It’s been about ten days since Ozzy passed away, and I have to admit that it still doesn’t feel real. I suppose that for many of us, we’ll never really notice too much of a difference. After all, we can still play his records and watch his music videos, TV shows and other footage anytime we want. There will still be merch to buy, and there’s even his final book, Last Rites, that’s coming out in just a few short months. There was also a documentary being made about his return to England, but it’s unknown whether or not it was finished or if we’ll get to see whatever they have. We also know that Ozzy was working on another record, which was supposedly going to be his final album. It’s also unclear whether or not this was finished and is in any state to be released. It will be wonderful if we do get these things, but it’s hard for me to come to terms with the fact that they’ll be nothing new after that. Whatever we have is what we’ll have. Forever.
As much as that bothers me, especially since I really love his latest albums where a lot of other fans seemingly don’t, the most difficult thing to deal with is simply the fact that he’s gone. He gave us a ton of music and entertainment over the years, but to many of us, Ozzy Osbourne was more than just the songs and shows he gave. I think the world was a better place with him in it. Like The Dude in The Big Lebowski, it was comforting just knowing he was out there, taking it easy for all us sinners. I can only imagine how difficult things must be for his family and friends, who were used to having him around every day. Seeing them at the public memorial was a very difficult thing to watch, and I can only hope they find some way to get through it all. I also hope that some of the absurd hate for Sharon will stop, but I’m doubtful.
The record I’m going to cover today is one that I’ve had sitting on my shelf for a while, but it’s also one that you can still track down if you decide you really want a copy. It must be said that if you’re looking for Ozzy records (or autographs, or anything of value), now is probably not the best time to buy anything. The internet is full of shameless ghouls, who are listing scraps of whatever they can find or forge (I speculate that about 80% of the Ozzy autographs on eBay right now are forgeries, and in most cases very awful ones) to make a profit on Ozzy’s death.
Of course, one category of collectibles that has seen a dramatic price increase are his records, which includes the See You On The Other Side V 2.0 Box Set. It retailed for about 600 USD roughly three months ago but is selling for in excess of 2,000 USD at this point. Even higher for the original splatter version that includes the flexi-disc and full augmented reality. Ozzy and Sabbath bootleg albums that are worth between 50-100 USD and no more, are in some cases being listed for over 1,000 USD. I understand that many grieving fans (real fans) are coping by buying Ozzy merchandise, but please do not fall victim to extreme internet scalping. I don’t know when or if the prices will go back to normal again, but it’s certainly crazy at the moment.
Anyway, on to Roads of Madness. Just by looking at the cover, we can tell this is an interesting record, as it’s very conflicted with itself in several ways. It’s a Japanese looking release with Japanese writing on it complete with the traditional Japanese style obi strip, but it’s an audience recording made in Wales, UK, and it’s been pressed somewhere in Europe. The title of this one has also always bothered me, as I’m guessing “Roads” is supposed to be a play on Randy Rhoads. If that were the case, however, why not call it Rhoads Of Madness, then? For what it’s worth, the stylized jacket and obi do look cool, so I suppose it doesn’t matter too much. The front of the jacket also says this is a “Special DJ Copy”, but I’m not sure what that means.
Roads of Madness has been out for a while, and it’s available in several different colors. As far as I can tell, you can find copies in black, red, white, grey and brown. I don’t know how many copies were released of each color, but I had my choice when I picked mine up. My copy, which is in the photos, of course, is considered the “brown” one. I put that in quotes because to me, it seems more like a brick red sort of color. It’s pretty unusual, and I can say for sure that I don’t have another record that looks quite like this one. The pressing is heavy and flat, and the labels also look nice. I cleaned everything as usual and was expecting a good listening experience all around.
Audience Recording – Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales – 30th November, 1981
A1 Flying High Again
A2 Believer
A3 Crazy Train
A4 Mr. Crowley
A5 I Don’t Know
B1 Revelation (Mother Earth)
B2 Suicide Solution
B3 Paranoid
B4 Steal Away (The Night)
Band Lineup
Vocals – Ozzy Osbourne
Guitar – Randy Rhoads
Bass – Rudy Sarzo
Drums – Tommy Aldridge
Keyboards – Lindsay Bridgwater
This is an audience recording, but the audio quality is excellent. It starts out a bit rough, but almost instantly gets better. From that point on, the audio sounds almost as good as a soundboard. The intro to the show is a bit weird, as it seems like part of the recording was omitted, probably so everything fit on a single LP. Instead of a proper “Carmina Burana” Ozzy introduction, we are straight into “Flying High Again”. There are tiny, almost imperceptible gaps between the tracks, but I don’t think most people would have noticed unless someone told them they are there. Honestly, it wouldn’t take much for someone to clean this audio source up just a bit, and it could almost be at official release quality. Listening through Side A, I was pretty excited to have come across this record. Sadly, my excitement wouldn’t last as I flipped the disc over.
Before I get into the problems with this pressing, I feel that it’s important to mention that this is a great show. These are great versions of the songs, and the crowd is going crazy the whole time. Ozzy is holding them spellbound, and you can tell he’s really enjoying himself with this performance. “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley” are smash hits, and the instrumentation is the top-notch kind of performance that you’d expect from this lineup. As usual, Randy sticks pretty closely to the recorded versions of his guitar solos, but there are still interesting nuances for connoisseurs to pick up on. As bootleg fans know, no two live shows are ever truly the same, no matter how closely a musician sticks to the same set-lists and recorded version of the songs.
When I first flipped over to Side B, I notice that there was a bit of distortion during “Revelation (Mother Earth)”, but it was nothing that really took me out of the music. My usual though that “Revelation” and “Steal Away (The Night)” should have been connected on the album and in live performances occurred to me again as it always does. Maybe it’s weird, but this is a hill I’ll die on. They fit together so well that I never understood why they were willing to lose that momentum and then have to start over again. On this particular night, however, there actually was a reason, as “Steal Away” was saved for the encore after “Paranoid”. Ozzy fans will undoubtedly know how strange this is, but if we’re casting tradition aside, “Steal Away” does make a great encore piece.
I have to be honest and say that at this point, after track 1 on Side B, I kind of tuned out on the live concert experience. There was nothing wrong with the actual audio source itself, but the pops and clicks I was getting made listening very unpleasant. Keep in mind that the record itself looks fine physically, and that it had been cleaned with an ultrasonic machine as well as a wet vacuum before spinning it. Side A was perfectly fine, so what gives? Well, I’ve seen this fish before, and I have to guess that something was wrong with the pressing plates…dirty I would guess. It’s unlikely but possible that the defects are unique to this color, but since this is the only version I have, I can’t test it to make sure. If someone out there readying this has a copy pressed on a different color wax, please let me know if you have the same issues or not.
Usually, I can put up with a little bit of surface noise but believe me when I say this is egregious. It definitely gets in the way of the music, which is a shame since otherwise, this is a superbly captured audience recording. Normally, I would just buy a different color to try, but they are not exactly easy to find and are not what I would call cheap. Ending up with two records with such a serious defect would suck pretty bad, so unless one pops up locally at a price I can’t refuse, I probably won’t try again with this one. If I do, I’ll update this post and let everyone know how it turns out.
I know it’s a downer, but if I want to be honest with other collectors who read this sort of thing, I have to tell you about the bad ones too. This record looks great and might be worth it to some people who are just trying to get everything, or just because of the fact that it looks so cool. Packaging wise, I would give Roads Of Madness a 9/10. The audience recording itself is certainly above average, and I would say that it rates at about an 8/10. Not perfect, but still great stuff. The pressing though? Being generous, I’ll give it a 4/10. Side A is near perfect, but Side B is terrible, and for me, ruins the entire experience of the show. Hopefully just the red/brown pressings are affected, but until I know that to be true, I can’t recommend this one. Thankfully, there are plenty of other great options out there, so keep digging!