Mere weeks after playing his final show, it has happened. One of the most iconic voices and instrumental figures in metal, the Prince Of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne, has fallen. And if you’re a rock, metal or general music fan, you’re likely crestfallen like the rest of us.
The fact is, for anyone born before years started coming with the number two at their start, Ozzy was a part of our lives. Some may remember him mainly for his solo career, or stint as a reality TV star. But, for me personally, he was one of the instrumental factors that not just launched my love of music, but my ongoing love of hi-fi – especially vinyl.
Like many of you, my first taste of music was via my dad’s vinyl collection. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house with a proper separates rack with decent speakers and a family with a solid taste in music.
Which meant as a kid it wasn’t whatever autotuned monstrosity was on MTV or BBC Radio One that was playing. Instead, it was usually one of my dad's records.
As a young sprog who didn't know the bands, this meant I usually picked what to play based on the sleeve and artwork when left to my own devices. That’s a key reason, prog, rock and metal were played a lot when I was driving the turntable ages five-to-ten.
But, I still remember the first time I put on Black Sabbath’s debut album. Going through the titles I remember immediately getting stopped in my tracks by the spooky cover and asking my dad what it was.
But, rather than do his usual history lesson, he just told me to play it and gave me a gruff summary along the lines “that’s where it all started” – if he’s reading this, forgive me if that’s not verbatim, I was six…
Putting it on, I’ll be honest and say I was, less than convinced, by the ambient self titled opening track, which spent a little too long focussed on rain sounds and church bells before getting to the meat.
But come the haunting harmonica intro to The Wizard I was in. So in, that to this day I still remember head banging before I even knew what head banging was – I think there’s still a polaroid of me doing this to N.I.B. in my Michael Keaton-era Batman costume’s cape and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pyjamas somewhere in my parent’s attic.
The thundering bass of Geezer Butler, which according to legend was played so loud, the studio actually complained during recording, Tony Iommi’s intense tremolo lead guitar full stopping every line of Ozzy’s iconic vocals; even then I knew the music was something special.
The entire album held a raw energy, power and authenticity that made listening to it in my parent’s lounge via a set of floorstanders feel like a live gig.
It’s a hard experience to forget and a key reason I fell in love with music and hi-fi – trust me Sabbath and Ozzy’s work truly shines when you put some decent amplification to work.
I tried for many years to replicate the experience using the tiny setup I had in my room as a teenager and it just wasn't the same... hence why I care so much about audio hardware now.
And while some audiophiles may forget this and get snooty over his mid-to-late solo work, which (like Bruce Springsteen and others) fell victim to industry trends of the time, including being mastered too loud, a bit over compressed and generally too polished, I know I’m not alone loving his work.
Go into any hi-fi shop, metal bar, forum or record store and chat to the person next to you and I’m 100 per cent certain they’ll have a similar story about the first time they heard Sabbath or Ozzy.
And that’s why I feel the need to remind the world and thank him for his amazing work and legacy. Without him I’m certain I and many other music fans wouldn’t be the neurotic audiophiles we are today.
So, if you can, please join me, dust off your favourite Sabbath or Ozzy album and raise the sign of the horns one more time for the father of metal.
He may have been called the Prince of Darkness, but he brought a lot of joy to the world with his music.
Editor's Note: A special thanks to reader Nigel Davies for providing pictures of his copies of Ultimate Sin and Blizzard Of Ozz and Prog editor Jerry Ewing for this article's image of the album Black Sabbath.
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