When Ozzy Osbourne launched his solo career in the early 1980s with the help of the late, great Randy Rhoads, he tracked and released two albums in an 18 month period: Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman.
Both records are widely considered to be some of the Prince of Darkness’s finest solo LPs – Classic Rock ranks the pair as the first and second best Ozzy albums – and while that sentiment remains steadfast today, it turns out that there were some minor reservations about Diary of a Madman at the time.
Those reservations came from none other than Rhoads himself, whose sister, Kathy, once revealed to Guitar World that the late virtuoso believed the whirlwind recording experience had ultimately hamstrung the tracks.
In early 1981, Ozzy and his newest guitar foil went back into the studio to track Diary of a Madman. According to Kathy, the desire to tour the US, coupled with the need to have enough material to sustain a live show, prompted a faster-than-usual recording process.
That didn’t sit easy with Rhoads – a virtuosic perfectionist. He thought he needed more time to craft his guitar parts, and the quick turnover time meant the final cut was submitted with Rhoads feeling like he had more to give.
“Randy finally had the professional-level platform he really needed,” Kathy explained. “Ozzy said, ‘Do your thing – just be you.’ He encouraged my brother to excel.
“Randy was a perfectionist. He was always criticizing his performance or worrying about his equipment. I could tell you stories about being in the limo when his pedalboard had gone out, and him being so upset about it. My mom would say, ‘They’ll get it to work; it’ll all work out, Randy,’ and calm him down...
“When they did Diary of a Madman over at Ridge Farm Studios... They put it together in literally six weeks, and Randy thought, ‘Oh, it’s not going to be good. It was too quick. I don’t feel I did my best.’ He was so worried about it – but what a freaking masterpiece that album is!”
Rhoads himself had previously spoken of his experiences recording Diary of a Madman, once going as far as admitting parts of his playing make him “cringe” during an interview with Guitar World.
“On Diary... we put a lot more energy into the songwriting,” he said in a 1982 interview. “So the songs are happening but my guitar playing isn't. We were in a hurry to get over to the States and tour behind Blizzard, so Diary was rushed. We only had time to get a song's basic form before we had to record it.
“What you hear on there is actually the guitar track. It's a dummy solo I laid down where I was later supposed to put down a real one. But I never got time to do it. “A lot of my things on Diary lack feeling,” he opined. “It sounds a bit ordinary to me, like just sort of play anything you can think of.”
Of course, it’s a lesson to every player that regardless of Rhoads’ excessive personal critique, Diary of a Madman ultimately far exceeded expectations. Indeed, his former bandmate, bassist Bob Daisley, considers it to be one of the best representations of Rhoads generational guitar talents.
Because of his contributions, Diary of a Madman is a landmark guitar album, one that cemented the young Rhoads' reputation as one of the most exciting up-and-coming guitar talents of his time – and, following his tragic death, eternalized his legacy as one of the greatest players to ever pick up the instrument.
