Product Description:
Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Randy Rhoads (guitar); Don Airey (keyboards); Bob Daisley (bass, gong, background vocals); Lee Kerslake (drums, percussion, tubular bells, timpani); Mark Lennon, John Shanks (background vocals).
Producers: Ozzy Osbourne, Bob Daisley, Lee Kerslake, Randy Rhoads.
Recorded between March 22 & April 19, 1980. Includes liner notes by Phil Alexander.
Digitally remastered by Stephen Marcussen (Marcussen Mastering).
After the quiet implosion of Black Sabbath, the wise money was not on former vocalist, Ozzy, being the one to redeem himself musically. However, with shrewd management by his wife and a hotshot Californian in the shape of ex-Quiet Riot guitarist, Randy Rhoads, he reinvented himself and his musical persona, and created a startling debut album. Combining Rhoads' impetuous flurries of heavily stylized guitar, his own series of lyrical caricatures--"Crazy Train" and "Revelation (Mother Earth)"--and a healthy dose of controversy, citing renowned satanist Aleister Crowley as the subject matter for "Mr. Crowley," he ensured himself acclaim and commerciality in equal measure.
Entertainment Reviews:
Uncut - 8/02, p.112
3.5 out of 5 - "...Surprisingly melodic..."
Kerrang (Magazine) - p.53
"[A] work of genius....[With] some superb songs, many of which are now regarded as timeless classics."
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