Ozzy Osbourne
The Ultimate Concert

After already reviewing two live albums by Ozzy ("Live At Budokan" and "Live & Loud"), I have returned to enrich DeBaser's extensive collection of reviews with this live album: "The Ultimate Concert."

First and foremost, I hope Ozzy's fans aren’t scared by the name of this album because it is a rare and unknown album to almost everyone (even to the Internet!). Still, some time ago, I found another copy for sale on eBay and thought that perhaps this album isn't that impossible to find. Anyway, let's move on to the album.

This unique live performance featuring Jake E. Lee was only released on LP and was recorded on 31/01/1987 in Los Angeles during "The Ultimate Sin" tour. Besides the flamboyant guitarist, successor to Randy Rhoads, Ozzy's band consists of Phil Soussan on bass, Randy Castillo on drums, and John Sinclair on keyboards. Thus, the lineup remains unchanged from "The Ultimate Sin," even though John Sinclair replaced Mike Moran. The only flaw of this album is its not excellent recording (the drums overshadow the guitar, which has a lower volume). Additionally, nothing was "cut" from the recording, and the audience is very audible... just like on that thirty-first of January '87. The most interesting aspect of this live is certainly the exceptional presence of Jake E. Lee on guitar and the songs taken from "The Ultimate Sin," the best on the album, perhaps also due to their unique presence in a published Ozzy concert. Moreover, the two endless solos by Jake E. Lee (6 minutes of guitar after "Killer Of Giants") and by Randy Castillo (almost 8 minutes of drums after "Secret Loser") truly put on a show.

The tracklist includes all of Ozzy's solo hits up to '86, plus two Sabbath songs, the classics "Iron Man" and "Paranoid." Unique is also the presentation by a host at the start of the album, before the usual intro, which this time is complete (about 2 minutes), unlike Tribute. The opener is "Bark At The Moon", followed by "Suicide Solution" and "Never Know Why". You can hear all of Ozzy's acclamations to the audience, including some high-pitched screams, but aside from the entertainment, the madman's voice is excellent, as in the early '80s (the only period when Ozzy sang well even live). Pure spectacle are "Killer Of Giants" and "Secret Loser" with fantastic solos (especially the drum solo). If Castillo's solo had been published on an album like "Live & Loud," he would probably top the charts of the best "drum" performances. Because in my opinion, he has been somewhat undervalued over the years.

The track list is:

1. "Bark At The Moon" 2. "Suicide Solution" 3. "Never Know Why" 4. "Mr. Crowley"

5. "Shot In The Dark" 6. "I Don't Know" 7. "Killer Of Giants" 8. "Thank God For The Bomb"

9. "Flying High Again" 10. "Secret Loser" 11. "Iron Man" 12. "Crazy Train" 13. "Paranoid"

So, an excellent and intriguing album that also varies on songs that Ozzy did not want to propose over time.