Review of Boxset

[deportationblues]

SanDimasCharvel posted this over at tk

http://cryptmagazine.com/303596/333515.html

Can someone copy it to the thread, so we can read it at work? (dang corporate ip filtering...)

[dinomite]

Ozzy Osbourne
30th anniversary deluxe box set
(Epic Records/Sony Music)

Pinnacle moments in metal history; you know the one that that make you stand back and say "mother fuck yeah" are what releases like these are about! Now for some of you that are younger and newer to music from this era in time this may not be as ground breaking as it is to us crazy ass old metal farts, but for us this is like going from the invention of the wheel to fucking 12 Playboy Bunnies on the hood of a lamborghini! I remember being 5 years old and hearing Crazy Train for the first time on the radio while being told that he was the crazy singer formerly of Black Sabbath that now bites the heads off of bats, and thinking "wow, this is the fucking best thing ever!" Hell, some of us have heard these on every format available from Vinyl, 8 track, cassette tape, first generation cd, crappy re-masters, those shit fuck rerecorded bass/ drum versions, and now finally a totaly bad ass re-master of the original master tapes of 'Blizzard of Ozz' and Diary of a Madman.'

Ok, lets jump straight in to these luscious releases of metal orgasmic thunder. Now i'm gonna compare both Blizzard and Diary to the sound quality of the last re-masters of these releases just to be fair on how fair of a evolution of sound quality it has undergone. The First and biggest noticeable difference is the volume. In the previous re-masters, yes it was cleaner and clearer than the orginals without a doubt, minus the handicap of course of a cd's sample rate but that's a whole other issue by itself, but anyway the points is the volume was just piss fucking poor. Volume is more than acceptable on both Blizzard and Diary; since like i said it was a huge problem on the last releases if you tried to put them on a portable device such as a ipod you just could not get it to a comfortable jamming mode. Well ok, so we can now jam it loud but what about the sound quality? HA HA I'm glad you asked, let me just say -

"It's the devil screaming..."
"It's an angel singing!"
"It is the pounding of creations hammer, on the anvil of time!"
"It's fucking awesome!"

Yes it is 99% fucking perfect and maybe 100% ; "WAIT WTF DO YOU MEAN MAYBE?" ok let me explain what I mean here, all the sound quality in the re-mastering including the mixing volume leveing are flawess but I found a possible flaw in the first track of Blizzard ("I Dont Know") at 17 seconds in that sounds like a popping sound but im not sure what is, since I can't hear in the last remasters, and I dont have onther copy of the disk to compare it too, I can't tell if it is a imperfection in the disk that Sony sent us or a problem in the pressing. Hopefully, if i can get my hands on another copy I will add to this review later to update you on this, but for most of you without dog ears like me you wont even notice!

Now moving forward, now we now know its loud and it is clean and crystal fucking clear but what effect does it have on us now? Well let me tell you, ever since the incident of those fucking rerecorded atrocities of the bass and drum tracks on blizzard/diary I was exteamly turnned off of any Ozzy of any kind, not to mention the whole Sharon Osbourne/ Iron Maiden soap opera which just drove the nail into the coffin which in turn iced the preverbal cake into me totally not listening to any Ozzy since about 2005.

Until I started playing Brutal Legend, which i would like to thank King Diamond for suggesting to me, because with out him telling me about the games developing being under way at the time I had interviewed him, I would have probably never had cared enough to take the time look at the game let alone the Xbox 360. If it were not for playing Brutal legend and hearing "Believer" again for the first time in a long time, I would not have had the urge to get back into listening to Metal again let alone want to hear Ozzy; thus me asking to check out this release. So thank you to all of those in those chain of events from editor Dave Necro to King Diamond, the developers of Brutal Legend, Ozzy/Randy for making such beautiful music to begin with, and those all who worked on the re-mastering process of this box set for renewing my faith in the Ozz-man!

Ok, lets see if we can get back on track here LOL! The point here is this hearing these Cd's in such a brilliant yet crisp aspersion of pure nostalgic bliss in the presentation of sound that almost makes it sound like it was recorded yesterday thus giving the feeling of a 1,000 year classic born yesterday, and in turn giving you the feeling of need to change your pants because you just made stains of complete joy in them. Also in this release, is the release of both Blizzard/Diary on re-mastered vinyl but unfortunately we were not able to obtain a copy of these from the recorded company. So, I cant say for sure what those sound like, but if it is at least 1% of the quality went into these that went into the cd's, all i can say from that guess is that you would be in for a treat of epic proportions!

More; Wait More? Yes much more LOL!

A live cd frome the 'Blizzard of Ozz' tour is also included in this box which just sounds so raw but rich in a powerfully nostalgic way that just wisps you away from the fuck of the world we live in but instead get the feeling of being transported back in time to a Ozzy concert you wanted to go to when you were a kid and for some reason missed, but now you are given a ticket to that concert any time you want so just close your eyes and enjoy your special seat in the arena of the past. So far it seems like a totally justified rerelease box set that is worth it no matter the price as far as im concerned, minus the possible flaw in Blizzard, but even if that is a fuck up it is still by far the best release of the first 2 albums that has ever been assembled.

Now besides the bonus of the live cd and the 2 vinyl's, there are other jewels in here such as the 100-page Coffee table and the full-sized detailed replica of ozzy's iconic cross. Which I would love to tell you about, but like the vinyls we didn't receive it. so i can't tell you anything about them but I'm sure it is got to be at the least a nice addition to your ozzy collection.

Here is something I found to be a little considerably out of place in this re-master themed box set, and that is the dvd special that is included. I know what you're thinking, "what's wrong with getting a a bonus dvd special in a re-mastered box set?" Well let me tell you, everything I have heard has been cleaned to the point in quality that it matches the whole brought to you in hd feel until this point and here is what i mean - if they had just taken a little more time and effort they could have cleaned some of this old footage just a little bit more, and the same for the newly shot footage just for this vid; they could have at least pressed a standard 720p BD. Now that would be a little more acceptable considering that everything else is so in the now sound, that I think if I would play any thing else from this box for my 12 year old son he would be like, "wow dad this ozzy cover band sounds flawless but even the footage of the recent interviews in this dvd just wont hold on a passable mark on a standard hd tv."

Though the video is a dvd insted of a BD dont let that disstract you to much from what is contained in the contents of this 41 minute special about the begings of on how these first 2 ozzy cd's came to be and here what people like Steve Vai, Lemmy, Rob Halford, Bill Ward, and others have to say about Ozzy and Randy's influence was on them, not to mention on the world itself. Ok, the fact that Sharon Osbourne pisses me off in multitude of ways is no secret, but even I will say that she was very good in these dvd but just for the fact that she was very informative and yes if it wasnt for her Ozzy probably would have never come back after Sabbath. So yes, I understand that, though I still cant fucking stand for a lot of the shit she has pulled over the years. But, that is just me, I give her credit where credit is due. One of the things I liked the most on the dvd was watching Ozzy sitting down and listening to the old raw takes from albums. Especially when it came down to them listening to "Suicide Solution" during the part where Ozzy was blamed for using the oh so infamous technique of Hemi-Sync where they claimed Ozzy said "you got to get the gun, shoot shoot shoot" and actually hear what was said! LMAO WOW!

Now I am going to wrap this up with the best part of this entire box set, and that is the bonus track included on the 'Blizzard of Ozz' cd. Ok out of the 3 bonus tracks one of them is the whole reason to buy this box; wait - what's that? you want to know which one? well sit down and shut the hell up and i might be nice enough to tell you, but first we are going to start with track #10 which is entitled (You looking at me, looking at you) which was previously unreleased in the U.S until now. But either way I had never heard this track before and to be honest it's not bad at all but it's not going to make love stains in you pants though. Next Skipping track 11 (becuase i am saving the best for last) is Track #12 a little Randy Rhoads solo outtake which is fucking great to hear something from randy you haven't heard before! Now for best part, and that is unless you have forgotten how to count, is track #11 (Goodbye to Romance - 2010 guitar & vocal mix). From the moment this track starts, it feels and sounds like dream come true; a ascension to a magical land where Ozzy and Randy have reunited to jam this song one last time just for you. Let me tell you, I have played the shit out of this song, and everytime I hear it the more it feels like I am sitting in the studio right now hearing it as it's being recorded! And with that said, all thats left is to say is buy it! It is so worth it! -DW

Sorry it's so large... but that's all of it.

[deportationblues]

Thanks a million.

[axeman_12656]

encouraging

[crumblycake]

What the hell just happened? This "review", read more like self-indulgent middle school aged student who had to turn in his class room report yesterday. All kidding a side, I really didn't understand what he was trying to. It seemed like a confused mess of ideas to me.

Well, did he like it or not? How many stars? 4~5? Is it worth buying? C+? F-? A?

[SanDimasCharvel]

Sorry, was just about to post it here too!

I'm quite concerned about the defect in I Don't Know -

When I called a Sony executive's office this morning, the secretary said they haven't heard of it and didn't seem concerned because it might be just his advance copy. I said that defects like that almost always appear on all copies and again there was not much concern on their part.

[halo8th]

a rambling, droning, non-conclusive review....
This person clearly can't review anything...terrible communication skills.

[Jazznroll]

a rambling, droning, non-conclusive review....
This person clearly can't review anything...terrible communication skills.

Ha ha ha

[whoopiecat]

What do you expect from a metalhead?
Seriously, though, rambling aside, I got the vibe he really dug the audio end of it. Almost as though he were ready to rub the copy of Blizzard on one nipple, and Diary on the other.
I am not expecting visual awesomeness from the footage. No one should from 30 year old Super 8. Compared to the Palladium footage we've been accustomed to, it looks more than acceptable to me.
Again, another reviewer without a copy of the book, but at least this guy got a look at the DVD.
Like I said at TK, hopefully where this guy got a review copy, there was someone at Sony he could give feedback to and they could look into the audio pop on IDK and rectify it now before they're presented with the problem of having to manufacture and ship out replacement copies to irate customers on several continents.
I appreciate your attempting to point that out to them, San Dimas.

~T.

[randyrulz]

a rambling, droning, non-conclusive review....
This person clearly can't review anything...terrible communication skills.

And STILL dont know what show the Live Cd is from, and what songs are on the DVD This is really becoming ridiculous...............

[fortress]

i was waiting the moment he will talk about the Randy footage but..... nothing...


its like this guy dont give a fuck about randy, just OZZYY OZZYYYY OZZZZYYY



i cant blame him , randy is still unknow by alot of people!

[sytharnia]

i was waiting the moment he will talk about the Randy footage but..... nothing...


its like this guy dont give a fuck about randy, just OZZYY OZZYYYY OZZZZYYY



i cant blame him , randy is still unknow by alot of people!

I got the impression that apart from the doco portion, he didn't see the other DVD stuff

[fortress]

i was waiting the moment he will talk about the Randy footage but..... nothing...


its like this guy dont give a fuck about randy, just OZZYY OZZYYYY OZZZZYYY



i cant blame him , randy is still unknow by alot of people!

I got the impression that apart from the doco portion, he didn't see the other DVD stuff

well he is talking about "cleaning all the old footage". I suppose he was referring to randy footage.. If this guy doenst give a fuck about randy, sure he overlooked the most IMPORTANT part of this release

[hansolo]

When you review something, aren't you supposed to have details about the actual items??? I would of thought the DVD review would at least have a breakdown of the live stuff. The BOO and DOAM remasters had to happen but since 2002 and as a collector I have a lot of copies of both! Great, but I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE DVD! People who have to pay $150 ain't in it for the remasters (10%), cross or book (15%) they want to see and hear NEW RR and Ozzy aud/video! I would buy Chicago '82 if they put it out! Bonus DVD? Who would pay $150 for 2 lps, 2 cd's a cross and a book? Wow, thanks for the bonus. The DVD should be looked as the main course, unless it ain't all that. I won't speculate. How many times (rhetorical) did this tool mention creaming his pants? Dude, you ain't funny and you really need another job 'cause this one ain't working out.

[whoopiecat]

What is important to me is the two albums being returned to their original state. The footage is a nice bonus for sure, but I am more about getting back these two titans of hard rock the way four friends recorded them three decades ago.
Other folks may not see it that way right now, but even after thirty consecutive days of watching the Palladium footage, even the die hards will tire of it...it'll retire to the shelf with the rest of the DVDs and be taken down for viewing once in a while, but the music is what will persevere.
Eventhough there is thirty minutes of a filmed show coming, it's not going to be enough. Folks realize that right?
This song didn't get played, there wasn't a spotlight solo, why is the camera on Ozzy, I wish Randy was wearing this outfit instead, why couldn't this have been the castle stage.
Yawn...
For nearly a decade, so many have cried injustice over what Sharon did to the most important era of Ozzy's legacy, (and Randy's, Bob's and Lee's legacies, for that matter.), which is finally being corrected, but all folks are able to focus on is a half hour of Super 8 that Randy may not feature all that much in, unless he wanders into the shot, from what we've seen thus far.
The music is what is important, as it is the music that brought us all here in the first place.

~Tom