Blizzard Of Ozz is the debut album of Ozzy Osbourne fresh off from his stint with Black Sabbath. It's also the debut of Guitar God Randy Rhoads who left then, little known Quiet Riot to join up with Ozzy and company. Rounding out the album is Bob Daisley on Bass and on Drums is Lee Kerslake. For the tour, Rudy Sarzo (Quite Riot) would take over on Bass and Tommy Aldridge on Drums.

Blizzard is loaded with instant classics from top to bottom from I Don't Know to Crazy Train to Goodbye To Romance to Mr. Crowley to Revelation (Mother Earth). And Randy gets to shine on the acoustic gem Dee, which is a tribute to his Mother Delores. Also on Blizzard is the very controversial Suicide Solution, which has been blamed for the suicide of a 14 year kid who shot himself after listening to Ozzy records.

It's strange, but I wasn't so much a fan of Ozzy, as I was of Randy. I worshiped him when Blizzard and Diary Of A Madman came out. I think I worshiped Randy more than I did Eddie Van Halen at the time. There are so many great riffs on this record courtesy of Randy. This is one of the earliest albums that I literally tore apart learning as much as I could on the guitar. I have to point out that now days, I prefer the live version of Crazy Train found on the Tribute album. One listen to that and you will hear why Randy was such a great performer live and that it just makes the studio version pale in comparison.

I absolutely recommend this to anyone that has never picked it up. But be wary, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne pulled a fast one on unsuspecting fans for the 2002 reissue wherein they replaced the Bass and Drum parts with then bandmates Robert Trujillo (Metallica) and Mike Bordin (Faith No More). Did they really think that fans wouldn't object to this? Not cool at all.  Ozzy has said that he had nothing to do with removing the parts. I tend to believe him because Sharon is the puppet master and most likely the one lay all the blame on.

Fave Songs: All of 'em. Co-MVP goes to...Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley. Album cover is classic. Somebody actually put some thought into the making of this one. I can't say the same for his next 2 album covers though.

Final note: It's mind boggling that this album is not on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. Not only does it belong on the list, I personally have it in the Top 20 of all time. This is just further proof that Rolling Stone is clueless about all things music.