So today I'm reviewing the album that kick-started Ozzy in the 90's this is the second album he recorded with the rock and roll viking, Zakk Wylde. The music is hard and a huge departure from the previous guitarists, it features the classic mind boggling sounds of Zakk Wylde, combining huge power chord riffs with single note variations. The bass is also pretty good and helps strengthen the music along with the keyboards. The drums are awesome and classic Ozzy, blowing through all of the songs at the perfect pace. This is an awesome album that from it's classic starting track to Road to Nowhere rocks the entire time. Especially with the spectacular instrumental parts that strengthen the music so much.
The music on this album is unbelievable. After a rather stale Jake E Lee era Zakk Wylde is burning up the fretboard and creating all of these amazing sounds. He has awesome riffs that help drive on the music, they are fast and chunky and very impressive. However the true genius of Zakk Wylde is through his incredible solos, either with their awesome tapping parts or simply just spectacular note bends combined with massive distortion create an aura of godliness around our favorite viking. The guitar is a combination of thrash and Black Sabbath type stuff, it's difficult to describe in detail. The bass is also pretty good, it has a couple of nice fills but as a whole it is nothing to scream about. John Sinclair provides some impressive keyboards that provide nice juxtaposition with Wylde's loud and awesome guitar. The drums of Randy Castillo are fast and highpowered and help drive on the music in an amazing way.
Then we get on to the vocals of the Prince of Darkness, the man with the voice that truly embodies heavy metal. The vocals from Ozzy are simply awesome, they are loud and high powered and pure Ozzy. Ozzy's voice has a mystical and unique quality to it that makes him the true voice of heavy metal. He can pull of some amazing shrieks but typically his singing is deeper, attacking the ears of the listener. I am not saying that he does not also do some more high pitched singing, he totally does, its just that to my ears he is a rather low pitched singer. The lyrics of Ozzy are really good, they are more contemplative than those from when he quit Black Sabbath, showing definite maturity on Ozzy's part. The lyrics are typically pretty dark and disturbing at times. They cover a variety of topics and as a whole are pretty good.
All in all this is an amazing album featuring the combination of two things that I really love. Ozzy Osbourne's awesome vocals, which is for me the voice of heavy metal. I also love Zakk Wylde's really hard twisting and dancing guitar, a guitar which defines all of the music. The instrument parts on this album blow my mind. They have awesome guitar coming from Zakk Wylde with its mind blowing solos. Then there are the great bass parts which really strengthen the music. Especially combined with the keyboards which provide a really good juxtaposition to the heavyness of the music. The vocals of Ozzy are great and make my day. The lyrics are dark and awesome as well and make for great music. My favorite song off this album is No More Tears. There is good replay value on this album featuring a few good Ozzy classics.
OVERALL 9.5/10
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