Ozzy Osbourne
Blizzard Of Ozz

No, I can't believe it, out of 4351 reviews (at the time of writing), only 1 concerning Ozzy, the "Prince of Darkness," that means one plus 4350!!! I feel obliged as an Ozzy fan and a new member of the community (besides for personal pleasure) to review other albums, and I will start with this "Blizzard of Oz".

In Ozzy's history outside of Black Sabbath, there have been three guitarists: Randy Rhodes, Jake E. Lee, and Zakk Wilde. With Randy, the Ozzy production was excellent, with Jake almost a failure, with Zakk great. A coincidence? I don't know, but I don't think so. This is Ozzy's first solo album and also his best, and just like in the following "Diary Of Madman", the contribution and skill of Rhodes (tragically deceased some time later
in a plane crash) are notably felt compared to subsequent works. The album itself is heavy metal/hard rock, very classic, with all ingredients skillfully balanced, beautiful melodies (including the inevitable Ozzy-style ballad...), great metallic riffs spit out by Randy's Jackson and Les Paul, excellent solos.

An album dominated by the guitar (at the time there was debate whether Rhodes or Van Halen was better...) the undisputed queen of the genre, and the genius of Ozzy, taking the first step towards his new career with this great "debut," a milestone in Ozzy's career, and for all the nostalgic metalheads and '80s guitarists.
Don't pay attention to the images, Ozzy has always been a picturesque character, from the cover to some photos in the booklet (where he looks quite flamboyant at times...) what matters is what reaches your ears.

An anecdote: it is said that the song "Suicide Solutions" played backward contains a message saying "Kill yourself," and according to legend, a young man committed suicide after listening to it repeatedly. All nonsense! There are no subliminal messages, and the person writing to you has heard it many times, but still hasn't felt like killing themselves, quite the opposite...
I prefer another tale, as reported in the collection "The Ozzman Cometh" by Ozzy himself, according to which while auditioning to choose the guitarist with whom to collaborate, a small guy arrived with a black Les Paul and as soon as he put his hands on his guitar's fretboard, Ozzy said:
you are the greatest guitarist I have ever seen and he replied but I haven't done anything yet! ...the rest is history.

Only masterpieces from this album: "Crazy Train," "I Don't Know," "Dee," "Mother Earth," "Mr. Crowley," "Goodbye To Romance", pillars for all the heavy metal to follow.