CD Review: Ozzy Osbourne – Memoirs Of A Madman

Shane | 2 December 2014 | Reply

CD Review: Ozzy Osbourne – Memoirs Of A Madman
Sony
November 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
6/10

Supposedly a comprehensive career retrospective, Memoirs Of A Madman falls somewhat short of the mark, more closely resembling a family album of their favourite snapshots than something his legions of fans would have assembled based on merit.

The gold, of course, will always be the tracks from his first two solo albums, featuring guitarist Randy Rhoads, and they’re represented well here.

Elsewhere there’s great stuff like Bark At The Moon, No More Tears and Mama I’m Coming Home… but where’s Shot In The Dark, one of his biggest hits? I’d happily never hear the Grandpa Simpson-like Perry Mason again in exchange!

Then there’s the issue of the sound of the record. Sharon Osbourne notoriously had Ozzy’s then-rhythm section re-record the early albums for a series of reissues circa 1992, to ‘win’ a royalties dispute with the original band members, and that lack of respect for the music and those who originally created it leaves us wondering if she’s done something similar here. They just don’t sound the same as once they did… There’s no personnel listed in the cover either, just songwriting credits, so something doesn’t seem right.

To further reduce the need to own this album, there’s the practically ubiquitous live verson of Paranoid for little or no reason, and worst of all, daughter Kelly Osbourne’s take on the Sabbath classic Changes, on which she sucks all the life and joy out of the song, leaving it sounding like an autotuned funeral dirge.