4 tour and was released by the band´s manager Patrick Meehan outdid both new albums, entering the UK charts at number five. Strangely anough it illustred the appeal of the original Black Sabbath line- up wich had fragmented under the enormous pressures of the business and addiction. For the nest 17 years, the legacy of the original band was to lay heavy on the shoulders of all founding band members.
Throughout the ´80s Ozzy charted a hugely successful solo career, releasing six more studio albums well into the ´90s – Diary of a madman, Bark at the moon, The ultimate sin, No rest for the wicked, No more tears and Ozzmosis- all of wich have dented the US top 10 in a remarkable display of consistency. Assorted live albums and last year´s best of, The OZZman cometh brinf the total of Ozzy´s solo albums up to 11.
Ozzy´s larger thanlife image has been enhaced by numerous madcap antics on and of f stage that even the man retells in an almost incredulous manner. And yet Ozzy´s undoubted triumph is tained by the tragedy that followed the release of Diary…..when, while touring the States, guitarist Randy Rhoads was killed in a plane crash on 19 March 1992.
“It ś somethig I don´t think I´ ll ever get over, comments Ozzy. “I still think about Randy all the time and I miss him.”
For Tony Iommi, it´s been a case of keeping the Sabbath name and flag flaying, releasing 10 albums: Mob rules, Live evil, Born again/ possibly the band´s most ill- fated set, featuring Deep purple´s Ian Gillan on vocals/ , Seventh star, Ethe eternal idol, Headless cross, TYR, dehumanizer, Cross purposes, Forbidden. It´s fait to say that Tony has taken the rough witch the smooth, being harshly criticed at times while remaining the guitarist that continues to inspire everyone from Pantera´s Dimebag Darrell, to Smashing pumpknis´Bill Corgan.
“At times I´ve got it wrong in the past few years, but I think there are a lot of really good albums like Etarnal idol and Headless cross that I´m very proud of and that I really enjoyed making,” states Tony.
Despite appearing as the go- between, due to his involvment with both Sabbath and Ozzy at irregular intervals over the past 15 years, Geezer Butler´s forward- lookig vision is best encapsulated on the albums recorded in the late ´90s with his own band G/Z/R. The band´s debut Plastic planet and its successor, Black science, are cyber-riffic slices of industrion- metal.