Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon

 Good, but somewhat dated
Ahh, Ozzy. What can I say? With each release, his material seems to be doing a poorer job of standing the test of time. While this one starts out with the always fun "Bark at the Moon," the follow up "You're No Different" sounds as if it could be played during the obligatory montage in a dated 80s film...you know, the part where they show a loner on his motorcycle, and perhaps a snippet of a love scene, and try to summarize a long journey during the space of a single song? Yeah, this song is really not improving with age, sadly. Straight up (albeit overly repetitive) rocker "Now You See It (Now You Don't)" follows, with some unfortunate, and completely unnecessary sound effects. At this point, I must cringe at the way this material is so grounded in the cheese of the 80s. Fortunately, the album takes a turn toward the positive, with album highlight "Rock 'n' Roll Rebel," which features some compelling guitar work. The remainder of the album doesn't sound quite so dated, but it's hardly Ozzy's best work.

On another note:

DO NOT BUY THE 2002 OZZY REMASTERS of his first two albums (Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman)! They are NOT the originals, and have been rerecorded by newer members of Ozzy's band, as a way to screw over the old members who are owed $$$ for the work they did. Seek out the 1995 remasters, instead. Reward the musicians who actually made the music! February 3, 2008

 1995 22-bit SBM Remaster ONLY!!!!
Sharon Osbourne...what can I say. A very sad choice to tamper with the first three albums. Three heavy-metal classic, destroyed! I only hope that the original will someday resurface. But anyways. This album open with an extremely catchy, heart pounding title track. This is actually my favorite Ozzy song! Jake E. Lee is awesome on guitar! Jake E. Lee is an amazing guitarist! I'm not gonna compare him to Randy Rhodes. It's unfair, first of all, because they are two completely different guitarists. Randy Rhodes...a beautifully amazing guitar player. His work on Blizzard and Diary are awesome, awe-inspiring, and undoubtedly an innovative,inspirational piece to guitar players/shredders, heavy metal devotees, etc. This album features a few ballads, but all in all...this is a good album. Considering this album was recorded and release less than a year after the loss of dear friend and guitarist Randy Rhodes, he was very composed here...a lot of stuff going on! Look for the 1995 remastered version only (the the small album cover in the center and the gray-swirly border), it sounds great and best of all...it is UNTAMPERED (not a remix!)! Just take a listen the opening shows you how talented Jake E. Lee, and if you compare him to Randy Rhodes, acknowledge that Jake is a VERY talented guitarist who happened to join the band after Randy's death, he wasn't involved with it, or hoping for it, it happened, the opportunity arose to join a band led by a man who had already been a part of rock/metal history. Once again take a listen to this album, look for a used one on Ebay or amazon...finding this new will be pretty hard, as it has been out-of-print for nearly six years now, it will be worth the effort, believe me. AND REMEMBER...DON'T COMPARE JAKE E. LEE TO RANDY RHODES!!!! Check out Jake E. Lee on the follow-up " The Ultimate Sin". The Ultimate Sin, by the way, is out-of-print in the US...in any form! I actually found a copy,brand new on tower.com(the US 1995 Remastered version), to release my scratched 10 year old CD. [...] January 24, 2008

 Why can't record companies just leave good music alone?
I give "Bark At the Moon" five stars based solely on the quality of the songs. It has nothing to do with the remastering of the CD or the extra track (although I am glad to see other people are a bit upset at the "remastered" version on chain music store shelves).

The extra instrumentation on Ozzy's albums is really unnecessary. As previous reviewers have suggested, why can't the original album just be re-released and let whoever wants the extra stuff have it? (As for me, I'm a stickler for the original.)

"Bark At the Moon" is my all-time favorite Ozzy solo album. There were multiple copies of this floating around in my house in the '80s because it was played so much. This has to be Ozzy's most underrated album. I read an interview a few years ago where he stated that this was his least favorite album, but I don't see why (apart from the fact that it was his first album without Randy Rhodes on guitar). It's chock full of strong, original material.

One tune especially sums up his entire career: "Rock and Roll Rebel." If that doesn't described Ozzy in a nutshell ...

The beginning of "Centre of Eternity" always had me putting the needle back or rewind the tape numerous times. "You're No Different" gave me a view into hypocrisy at a young age, and "So Tired" is one of the best slow songs ever, I also love the melody for "Waiting for Darkness." (And the video for the title track is a real treat!)

Every Ozzy solo album (except his newer ones) I love from beginning to end, but "Bark At the Moon" stands out for me as a cut above the rest. - Donna Di Giacomo January 16, 2008

 Bark at the Moon (4,0 stars)
Ozzy Osbourne is a household name for everyone interested in music, and for everyone that has had a slight interest in entertainment news in the last decade. "Bark at the Moon" was his third solo album after being fired from "Black Sabbath", and his first studio release after the death of friend and band member Randy Rhoads, a young talented guitar player that died in a bizarre accident in the early 80's.

Musically Osbourne takes the first steps towards commercial success with this album. Although the music is still heavy metal; with a mix of fast riffing and drawn out chords creating the central soundscapes; subtle effects were used to make this record accessible to people outside the relatively small heavy metal fan base. The guitars are put back a bit in the mix, making them less dominant in the soundscapes. The guitar sound comes across as rather slick, without many raw edges. In addition, the synth is used to some extent in most tracks, creating a slightly softer overall sound.
But the main reason for the slight commercial success of "Bark at the Moon" were the inclusion of two ballads; where one of them (So Tired) started climbing the charts in Europe. A very melodic piece with extensive use of synths and what sounds like orchestra instruments gave the song an originality that was noticeable at the time it was released.

Special mention has to be given to the slight confusion as to just what songs that makes up this album. The album was originally released with 8 songs; but with a slight difference in what songs that were on the release depending on continent and country. And the track listing was different from edition to edition; and added to that some of the songs had different names on different releases as well. On the various releases of this album 10 different songs are used, and 12 different song titles.

The version that forms the basis for this release is the 8 song release with "Rock and Roll Rebel" as the starting track, "Forever" as track 5 (named "Centre of Eternity" on some versions), and "Spiders" as the last track (known as "Spiders in the Night" on some releases, and in other releases replaced with the track "Slow Down").

The only slightly weak track on this release is opening track "Rock and Roll Rebel"; a nice rocker but somewhat anonymous and bland. The rest of the tracks here are all good, with the highlight for me being "Now You See It (Now You Don't)", a good metal tune where the synths are used effectively to create and enhance the mood and atmosphere of the song. September 28, 2007

 Up and Down
This album has 3 great singles but not much else going for it. The title track is an obvious great song, which shows that guitarist Jake E Lee can play very well. Rock N Roll rebel is also a decent number, so is the last track Waiting for Darkness. But like Ultimate Sin after this album it is just filled with weak songs. Come on now Centre of Eternity, Slow Down and So Tired, sound lame today. I know that all the Ozzy fans reading this will shout bloody murder but come on. The keyboards really kill the metal aspect of both is album and Ultimate sin following it.

September 26, 2007

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