OZZY OSBOURNE — Speak Of The Devil (review)

OZZY OSBOURNE — Speak Of The Devil album cover

Live album · 1982 · Heavy Metal

3.5/5 · 2018-02-03
siLLy puPPy

The year 1982 was a difficult one for OZZY OSBOURNE to say the least. After recording two successful solo albums he was confronted with the sudden death of guitarist Randy Rhoads which left him in a scramble to find a replacement. Before Rhoads’ fatal airplane crash, there were plans to release a live album that covered both the “Blizzard Of Ozz” and “Diary Of A Madman” albums which showcased Rhoads’ spectacular guitar playing in a live setting, however after his death the whole project was put on hold for personal reasons but yet OZZY’s label Jet Records were demanding two more records, so a compromise was made with an alternative live album with two titles: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL in the US, and TALK OF THE DEVIL in his native UK. This was also a time of great uncertainty as to how to continue his up til then successful career considering he owed a great deal of his solo success to the extraordinary songwriting and guitar playing skills of Rhoads.

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL (i’ll just use that title since it’s the only one i’ve known) was basically a last minute sort of project and a whole tour was created just to support it. The SPEAK OF THE DEVIL Tour took place from 10 December 1982 to 29 May 1983 in order to produce enough material for a double live album which would fulfill his contractual obligations. The one little kink in the plans is that at the time, absolutely nobody was accomplished enough to fill the shoes of the amazing Randy Rhoads who was light years ahead of the pack. The decision was made to cover twelve Black Sabbath songs instead and the cast of musicians included Brad Gillis of Night Ranger on guitar, Rudy Sarzo freshly out of Quiet Riot on bass and Tommy Aldrige who played with Pat Travers and Gary Moore on drums. So basically a completely different lineup than the Rhoads album years.

As to be expected, OZZY’s former bandmates in Black Sabbath weren’t particularly happy with his decision as they were releasing their own Dio fronted live album in the form of “Live Evil.” Despite the disapproval, OZZY’s live album outperformed and rode on the phenomenal success he was enjoying as a solo artist and perhaps a sympathy purchase out of respect for the recent Rhoads tragedy. SPEAK OF THE DEVIL was basically a mix of different recordings from live settings. Some of these are from live performances that were not in front of audiences as to get the most possible takes and then some of the audience noises were dubbed in later. This double album includes various Sabbath tracks that cover the entire lifespan of OZZY’s stint with the band. It includes the classic “Black Sabbath” from the debut release all the way up to his last album’s title track “Never Say Die.”

It’s imperative to keep in mind the circumstances in which this album was recorded in order to appreciate it. I’ve always considered this a throwaway album of sort but when i learned of the context in which it was released, it all makes sense and i do love it for the reasons involved. In a way it’s an escapist retreat to the past in order for OZZY to catch his bearings since his usual method of coping was getting obliterated on drugs and alcohol. It was in retrospect a good move as it was something totally within his grasp to fulfill his recording contract obligations. As for the music itself! It is exactly as you would expect. The tracks performed are all of excellent quality and honor the original renditions respectfully. That is both a strength and a weakness.

While performed exquisitely by the band members and OZZY himself, this wasn’t really material that needed to be revisited at the time as the current metal scene was more forward leaning than retrospective, however given the circumstances, OZZY was doing the best he could. This is actually a very well performed album and the later remastered versions correct the lackluster production of the earliest releases. While this pales in comparison to the outstanding “Tribute” album which showcases Randy Rhoads that would come out five years later, this is still a quite satisfying Sabbath tribute album by their former lead singer and not one that i’m ever disappointed to listen to once i decide to do so.