04) Ozzy Osbourne

Being in a doom band, the safe choice for an influential band would be Black Sabbath, but for me the first four solo Ozzy records are what really shaped me into a Heavy Metal lifer.  I was actually introduced to solo Ozzy in the early 80s at around 8yrs old, before I had even heard of Black Sabbath. I remember my older cousin popping in Blizzard of Ozz on 8-track and I instantly thought “DAMN, this is way cooler than KISS”! I had my parents buy me Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman on vinyl the next day. 

I am a big fan of Lee Kerslake’s drumming on those first two records and that opening drum fill on Over the Mountain still gets me pumped up every time I hear it, and one of the reasons I wanted to start playing drums when I was a kid. – Kirk Gatterer (drums)

 Track: Over the Mountain