By JAY ROBERTS

The Cassette Chronicles is a continuing series of mini reviews and reflections on albums from the 1980’s and 1990’s. The aim of this series is to highlight both known and underappreciated albums from rock, pop and metal genres from this time period through the cassette editions of their releases. Some of the albums I have known about and loved for years, while others are new to me and were music I’ve always wanted to hear. There will be some review analysis and my own personal stories about my connection with various albums. These opinions are strictly my own and do not reflect the views of anyone else at Limelight Magazine.

OZZY OSBOURNE – THE ULTIMATE SIN (1986)

On Tuesday July 22nd, 2025, heavy metal’s own “Prince of Darkness” Ozzy Osbourne passed away at the age of 76 after years of health issues. It was just a couple weeks after the “Back to the Beginning” event, where Ozzy performed for the final time, was held.

It was a bit fitting that I learned of the news while filling in for a shift at my friend’s record shop, Purchase Street Records. I had texted my friend Jeff to let him know that I was working at the shop that day (pretending that anyone would actually care about that) and he got back to me saying that Ozzy had apparently died.

Not surprising given the health issues he’s had, but still a bit of a shock. I had to confirm it but then I told a couple of the customers that were in the store who were also a bit shocked as you might imagine.

And so begins a long period of time as everyone who ever heard the music of Black Sabbath or Ozzy’s solo career will weigh in on his passing from a multitude of angles.

I had actually planned on writing about a different album this week but I scrapped that in order to pay tribute to Osbourne. The funny thing is, I realized that I’ve never written about an Ozzy solo release in the eight plus years of doing this series. And the only Black Sabbath album I have written about featured Tony Martin on vocals. 

I could’ve sworn I’d done something with Ozzy’s solo albums but as I looked into it, I apparently wrote some very brief pieces on a now-defunct message board forum that I was part of for a good long time. Part of what I said there will be incorporated here.

For me, The Ultimate Sin was the first Ozzy Osbourne album I ever bought and it remains my favorite. What I didn’t realize until now is that Ozzy himself apparently didn’t like the album. I was reading the Wikipedia page for the album and he apparently liked the material but blamed producer Ron Nevison for everything feeling and sounding the same. Me, I don’t feel that way and continue to love the album.

The first side of the album opens the album’s title track, which is one of the two big tracks from the album to this day. It’s a phenomenal track with a great guitar run through from Jake E. Lee but it is far from the only great bit of music on the album.

While “The Ultimate Sin” had a slightly more methodical delivery amidst the overall uptempo pacing, “Secret Loser” was a flat out rocker right from the start. While you may question the idea of being a “secret” loser when you are singing a song about it, this is a flat out great track. It has a fiery delivery of the music and Ozzy giving a vocal performance that is almost rapid-fire in its delivery at times.

As I’m writing (and editing) this article, I’m thinking about my own various experiences with Ozzy Osbourne over the years. I mean besides the music itself. While I’m sure others have seen him live in concert many times, I only saw a solo Ozzy show once. It was the last solo tour he did before starting Ozzfest (a package tour I never once attended). If my memory is right, it would’ve been in 1996. While Ozzy’s performance was good, I remember the show particularly because Prong and Filter opened up and I walked out on both performances because I didn’t like either band.

The song “Never Know Why” is a pretty damn good rocker, but while I did enjoy the song for the most part, the repetition of “We Rock” in the lyrics grew tiresome as the song progressed.

Another blazing rocker is “Thank God for the Bomb” which is thematically in line with the Side 2 track “Killer of Giants”…at least in my mind if nowhere else.

The first side of the album closes out with the song “Never”. Good song but I wonder why they decided two songs with “never” in the title were sequenced on the same side of the album. Granted, they were dramatically different and all but it just seems weird as I think about it in the here and now.

Before diving into the second side of The Ultimate Sin, I thought I’d dig into the 2nd time I saw Ozzy in concert. This time it was with Black Sabbath as they toured for what ended up being their final studio album 13. I loved the show overall and while Ozzy sounded a bit off-key at times, it was the first time I was seeing Tony Iommi and man was I blown away by witnessing him play guitar live. 

The second side of the album opens with the song “Lightning Strikes”. It’s an explosive rocker from the start and perhaps a bit of an underrated gem because it is such a good song that it should’ve been as big as both the title track and “Shot in the Dark”. I love the guitar playing on this song. At times it is understated but when more of a pyrotechnic approach is called for, Jake E. Lee delivers the goods.

I mentioned “Killer of Giants” earlier in this article when talking about the song “Thank God for the Bomb” and how I think of them as thematic compatriots. The opening of “Killer of Giants” has a great understated guitar intro before a relatively subdued vocal take from Ozzy comes in. The song is way more of a dramatic presentation until you get to that first chorus when the music breaks out into a more readily rocking tempo. The song alternates with those two stylistic choices for the next part of the song before sticking with a more in-your-face rocking nature til the end of the track.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever fully appreciated the song “Fool Like You”, but as I was listening to the album so I could write this article, I discovered that I was really getting into the song. Maybe a bit of sentimentality was creeping in because of Ozzy’s passing but the song just clicked with me. You’ve got a vibrantly rocking musical score behind Ozzy’s vocals and while it may not be one of his greatest songs ever, I definitely felt myself rocking to the song this time around.

Speaking of sentimentality, I’m not usually prone to it. So when I saw Black Sabbath on their final run of their “The End” tour in 2016, I wasn’t sure how things were going to go. Remember I mentioned that when I saw them a few years earlier, Ozzy had been a bit off-key at times. But I shouldn’t have worried because this particular show was AMAZING! I even gained a new appreciation for a Sabbath song at the show. The song “After Forever” just blew me away and Ozzy’s vocal for the song on that night was just killer!

 I had written a review of the show for the KNAC website and the final paragraph of that review summed up succinctly what I thought of the final actual tour that Ozzy performed: 

“I don’t give raves to a band based on sentimentality so when I say that BLACK SABBATH delivered a fantastic concert, it is based on their actual performance and not the fact that they have announced “The End”. And that is exactly what happened in Mansfield on August 25th. BLACK SABBATH put on a show for the ages leaving the masses with a indelible memory of a band firing on all cylinders that was less a celebration of their leavetaking and more a reminder of the fact that they are, indeed, the Godfathers of Metal.”

And that brings us to the closing track of The Ultimate Sin album, the all-time classic “Shot in the Dark”. I don’t know what else I can really say about that song other than that. The great mood established right from the start, the burning guitar track…killer lyrics and an all-time vocal performance from Ozzy. Does anything else really need to be said? Just go listen to the song and you’ll get it for yourself. Assuming you haven’t already spent decades loving the song, of course.

When I confirmed the news that Ozzy had indeed passed away, after my first thoughts of shock and sadness, my next “first” thought was for the daughter of an author friend of mine. While she will remain nameless here, she is a HUGE Ozzy fan. She and her family took a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this summer and there she is in front of the Ozzy exhibit just to continue our totally fake and manufactured feud about who is the best Sabbath singer. Of course, she’s Team Ozzy and because of my love of all things Dio, I choose Ronnie’s side. It has led to a lot of good natured banter between us as she’s been discovering all the great music that I grew up with. But now I wish she’d actually been able to see him live in concert. She’s saddened but doing okay. She even wrote about Ozzy on her Facebook page yesterday as she mourns his passing which included this great line that got me chuckling to myself: “- To this day, there are still very few singers/songwriters that can truly make me feel as if satan himself is out to get me, in the best way possible.”

And that’s what I’m sure many (or all) metal fans will be doing for a few days at least, pulling out albums and rejoicing in the music Ozzy Osbourne was part of creating and that will stand as his testament now that our Prince of Darkness has left us.

For me, that process of digging out his music all begins with The Ultimate Sin. I still think of it as my favorite Ozzy solo album and while critical opinions may vary, nothing can dim my love of the album.

Born John Michael Osbourne, the man who would become “Ozzy”, leaves behind a catalog of music that fans will know and love forever.

Rest in Peace Ozzy!

NOTES OF INTEREST: The Ultimate Sin peaked at #6 on the album chart in the US. It went double platinum. 

When Ozzy’s solo catalog was remastered and reissued in 2002, The Ultimate Sin was the only one that didn’t get re-released. The only available version of the album on CD is apparently the 1995 reissue which features the single edit version of “Shot in the Dark”.

Most of the music on The Ultimate Sin is credited to Ozzy, bassist Bob Daisley and guitarist Jake E. Lee. However, “Shot in the Dark” is credited to Ozzy and bassist Phil Soussan. It is believed (though I’m not sure if it is confirmed) that a legal struggle between those two is the reason why the album never got reissued in 2002.

At one point, Greg Chaisson was hired to be the bassist in the band, but he was fired for not fitting the image of the band. He would later reunite with Jake E. Lee as part of the band Badlands.