Blizard of Ozz and Diary been remastered!

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:08 pm

By D. O'Malley (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

I recently heard that two of my all-time favorite albums, Ozzy Osbourne's "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman," had undergone a 24-bit remastering process, and were to be re-released on CD. I couldn't wait to check them out, and I purchased them the moment they became available.
The first clue that something was wrong came while I was leafing through the booklet for "Blizzard." The old back cover photo of Ozzy on stage with guitarist Randy Rhoads, bassist (and lyricist) Bob Daisley, and drummer Lee Kerslake had been doctored so that only Ozzy was now visible. Strange, I thought.

Then I sat down to listen. My first reaction to "Blizzard" was that the drumming sounded sloppier than I remembered. Skipping from track to track, I noticed some things were sounding very different, and that the album seemed to have not only been remastered, but had been completely remixed from the original multi-track tapes.

Giving the liner notes a closer look, I discoved that all of the bass and drum tracks for both albums have been re-recorded by current Ozzy sidemen Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin, respectively.

I'm not kidding.

At this point I began to get pretty upset. The bass and drum tracks have been re-recorded in such a way as to mimic the original sound of the albums, but it doesn't work: Trujillo's bass is actually noticeably out-of-tune on a couple of numbers, and Bordin's drumming never matches the feel of the original tracks. Of course, "Blizzard of Ozz" was a somewhat lo-fi album to begin with. What about "Diary of a Madman," the album I've long characterized as the "Sgt. Pepper" of Heavy Metal?

In my opinion, "Diary" has been ruined. From the opening drum triplets of "Over the Mountain" everything is wrong, wrong, wrong. Every ounce of magic the album had has been sucked out of it. Randy's guitar tones are completely messed up. Some of his solos and fills are barely audible, and his various effects and textures have been replaced with a dry, shrill tone in many spots. The new mix retains none of the charm, atmosphere, or detail of the original. Even "Flying High Again" sounds awful. Why on earth would Ozzy tamper with one of the greatest sounding albums in hard rock history?

Well, according to Sharon Osbourne, Daisley and Kerslake have been removed from the albums because they have been "harassing" the Osbourne family. The truth is that Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake are suing Ozzy for non-payment of royalties and for crediting others (Rudy Sarzo and Tommy Aldridge) for their work on "Diary of a Madman." By removing them from the recordings, Ozzy can ensure that Daisley and Kerslake will receive no future mechanical royalties from his back catalog. This is simply an act of monumental greed and arrogance, and I implore you not to support Ozzy in this shameful endeavor.

These CD's are being promoted as "original recording remastered," with no outward indication to the buyer that they have been re-recorded with sidemen Randy Rhoads never even met. It is an unforgivable affront to Randy's memory, and it is deliberately misleading to Ozzy's longtime fans. Unfortunately, these will soon be the only versions of these albums you can buy, so get the 1995 22-bit remasters while you still can: They sound fantastic and are the only authentic versions of these hard rock masterpieces.

Just to be sure you all know these are not my own words

Cpt Matt Sparrow · Post by **Cpt Matt Sparrow** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:23 pm

Hi Gabriel

I know this is a bone of contention with so many fans of these albums. It is very sad that many people will hear the newer ones and thnk they are the bonafide originals!

I wonder if deep down Ozzy regrets this re recording decision?

Matt

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:41 pm

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:53 pm

I recall hearing in a radio interview done in 2001 where the DJ asks them about Ozzy's new remastered BOO and DOAM copies.

Sharon: Yes, we remastered and recorded the tracks.
Ozzy: ...We did?

Honestly, I don't think he knew about it till after the fact. But I imagine he doesn't really care one way or the other though. A man who's been married for that long sides with his wife 99% of the time.

wareagle · Post by **wareagle** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 12:41 am

Fri Dec 19, 2008 10:42 am

Truly one of the worsest things the O$bournes ever did.......
However I'm wondering about those royalties, oke now Bob and Lee are erased they can't get royalties for their playing on those albums. BUT Bob did write all the Lyrics (except for the words "wine is fine but whiskey is quicker"), he also wrote a lot of the music together with Randy. So I assume he is still getting 'writing' royalties for that?

*I don't have those 'remasters' but I wonder if there is anything that says "Lyrics by Bob Daisley" on the cover?

NicDots · Post by **NicDots** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 11:56 am

I think that all depends on the legalities of whatever contract that Bob had signed and what the Osbournes and him are fighting over.
Although it is fucked up that they are no loner on those records, I can't really take sides as I don't know what the legal documents say.

Paul Wolfe · Post by **Paul Wolfe** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:08 pm

The remasters were done to end the legal battle, they were not done to screw the fans or make money. They suck, sure, but so what? Don't buy them and in another few years they'll be remastered again. They are Ozzy's best sellers and get remastered repeatedly.

Post by **Trigger** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:54 pm

To me they are just like different albums and appart fro the legal matters I really never thought they were a big deal.

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 1:56 pm

I think that saying they are the originals and then adding other musicians to perform them makes it very strange, Bob and Lee where writers as well as who performed them, did i miss something, if they replaced both drum and bass tracks then is Randy's estate getting anything or was that settled already?

Sarab · Post by **Sarab** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:16 pm

I have the remasters. They do suck. Of course, I didn't realize it was the re-done one until I opened the cd and played it.
I'm screwed. Darin sent me the mp of it, but my computer won't put it into my itunes! Dammit! I had it in my laptop, but it is dead. I guess I'm going to have to break down and pay $60.00 to get the cable so I can download it onto a cd to put into my new computer. *sigh*

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 5:52 pm

I just thought of something, who cares if they changed the drums and bass anyway, i mean it is one thing that Randy never met these guys and saying it is original when they removed the original drums and bass is fraud but if we all think about it its all gonna end up as mp3s on torrent sites anyway

McLowery · Post by **McLowery** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 9:58 am

Paul Wolfe wrote:The remasters were done to end the legal battle, they were not done to screw the fans or make money. They suck, sure, but so what? Don't buy them and in another few years they'll be remastered again. They are Ozzy's best sellers and get remastered repeatedly.

Dude, going from two of the best hard rock albums of not just their own time, but of all time, to "sure they suck!" is a mighty fucking far drop in stature wouldn't you think?

The replacement of Bob and Lee's tracks didn't just remove their parts from the albums it destroyed the electricity and the almost pure as it gets true Rock-n-Roll those two albums stood for. Nobody is capable of going into a studio, sitting down with the master tracks and then laying down a performance that melds right into the mix like they were supposed to be there and that is because Bob, Lee, Randy and Ozzy all worked those songs together, they knew each others idiosyncracies and they were all on the same wavelength.

The life drained right out of those albums with that pompous act of sacrilige the Osbourne camp comitted on them. This stands, IMO, as one of the ugliest faces of the music industry because now a lot of other bands are doing the same thing, destroying the magic their album once had just so they can save some fucking money..

Gabriel Raphael · Post by **Gabriel Raphael** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:59 am

McLowery wrote:
Paul Wolfe wrote:The remasters were done to end the legal battle, they were not done to screw the fans or make money. They suck, sure, but so what? Don't buy them and in another few years they'll be remastered again. They are Ozzy's best sellers and get remastered repeatedly.
Dude, going from two of the best hard rock albums of not just their own time, but of all time, to "sure they suck!" is a mighty fucking far drop in stature wouldn't you think?

The replacement of Bob and Lee's tracks didn't just remove their parts from the albums it destroyed the electricity and the almost pure as it gets true Rock-n-Roll those two albums stood for. Nobody is capable of going into a studio, sitting down with the master tracks and then laying down a performance that melds right into the mix like they were supposed to be there and that is because Bob, Lee, Randy and Ozzy all worked those songs together, they knew each others idiosyncracies and they were all on the same wavelength.

The life drained right out of those albums with that pompous act of sacrilige the Osbourne camp comitted on them. This stands, IMO, as one of the ugliest faces of the music industry because now a lot of other bands are doing the same thing, destroying the magic their album once had just so they can save some fucking money..

Agreed, you know what i think, the person who decided this was not a musician at all and this is un heard of.

cableguyxx · Post by **cableguyxx** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 12:06 pm

I agree 1000%

They turned them into karaoke albums. Even Bob and Lee couldn't go in a recreate it the same. It was a moment in time that is gone forever. You cannot duplicate that. I can't even bare to listen to those piles of crap.