Customer Reviews

Diary of a Madman

5 star:		(99)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is, perhaps, the second best Ozzy album musically, but the late remaster is HORRIBLE! Buy a used copy of the remaster with the little bitty album cover on the front. The later copy has redone bass and drum parts and isn't worth listening to, much less paying money to listen to it.

That said, enjoy Randy Rhoads, great bass and drums and Ozzy in his prime.

When I got this cd, I didn't have enough money to get the new version, luckily! I listened to the new re - recorded version, and this cd is so much better its not even funny. GET THIS ONE!.

This album was originally released in 1982, and is sadly the last album with Randy Rhoads in it. This album has great guitar solo's, lyrics, drums, and bass work in it.

ok so now lets look at the cd.

Printing, good glossed over paper for protecting the cd, It has original album art, lyrics, and some pictures. And the song listing. 5/5.

Technical - Just in this special case, it has not been tampered with so were going to go with 10/5

Songwise now.

Over the Mountain - One of Ozzy's greatest songs, and one of my favorites, maybe the best song on the cd, its a great opening for this cd. It has a spookifying guitar riff, and an amazing solo. Drums and bass work good, and Ozzy's voice is great on this song. 5/5

Flying High Again - Great Guitar work, Great solo, funny lyrics, and Good musicianship - 5/5

You Can't Kill Rock and Roll - A balled like song, about Ozzy's true love - Rock and Roll, its a good song, with good lyrics and guitar work. 5/5

Believer - An astonishing work of art by Ozzy, great lyrics, and Guitar work like usual. 5/5

Little Dolls - Great Lyrics, Great Guitar work, and just a great song. 5/5

Tonight - A rock balled like song, its very good, good lyrics, and guitar work, however like every cd has one, its the weakest song on the album, but its still a great great song. 4/5

S.A.T.O. - A Dramatic song, with some of the greatest guitar work ever, and Ozzy's Voice shines on it. 5/5

Diary Of A Madman - Some of the greatest guitar work, and spooky lyrics - Kudos to RANDY RHOADS ON THIS ALBUM!!!.

Overall Rating 5/5. This and Blizzard of Ozz, are the greatest Ozzy cd's. I love the others, but these just are.

* Osbourne album remix prompts class action:

- After bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake filed lawsuits demanding royalties over their performances in two Ozzy Osbourne albums, "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman", recording executives remastered the albums to strip out their performances and replace them with performances by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin for the 2002 reissue. Now Illinois fan Anthony Wester has sued Sony Entertainment and Epic Records, saying he felt misled and cheated to learn of the substitution, and his lawyer wants class-action status for the suit. (Steve Patterson, "'Remastered' Osbourne albums a snow job, fan's suit charges", Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 21; "Bassist, drummer cut from Ozzy album remixes, fan sues", AP/AZCentral.com, Feb. 23). -

This doesn't appear to be the 2002 remaster, but let it be known again that "business ethics" is a contradiction in terms. Never underestimate the hidden powers that be.

Diary of a Madman is without a doubt Rany Rhoads' masterpiece album. It showcases his amazingly influential style of playing by combining elements of classical guitar with heavy metal. If your expecting Diary of a Madman to sound like Blizzard of Ozz, throw all of you expectations out the window cause it doesn't. The opening rocker Over the Mountain is one of Ozzy's greatest songs of all time and features on of the best Randy solos of all time. The next song is the fan favorite Flying High Again. You Can't Kill Rock and Roll is somewhat of a mellow song until it kicks in about half way through it. The album is filled with long songs. Believer has some sort of a darkness to it. It's heavy but melodic. Little Dolls and S.A.T.O. are both rockers and feature amazing guitar work by Randy Rhoads. The power ballad Tonight is another high point of the album. The true masterpiece on the album without a doubt is the epic title track. This song is absolutely amazing. It starts off with Randy playing a beautiful classic guitar piece. Then the song kicks into one of the coolest metal guitar riffs of all time. The song then slows down when Ozzy statrts to sing. Throughout the song it just keeps getting heavy then slows. I can't even describe it. This is an album that everyone must own, especially guitar players. This album is truly amazing and you won't regret buying it.

Diary of a Madman in my opinion is the greatest masterwork of music in the 20th century. Many love "Blizzard" better because it has the popular "Crazy Train," but no other rock 'n' roll album has had more musical thought put into it than "Diary of a Madman." "Blizzard of Oz" was a great album but this album showed where Randy's style was going. The orchestration on this ablum is phenominal. The different layers of guitar work and Randy's knowledge of the entire Guitar (fretboard, knobs and switches) is shown on this album. Ozzy's vocals like on Blizzard are the best of his solo career. The lyrics are well thought out and poetic. And Besides this album jams more than anything else ever put on vinyl or CD.
Randy showed a control over his guitar and amplifier and all the features and possible notes, noises and feedbacks on this album that surpass even Hendrix. And it all is very musically sound and classically inspired. No other guitarists work has as much feeling and originality to it than Randy Rhoads. Even a blues man I knew said "that boy's got soul." One review I read called this album dull in comparison to "Blizzard." That's a joke. Randy is harder and more raw on this album. While many guitarists have tried to be classical, most end up unoriginal, or boring or lacking a soul a spirit to their music. Who wants to sound exactly like Bach. There are many technically proficiant players out there. Some may even be better players but Randy blows them all away because he doesn't just play good, he sounds great.
Highlights: the solo on "Over the Mountain" , all of the guitar work on "You Can't Kill Rock n Roll". On this track Randy shows a knowledge of all the different voices a guitar can have.
"Believer" is a great song. Dissonant with an ostinato bass line openning it up, there is much to do with classical inspiration in this song. "Tonight" -- a ballad with soul. It has a strong bass line with many different layers including piano, guitar volume swells and the ending solo is perhaps Randy's best solo work-- an emotion stirring solo that uses a knowledge of the entire electric guitar and possible noises that can be produced. SATO starts with a mystical classical feel and drives into a hard fast jammer. The last song on the album "Diary of a Madman" in my opinion is the greatest composition of modern music. Completely classically inspired it showed Randy's complete depth as a classical composer. The openning arpegiated chords are disonant and complex in nature. They are played with a rubato feel. This leads into a fast extemely hard driving theme very complex in rhythm. Alternating 9/8 and 3+3+2/8. The 1st verse is in 7/4 time. The main theme is actually developed. A classical concept. The time signature in this song actually changes dozens of times. The bridge is in 4/4 time and builds to an explosion and the ending returns to the main theme this time done by a guitar and an exorcist like chorus. "Enemies fill up the pages are they me. Monday til Sunday in stages, Set Me free."
If you don't understand what I've said here. Don't worry. I love this album the most because it jams.

While not quite the heavy-metal monument that Blizzard Of Ozz is, Dairy Of A Madman (1981) is a great album that includes some great songs, and several of them are Ozzy's best. Flying High Again, Believer, You Can't Kill Rock And Roll, and Dairy Of A Madman are all top of the line Ozzy, some of the best work he's ever done. Drugs and insanity are major themes on the album, and Flying High Again is Ozzy's anthem to chemical exploration.

I can see through mountains, watch me disappear
I can even touch the sky
Swallowing the colors of the sound I hear
Or am I just a crazy guy (you bet)

Over The Mountain, Little Dolls, Tonight, and S.A.T.O. are all good songs, too, and they make up the rest of the album, so there really isn't anything to complain about here. This is Ozzy is at the peak of his career as a singer, and with Randy Rhoads providing the electric guitar fireworks, you can bet this one's a winner. Of the two Osbourne/Rhoads collaborations, Dairy is possibly a little more decadent, and sometimes a little more atmospheric (Believer, Dairy Of A Madman) than Blizzard, but Blizzard is probably more consistent. Either way, both are essential Ozzy, and both belong in any heavy-metal music collection.

*Beware of the newer 2002 re-issue of Dairy Of A Madman: Different bass and drum tracks have been dubbed in over the original recording.

the title track, diary of a madman, is the one song that has the greatest guitar pieces in the history of guitar. there are virtually no flaws to it, and it is beautiful. if i catch anyone trying to cover this song i will cry because this song is unmatchable. simply flawless. there is not a greater song on this planet. and those of you who said that flying high again and over the mountain were the only good songs i want to spit on you you're a commercial idiot. i cry that randy rhoads has never been alive while i have i want him back he would have been the greatest ever. just five more years and it would have been insane how good he'd become. those beginning arpeggios in diary of a madman haven't been beat by any guitarist anywhere. rhoads's transitions throughout the parts of each song are so smooth never anything random; just such a great dark energy. RANDY COME BACK.

and also all the songs are good on here i personally dont like flying high again it's too poppy. the best tracks are believe and diary of a madman. gosh rhoads would have been something.

Diary of a Madman is a legendary album. I could go into great deal about the amazing melodies throughout the album, or the beautifully poetic lyrics of Bob Daisley, but many of the other reviewers have covered it.

Be warned though, the item you are viewing is the only copy of Diary of a Madman you should buy. The 2002 "remaster" is actually a rerecorded copy done to screw Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake out of royalties. They edited them off of those copies and replaced them with the talented, yet inferior Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin.

Not only does that piss on two of the people that helped create that album, but it pisses on us, the fans, and most of all, the memory of Randy Rhoads who is now playing along side two people he has never met.

i still respect Ozzy as a musician for his amazing vocal melodies, but there is little else I can respect him for. The three people most responsible for his initial greatness as a "solo" artist have either passed away or have been erased from his history thanks to the greed of he and his wife Sharon.

Buy the 95s remasters! They sound great and they encompass the original legendary lineup.

That's right folks, this album not Master of Puppets, not Paranoid, not ZOSO, not Machine Head, not Back in Black, is the greatest metal album I've ever heard in my life. Why? Because this is the fullest extent of the heavy metal experiment, an experiment started in the late 1950s to today. It isn't about how heavy the album is, how ridiculously virtuosic the guitar solos are: it is about mood. This album is the epitome of metal; it has both crazy thrash your head metal music and dark oh my I think I'm insane music. The definition of the heavy metal album.

Diary Of A Madman (1981) was a tremendous follow-up to Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo album Blizzard Of Ozz (1981). It contains eight great songs. Classics such as Over The Mountain, Flying High Again, You Can't Kill Rock And Roll and the title track have stood the test of time. From his days with Black Sabbath, to his solo career and up to the present day, Ozzy truly is the Prince Of Darkness and this album is a reflection of that. It rocks hard in a lot of places, yet softens up in other places while still maintaining its dark and gloomy feel. The songs are of high quality and very well put together. The lyrics are dark and evil as one would come to expect from Ozzy. This original recording is the way to go. The product I'm reviewing was released in 1995 (a re-release of the original recording, only it sounds better because it was re-mastered).

A word of warning: DO NOT buy the 2002 "remastered" version of this album! Why? It's because it's not the original recording! Instead, the bass contributions by Bob Daisley and the drum contributions by Lee Kerslake were re-recorded by other musicians in order for Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne to avoid paying these two uncredited former band members royalties. These re-recorded songs are not as good as the originals, not to mention the fact that it's a slap in the face to Randy Rhoads, who died in 1982 in a plane crash. Diary Of A Madman was his last album. Greed is the motivating factor here.

If you like Ozzy Osbourne's solo career, then this is the definitive album. You'll want to buy this one. That is, the ORIGINAL recording. THIS album. NOT the 2002 so-called "re-mastered" version. The 2002 album at first didn't even have a sticker on the package that says that it's not the original recording. Be careful about what you buy.