling with booze and drugs but he managed to clean himself up enough to put out an album that would forever be a major rock in the foundation of heavy metal. “Blizzard of Oz” changed the way many people, me too, at the time thought about hard rock music. It was in this year that I acknowledged heavy metal as its own genre of rock music and this album was one of the reasons why.

There is preciously very little about “Blizzard of Oz” that I could say that hasn’t been already said. The only thing I can do is to share how it has influenced me over the many years and I still worry if I will be able to do it justice. What I like most about it is the fact that Ozzy didn’t go out and recreate an album that sounded like his former band. His brand of metal here is totally unique but you still know that it is Ozzy at the mike. That comes through clearly with the opener “I Don’t Know,” a good opening song as any. It leads the listener onto to want to listen to the rest of the album while letting you know, (if this was 1981), that Ozzy was back. But there are so many great classic songs on the album that are still popular among metalheads today. “Suicide Solution,” “Mr Crowley” and the single “Crazy Train” will forever go down in the annals of metal history as classic all time great metal songs. Even the ballads “Goodbye to Romance” and the powerful “Mother Earth” play their part in making “Blizzard of Oz” the iconic album that is still is.

I don’t want to take anything away from the great Ozzy here because his vocals on here can’t be duplicated and prove his abilities. Still, what catapults this album from being good to being great is the guitar work from the late Randy Rhodes. He is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time and he definitely shows why on “Blizzard of Oz.” The solo on “Crazy Train” is one of my favourite and what he does on the other tracks is completely out of this world. So the math teacher in me concludes that Ozzy+ Randy = some memorable heavy metal.

Track Listing:

1. I Don’t Know

2. Crazy Train

3. Goodbye to Romance

4. Dee

5. Suicide Solution

6.Mr Crowely

7. No Bones Movies

8. Mother Earth

9. Steal Away (The Night)

Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzy Osbourne- vocals

Randy Rhodes- guitar

 Bob Daisley -bass

Lee Kerslake – drums

Don Airey- keyboards

A few months ago, I shared a petition that Ozzy should receive a knighthood for his services to music. I was informed that the petition has nearly reached its quota for signatures and may have fully done so since then. “Blizzard of Oz” is a rock solid reason why he should get a gong. To sign the petition, go to: https://www.causes.com/campaigns/39911-knight-ozzy-osbourne

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