Prince of Darkness
Ozzy Osbourne
Producer: Sharon Osbourne
Epic (USA), 2005
4 CD
Catalogue #: 92960
EAN: 0827969296028
UPC: 827969296028
You save: 25%
Includes a 60 page book.
Personnel include: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Kelly Osbourne (vocals); DMX, Dweezil Zappa, FuzzBubble, Geezer Butler, Infectious Grooves, Miss Piggy, Motorhead, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Primus, Randy Castillo, The Crystal Method, Therapy?, Tony Iommi, Type O Negative, Was (Not Was), Wu-Tang Clan, Zakk Wylde, Black Sabbath.
Recording information: 1980 - 2002.
Released nearly three decades after Ozzy Osbourne departed Black Sabbath, 2005's PRINCE OF DARKNESS represents the first attempt at encompassing Osbourne's solo career in a box-set format. In the thoroughly entertaining liner notes, Osbourne admits that he was skeptical about taking this record company-prodded step, agreeing to the project only when allowed to fulfill a longtime musical goal--to record an album's worth of cover tunes.
The first two discs of this collection are divided between studio cuts, live recordings, and numerous demos of many bright spots in the Osbourne canon, including "Mr. Crowley," "Goodbye to Romance," and, of course, "Crazy Train." The third disc is a compilation of the Ozzman's non-album sessions, ranging from Sabbath standards with Therapy? ("Iron Man") and Primus ("N.I.B.") to a surprisingly low-key Motorhead collaboration ("I Ain't No Nice Guy"), a head-scratching duet with Miss Piggy ("Born to Be Wild"), and a previously unreleased romp through the disco smash "Stayin' Alive," with Dweezil Zappa. The highlight of the set, however, may be the newly recorded fourth disc. Here Ozzy pays homage to his heroes--including John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix--and contemporaries such as David Bowie and King Crimson. (Osbourne's unexpected take on Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" is particularly fierce.) For Ozzy fans, the 52-track PRINCE OF DARKNESS is a must-have collection.
Tracklist
Ozzy Osbourne
Getting his start with heavy metal monolith Black Sabbath, singer Ozzy Osbourne split from the band in 1979, and forged a highly successful solo career that quickly matched his former outfit. While Osbourne's strange antics sometimes overshadow the music, he helped introduce one of metal's greatest guitarists in Randy Rhoads, creating numerous metal classics in the process. Rhoads died in a plane crash in 1982, ending the first great era of Osbourne's solo career, but Ozzy soldiered on to continued success. In the '90s, the Ozzfest was inaugurated, a heavy-metal package tour that helped introduce some of the biggest nu-metal bands of the late '90s/early '00s. Ironically, Ozzy's greatest stardom came in 2002 with MTV's reality show THE OSBOURNES, focusing on the amusing foibles of Ozzy's family life.
