Customer Reviews

Rockdetector: Ozzy Osbourne: The Story of the Ozzy Osbourne Band

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Garry Sharpe-Young's book about Ozzy is an essential read for anyone who is interested in learning about the people and personalities that passed through Ozzy's band from the early 80s to the present day. Although the author's writing is a little choppy at times, and there is the occasional printing error (e.g., there is a page missing as the book transitions from pg. 79 to pg. 80, because a sentence is cut-off), the book is really an enjoyable read. I could not put it down.

The author obviously worked closely with former members of Ozzy's band, because the book is crafted around insightful interviews that clear up many misconceptions and rumors that have spread for years (e.g., "Suicide Solution" was never about Bon Scott).What I particularly liked about the book is how it helps to give long overdue credit to many of the musicians who have been overlooked over the years, including Bob Daisley, Tommy Aldridge, Lee Kerslake, and Rudy Sarzo, among others. These men were instrumental in forming the classic sound of Ozzy's groups in the early 1980s. Ozzy owes these people a huge debt, although unfortunately Ozzy (and especially his viper wife Sharon) obviously will never see it that way.

Perhaps the greatest contribution to this study is the detailed accounts of the various guitar players that passed through (or, in the case of Randy Rhoades, passed away) though the Ozzy Osbourne band. I was really surprised by the amount of respect the guitar players have for each other when they discuss the people they replaced or followed. While it appears that working for Sharon and Ozzy was certainly a fragile situation with little security--it was not uncommon to be fired and then immediately re-hired--most of the band members still seem to have good memories about working with Ozzy. That in itself is pretty amazing, because working for Ozzy and Sharon typically also meant experiencing contractual hassles, low pay, broken promises, denied royalties, and other assorted ills of the music business.

The actual text of the book runs about 200 pages. The next 150 pages is a detailed discography/biography of seemingly every band that has a connection, directly or indirectly, to Ozzy or anyone who has ever played in Ozzy's bands. This is pretty much overkill and not completely necessary (and a good portion of the information is redundant), but I suppose information, even if it is very marginal with respect to the subject of the book, is not necessarily a bad thing.

this is a fantastic book if your into who what when and where info on ozzy's blizzard of ozz band,right from the beginning up to currant date.interviews with many ozzy band members from the past and a few uncredited by request reasons unknown.this book is a must for die hard ozzy fans who want to know the meat and potatoes of his solo band.