Blizzard Of Ozz - Expanded Edition

Some latest incomings – an old 1988 Magazine wth 100% Maiden content, and the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums - repackaged and remastered cds. I hope to slowly share how these items content looks like and why I like them, so first let’s start with a talk cock review of the Ozzy Osbourne Blizzard Of Ozz Expanded Edition.




Like MOST of you reading this, Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman albums are one of the soundtrack of my school days and teenage years and continues till now.

Few things I will always remember is

- the 90minutes long cassette tape which accomodates Blizzard Of Ozz album on one side and Diary Of A Madman on the other. So I play it on the Walkman and enjoy bliss as long as the battery last. No need to fast forward or rewind any song, just play and auto-reverse to the other side and again and again. ( Walkman Auto-reverse siak, kuno ). Now with these remastered cds, I rip the songs to 320kbps mp3 and arranged it so that my mp3 will play the full Blizzard Of Ozz followed by Diary…followed by the live cd that comes with Diary…. I think the people on the crowded trains and buses will think me crazy for smiling from ear to ear when listening to these songs.

- As a secondary school boy exploring and learning more about the legend of Alister Crowley and the impact and danger of alcohol abuse based on different liquor such as whisky-based is all first learnt here from this cassette as the songs talk about these issues. Ooo that was the time of the stories of the suicide boy with the tape of the Suicide Solution song found on his body, his pocket actually. Though maybe a bit exxagerated description.

- Enlisting for full-time National Service and discovering one of the Malay guys who sleep on the other side of the barrack was playing Goodbye To Romance on his acoustic guitar. A very joyous icebreaker to make new friends.

So you guys will also have your own stories about these two albums since long long ago. No need to review the ‘eight songs plus Dee’ from the album as we are all familiar, but there are three additional tracks. The three extra songs are the b-side You Looking At Me Looking At You, with a nice catchy chorus, a guitar solo from Randy Rhoads which is about a minute plus and the best of them all, a magnificent beautiful Goodbye To Romance featuring just the Ozzy voice and Randy’s guitar mix. I like it so much, although thru the years there are so many versions of Goodbye To Romance available from Ozzy’s different era with different guitar players and even other singers. I especially like the Lisa Loeb version haha and on YouTube there is this Korean girl singing this song too.




What I know, Blizzard Of Ozz, is actually a band. It is not a solo album. The band is made up of Ozzy, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake ( with current Deep Purple Don Airey play keyboards ). Bob Daisley writes the lyrics. Unfortunately things got worse down the years among the three that the Ozzy re-releases of this album many years ago features new bass by the Metallica guy and drums recording, with the old original ones deleted. I wonder who in the world is not disappointed with this action. Ozzy should stand up for himself really.

I think this is the worse thing ever done, besides Sharon Osbourne sabotaging of Maiden playing on stage during Ozzfest many years ago. Fortunately, for this Legacy Release , the original bass and drums were included again. Unfortunately, although songwritting credits were given to Bob Daisley ( and Lee Kerslake where applicable ), there is no photos of them. Just Ozzy and Randy Rhoads. . I don’t like Sharon Osbourne except when I watch her judging America Got Talent on tv, but I have no choice but to buy this version of Blizzard Of Ozz which she will earn some money, as I like the album so much thru the years even if I had owned one of the earlier cd pressings.

I read a review of the coffee table photo book included in the Deluxe Luxurious Boxset and seems there’s not much of Daisley and Kerslake too. Anyway, The boxset is way too expensive, and dapat salib, so tak mau la haha.




So, if you like the original studio version and want a LOUDER copy of I Don’t Know, CrazyTrain, Revelations Mother Earth, Mr Crowley, Steal Away The Night, No Bone Movies, Dee and of course Goodbye To Romance from Blizzard Of Ozz album, this Expanded Eiditon cd is nice , plus you got three extra songs and also lyrics etc but the plastic grip holding the cd is useless. I removed the cd the first time and the grip breaks away in small pieces

If I got the opportunity, Diary Of A Madman is next.