Ozzy Osbourne - Memoirs Of A Madman mp3 (2014)

John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English heavy metal vocalist, songwriter, and television personality. Osbourne rose to prominence in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of the pioneering band Black Sabbath, whose dark and heavy sound has often been cited as key to the development of the heavy metal genre. Osbourne left Black Sabbath in 1979 and has since had a successful solo career, releasing 11 studio albums, the first seven of which were all awarded multi-platinum certifications in the U.S., although he has reunited with Black Sabbath on several occasions, most recently in 2011, to record the album 13, which was released in 2013. Osbourne's longevity and success have earned him the informal title of "Godfather of Heavy Metal".

Osbourne's total album sales from his years in Black Sabbath, combined with his solo work, is over 100 million. As a member of Black Sabbath he was inducted into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame as both a solo artist and as a member of the band. He has a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the early 2000s, he became a TV star, appearing as himself in the MTV reality program The Osbournes, alongside wife/manager Sharon and two of their three children, Kelly and Jack.

After leaving Black Sabbath, Osbourne was signed to Don Arden's Jet Records. Arden dispatched his daughter Sharon to Los Angeles to "look after Ozzy's needs, whatever they were", as a means of protecting his investment. Initially, Arden was hopeful that Osbourne would return to Black Sabbath, and he later attempted to convince the singer to name his new band "Son of Sabbath", which Osbourne hated. Sharon attempted to convince Osbourne to form a new supergroup with guitarist Gary Moore. In late 1979, under the management of the Ardens, Osbourne formed the band The Blizzard of Ozz, the line-up of which featured drummer Lee Kerslake (of Uriah Heep), bassist/lyricist Bob Daisley (of Rainbow and later Uriah Heep), keyboardist Don Airey (of Rainbow, and later Deep Purple), and guitarist Randy Rhoads (of Quiet Riot). The record company would eventually title the group's debut album Blizzard of Ozz credited simply under Osbourne's name, thus commencing his solo career. Co-written with Daisley and Rhoads, the album brought Osbourne considerable success on his first solo effort. Though it is generally accepted that Osbourne and Rhoads started the band, bassist Daisley later claimed that he and Osbourne formed the band in England before Rhoads officially joined. Osbourne has maintained that his original choice for bassist was Dana Strum, and that it was Strum who arranged Rhoads' audition. Blizzard of Ozz is one of the very few albums amongst the 100 best selling albums of the 1980s to have achieved multi-platinum status without the benefit of a Top 40 single. As of August 1997, it achieved Quadruple Platinum status according to RIAA.

Osbourne's second album, Diary of a Madman, featured more songs co-written with Bob Daisley. For his work on this album and Blizzard of Ozz, Randy Rhoads was ranked the 85th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2003. This album is known for the singles "Over the Mountain" and "Flying High Again"; additionally, Osbourne explains in his autobiography that Diary is his own personal favourite album. Tommy Aldridge and Rudy Sarzo soon replaced Kerslake and Daisley in the band. Aldridge had been Osbourne's original choice as the band's drummer, but a commitment to Gary Moore made him initially unavailable. Sarzo had previously played in Quiet Riot with guitarist Rhoads, who recommended him for the position.

On 19 March 1982 while Rhoads was in Florida for the follow-up Diary of a Madman tour, and a week away from playing Madison Square Garden in New York City, a light aircraft piloted by Andrew Aycock (the band's tour bus driver) carrying guitarist Randy Rhoads and Rachel Youngblood, the band's costume and make up designer, crashed while performing low passes over the band's tour bus. In a prank turned deadly, the left wing of the aircraft clipped the bus, causing the plane to graze a tree and crash into the attached garage of a nearby mansion, killing Rhoads, Aycock, and the band's hairdresser, Rachel Youngblood. On autopsy, cocaine was found to be present in Aycock's urine. The crash was officially ruled the result of "poor judgement by the pilot in buzzing the bus and misjudging clearance of obstacles". Experiencing firsthand the horrific death of his close friend and band mate, Osbourne fell into a deep depression. The tour was cancelled for two weeks while Osbourne, his wife/manager Sharon, and drummer Aldridge returned to Los Angeles to take stock while bassist Sarzo remained in Florida with family.

Gary Moore was the first guitarist approached to replace Rhoads, but he refused. Ex-Gillan guitarist Bernie Tormé replaced Rhoads once the tour resumed, though his tenure in the band would last less than one month. During an audition for guitarists in a hotel room, Osbourne selected Night Ranger's Brad Gillis to finish the tour. The tour culminated in the release of the 1982 live album, Speak of the Devil recorded at the Ritz in New York City. A live tribute album for Rhoads was also later released.

Despite the difficulties, Osbourne moved on after Rhoads' death. Speak of the Devil, known in the United Kingdom as Talk of the Devil, was originally planned to consist of live recordings from 1981, primarily from Osbourne's solo work. Under contract to produce a live album, it ended up consisting entirely of Black Sabbath covers recorded with Brad Gillis, bassist Rudy Sarzo, and drummer Tommy Aldridge. Osbourne later commented (inside the cover of "Tribute" ) "I don't give a fuck about that album. It was just a bunch of bullshit Sabbath covers."

In 1982 Osbourne appeared as lead vocalist on the Was (Not Was) pop dance track "Shake Your Head (Let's Go to Bed)". Madonna performed backing vocals. Osbourne's cut was remixed and re-released in the early 1990s for a Was (Not Was) greatest hits album in Europe, and it cracked the UK pop chart. Madonna asked that her vocal not be restored for the hits package, so new vocals by Kim Basinger were added to complement Osbourne's lead.

In 1983 a new guitarist was recruited to play with Osbourne. Jake E. Lee, formerly of Ratt and Rough Cutt, joined the band to record Bark at the Moon. The album, co-written with Bob Daisley, featured Tommy Aldridge, and former Rainbow keyboard player Don Airey. The album contains the fan favourite "Bark at the Moon". The music video for "Bark at the Moon" was partially filmed at the Holloway Sanitorium outside of London, England. Within weeks the album became certified gold. To date it has sold three million copies in the US

1986's The Ultimate Sin followed (with bassist Phil Soussan and drummer Randy Castillo), touring behind both albums with ex-Uriah Heep keyboardist John Sinclair joining prior to the Ultimate Sin tour. At the time of its release, The Ultimate Sin was Osbourne's highest charting studio album. The RIAA awarded the album Platinum status on 14 May 1986, soon after its release; it was awarded Double Platinum status on 26 October 1994.

Jake E. Lee and Osbourne parted ways in 1987. Osbourne continued to struggle with chemical dependency. That year he commemorated the fifth anniversary of Rhoads' death with Tribute, live recordings from 1981 that had gone unreleased for years. In 1988 Osbourne appeared in The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years and told the director, Penelope Spheeris, that "sobriety fucking sucks". Meanwhile, Osbourne found Zakk Wylde, who was the most enduring replacement for Rhoads to date. Together they recorded No Rest for the Wicked with Castillo on drums, Sinclair on keyboards, and Daisley co-writing lyrics and playing bass. The subsequent tour saw Osbourne reunited with erstwhile Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler on bass. A live EP (entitled Just Say Ozzy) featuring Geezer was released two years later. Butler continued to tour with Osbourne for the subsequent four tours, and was a major stage presence throughout. In 1988, Osbourne performed on the rock ballad, "Close My Eyes Forever", a duet with Lita Ford, reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1989 Osbourne performed at the Moscow Music Peace Festival.

While very successful as a heavy metal act through the 1980s, Osbourne sustained commercial success into the 1990s, starting with 1991's No More Tears, featuring the song "Mama, I'm Coming Home". The album enjoyed much radio and MTV exposure. It also initiated a practice of bringing in outside composers to help pen Osbourne's solo material instead of relying solely upon his recording ensemble to write and arrange the music. The album was mixed by veteran rock producer Michael Wagener. Osbourne was awarded a Grammy Award for the track "I Don't Want to Change the World" from Live & Loud, for Best Metal Performance of 1994.

Wagener also mixed the live album Live & Loud released in 28 June 1993. At the time, it was to be Osbourne's final album. The album went platinum four times over, and ranked at number 10 on that year's Billboard rock charts. At this point Osbourne expressed his fatigue with the process of touring, and proclaimed his "retirement tour" (which was to be short-lived). It was called "No More Tours", a pun on his No More Tears album. Prior to the tour Alice in Chains' Mike Inez took over on bass and Kevin Jones on keyboards as Sinclair was touring with The Cult. Osbourne's entire CD catalogue was remastered and reissued in 1995.

In 1995 Osbourne released Ozzmosis and returned to touring, dubbing his concert performances "The Retirement Sucks Tour". The album reached number 4 on the US Billboard 200. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified the album gold and platinum in that same year, and double platinum in April 1999. The album features the hard rocking fan favourites "Perry Mason", "Ghost Behind My Eyes", "Thunder Underground", and the power ballad "See You on the Other Side".

The line-up on Ozzmosis was Zakk Wylde, Geezer Butler (who had just quit Black Sabbath again) and ex-Bad English, Steve Vai and Hardline drummer Deen Castronovo, now in Journey. Keyboards were played by Yes's Rick Wakeman and producer Michael Beinhorn. The tour maintained Butler and Castronovo and saw Sinclair return, but a major line-up change was the introduction of ex-David Lee Roth guitarist Joe Holmes. Wylde was considering an offer to join Guns N' Roses. Unable to wait for a decision on Wylde's departure decision, Osbourne replaced him. In early 1996, Butler and Castronovo left. Mike Inez (Alice in Chains) and Randy Castillo (Lita Ford, Mötley Crüe) filled in. Ultimately, Faith No More's Mike Bordin and ex-Suicidal Tendencies and future Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo joined on drums and bass respectively. A greatest hits package, The Ozzman Cometh was issued in 1997.
1. Crazy Train
2. Mr. Crowley
3. Flying High Again
4. Over The Mountain
5. Bark At The Moon
6. The Ultimate Sin
7. Miracle Man
8. No More Tears - Edit
9. Mama, I'm Coming Home
10. Road To Nowhere
11. Perry Mason
12. I Just Want You
13. Gets Me Through
14. Dreamer
15. I Don't Wanna Stop
16. Let Me Hear You Scream - Osbourne, Ozzy
17. Paranoid - Live - Osbourne, Ozzy
Genre: Heavy
Subgenre: Heavy Metal / Hard Rock
Bitrate: 320 k
Size: 182.87 MB
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Discography

Blizzard of Ozz (1980)
Diary of a Madman (1981)
Bark at the Moon (1983)
The Ultimate Sin (1986)
No Rest for the Wicked (1988)
No More Tears (1991)
Ozzmosis (1995)
Down to Earth (2001)
Under Cover (2005)
Black Rain (2007)
Scream (2010)



Memoirs Of A Madman (Compilation) (2014)