Ozzy Osbourne

Diary of a Madman

The Holy Grail of Heavy Metal has been defaced!!!!

Review Score:

(4/10)
Whoa...what the hell is this!? OK, let me start by saying I have been an avid Ozzy fan since No More Tears. Despite my disapproval, I was intrigued when I heard that he was rerecording some of his albums.

What I got was a piece of [junk]. This is not the masterpiece I have loved since I was a kid. The mixing is waaay off throughout the entire album. The new recordings just don't mesh with the original vocals and guitarwork, and we're left with this mess. The bass is too boomy. Randy's guitar tone has been altered (drastically), to where all you can hear is treble, which actually crackles and blares half the time. I'm not kidding.

They've managed to turn Ozzy's vocals up too loud also, to the point where it almost sounds more like karaoke. It just doesn't mix. Oh, and then there's the flagrant amount of reverb they've added to the lead guitar. Add that and the fact that they turned up the rhythm guitars too loud, and you end up barely hearing Randy's solos.

The big picture is that when you turn up the volume, all you hear is a jumble of treble that blares your speakers, and some boomy bass. Yippee.

If it sounds like I'm being a little harsh, oh well. I love the Ozzman as much as the next guy, but there is no excuse to deface a classic album, and then sell it as if it were the original.

Okay, enough ranting, you get the picture.
I give it two stars instead of zero, because, it is Diary of a Madman. (I guess)

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