After finding guitar virtuoso Randy Rhoads and members of his band, Ozzy released his solo debut album Blizzard Of Ozz. The album contained many favourites and would become a classic. He proved that he could do well on his own without Black Sabbath and after a first successful album and a tour of it, Ozzy released Diary Of A Madman his second solo effort. He was now fuelled again and ready to rock. Ozzy's Diary of a Madman gives much of the same as Blizzard of Ozz, another solid album with great songs.

Over The Mountain is about the best an opening song gets, fast, heavy, catchy and full of energy it just explodes and it really sets the tone for the album, a very good live song and one of my favourite on the album. Flying High Again is a great bad boy anthem, in which Ozzy says : "mama's gonna worry I've been a bad, bad boy...", just great stuff. You Can't Kill Rock n'Roll is very poetic and reflective with great lyrics and it has a message, that no one can kill what is rock n'roll and Ozzy is right about that. The song starts slowly and builds up to become quite a song, another favourite. Believer is a rocker but is probably my least favourite song on the album, not bad but it could be better.

Little Dolls starts with memorable drum rolls, a great creepy song in the way only Ozzy can do it, catchy riff and just a great song. Then follows the ballad Tonight reminiscent of Goodbye to Romance on Blizzard Of Ozz but only better, Ozzy gives a touching performance here. S.A.T.O. is a solid song but it reminds me more of Iron Maiden with the galloping sounds and all, I really like it but it's just to say I found it does sound like Maiden. Then comes the epic title track Diary Of A Madman, an amazing song that is somewhat an autobiography for Ozzy, the song is amazing with the choir and I don't know why it wasn't performed live more often. As a bonus for the remaster edition you get a live performance of I Don't Know from Blizzard, I like this version and it's a nice bonus but it's unfortunate that there isn't an unreleased song.

The sad thing is that Ozzy wouldn't give Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake royalties which they deserved and as a result had to release new editions of both Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman. Those new remasters would erase their contributions and have Ozzy's current members play over the tracks just so he wouldn't have to pay them. Pretty mean and unfair if you ask. Ozzy may not recognize the difference but old fans do, maybe it wouldn't bother a new fan because he won't notice but there clearly is a change. It's not that they sound terrible; it's for the sake of having the original music. Bob and Lee helped Ozzy in his rise to fame and this is how he repays them? Pretty pathetic if you ask me. Try to get the original and not this remaster. A good thing about the remasters however is that you get expended liner notes from Ozzy which are worth reading and really interesting.

Diary Of A Madman would mark the end of an era.This would unfortunately be Randy's last album with Ozzy as he would die tragically in a plane crash. His contribution to Ozzy's work could be heard, he was an amazing guitarist and he died too early. Diary is a great album, right up there with Blizzard and Ozzy's best work. Another classic album worth getting for any Ozzy fan. It might be sometimes overlooked because Blizzard contains Ozzy's more famous songs but Diary is just as good and well worth a listen, just remember not to get this remaster.