OZZY OSBOURNE: The Ultimate Sin (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

"The Ultimate Sin" is to Ozzy Osbourne what "Turbo" is to Judas Priest. Released the same year, these albums show us two Heavy Metal institutions, then at the height of their glory, trying to adapt to the American market by making their music more accessible. In both cases, the result was a huge commercial success, but also a very mixed reception from the fans, some of them not adhering to this opening to a wider audience.

Ozzy sings on it... like Ozzy, what one love or not. Jake E Lee more than confirms the good impressions he had on "Bark At The Moon", with notably a very aggressive rhythmic playing ('Lightning Strikes') and very high quality solos ('Shot In The Dark'). Bob Daisley's contribution to the composition of 8 of the 9 tracks (including the lyrics) is also appreciable but the sound suffers from a lack of power and dynamism. The guitars could easily sound sharper, and the rhythm section is a bit drowned in a too careful mix. And as this album was for a long time subject to legal conflicts, it hasn't been re-released in a remastered version, which would be a very good thing.

And as far as the legal hassles are concerned, "The Ultimate Sin" has been well served. For the record, following a misunderstanding between Ozzy Osbourne and Bob Daisley, the latter left the band just before the recording of the album, even though he had largely contributed to its writing. True to his bad habits, Ozzy didn't credit him on the first edition of the album (he would correct this omission later on following a friendly legal pressure from Daisley). The latter's replacement, Phil Soussan, had the same concern about his participation in the writing of the single 'Shot In The Dark', whose authorship would only be acknowledged several years later, still following a lawsuit. Team spirit !

Beyond these anecdotes, we have to agree that there are no weak tracks on this album. And from the Heavy "The Ultimate Sin" with a superb riff, to the mid-tempo 'Killer Of Giants' on which the voice is quite poignant, and the very efficient and immediate 'Shot In The Dark', we must admit that Ozzy knew how to negotiate his adaptation to the (musical) fashion of the time. Because as far as clothing or hair fashion is concerned, you are strongly invited to refer to the photos of the time: it's not as happy!

Despite a very perfectible sound and an imagery a little too clean for the Madman, this "The Ultimate Sin" remains to this day one of Ozzy's best solo albums. - Official website

OZZY OSBOURNE

THE ULTIMATE SIN

CBS

HEAVY METAL