Review: Rainbow, "Live in Munich 1977"

If you have any doubt who the greatest singer in the history of metal, heck, maybe in the history of rock ‘n’ roll is, just pop this DVD into your player and fast forward to the second song.

When Ronnie James Dio belts out the vocal of Deep Purple’s “Mistreated,” an in-his-prime Robert Plant bows to the mastery and original singer David Coverdale quickly ducks back behind the curtain.

There’s so much power in the performance that song alone would be worth the price of this movie, but then you get seven more.

Don’t think that just because there are only eight tracks you’re getting cheated either. There’s a lot of free form jamming and improvisation. They pull 12 minutes out of “Mistreated,” nearly 20 out of “Catch the Rainbow,” around 16 each out of “Man on the Silver Mountain” and “Do You Close Your Eyes?” and a whopping 27 minutes from “Still I’m Sad.” The last one also includes extended drum and keyboard solos.

Review: Ozzy Osbourne, "Blizzard of Ozz"/"Diary of a Madman" reissues

One of the more contentious issues in Ozzy Osbourne’s career may have finally been laid to rest with the release of a pair of reissues on Sony Legacy — Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz.

The story starts shortly before the release of Diary in 1981, when bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake were fired from the Ozzy band and replaced by bassist Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot, Whitesnake) and drummer Tommy Aldridge (Black Oak Arkansas, Gary Moore, Whitesnake). Not only did Sarzo and Aldridge replace the pair in the band, but also in the credits for Diary. Daisley and Kerslake successfully sued Jet Records in the mid-1980s to have their credits restored and to receive royalties from the records. Daisley even continued to work with Ozzy through 1991’s No More Tears, writing much of the lyrical content from Ozzy’s early career and playing bass on every record except 1986’s The Ultimate Sin — though he did write most of the lyrics on that one, as well.