And the results are in! I won’t be wasting your time with needless chit-chat – not when there’s the voice of the eternally glorious UG Community waiting to be heard, at least – so let’s go straight in. Folks, I present to you the Top 20 Ozzy Osbourne Songs of All time, as voted by the Ultimate Guitar Community! The results are as follows:
20. Dreamer
Beneeath all of Ozzy’s hellraising and intimidating extravagance, there’s a heartfelt core of gentleness inside of him which gets to shine through his music every now and again. “Dreamer” is one such song, which Ozz himself thinks of as his equivalent to John Lennon’s “Imagine”. Although this beautiful ballad maybe didn’t turn out to be as popular as Lennon’s, it certainly is less pretentious.
19. Believer
Ozzy’s sophomore solo album featured some of Randy Rhoads’ most impressive neo-classical guitar shredding, but would sadly turn out to be the last album he recorded with The Prince of Darkness.
However, there also some tracks that hark back to the Sabbath sound of old, such as the bluesy spookfest that is “Believer”. It may be slow, but it’s wicked as hell.
18. S.A.T.O.
If someone tells you there’s no “soul” in neo-classical playing, tell them to listen to this one. Randy Rhoads slays, and the rhythm seciton of Daisley and Kerslake works like a well-oiled machine, all making for a perfect foundation for Ozzy’s powerful vocal delivery. Songs like this one really make you thing what could have been had the band had the chance to continue recording with this lineup.
17. Miracle Man
Everything from the lyrics to the music video is one big “fuck you” aimed at the televanelist Jimmy Swaggart who’s been oinking at Ozz for allegedly being the enemy of God and Nation during the previous years. However, during the recording of “No Rest For the Wicked”, Swaggart got caught up in a prostitution scandal, giving Ozzy the last laugh.
Although the sole purpose of the song may have been the calling out of Swaggart’s hiporcirsy, it ended up being one of the best Ozzy songs nevertheless. Also, young Zakk Wylde.
16. Mr Tinkertrain
As the ’90s rolled on, the Ozzy Osbourne band didn’t really undergo the same knicker-twisting that some other big names of the ’80s were undergoing, but only seemed to be getting bigger.
And so, “No More Tears” ended up being the second best-selling album of Ozzy’s career. Although it was other tracks from the album that won the band some well-deserved laurels, “Mr Tinkertrain” ended up being something else as well. With lyrics penned by Lemmy, and Zakk Wylde really shining in all that mid-tempo swagger, “Mr Tinkertrain” is the textbook example of a perfect traditional metal song, and it’s hard to get better than that.
15. Hellraiser
Another amazing piece from “No More Tears”, and another perfect bluesy collaboration by Osbourne-Wylde-Kilmister. Motörhead released their own version a year afterwards as a single for their album “March ör Die”, but younger metalheads may remember it from listening to “Radio X” while running over Ballas in “GTA: San Andreas”. Ahh, fond memories.
14. Revelation (Mother Earth)
With songs like this, I’m baffled how all those conservative ’80s parents thought Ozzy was only Satanmongering and not using Christian mythology as an artistic tool to tell some moving and thought-provoking stories. It’s a lession about not crapping on something if you don’t know anything about it, I guess.
13. Goodbye to Romance
Ozzy may look like a Bizarro version of John Lennon and/or Elton John, but he can come up with those amazing British pop-rock upbeat-ish ballads as good as either of them. “Goodbye to Romance” may have come as somewhat of a surprise to Sabbath fans when it appeared on the “Blizzard of Ozz”, but I’m sure it was a welcome one.
12. Perry Mason
After releasing “No More Tears” – you know, the second most successful album of his solo career – Ozzy decided that enough was enough, and said he was retiring from making music. Four years later, and the world got the chance to hear “Perry Mason”, the first single heralding Ozzy’s comeback album, “Ozzmosis”. And with Geezer and Yes’ Rick Wakeman on board alongside Zakk Wylde and drummer Deen Castronovo, what a comeback it was.
11. Suicide Solution
It was over this song that Ozzy got taken to court for allegedly indireclty pushing a misfortunate teen to commit suicide. Ozzy tried defending himself by stating that the song was talking about “flaps” (I’d really love to hear some opinions on this from British UG users) and not “guns”, and that the song was dedicated to the late Bon Scott. However, Bob Daisley, who was pulling bass duties at the time and who allegedly penned the problematic lyrics, said in aninterview that the song was about Ozzy himself.
10. I Don’t Know
The opening track of “Blizzard of Ozz” is actually one of the first demos that Ozzy’s new band, still lacking a permanent drummer at the time, recorded. In many ways, it’s a staple early Ozzy song – it’s got amazing guitar work by Randy Rhoads, vaguely philosophical lyrics delivered by Ozzy’s iconic wailing, and composition style making one think of some of the more upbeat early Sabbath songs.
9. Flying High Again
Whatever one’s personal preferences may be, the reality is that Ozzy topped more charts as a solo artist than he did as a member of Black Sabbath (which has never really been known as a chart-riding band, quite possibly due to being more of an acquired taste and not wanting to be a band focused on singles). The single “Flying High Again” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Top Tracks in 1982, so Ozzy may have been on to something when he named it.
8. Over the Mountain
In addition to being an amazing, wicked-sounding upbeat rocker and one of the most dynaimc pieces from “Diary of a Madman”, Lee Kerslake really kicks ass with his drumming on this one, and apparently the whole song is said to be his idea. Rest in peace, good sir.
7. Mama, I’m Coming Home
What do you get when you mix mothers, Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy Kilmister, Zakk Wylde and a power ballad? You get gold. Pure gold, with chart-slaying and tear-jerking potential.
6. Shot in the Dark
Like most popular ’80s songs, “Shot in the Dark” follows a simple formula, but has always been a solid fan-favorite nevertheless. However, there’s no lack of controversy surrounding this one either, as the first version was allegedly written by bassist Phil Soussan and his former band Wildfire years before. Many claims were thrown about both by Ozzy and Soussan, and all were received with equal doses of skepticism. It’s because of this that you almost never got to see “Shot in the Dark” on later compilations despite its massive popularity.
5. Diary of a Madman
It’s slow, it’s thick, it’s bluesy, and it’s menacing – the titular track is without a doubt the most ambicious and musically diverse track from “Diary of a Maman”. Randy Rhoads proves to be as savvy in writing powerful riffs as he is in extravagant shredding, and Ozzy outdoes himself in maintaining the eerie atmosphere throughout.
A little known fact is that “Diary of a Madman” is actually an inter-dimensional wormhole in sonic form, and there is actual danger of falling through and getting trapped in there for eternity. Like, for real, man.
4. No More Tears
Like most good things in life, “No More Tears” took shape spontaneously during a random jamming session between Wylde, Mike Inez, Randy Castillo and John Purdell. It may not have been the one to win the Grammy (it was “I Don’t Want to Change The World” instead”), but the titular track certainly went went a long way in making the album a massive success that it was.
Ozzy seems to have shared the sentiment, even calling “No More Tears” a gift from God (but it’s quite possible that the musicians that were playing with him also had something to do with it).
3. Bark at the Moon
Since “Mr Crowley” and “Crazy Train” were (deservedly) bound to end up in places #1 and #2, it is only natural that the first place open for actual competition would be taken by a song written by our patron saint Jake E. Lee, blessed may he be. Jokes aside “Bark at the Moon” is an amazing piece, and even though it didn’t top charts or win Grammys, it’s bound to be one of the songs Ozzy will always be remembered for.
2. Crazy Train
In many ways, “Crazy Train” is one of those songs that have become almost synonymous with heavy metal, and without a doubt one of the two monster tracks which provided the initial push for Ozzy’s immensely successful solo career. Furtermore, it was the simple, yet immensely catchy riff on “Crazy Train” which inspired countless guitarists to pick up the ax in the first place. Here’s a freshly released animated video of “Crazy Train”, if you haven’t seen it already:
1. Mr. Crowley
Dropping such astonishing hits like “Crazy Train” and “Mr Crowley” both on a same album cemented Ozzy’s place in metal history even further. There’s loads to be said about every aspect of songwriting and musicianship, but the short version is that you rarely get such a constellation of musicians coming together and making such a smashing piece – it’s no wonder that it got voted the best Ozzy Osbourne song of all time.
