Songwriting as much as performance was the reason Ozzy had managed to make this remarkable comeback, and yet those musicians involved were finding it difficult to get their dues. Bob Daisley has as much to do with his revival as any other person involved in his career, including wife and manager Sharon, and yet his reward had been to have to fight for his royalties from the first two albums and having been left off from live tours. His on again, off again, relationship with the Osbournes has been a struggle. So too had guitarist Jake E. Lee found his situation. For the “Bark at the Moon” album, Daisley had accepted a writers buyout of his royalties, deciding that getting a lump sum up front was better than having to fight for his money down the track. Jake also found this out the hard way. In an interview with Eddie Trunk in 2014, Lee was quoted:
“But they promise me, 'You'll get what's coming.' And I keep asking because I'm getting really close to finishing all my stuff on the record, and finally, once I lay down the final track of my guitar playing, they said, 'Ah! We have the contract for you.' And in it, it says, specifically, 'Ozzy Osbourne wrote all the songs. You had nothing to do with any of the writing, you have no claim to publishing, and you cannot say so publicly.' And I looked at it. I'm looking at Sharon, and I said, 'This is not what you told me before.' And she says, 'No, it isn't.' 'Why do you think I'm gonna sign it?' And she says, 'Because if you don't, we'll give you a plane ticket, you go back home and you stand in line and you sue us. In the meantime, we have all your tracks, we'll get another guitar player, he'll redo your tracks, and you'll have nothing.'"
“Bark at the Moon” remains a ludicrous situation where it claims that ‘All songs composed by Ozzy Osbourne’ even though it is completely untrue. All for the sake of money. Thus, when it came to producing the follow up album, Jake steadfastly refused to do anything until he had a contract that stipulated that he would receive full writing credit for everything he composed. It was a tough way to learn his lesson. And of course, it probably also ultimately cost him his job.
On the other hand, Ozzy had had a short stay at the Betty Ford clinic, going in for substance abuse. On his release, he met up with Jake and Bob in London to hear what had started coming together. Jake had composed the majority of the music while Bob had contributed the majority of the lyrics. In an interview for the Bob Daisley website, Bob was quoted:
“Ozzy (or someone other than me) came up with the titles for all the songs on this album, including the title track. I had co-written a lot of the music with Jake E. Lee in Palm Springs while Ozzy was in The Betty Ford Clinic there. All the vocal melodies were Ozzy's and most likely the song titles. I was dismissed after a little tiff between Ozzy and me and then called back to write the lyrics for the album a month or so later, so things developed while I was gone. Bass player Phil Soussan used some of my bass lines on the album. But yes, I wrote all the lyrics for that album except for 'Shot in the Dark'”.
Randy Castillo had been brought in to play drums for the album, while the bass players spot was a revolving door. When Daisley had been sent packing, a little-known bass player named Ralph Hood from Grand Prix was brought in – a fascinating story that you can hear in full on my Patreon channel if you are interested. When he was dismissed, Greg Chaisson was hired, and just as quickly let go. Finally, it was Phil Soussan, formerly of the band Wildlife, who played on the album.
Thus were the circumstances of the pulling together of resources to create “The Ultimate Sin”, Ozzy’s fourth album, and one that has been a source of contention ever since its release.
The album opens up with the thumping of drums from Randy Castillo, drawing in the fading in of guitar and into the opening riff supported by the bass guitar, before Ozzy joins and begin his diatribe for the start of the title track “The Ultimate Sin”. The mid-tempo acts as a conductor to have the drums driving the heavier tone at the opening. The lyrics sung by Ozzy here are interesting, and I’ve always wondered if Daisley was giving us another subtle crack at the Osbournes in regards to the writing credits from the previous album, and how on this one both he and Jake get their deserved credit.
“Anyway I look at it now, the doors are closed and cannot be opened, bury your anger and bury your dead, or you'll be left with nothing and no one. There's no point in screaming, cause you won't be heard, now the tables have turned, it was the ultimate sin”. Probably not, but I don’t think that interpretation was too far from his mind when he wrote them. It’s a great start and an underrated opening track, which is energised through the middle by Jake’s solo. This moves straight into the guitar riffing beginning of “Secret Loser”, one of my favourite Ozzy tracks. The faster pace pulls you along in its wake, joining in as Ozzy serenades you with “Loser, I’m a secret loser!” The Jake solo is followed by a great breakdown in the middle of the song where Randy plays along on his toms along with the bass, with barely a ripple from the guitar while Ozzy sings over the top, only to crash back into the chorus through the guitar and bass riffing back in hard and heavy. Great stuff.
“Never Know Why” settles in the same mid-range tempo that most of this album resides in, with the heavy 2/4 beat on the drums allowing Ozzy to follow the tempo vocally over the top of Jake’s riff structure. It sounds simple enough as a song structure, but it is effective in that it allows the guitar solo to be hero of the song, while the rhythm holds forth prominently throughout. Jake’s solo to play out the track is the shining light of the song and gives it its moment in the sun. The anti-war song “Thank God for the Bomb” follows, and uses a similar technique in the middle of the song with the tom roll followed by the guitar solo, and is just as enjoyable. Bob’s lyrics offer a reversal of the typical anti-war song, openly suggesting that perhaps it is the proliferation of all of these countries nuclear arsenal that is stopping nuclear war from occurring? Ozzy sings: “War is just another game, tailor made for the insane, but make a threat of their annihilation, and nobody wants to play. If that's the only thing that keeps the peace, then thank God for the bomb”. True enough indeed at a time that this event was still thought to be an inevitability. “Never” rounds out the first side of the album – and really, who was doing the titles of these songs? “Never Know Why” closely followed by “Never”? Isn’t that confusing? “Never” continues on with the war theme of impending doom, with Bob’s lyrics asking questions that he was always so good at composing: “If the Messiah is coming will he be too late, to reconcile our fears with our hate, and the memory of freedom that imprisons our heart, as we're greeted by the cold hand of fate”. All of this is perpetuated by the on-rolling rhythm and Jake’s great riffing, bringing side one of the album to a satisfactory end.
The second half of the album is where the real money shots reside. It starts off with the excellent “Lightning Strikes” which is prefaced by a great entry guitar riff from Jake before Ozzy gives it all on vocals. This is a quintessential Ozzy song from the era, and anyone who has seen the video for it, with Ozzy in all his glory, will know it with the hair and the outfit that he struts around in on it. The lyrics sum it all up as well, with Ozzy pontificating: “I'm not apologizing, I am what I am, there is no compromising, I don't give a damn” and that Jake solo in the middle of the track is iconic and legendary. This is followed by what is arguably the best song on the album, “Killer of Giants”. The opening guitar, bass and keys sequence, followed by Ozzy’s perfect vocal for the lyrics, before crashing into the harder edge of the song itself, is one of the best moments in all of Ozzy’s solo material. The second anti-war song on the album also brings to notice the tension that was in the air around the world at this point in the decade, opening with the lyrics: “If none of us believe in war, then can you tell me, what the weapons for? Listen to me everyone, if the button is pushed, there'll be nowhere to run”. Another terrific song.
“Fool Like You” and “Shot in the Dark” complete the album in style. “Fool Like You” is highlighted by the terrific drumming from Castillo. It may a simplified 2/4 beat that sounds like it is just holding the rhythm of the song in time, but it is the solid beat that he produces along the way, with the addition of the occasional flourish, that make this sound so great. It is a great track to drum along to as a result. Jake’s guitar riff opening is the part that drags out in, and then to the heart of the rhythm riff as Ozzy chimes in hammers down on... well... the fool like you! With Ozzy singing “You think you know it, you think you know it all, but you don’t even have a clue, and control is still in view for a fool like you, that’s true. Is there a reason for the way that you are, or does it just come naturally, to have an idiosyncrasy to be a fool like you. That’s true.” And the bridge leading into Jake’s solo, the change in key and Ozzy singing “He’s hiding, residing, deep within the crowd, a hand out, he’ll pull you, down..” is fabulous, and Jake’s solo leads us through to the final conclusion and he plays us out again with a continuation of his guitaring genius. Following on from the previous two tracks on Side B it continues the renaissance of the album. Which is then concluded by “Shot in the Dark”. This song actually came from Phil Soussan’s previous band Wildfire, and was reworked with different lyrics (apart from the title of the song) and a different musical structure. On the album it is credited solely to Ozzy and Phil, which seems a slight aberration to the rest of that band who worked on the original track. Still, this is the Osbourne’s, and we have seen just how this story goes. The opening riff from Jake is sensational. As wonderful as the melody of Ozzy’s vocals are on this track, it is Jake who provides the real impetus, the real highlights throughout, the guitar riffing outstanding and his solo’s again iconic. It is a great way to complete the album.
In the years since its release, "The Ultimate Sin” has been harshly regarded by many, including two of the principals of the album, Ozzy and Bob Daisley. Daisley has often called it his least favourite Ozzy Osbourne album, suggesting it is weak and uninspiring. Ozzy himself would often go around calling it “The Ultimate Din” and lamenting that was poorly recorded and of a far lesser standard than his previous and future releases. His blame lay at the feet of producer Ron Nevison. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2019 he was quoted: “Ron Nevison didn’t really do a great production job. The songs weren’t bad; they were just put down weird. Everything felt and sounded the fucking same. There was no imagination. If there was ever an album I’d like to remix and do better, it would be The Ultimate Sin”.
Ozzy Osbourne came into my music listening sphere quite early on in my heavy metal music awakening. Indeed, I knew and listened to Ozzy before I began listening to Black Sabbath. That tale can be found on an episode of my Patreon channel entitled “Let the Madness Begin” for anyone who is interested in further discussion and podcast listening. It is an interesting tale, but one too long to go over here once again.
This album was released at the very start of this metal awakening, which meant that it was front and centre of my listening at a time when I was devouring anything new. In essence, I had been binging Iron Maiden for about four months, so that when this album came into my peripheral vision, I climbed on pretty hard. It was pushed at the time by the music video for “Shot in the Dark”, and it was prevalent every weekend on the music video shows I watched, especially “Rage” late night on ABC TV. It was hard to miss, in the era it was recorded in, and Ozzy’s hair and fashion sense. He may or may not have been looking to draw in from the glam and hair metal scene, but some of those outfits he wore at the time sure LOOKED like he was aiming for it! So I pounded this album when I first got it, one of those first albums that my Heavy Metal Music Dealer recorded for me on a C90 cassette. And Ozzy’s vocals were the central defining point for me at that time, but Jake E. Lee’s guitaring was a close second. I loved everything he put out there on this album, and once we saw the video from this tour, released as ‘The Ultimate Ozzy’, watching him play live was enthralling.
So we flash forward to the modern day. My vinyl copy of this album was lost many years ago, and I have been patiently waiting for my pre-ordered copy of the new remastered vinyl release to be released and delivered to my door. Instead, I have been listening to my old and battered CD copy in the Metal Cavern, and as always, it has been great reliving an album I have loved for so long. And here is yet another album that I have reviewed for this podcast where my opinion does seem to differ from the mainstream fanbase, where it is regarded less highly than what I think of it. As mentioned earlier, both Ozzy and Bob both are less than excited with it. So I sat back and listened discerningly, looking for signs that I might normally wash over just because I have accepted this album for what it is and that I have that undying love for it. A couple of things do come to mind. I can perhaps hear why there might be concern over “Never Know Why” or “Secret Loser” or “Thank God for the Bomb”. Perhaps they aren’t as strong as the songs on Side B. Perhaps they are weaker. And perhaps fans coming into this album beyond the time it was recorded and released will judge it against the style and production of an album like “No More Tears”, which is a tough judgement to make. Would better production on this album – and it is noticeably unremarkable it must be said - bring through the great elements recorded here? The drums appear a bit muddy in places, along with the bass sound. I’m hoping this has been rectified on my new vinyl copy, so that is not something I can judge here now. All I can say is that, for me, from when I first got this album, I have enjoyed every part of it, so it may well be in a cocoon that cannot be penetrated when it comes to criticism.
But one of the main things I have noticed with this album compared to Ozzy’s first three albums, in the years since “The Ultimate Sin” was released and I grew to know Ozzy’s albums so well, is the bass lines on this album. Phil Soussan is a very good bass guitarist, and what he plays and what he chose to use within the framework of all of these songs sounds good. But he is not Bob Daisley, and it is the one album up to “No More Tears” that Bob Daisley does not play on. And so, it sounds to me like it is missing something, and for me that is what is the big missing piece of the album. It is like Black Sabbath albums without Geezer Butler. Bob was excellent on all of the albums he played on in adding his little runs, that add a bit to moments in the songs where they needed it, and gave the song a flavour that is obvious when it isn’t a part of the track. I believe, perhaps naively, that this album would have been better for having Bob Daisley play bass guitar on the tracks he helped to compose. Perhaps Ozzy picked up on this but has never wanted to admit it. We’ll never know now.
The question could well then be asked – why do I love this album so much when others will find its simplicity to be slightly boring and uninteresting? It’s a fair question, and the answer will reside in the fact that I grew up with the album from the time of its release. It was one that my friends and I lived off at the time, and it speaks as much about my youth as it does about whether the songs on the album are average or awesome. The simple answer I guess is, my personal taste is satisfied by what this album offers. I think it is a shame that Jake, Bob and Randy did not play together again, and Phil as well. Jake and Phil were moved on after the tour to promote this album, with the reasoning behind their dismissals never publicly made known. Jake’s refusal to write anything until he had a binding contract, and Phil’s refusal to sign over his rights to “Shot in the Dark”, most likely played a major part in that. Once again, money and the Osbournes seems to be a prickly pear at worst.
Music speaks to all of us in different ways. I still find this as enjoyable and entertaining as I did thirty five years ago. And as a snapshot of the era of heavy metal, it is still one that showcases much of the direction that existed in 1986. And it continues to bring back great memories for me of that time whenever I put it back on my stereo.
No comments:
Post a Comment