Prince Of Darkness [Explicit]
$39.99
Save Your Money - I recently found a dirt-cheap used copy of this box set and couldn t resist. I almost wish I had. I am sure as hell pleased that I didn t part with the full purchase price.Disc 1:If you re enough of an Ozzy fan to be interested in a box set, you probably already have everything here. You might even be like me, and have most of it several times over (LP, cassette, CD, remastered CD, etc.). If you don t, be forwarned that all the tracks here from Blizzard and Diary (tracks 2, 3, 6, 8, and 9) are the god-awful, bastardized re-recorded versions. These versions might sound listenable to those who have never heard the originals, but to those of us who have, they sound like crap warmed over at best.If you don t have them already, run, don t walk, to a used CD store and get the 1995 remasters of these two classic albums. You want the ones with small covers and OZZY in big yellow letters down the right side.Disc 2:This is the best (or should I say least bad) of the four, and the only reason I gave this box set 2 stars instead of 1. After you get past the live versions of material from Ultimate Sin (why are there only live versions from this album, which has been out of print for some time?), there are some rather interesting demos and a nice live version of Perry Mason. It s hardly great, but it is worth a listen if you re a longtime fan.Disc 3:Put this one in your computer. Rip MP3s of the excellent Psycho Man (better heard on the far superior Black Sabbath Reunion album)Reunion [2-CD SET], and the marginally listenable Pictures Of Matchstick Men. Now that you ve liberated these two tracks, you ll find a multitude of uses for disc 3 of Prince Of Darkness -- a nice coaster to protect your furniture from those nasty beer stains, target practice, dog chew toy, or, come 4th of July, you could even microwave it for your very own fireworks show!Ozzy doing rap, disco, and a duet with Miss Piggy? Give me a break! Why not just record a full CD of the sound of a hyena passing a kidney stone the size of a baseball?Disc 4: Everything here, except for the nauseating final track, is available on the Under Cover CD released a few months after this. It consists of cover tracks, along the lines of similar recent releases by the likes of Rush, Queensryche, and Def Leppard (though all three of those are superior to anything here). The final track, a butchered version of the Black Sabbath classic Changes with his daughter Kelly Osbourne, is enough to have any Ozzy fan looking for a barf bag. Not to mention the skip button...
just awesome - you ll never have to get another ozzy cd again!unless a new one comes out
A bum controlled by his wife... - What a ridiculous compilation this is. Discs three and four have gone into my rubbish bin. The first two discs are somewhat liveable, given the excellent ramastering done by Vic Anesini. However, they are still lacking in that they are the versions which have omitted Lee Keerslake and Bob Daisley (no, Ozzy, you ll never hear the end of that!). The new bass player on the new recordings has an awful twangy tone on the bass guitar- sounds just horrid... Also, it says in his notes that he insisted upon this release that the record company allow him to offer his fans new unreleased tracks! Oh, joy, Miss Piggy and Dee Jay Two Pack (or whatever). Fat pigs from the muppets and rappers from Harlem... Not exactly what I expect from a singer who always surrounded himself with classy rock musicians like Randy Rhoads and Jake E Lee etc. Real rock n rollers, not this American Idol nonsense. What a massive disappointment this box set is. It s like Bruce Dikenson of Iron Maiden said, he has to sell out to silly T.V. shows and fads in order to stay popular and cash in on light-hearted, naive North American audiences. Talk to me again when the Bark At The Moon and Ultimate Sin tours are remastered and released on a C.D. set, until then don t tell me I only ever had found memories of Jake E Lee in my band. What a load of bunk.
You can t pigeonhole Ozzie - Anyone who thinks Ozzie s just a metal singer should give this a listen. The first two CD s are variations of the typical Ozzie offerings, but the true finds are on discs 3 & 4. From duets with Primus, Wu Tang Clan, & Miss Piggy on disc 3, to remakes of Mott the Hoople, Stones, & Beatles classics on disc 4, this collection reveals true range & variety from The Prince of Darkness. This is a must have for you eclectic collection.
3/4 - the only thing that puts this boxed set down is the 3rd disc with all the duets with rap homos