Former Ozzy Osbourne Bassist Bob Daisley Says Rushed Recording Schedules Helped Make ‘Blizzard’ and ‘Diary’ Albums Better

Bassist Bob Daisley, who played on two of Ozzy Osbourne's most celebrated solo releases, ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ and ‘Diary of a Madman,' recently took part in an extensive two part interview with Bravewords.com to discuss many topics, including those two landmark albums.

The ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ band formed in 1979, soon after Ozzy was fired from Black Sabbath. It was the aftermath of disco, a time in which Daisley says “People had funny hair and wore funny clothes.”  The ‘Blizzard’ crew of Osbourne, Daisley, red-hot guitarist Randy Rhoads and drummer Lee Kerslake went against the grain and had to battle against the idea that “people who wore leather and denim and wanted to play hard rock were dinosaurs.”

The band had simple goals, according to Daisley, who is working on a book about his years with the group and Osbourne. “We didn't go into the studio with a hit record in mind, and thinking 'what was in vogue, and let's play this way with these instruments and write a hit song that's good for these times.' It was basically, 'what do we love and what are we good at?'"

The initial success of ‘Blizzard of Ozz’ and subsequent touring behind the album helped the players gel as a unit. The way Daisley remembers it, “by the time that we did [Ozzy's second solo album] ‘Diary,’ we had toured together and knew each other better -- and Lee completed the picture. We had developed a style and a sound."

Daisley thinks the short time frame the band had to record each album actually ended up helping the music: "The thing with ‘Diary,’ was that it was rushed a little. ‘Blizzard’ had a bit of spontaneity, as Lee was only in the band a week when we recorded it. All the dates of that time frame are in my book. ‘Diary’ was a bit rushed, which could have been a blessing because sometimes if you have too much time, you can polish the shine off something. Sometimes being rushed is a good thing. I feel real honored that 30 years later people still speak so highly of it.”

The original tracks recorded by Daisley and Kerslake for ‘Blizzard’ and ‘Diary’ were famously removed in 2002 due to a reported legal dispute over royalties. The recent release of 30^th anniversary editions for both albums finally restores the original tracks as they were meant to be heard.

Watch Ozzy Osbourne perform 'Crazy Train' on After Hours