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Wiki

  • Release Date

    October 1981

  • Length

    8 tracks

Diary of a Madman is an album by Ozzy Osbourne. It was released on November 7, 1981, and re-issued on August 22, 1995. An altered version appeared in 2002. This is the last album with Randy Rhoads before his death in 1982. Although bassist Rudy Sarzo and drummer Tommy Aldridge are credited in the liner notes and pictured on the inner sleeve, it was bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake who performed all bass and drum parts on the original release. They were not given credit for their contributions. According to a 2005 interview with Daisley, even though Don Airey is credited for having played keyboards on this record, it was in fact a musician named Johnny Cook who recorded the keyboard parts, as Airey was unavailable at the time.[The album features several songs with acoustic intros, including "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll", "S.A.T.O.", "Tonight", and the title track.

The RIAA certified Diary of a Madman Gold (500,000 units sold) on January 04 1982, Platinum (1 million units sold) on May 10 1982, Multi-platinum (2 million units, known unofficially as Double Platinum) on August 11 1992 and MP(3 million units, known unofficially as Triple Platinum) on October 26 1994.

Controversy
The 2002 Diary of a Madman reissue was derided by fans due to its replacement of the original bass and drum tracks by Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake. Osbourne's 90s touring band (bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin) replaced Daisley's and Kerslake's original instrumentations. Fans and critics generally felt the move was dishonest and resulted in a far inferior product. In 1986 (see 1986 in music), Daisley and Kerslake had pressed charges against Osbourne, eventually winning songwriting credits on Diary of a Madman. Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, said in a press conference that "because of Daisley and Kerslake's abusive and unjust behaviour, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums."

Fans tended to disagree: the reissue credits didn't highlight the fact that the parts had been re-recorded yet it was obvious to those who knew the original issue that something had been altered. Some pressings do, however, clearly state in "Reissue Credits" that both Mike Bordin and Robert Trujillo replaced the original drummer and bassist respectively. Daisley and Kerslake deny the allegations of "abusive behaviour" and continue to battle for royalties owed them for their work on Diary of a Madman.

The "re-recorded" versions of the album released in 2002 contained no disclaimer stating anything had been changed on the album. However, eventually the record company began putting a "featuring re-recorded drums and bass parts" sticker on the cover.

Track listing
All songs written by Ozzy Osbourne, Randy Rhoads, Bob Daisley, and Lee Kerslake except where noted

Side one
"Over the Mountain" – 4:31
"Flying High Again" – 4:44
"You Can't Kill Rock and Roll" (Osbourne, Rhoads, Daisley) – 6:59
"Believer" (Osbourne, Rhoads, Daisley) – 5:17

Side two
"Little Dolls" – 5:38
"Tonight" – 5:50
"S.A.T.O." – 4:07
"Diary of a Madman" – 6:14

Bonus Track (2002 Remaster)
"I Don't Know (Live)" *(Osbourne, Rhoads, Daisley) – 4:56

Personnel
Ozzy Osbourne – Vocals, Producer, Harmony Vocals
Randy Rhoads – Guitar, Producer
Bob Daisley – Bass, Gong, Producer, Harmony Vocals
Lee Kerslake – Percussion, Drums, Bells, Tympani

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