Band:	Ozzy Osbourne
Album:	Blizzard Of Ozz
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	April 12, 1980
Guest review by:	Ace Frawley

01. I Don't Know
02. Crazy Train
03. Goodbye To Romance
04. Dee
05. Suicide Solution
06. Mr. Crowley
07. No Bone Movies
08. Revelation (Mother Earth)
09. Steal Away (The Night)
10. You Lookin' At Me Lookin' At You [2002 remaster bonus]
11. Goodbye To Romance [2010 remix] [2011 reissue bonus]
12. RR

Blizzard Of Ozz is a significant album in the history of heavy metal. Released in 1980, this was the first solo album for Ozzy Osbourne, who had previously been the lead singer of Black Sabbath, the band often credited with creating the distinctive sound of heavy metal music in the early 1970s. The high regard for this album is obvious by its rating on this site - at the time of writing this review it ranks as #147 on the Top 200 albums of all time and #4 on the Top 20 albums of 1980 - surprising then that this is the first review for this landmark release.

Whilst this is an Ozzy Osbourne album, in many respects it is about the young lead guitarist Randy Rhoads as much as it is about Ozzy Osbourne. His incredible guitar playing on this album influenced a future generation of metal guitarists. His influence can even be seen today, an example being Phil Demmel of Machine Head sporting a polka-dot design guitar as a tribute - and even a drummer playing a Rhoads tribute kit - that being Brann Dailor of Mastodon. You will often hear metal guitarists speak of the influence Randy Rhoads had on their playing, even today. Sadly, Rhoads only lived to play on one more Ozzy album before his untimely death in a plane accident.

The most famous songs from the album are the two singles, "Crazy Train" ("ALL ABOARD, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!") and "Mr. Crowley" (spooky organ intro and brilliant guitar solo), although the song "Suicide Solution" gained notoriety thanks to a lawsuit by the family of a young man who committed suicide (which, thankfully, was dismissed). Other tracks of note are the opening number "I Don't Know" and "No Bone Movies", a hilarious song about addiction to watching pornographic films. The song "Dee" is a short guitar instrumental that showcases the classical influences on Rhoads' playing and is probably out of place here. Ozzy's crazy, nasally-sounding voice is distinctive throughout and bass guitar and drums are handled well by Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake respectively. But Randy Rhoads is certainly the shining light here. If you haven't heard his guitar playing then make sure you right that wrong and listen to Blizzard Of Ozz in the near future. This album is a worthy addition to any metal album collection.