50 Years of The Prince Of Darkness - Ozzy Osbourne's greatest records

The Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, is currently celebrating 50 years at the top of rock and roll and heavy metal. He fronted the original doom and gloom heavy metal band, ‘Black Sabbath’ who formed in 1968. Ozzy shot to fame in the early 70’s and quickly became one of the most infamous & notorious rock and roll stars on the planet.

His recording career has spanned an amazing 50 years releasing several albums with ‘Black Sabbath’, as well as 11 solo studio albums. His first solo record, ‘Blizzard of Ozz’, hit the shelves on the 12th September 1980 reaching No’7 in the UK music charts, and 21 in the US Billboard charts the following year. His debut album featured some of his most memorable songs to date, ‘I don’t know’, ‘Crazy Train’ and ‘Mr. Crowley’. The blistering guitar of Randy Rhoads shaping the unique sound of the record at the time.

Whilst Ozzy’s solo records have varied in terms of production and sound, his hauntingly unique voice has echoed throughout every single album, and he still sounds exactly the same today, well, almost. Ozzy is a heavy metal idol to millions around the world, and many bands cite him as one of their biggest influences.

Ozzy has also collaborated with many musicians over the years including the mighty Lemmy Kilmister from Motorhead. ‘Hellraiser’ and ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ have been two of Ozzy’s biggest solo releases in the latter part of his solo career.

Ozzy formed his solo outfit in 1979 when he was in Los Angeles looking for new bandmates, his bass player Dana Strum spent weeks trying to get Randy Rhoads to audition for him, Rhoads only agreed just to get Strum off his back but decided to team up with him and Ozzy after the audition.

In celebration of Ozzy’s latest tour, ‘No More Tours 2’ and his amazing 50-year career as the Prince Of Darkness, we decided to listen to all 11 studio albums back to back and pick the ultimate Ozzy Osbourne songs from his incredible back catalogue.

These are in no particular order and you can check out our spotify playlist at the end!

Album - Blizzard of Ozz (1980)

Ozzy’s debut album as a solo artist, recorded with the almighty Randy Rhoads, landed in September of 1980 and showcased some of Ozzy’s most famous tracks. These are going to be obvious as some of his best so we couldn’t leave them out.

The band recorded demos of the songs "I Don't Know", "Crazy Train", "Goodbye to Romance", and "You Looking at Me Looking at You" in Birmingham in early 1980 and considered to be one of Ozzy’s finest records.

Best songs from Blizzard of Ozz:

‘No Bone Movies’, Mr. Crowley’, ‘Crazy Train’

Album - Diary of a Madman (1981)

The last album that Randy Rhoads would sadly record with Ozzy before he died in a tragic plane accident. A darker and more sinister sound to the music and Ozzy’s vocals overall. To date, the album has sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

Best songs from Diary of a Madman:

‘Diary of a Madman’, ‘S.A.T.O’, ‘Little Dolls’

Album - Bark at the Moon (1983)

Surprisingly, the third Ozzy record came out very quickly after the death of guitarist Randy Rhoads who was replaced with former Ratt and Rough Cutt guitarist Jake E. Lee. The album peaked at number 19 on the Billboard album chart and within several weeks of release was certified Gold for over 500,000 sales in the United States.

Jake E. Lee was influenced by his older sister to listen to Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin records at an early age which you can clearly hear in his playing, and combined with Ozzy’s haunting vocals, they created some very unique music.

Best songs from Bark at the Moon:

‘Bark at the Moon’, ‘You’re No Different’, ‘Now You See It’, ‘Waiting For Darkness’

Album - The Ultimate Sin (1986)

This record marks the final appearance of lead guitarist Jake E. Lee and the first and only Ozzy album to feature bassist Phil Soussan, who co-wrote the album's hit single "Shot in the Dark".

Ozzy recorded this record with Jake E Lee after undergoing treatment for substance abuse at the Betty Ford Clinic in 1985. Apparently, the working title for this album was ‘Killer of Giants’, however, Ozzy changed it at the last minute.

Best songs from The Ultimate Sin:

‘Secret Loser’, ‘Fool Like You’, ‘Shot In The Dark’

Album - No Rest For The Wicked (1988)

This was a bit of a strange record for Ozzy and didn’t really make that much of an impact on his career. This was the first album to feature guitarist Zakk Wylde so it could have been a simple case of getting that first record out of the way until they really found their groove together.

Best songs from No Rest For The Wicked:

‘Miracle Man’, ‘Breakin All The Rules’, ‘Fire In The Sky’, 'Demon Alcohol’

Album - No More Tears (1991)
No More Tears is seen by many as one of Ozzy’s finest records to date. Released in 1991 and having four tracks reaching the top ten US mainstream hot rock charts.

This album also features four tracks that had been co-written by the great Lemmy from Motorhead which were ‘Hellraiser’, ‘I Don’t Want To Change The World’, ‘Desire’, and probably one of Ozzy’s biggest hit singles, ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’.

Best songs from No More Tears:

‘Don’t Blame Me’, ‘Hellraiser’, ‘Desire’, ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’, ‘No More Tears’

Album - Ozzmosis (1995)

After the release of his sixth album No More Tears in 1991, Ozzy announced that he would be retiring from music. However, he returned with Ozzmosis in 1995, which featured long-time guitarist Zakk Wylde as well as former Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Deen Castronovo.

This record delivered a slightly fresher sound to Ozzy’s vocals as well as some big production to go with it. This saw Ozzy delving into the heavier aspect of his metal career, which he would follow through to this day. There’s also a couple of interesting calmer tracks on the record which diversifies the album overall.

Best songs from Ozzmosis:

‘Perry Mason’, ‘Tomorrow’, ‘My Little Man’

Album - Down To Earth (2001)

At the time, this was probably one of the most heavily produced Ozzy albums and it also ushered in a new Heavier sound to his material. As a solo artist, this is when Ozzy really started to break into the mainstream and became the true image of the Prince of Darkness.

Down To Earth also featured one of Ozzy’s biggest ever singles, ‘Dreamer’, which topped charts all over the world. Down to Earth went gold in 2001, and platinum in 2003.

Best songs from Down To Earth:

‘Gets Me Through’, ‘Facing Hell’, ‘Alive’, ‘Can You Hear Them?’

Album - Black Rain (2007)

Black Rain debuted at No. 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling about 152,000 copies in its first week; making it Osbourne's highest debut to date. In the US, limited edition copies of the album were sold with special codes inside of the packets, which could be used to redeem a pair of Ozzfest 2007 tickets. Ozzfest 2007 was nicknamed "Freefest" because all tickets were free.

Best songs from Black Rain:

‘Trap Door’, ‘Black Rain’, ‘Lay Your World On Me’, ‘The Almighty Dollar’, ‘11 Silver’

Album - Scream (2010)

Ozzy’s 11th and most recent album to date (as of 2018). The album was recorded at Ozzy's home studio "The Bunker" in Los Angeles, California and produced by himself and Kevin Churko, who had previously worked on Black Rain in 2007.

This record features one of the most powerful songs of Ozzy’s solo career, "Let Me Hear You Scream". It’s just a relentless beast of a track.

Best songs from Scream:

‘Let Me Hear You Scream, ‘Fearless’, ‘Diggin Me Down’, ‘Life Won’t Wait’

All in all, Ozzy has released some seriously epic records and has truly earned his place on the throne as The Prince Of Darkness. His career has spanned an impressive 50 years, and considering the lifestyle he’s had, it’s amazing he’s still here.

Here’s the full list of best Ozzy songs and the playlist if you want to check them out and delve a little deeper into the dark heavy metal world of the one and only, Ozzy Osbourne.

Here’s to The Prince Of Darkness.