10 Most Underrated Ozzy Osbourne Songs
The Prince of Darkness' Back Pages. Here's What Really Makes the Metal God Tick.
Ozzy Osbourne has had one of the more interesting career trajectories that a rock star could ask for. Despite the rambling persona he portrays on the small screen in the Osbournes, many tend to forget the amount of terror and dread that surrounded this guy in his prime. Even though there were tons of kids being exposed to the Prince of Darkness, there are still some tracks that never quite rose to prominence like they should have.
Far removed from the work that he contributed in Black Sabbath, each of these songs show a bit of a different texture to one of the greatest frontmen that ever was. Whether it's a hit that never got to see the light of day or just an obscure B-side that no one got to hear, there are plenty of Ozzy songs that always seemed to get stashed away in the vault for no good reason.
Though Ozzy is a musical force all his own, a lot of these songs work best when he's playing off of another phenomenal talent, be it Randy Rhoads or some other phenomenal guitarist walking the Earth. While Ozzy might be a living legend at this point, these songs are proof that his dark energy extends well beyond his greatest hits.
10. Waiting For Darkness - Bark At The Moon
It's not a stretch to say that a lot of people were skeptical going into Ozzy's third record Bark at the Moon. Those his versions of old Black Sabbath cuts on the live album Speak of the Devil was a nice palette cleanser from the more tragic parts of his touring life, how was he going to make a new record without the help of legendary guitar Randy Rhoads? Well...with the release of Bark at the Moon, Ozzy took a quantum leap from what he had started just a few years prior.
Coming in the wake of the hair metal revolution, Waiting for Darkness is a more sinister look at that trademark sound, as Ozzy admires the new school from a distance. While this is still the Ozzy we had gotten to know over the past few records, the writing has definitely gone up a notch, as he pleads to be pulled away from the light, insistent on being left in the darkness. Questions as to whether this is about the aftermath of Randy or just a badass line is still up for debate.
This is also one of the more impressive outings for Jake E. Lee, showing that he was the right guy to take Ozzy to the next level after Randy's death. Paying both reverence to his past and also pointing a way forward, Waiting for Darkness is Ozzy delivering on the promise that he made on the title track to this album.