The last top ten song list I did was about Black Sabbath now we journey into it's frontman's music catalogue. So this list consists of songs he has made outside of Sabbath.
Ozzy Osbourne is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adopted the nickname "Prince of Darkness".
10: Bark At The Moon
The song is about a creature, MOST LIKELY a werewolf, who once terrorized a town, was killed, and later mysteriously returned to once again wreak havoc upon the villagers. Perhaps Ozzy's most iconic music video, Bark At The Moon was also his first. The video saw the singer playing up to his madman image in full Hammer Horror b-movie fashion. Drafting in the talents of make-up artist Rick Baker, who was fresh from working on both Michael Jackson's Thriller and American Werewolf In London (both directed by John Landis), Ozzy went full-ham to terrorize the MTV generation and it worked.
9: Straight To Hell
The song is about dealing with drug addiction and also talks about death. When he puts his mind to it, Ozzy can be a menacing bastard. The line 'I'll make you scream/I'll make you defecate' is delivered with more glee than perhaps was necessary, but the accompanying cackle afterwards seals Straight To Hell as one of the more brilliantly maniacal songs in Ozzy's contemporary catalogue.
8: Ordinary Man
The title-track to Ozzy's 2020 record, Ordinary Man dissects Ozzy's history in a more candid way than almost any other song in his canon. A beautifully crafted piano ballad, it makes perfect sense that Ozzy would draft in fellow rock icon Elton John as a guest for one of his most well-crafted ballads. This is the definitive Ozzy duet, a reflective masterpiece that caps off a career spanning over half-a-century.
7: Scary Little Green Men
You know what, I first heard this song from the Jason Mamoa video, and I was obsessed! Jason looked amazing and this song was just fun and just became such an earwig for me because of how catchy it was. The song is about aliens discovering and landing on our planet.
6: I Don't Wanna Stop
Such a fucking nasty riff and hell of a banging catchy song! It was my fave to play on Guitar Hero DS! Zakk fuckin Wylde SLAYS!
5: Hellraiser
Written by Lemmy, Hellraiser feels decidedly more like a Motorhead track than anything else in Ozzy's repertoire (which goes some way to explaining why Lemmy and the gang decided to cover the song the following year on March Or Die). Even so, Ozzy's voice brings the perfect heavy metal histrionics for the song's greased up stomp, cementing it as a heavy metal anthem for the 90s. The song would ultimately go on to be used by wrestling team The Hell Raisers, showing Lemmy's ear for great wrestling themes began long before he teamed up with Triple H.
4: No More Tears
With its soaring synths and steadily building guitars, you'd be forgiven for thinking No More Tears was an anthem of empowerment, a reflection of the healing Ozzy underwent after going through rehab. The truth was far more bizarre. Lyrically centred around a serial killer, No More Tears was another example of Ozzy using dark subject matter as fuel for the new direction he was taking, reinventing his image just in time to avoid the mass culling of 80s rock stars that grunge precipitated. One of the last tracks written for the album, No More Tears came together in the studio as bassist Mike Inez conceived the opening riff (though Inez ultimately didn't play on the record, he was credited with 'inspiration' in the album's liner notes) and Ozzy repeatedly sang the title line.
3: Mr. Crowley
The song is about Edward "Aleister" Crowley, a British practitioner of black magic. Though Ozzy and co. largely played it straight with a mixture of stadium rock and heavy metal for his solo debut Blizzard Of Ozz, Mr. Crowley proved the singer hadn't turned his back entirely on themes of horror and the occult that had been so crucial to Black Sabbath in the beginning. Opening on an iconic keyboard solo from Don Airey, the song is everything the Prince Of Darkness should be, its lyrics inspired by infamous occultist and magician Aleister Crowley.
2: Diary Of A Madman
Oh man, I fucking love this one, and I have heard it a handful of times due to Machine Head using it before they come out to play just to you now set the tone for what awaits. The song is about mental illness and how people live with it. Though Diary Of A Madman caught Ozzy on a creative peak, it also saw the emergence of interpersonal issues which would colour the rest of the decade. Songwriting credits were not issued to all members of the band, ultimately causing bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake to depart. Worse still, the album would ultimately become coloured by tragedy when Randy Rhoads was killed in a plane accident while the band were on tour, the record's virtuosic playing and experimentation made all the more poignant for the loss of one of its driving forces.
1: Crazy Train
What a monster of a song and damn catchy too, my top track from Ozzy. The lyrics deal with the subject of the Cold War and the fear of annihilation that existed during this period. One of the best solo's in metal. Absolutely everything about it is iconic; from Ozzy's maniacal cackle, to the thumping heart-beat of bass provided by Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake's rumbling drum-beat that evokes a train in its own right and of course Randy Rhoads' iconic riff.
And that is my list, If you have any recommendations for lists or blog posts please send them to me.
Stay Shiny!
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