That said, enjoy Randy Rhoads, great bass and drums and Ozzy in his prime.


Thank god I was cheap when I bought this cd! or else I would have bought the new one with the remaster.   October 22, 2006
L. Floor (ELYRIA, OH United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

When I got this cd, I didn't have enough money to get the new version, luckily! I listened to the new re - recorded version, and this cd is so much better its not even funny. GET THIS ONE!.

This album was originally released in 1982, and is sadly the last album with Randy Rhoads in it. This album has great guitar solo's, lyrics, drums, and bass work in it.

ok so now lets look at the cd.

Printing, good glossed over paper for protecting the cd, It has original album art, lyrics, and some pictures. And the song listing. 5/5.

Technical - Just in this special case, it has not been tampered with so were going to go with 10/5

Songwise now.

Over the Mountain - One of Ozzy's greatest songs, and one of my favorites, maybe the best song on the cd, its a great opening for this cd. It has a spookifying guitar riff, and an amazing solo. Drums and bass work good, and Ozzy's voice is great on this song. 5/5

Flying High Again - Great Guitar work, Great solo, funny lyrics, and Good musicianship - 5/5

You Can't Kill Rock and Roll - A balled like song, about Ozzy's true love - Rock and Roll, its a good song, with good lyrics and guitar work. 5/5

Believer - An astonishing work of art by Ozzy, great lyrics, and Guitar work like usual. 5/5

Little Dolls - Great Lyrics, Great Guitar work, and just a great song. 5/5

Tonight - A rock balled like song, its very good, good lyrics, and guitar work, however like every cd has one, its the weakest song on the album, but its still a great great song. 4/5

S.A.T.O. - A Dramatic song, with some of the greatest guitar work ever, and Ozzy's Voice shines on it. 5/5

Diary Of A Madman - Some of the greatest guitar work, and spooky lyrics - Kudos to RANDY RHOADS ON THIS ALBUM!!!.

Overall Rating 5/5. This and Blizzard of Ozz, are the greatest Ozzy cd's. I love the others, but these just are.


The business   December 3, 2005
dR00 (Seattle)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

* Osbourne album remix prompts class action:

- After bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake filed lawsuits demanding royalties over their performances in two Ozzy Osbourne albums, "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman", recording executives remastered the albums to strip out their performances and replace them with performances by Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin for the 2002 reissue. Now Illinois fan Anthony Wester has sued Sony Entertainment and Epic Records, saying he felt misled and cheated to learn of the substitution, and his lawyer wants class-action status for the suit. (Steve Patterson, "'Remastered' Osbourne albums a snow job, fan's suit charges", Chicago Sun-Times, Feb. 21; "Bassist, drummer cut from Ozzy album remixes, fan sues", AP/AZCentral.com, Feb. 23). -

This doesn't appear to be the 2002 remaster, but let it be known again that "business ethics" is a contradiction in terms. Never underestimate the hidden powers that be.



Randy Rhoads' Masterpiece   July 14, 2000
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

Diary of a Madman is without a doubt Rany Rhoads' masterpiece album. It showcases his amazingly influential style of playing by combining elements of classical guitar with heavy metal. If your expecting Diary of a Madman to sound like Blizzard of Ozz, throw all of you expectations out the window cause it doesn't. The opening rocker Over the Mountain is one of Ozzy's greatest songs of all time and features on of the best Randy solos of all time. The next song is the fan favorite Flying High Again. You Can't Kill Rock and Roll is somewhat of a mellow song until it kicks in about half way through it. The album is filled with long songs. Believer has some sort of a darkness to it. It's heavy but melodic. Little Dolls and S.A.T.O. are both rockers and feature amazing guitar work by Randy Rhoads. The power ballad Tonight is another high point of the album. The true masterpiece on the album without a doubt is the epic title track. This song is absolutely amazing. It starts off with Randy playing a beautiful classic guitar piece. Then the song kicks into one of the coolest metal guitar riffs of all time. The song then slows down when Ozzy statrts to sing. Throughout the song it just keeps getting heavy then slows. I can't even describe it. This is an album that everyone must own, especially guitar players. This album is truly amazing and you won't regret buying it.


THE GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MODERN MUSIC!!!!!!!   January 3, 2005
bunnyeater
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Diary of a Madman in my opinion is the greatest masterwork of music in the 20th century. Many love "Blizzard" better because it has the popular "Crazy Train," but no other rock 'n' roll album has had more musical thought put into it than "Diary of a Madman." "Blizzard of Oz" was a great album but this album showed where Randy's style was going. The orchestration on this ablum is phenominal. The different layers of guitar work and Randy's knowledge of the entire Guitar (fretboard, knobs and switches) is shown on this album. Ozzy's vocals like on Blizzard are the best of his solo career. The lyrics are well thought out and poetic. And Besides this album jams more than anything else ever put on vinyl or CD.
Randy showed a control over his guitar and amplifier and all the features and possible notes, noises and feedbacks on this album that surpass even Hendrix. And it all is very musically sound and classically inspired. No other guitarists work has as much feeling and originality to it than Randy Rhoads. Even a blues man I knew said "that boy's got soul." One review I read called this album dull in comparison to "Blizzard." That's a joke. Randy is harder and more raw on this album. While many guitarists have tried to be classical, most end up unoriginal, or boring or lacking a soul a spirit to their music. Who wants to sound exactly like Bach. There are many technically proficiant players out there. Some may even be better players but Randy blows them all away because he doesn't just play good, he sounds great.
Highlights: the solo on "Over the Mountain" , all of the guitar work on "You Can't Kill Rock n Roll". On this track Randy shows a knowledge of all the different voices a guitar can have.
"Believer" is a great song. Dissonant with an ostinato bass line openning it up, there is much to do with classical inspiration in this song. "Tonight" -- a ballad with soul. It has a strong bass line with many different layers including piano, guitar volume swells and the ending solo is perhaps Randy's best solo work-- an emotion stirring solo that uses a knowledge of the entire electric guitar and possible noises that can be produced. SATO starts with a mystical classical feel and drives into a hard fast jammer. The last song on the album "Diary of a Madman" in my opinion is the greatest composition of modern music. Completely classically inspired it showed Randy's complete depth as a classical composer. The openning arpegiated chords are disonant and complex in nature. They are played with a rubato feel. This leads into a fast extemely hard driving theme very complex in rhythm. Alternating 9/8 and 3+3+2/8. The 1st verse is in 7/4 time. The main theme is actually developed. A classical concept. The time signature in this song actually changes dozens of times. The bridge is in 4/4 time and builds to an explosion and the ending returns to the main theme this time done by a guitar and an exorcist like chorus. "Enemies fill up the pages are they me. Monday til Sunday in stages, Set Me free."
If you don't understand what I've said here. Don't worry. I love this album the most because it jams.