February 22, 1986 - The Ultimate Sin

Happy New Year! A long four months have passed since my last release, and over two years since his last album, but on February 22, 1986 Ozzy Osbourne released his fourth solo album "The Ultimate Sin". There has been a lot of turnover since "Bark At The Moon" as only two of the five members from that album remain: Ozzy and guitarist Jake E. Lee. Drummer Tommy Aldridge departs after just one album and keyboardist Don Airey and bassist and co-songwriter Bob Daisley are also gone from the line-up. That's some major changes, especially the departure of Daisley. Joining Ozzy and Lee are new drummer Randy Castillo and new bassist Phil Soussan as official members while Mike Moran adds some keyboards but is not an official member. Let's listen to the new Ozzy!

The album begins with the title track "The Ultimate Sin" and after a brief drum intro by Castillo they settle into the main riff led by a slow but cool guitar riff by Lee. Ozzy begins the first verse and he sounds like his usual self, singing nice and high and sounding solid. The chorus riff is basically the same as the verse, and with Ozzy just singing the name of the song a few times it's a pretty underwhelming chorus. After another verse Lee spices up the second chorus with some nice guitar and it leads right into his first solo of the album. It's a pretty predictable solo as Lee slowly plays faster and faster, but it still sounds pretty great at the end when he's really going quickly. The end of the solo leads right back into the main riff and after a final verse they play the chorus a couple times before ending things on a nice instrumental note with some nice drums and guitar at the finish. Up next is "Secret Loser" and it kicks off with a nice hard rock riff led by some solid guitar by Lee, but things become much simpler once Ozzy begins the verse. The music is alright, but it's quite simple and not all that exciting as they let Ozzy lead the way with his distinctive singing. The nice opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff but Ozzy once again doesn't do anything besides parrot the name of the song in the chorus. It's an odd mix with the verse having better vocals but the chorus having the better music and after another go round they move into a slower bridge riff that has some nice bass by Soussan. This sets the stage for the guitar solo and Lee does a great job with the first part, but about halfway through the solo he really turns it up! He plays some pretty fast stuff and really shreds his guitar in a great solo and it leads right back into the chorus. The guitar drops out for the final verse and with just the bass and drums, I think things sound way better! Soussan does a fine job leading the riff and Ozzy sings a final verse before they jam out the chorus a few times until the song fades to an end. Track 3 is "Never Know Why" and it has a cool trippy guitar opening before they move into a slow but solid main riff. It's a pretty standard Ozzy riff as he sings nicely along and things flow right into a pretty boring chorus that's clearly meant to be an audience sing-along part, but it falls pretty flat. After a couple verses and choruses Lee delivers another pretty cool guitar solo, but then it's right back to the main riff as they resume this predictable and quite average song. Lee plays the song out with another solo that slowly fades to an end and at least this rock anthem did have a couple nice solos. The next song is "Thank God For The Bomb" and it's driven by another catchy main riff as Lee and Ozzy do seem great at making nice guitar riffs and catchy vocals. Lee continues to play some solid guitar in the chorus but it seems Ozzy has forgotten that choruses are allowed to contain lyrics aside from the name of the song! It certainly gets old very quickly when you're just repeating one line, and the verses are filled with different lyrics so I don't know why they can't do the same in the chorus. Anyway, after another verse and chorus they shift into a lighter bridge riff that sets the stage for Lee's solo. Once again, it's the highlight of the song as Lee plays some excellent guitar, especially at the end as he seems to love finishing his solos with some nice flare. They segue nicely back to the main riff and play a final verse before unexcitingly jamming out the chorus to the end where we hear a bomb go off. Side one wraps up with "Never" and Lee plays his best main riff yet as throughout the song he is playing some wonderful guitar. The rhythm section is fairly basic but Lee leads the way with some great guitar and as usual Ozzy sings a solid verse. Like every song on this album it seem, the verse flows right into the chorus but it's a nice change when we don't hear Ozzy just repeating one line! It's like two or three lines, but still! Lee gets in lots of great little licks, all while playing this sweet main riff as they roll through another verse and chorus. They follow the album formula of moving into a new bridge part before Lee takes off for his solo and he follows his formula by starting off slow, but ramping into things and going pretty crazy by the end of it. It's all very formulaic, but the guitar is great and keeps things interesting the whole time as they predictably return to the main riff and jam out a final verse before returning to the bridge once more to finish off the song and the side.

Side two kicks off with "Lightning Strikes" and Lee leads the way as usual with another catchy and smooth guitar riff while Castillo plays some solid drums as well. Ozzy sings a nice high verse as they continue to follow a pretty basic song structure and the chorus is a catchy rock anthem as Ozzy sings "I won't stop rockin' all night until the lightning strikes again". All the songs on this album seem pretty formulaic and predictable as they return to the verse but Lee continues to play some cool and catchy guitar. After another verse and chorus they play a brief bridge that sets the stage for the guitar solo and Lee does a fantastic job! He plays a fairly long solo that has lots of sweet parts to it and as always the solo flows smoothly back into the main riff. They play a brief final verse and chorus before Lee plays us out with another solo. This one is heavily distorted and sounds pretty cool but he seems like he's really getting into things, just as the song has faded to a close. Let the man finish his solo! Up next is the longest song on the album "Killer Of Giants" and it has an epic opening led by Lee playing some lighter but cool guitar. This intro lasts nearly a minute and a half before Ozzy finally begins the first verse and he sings nicely overtop this lighter guitar riff. Once they reach the chorus Lee shifts to a more typical guitar sound but things remain slow as Ozzy sings a decent chorus. It's back to the lighter guitar for another verse and after another slightly heavier chorus Lee takes off for his solo. It's another fairly long one, but he doesn't play anything really quick or crazy as he seems to content to match the mood and play a slow solo. It's alright but it certainly leaves me wanting a little more. Castillo speeds up the beat and this song finally reaches a more metal pace as they move into a better, faster part. This somehow leads perfectly back into the slow chorus and they play it a couple times before slowly bringing this song to an end. Track 8 is called "Fool Like You" and it's driven by a keyboard riff by Moran in a rare starting role. This keyboard sounds similar to a guitar and isn't offensively 80s, so I don't mind it at all as it leads the way with a decent riff while we hear the rest of the band form a basic heavy backing riff. The keyboards fall out as we hear a standard main riff led by Lee on guitar and Ozzy begins another solid verse. There's no real chorus to this song, which is certainly a change, as Ozzy sings the name of the song throughout the verse and the chorus is a short instrumental part. It's nothing amazing but is nice to see some variety. They jam through this riff a couple times before resuming the formula of a brief bridge before guitar solo. The solo is good but not great and they choose to jam out the verse several times over to end things. The final track on the album was the big hit single, titled "Shot In The Dark". Soussan co-wrote this song with Ozzy and he plays some solid bass to keep the pace while Lee plays some cool guitar. It's a pretty catchy main riff and Ozzy sounds great, especially in the chorus, which is also very catchy. After another verse and chorus it's solo time for the last time and Lee makes it a good one. It leads right into a final chorus and as they fade out the song with Ozzy repeating the name over and over Lee gets in a few final sweet licks before the album comes to a close.

That is the end of "The Ultimate Sin" and I thought it was a solid album, but nothing truly spectacular. Ozzy still sounds like good old Ozzy and Jake E. Lee shows that he has some nice guitar skills but all the songs followed a similar formula and none of it really jumped out as amazing. I think it's Ozzy's worst effort yet, falling short of his last album "Bark At The Moon" and not coming anywhere close to the Randy Rhoads era. But it had several catchy riffs and I still enjoyed it no doubt, Ozzy continues to make solid music.