Ozzy Osbourne
Diary of a Madman

"Sanity now it's beyond me

There's no choice"

It's 1981 when Ozzy Osbourne, ex-frontman of the legendary Black Sabbath, sets the stage for his most successful work, "Diary Of A Madman".

After spending all the 70s extolling death, drugs, nightmares, and phobias on stages worldwide with his mother band, in '79 he was kicked out due to his excesses, finding himself without a job and without a friend. He decides to shut himself in a hotel room in Los Angeles, accompanied as usual by alcohol and cocaine. It will be thanks to the help of his future wife Sharon Arden that he will manage to get out of this situation: in a short time, he puts together what is more than a band—it seems like a supergroup: former Uriah Heep members Lee Kerslake on drums and Bob Daisley on bass, the extraordinary Don Airey on keyboards, who despite having a classical background will play with many of the best hard rock groups, and the added value Randy Rhoads, the true star of the group, previously with Quiet Riot.

After the excellent "Blizzard Of Ozz" released in September of '80 and the triumphant tour that followed, the band had enough ideas for a new LP, so much so that in the last dates of the "Blizzard Of Ozz Tour" two new compositions, "Believer" and "Flying High Again", appeared in the setlist. The band is essentially confirmed, with the only exception being Don Airey, busy with other projects, replaced by the little-known Johnny Cook. In January 1981 (just four months after the release of the first album) the band under Osbourne's orders returns to the studio, pushed by the record company wanting to capitalize on the unexpected success of "Blizzard...". The recordings will conclude in April of the same year, although Ozzy was not completely satisfied ("I really love that album, but I think some parts could have been better with a bit more time. But back then we didn't have the time..." the same Madman would declare many years later). "Diary..." continues the discussion started with the previous album, but develops darker, more intense, and homogeneous themes, with lyrics that well represent human imbalance and phobias, as the singer would write in a letter to fans dating right back to the release of DOAM:

"I have become infatuated with the feeling of horror. My fascination with life's phobias has manifested itself on this new record".

While it is undeniable that over the years Ozzy has built his character around these clichés, here we face an almost theatrical performance in which the protagonist of the work is not so distant from the man who plays him, that fragile and insecure John Michael Osbourne who only wins with a microphone in his hand or nearly. The album is somewhat the summation of the Birmingham singer's production, starting with the opening entrusted to "Over The Mountain", an electrifying piece introduced by two drum rolls, band on the shields accompanying a vibrant Ozzy who with his powerful and round voice tells of his mystical visions. The single "Flying High Again" takes care of dragging the album into the charts, an excellent rock'n'roll anthem dedicated once again to drugs, with a wonderful solo by Randy in the middle part.

After a rousing start an acoustic guitar momentarily slows down the pace, "You Can't Kill Rock And Roll" is a song where the Madman fiercely attacks his manager Don Arden (the same happened in '75, when the Sabbath wrote "The Writ" and titled their album "Sabotage" referring to their then manager Patrick Mehan, guilty of having stolen much of their earnings), while musically if Rhoads gives us a sweet arpeggio in the verses, he unleashes a powerful hard rock riff in the choruses and in the solo parts in the middle and at the end of the song. A menacing bass line leads us to the gloomy "Believer", a slowly advancing and threatening piece where the "Madman" criticizes religious fanaticism, once again pulling out some highly inspired lyrics ("I'm a believer, I ain't no deceiver, mountains move before my eyes", among the most interesting lines) as he would rarely do in the future. Indeed the lyrics certainly add depth to an already monumental work, and although they address already treated themes, in "Diary..." they do so in an irreverent and anything but obvious way.

The second side of the LP opens as the first side did with a drum roll, introducing "Little Dolls", a rhythmic hard rock song noted especially for a spectacular melodic interlude created from nothing by Randy Rhoads' hands, even if we probably face the least exciting composition of the work. After being sidelined so far, it is Johnny Cook's turn, hands on the piano to give life to "Tonight", a splendid slow piece of the record where the former Sabbath takes on the part of the defeated, perhaps the piece where the represented "Madman" and John Michael merge into one person. A dark acoustic arpeggio then preludes to the album's true hidden gem, "S.A.T.O.", after a few seconds it becomes a frenzied hard rock where the main protagonist is once again Randy with a long solo in the middle part and with continuous variations on the central theme.

Controversial is the question of the meaning of the four letters composing the title, of which two main theses have emerged: the first proposes "Sailing Across The Ocean" as the solution, a fascinating and seemingly correct title, supported by the continuous references to ships, sinkings, shores, navigation, and so on, while the second argues that the real meaning is "Sharon Arden Thelma Osbourne", perhaps less captivating than the first interpretation but probably closer to reality. At the time, Ozzy was married to Thelma Louise, who became his wife in the early '70s, but he had for some time met Sharon Arden, with whom he quickly developed a special friendship, eventually falling in love with her. Thus, analyzing the song's lyrics, it seems that through metaphor, Ozzy addresses Thelma, anticipating the end of their relationship ("Is this voyage coming to an end" he indeed sings in the song's last verse). However, the dark plots and desperate singing seem to perfectly tie in with a sailor's story, leading us to think that probably the truth lies in the middle.

As the journey comes to a close, an increasingly oppressive arpeggio leads us to "Diary Of A Madman", perhaps the album's most beautiful composition and certainly the most intense and suggestive. After a few seconds, the acoustic guitar is joined by the rest of the band (and an overdubbed electric guitar) in what seems like the atmosphere accompanying the execution of the condemned by the executioner (cited from rockline.it). The text is a horror masterpiece, sung in a poignant manner by the Madman who perhaps realizes his most intense and successful performance, at least regarding his solo career.

"Diary Of A Madman" is more than just a simple album, it is a small rock opera, along with the subsequent "Bark At The Moon" the most theatrical record of the English musician's career, which with a bit of ingenuity could have received a visual representation, at least as a short film. It nevertheless had a graphic development, the "Diary Of A Madman Tour" (also named "Night Of The Living Dead") takes place on a stage with an old castle in the background, torches, and Ozzy coming on stage with a cross in hand and during the concert proceeding to literally tear his clothes off. As if that weren't enough, besides the band (which for the tour once again embraces Don Airey), the show features a dwarf made up as a devil with a black robe from a satanic sect entering the scene multiple times to bring water to the singer, a dwarf that then at a certain point of the show will be regularly hanged (in a fake manner, it should be noted) amid the delirium of the fans. Moreover, Ozzy at each show throws raw meat to the crowd, which consequently arms itself with more meat and dead animals that will be thrown onto the stage. This will have some significance in subsequent events.

The tour experiences at least two moments that will forever change the band's and Osbourne's history in particular: on January 20, 1982, "The Madman" bites the head off a bat thinking it's a dummy thrown by the audience, but the blood dripping from his mouth makes him realize it's not so; a quick run to the hospital and concert suspended, from that moment on the bat will become the rocker's symbol. The second event clearly marks music history: on March 19 of the same year, at only 26 years old, the extraordinary guitarist Randy Rhoads dies, a victim of a plane crash on the day a concert was to be held. The Madman completes the tour with the alternation of various guitarists, including Bernie Tormé and Brad Gillis.

"Diary Of A Madman" stands as the last studio testimony of the axeman, and of a band that would not express itself at those levels again. Throughout the years, Ozzy will give rise to dozens of different line-ups, releasing excellent records but without being able to completely recreate the magic of this unrepeatable LP: this "Diary of a Madman" truly is a story made of madness, dreams, hallucinatory visions, and lots of energy.

Let The Madness Begin