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Ozzy Osbourne > Bark at the Moon > Reviews > Brainded Binky
Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon

Listen in awe, and you'll hear him.... - 79%

Brainded Binky, February 23rd, 2015
Written based on this version: 1983, 12" vinyl, Epic Records

If there's one thing that Ozzy Osbourne is known for (besides his possibly scripted reality TV series), it's his solo career after his split with Black Sabbath. The tragic fate of Randy Rhoads may have shaken Ozzy to the core, but he got back on his feet and recorded another album, this time with former Ratt guitarist Jake E. Lee. The result was the album, "Bark at the Moon", which might not have eclipsed the previous albums in terms of fame (or awesomeness), but it did leave us with some impressionable songs (as well as a few songs that have to be ignored at all costs).

Everybody's heard of the title track, even those that don't enjoy Ozzy as much as others do. What really helped get that song achieve that goal was its rapid and chugging main riff. Jake E. Lee might not have been as good as his predecessor, Randy Rhoads, in terms of soloing, but he did create some riffs that he would totally be proud of. We would also get a bit of chugging in "Waiting for Darkness", with each individual note of an arpeggio getting repeated once. That's not all 'cos we've also got yet another chugging riff that makes up "Centre of Eternity". It seems to be Jake E. Lee's style, but the song makes up for that by being at a fast and driving pace. Not bad for someone that used to play for Ratt! What's also notable is the creative use of the keyboards to emulate church organs (and possibly a choir), which opens "Centre of Eternity". I guess Don Airey knew what he was doing when he used keyboards, 'cos here, they seem to have been done right, which is ironic, considering their use in "You're No Different" (More on that later). They're also used correctly in "Waiting for Darkness", as they seem to elevate the song's dark and eerie atmosphere.

That atmosphere perfectly conveys the fantasy and horror-related lyrics, both themes we'd see less and less of as Ozzy's solo career went on. We've sort of reached the transitional stage where the lyrical theme of horror is somewhat downplayed to the point where "Waiting for Darkness" is one of two tracks that feature this. "Rock n' Roll Rebel" has the obviously very cliched theme of rock n' roll and rebellion and it is a little cheesy, but it is enjoyable to some extent. "Now You See It, Now You Don't", however, is not. It has another cliched lyrical theme of a breakup, and believe me, how many times have we heard this sort of thing before? Quite a lot, people.

"Bark at the Moon" is not for everyone, especially people who hate the overuse of synthesizers in songs. "You're No Different" is only one example of this, for even with Ozzy singing, it still sounds incredibly dated. The keyboards play that wispy and glossy sound that was quite common in the 80's, and needless to say, it should stay there. If the keyboards emulated church organs, like they did in "Centre of Eternity", the song would be more effective. It wouldn't be that way at all, unfortunately, and thus we're left with a song that came straight out of an old videotape that you got from a video store that had closed down recently. The keyboards also take up a lot of "Rock n' Roll Rebel", making it more cliched than it should have been. It wouldn't have been that bad of a song of they weren't there, but they were, and the best that this song could get is a passable rating. The worst thing, however, is "Slow Down", since it's got a somewhat peppy The Outfield-like like atmosphere and endless synthesizers. That's not what I look for when I listen to Ozzy. I want to hear something with more bite, like the title track. That's what I bought the album for, right? So why don't I get more of that?

I have a love/hate relationship with this album. On the one hand, we get some tracks that are worth listening to, and others that aren't. The more effective ones, are of course, the title track, and a few others. However, there's also tracks that get really annoying really fast, and that takes so many points off of it. Let's face it, no Ozzy album is perfect enough to get a 100% rating from me, even with the presence of Randy Rhoads, but "Bark at the Moon" has both excellent and horrendous stuff to offer.