Early release for Ozzy remasters in Japan...

[tojoro]

From cdjapan:

To secure your first press copy of any of the items listed below, preorder on or before August 11, 2010.
*********************************************
EICP-1418
Ozzy Osbourne/Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition)Legacy Edition [Limited Edition] CDA
3000 yen US$35/86.57 Release Date:2010/10/13
Description:*Japan advanced release. Reissue from Ozzy Osbourne featuring remastering. Limited edition includes a bonus disc featuring more than 10 tracks. Part of a three-album Ozzy Osbourne reissue series featuring the albums "Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) Legacy Edition," "Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) Regular Edition" and "Diary Of A Madman (30th Anniversary Edition)."
URL - http://cdjapan.jp/d.html?KEY=EICP-1418
*********************************************
EICP-1420
Ozzy Osbourne/Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) [Regular Edition] CDA
1800 yen US$21/86.57 Release Date:2010/10/13
Description:*Japan advanced release. Reissue from Ozzy Osbourne featuring remastering. Part of a three-album Ozzy Osbourne reissue series featuring the albums "Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) Legacy Edition," "Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) Regular Edition" and "Diary Of A Madman (30th Anniversary Edition)."
URL - http://cdjapan.jp/d.html?KEY=EICP-1420
*********************************************
EICP-1421
Ozzy Osbourne/Diary Of A Madman (30th Anniversary Edition) CDA
1800 yen US$21/86.57 Release Date:2010/10/13
Description:*Japan advanced release. Reissue from Ozzy Osbourne featuring remastering. Part of a three-album Ozzy Osbourne reissue series featuring the albums "Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) Legacy Edition," "Blizzard Of Ozz (30th Anniversary Edition) Regular Edition" and "Diary Of A Madman (30th Anniversary Edition)."
URL - http://cdjapan.jp/d.html?KEY=EICP-1421
*********************************************
---------------------------------
"First Press Available" button in the product details indicates the availability of the first press edition (sometimes including bonuses).
When that button is gone, only a later press of the same title may
be available.
Some items are released in limited quantity or for a limited period of time. If you're after a limited edition, early ordering is essential to ensure timely receipt of your order.
************************************************** **********
If I remember correct, the boxed set was to be a limited release and only to N. America & the UK. It seems like that is still on for late November release. As Japan is just releasing the remastered albums, they have tentative date of October 13.
In case anyone is curious, it will cost 6300 Yen, or 74.99 US for the 2 disc Blizzard Legacy and 1 disc Diary with 4-day shipping.
Still do not know if the box will include the DVD of footage, or if that is a seperate entity.

[Jagermeister]

So how many unoriginal tracks or musicians will be featured on these?

[ThrillsNSpills]

According to an article in the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine (Issue 1104 - May 13, 2010), 30th-anniversary editions of OZZY OSBOURNE's first two solo albums — "Blizzard Of Ozz" (1980) and "Diary Of A Madman" (1981) — are due out later this year. The upcoming releases will feature the original Bob Daisley (bass) and Lee Kerslake (drums) recordings — unlike the 2002 reissues of these albums, which saw the replacement of the original bass and drum tracks by Osbourne's then-drummer Mike Bordin and -bassist Robert Trujillo.

In a statement, Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, revealed that Daisley and Kerslake had been omitted due to bad blood with the Osbourne family.

"Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake have harassed Ozzy and our family for several years," she said in 2002. "Because of their abusive and unjust behavior, Ozzy wanted to remove them from these recordings. We turned a negative into a positive by adding a fresh sound to the original albums."

According to E! Online, Daisley, for one, was not impressed by the result.

"They sound awful," he said of the revamped albums in London's Daily Express in 2002. "They are nothing like the originals. It is an insult to us, but more importantly to the fans."

However, despite Daisley's grievances, the appeals court determined that he and Kerslake were owed nothing by the Osbournes.

The Osbournes' lawyer, Orin Snyder, was glad to wash his hands of the case, stating, "This decision is a complete vindication of Ozzy and Sharon and confirms what we have been saying all along — that this worthless lawsuit was a waste of the court's precious time."

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/bla...sitemID=140102

[ThrillsNSpills]

When asked about Ozzy's upcoming 30th-anniversary editions of his first two albums, 1980's "Blizzard Of Ozz" and 1981's "Diary Of A Madman", with their original drum and bass tracks restored (unlike the 2002 reissues of these albums, which saw the replacement of the original bass and drum tracks by Osbourne's then-drummer Mike Bordin and -bassist Robert Trujillo), Sharon said, "They are coming out for Thanksgiving and they will be on the market then. . . It's going back to the original recordings with [Bob] Daisley [bass] and [Lee] Kerslake [drums]. And there will be a lot of stuff that you haven't heard before in the packages. Like certain conversations that were going on in the studio with the guys just messing around while the tape was still rolling. All of that will be added into it."

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/bla...sitemID=140399

Q: There's also talk of some visuals in the archives with Randy Rhoads.

Sharon: "We've got two different shows that we have in the archives that we're working on right now. Of course, in those days, the tapes were, like, cut to twenty minutes and then you had to change the tape, so we're trying to clean it up and make sense of it. We are working on it, yeah, along with another film that we have of Randy, so it'll all be boxed together. It should be a great piece to have for a real fan. It will be an amazing piece."

[ThrillsNSpills]

What about the extra tracks? Are they different songs or alternate versions?

[chefcraig]

What about the extra tracks? Are they different songs or alternate versions?

I'd be willing to bet that the "extra" tracks are simply rehearsal run throughs with dialogue, much like the recording of "Dee" that was tacked onto the end of the "Tribute" live album.

[tojoro]

Thrills,
That I don't know...there was supposed to be something in the Aug. issue of GW, but that wound up being a small blurb, repeating the basic info.
Hoping there would be things like unfaded solos on Crowley, Little Dolls, Tonight, etc. Hope the live disc is the whole Southhampton show, which was the source for 2 songs on the Tribute album and the Mr. Crowley live EP.
Ozzy's official site is asking folks to post their memories of the Blizzard & Diary tours in the forum.
Official details must be coming soon, as October/November aren't very far away now...

[Jagermeister]

Well it's not "The Grail" but it's better thann nothing.

[ThrillsNSpills]

Diary of a Madman still give me the chills listening to Rhoads blaze on.

But to be honest the audio quality of the whole thing doesn't sound warm, even on vinyl.

Point being I don't know how much you can doctor a sonically challenged set of tracks, but at least they aren't making decisions based on Sharon's hissy fits like before.


I'm not knocking the material or performances, but we've all heard warm sounding guitar albums, even distorted heavy ones.

[VanHalenFan5150]

I'm hoping that these sound as good as we all want them to.

[tojoro]

Agreed, it's also a known fact that Diary was rushed through recording. For those who don't know, the song 'Little Dolls' has a 'scratch' solo by Rhoads, meaning he thought he'd have time to go back to record a proper solo.
Needless to say, he was less than enthused to discover the album had already gone to print.
I'm hoping they get Max Norman, who originally engineered both albums, to do the remaster.
If he's unavailable, Jimmy Page or Roger Glover would do just fine!

[jhale667]

I'm just glad a new generation will be exposed to the ORIGINAL versions of these classic tunes - and Randy's epic playing, uncluttered by shoddy re-recorded rhythm section tracks.

[ThrillsNSpills]

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oolB6BK4BRU&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oolB6BK4BRU&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

[Jagermeister]

I don't like the term "remaster" because it's not clearly defined as far as I am cuntcerned. I am all for using new technolgy to improve the sound quality of the "original" masters. Which would be analog tape I guess...?? Ouside of that why fuck with it? The original masters are the best possible original recording no?

[chefcraig]

I don't like the term "remaster" because it's not clearly defined as far as I am cuntcerned. I am all for using new technolgy to improve the sound quality of the "original" masters. Which would be analog tape I guess...?? Ouside of that why fuck with it? The original masters are the best possible original recording no?

I agree that the term "remaster" is thrown about quite liberally today, and can mean anything from simply re-EQing a few tracks to going back to the original tapes and fixing sonic errors. As stated before, the sessions themselves were rushed, and the budget wasn't exactly generous enough to permit careful recording. Microphones were placed haphazardly, so you get an annoying amount of cymbal wash and bleed to go along with the hiss of analog tape. Today's technology can do a great amount to correct this, but it still is like polishing a turd in places.

[Starwood]

Diary of a Madman still give me the chills listening to Rhoads blaze on.

True dat - Starwood concurs.

[Jagermeister]

I agree that the term "remaster" is thrown about quite liberally today, and can mean anything from simply re-EQing a few tracks to going back to the original tapes and fixing sonic errors. As stated before, the sessions themselves were rushed, and the budget wasn't exactly generous enough to permit careful recording. Microphones were placed haphazardly, so you get an annoying amount of cymbal wash and bleed to go along with the hiss of analog tape. Today's technology can do a great amount to correct this, but it still is like polishing a turd in places.

Honestly I prefer the raw sound that was captured that way. Even VH1 and 2 were raw. Women In Love had that raw sound to it. The drums are kinda washed out IMO but that just made the vocal and guitar stick out. I think it adds mood to the sound.

[chefcraig]

Honestly I prefer the raw sound that was captured that way. Even VH1 and 2 were raw. Women In Love had that raw sound to it. The drums are kinda washed out IMO but that just made the vocal and guitar stick out. I think it adds mood to the sound.

Oh, hell yes. The problem is that those analog recordings that sound great on vinyl sound tinny when transferred to CD. The producers make the situation even more dour by attempting to either compress what was originally a truly organic sound, or worse they start fooling around with the mix so things sound out of place. The result being that something that sounded positively natural in the first place (with the individual instruments juxtaposed against each other in a harmonic manner) now sounds goofy, with the instruments sounding oddly isolated from each other. Then the vocals are touched up and placed on top of this mess, so the music you were once familiar with (through it's nuances and quirks) becomes a jumbled up mishmash that sounds great only to people that have never heard the original.

Adding to this is the astoundingly peculiar way that people listen to music these days. It would appear that genuine fidelity is a thing of the past, as people hear tunes not over rich sounding stereos but more often than not through mediocre or really awful sounding earbuds, tiny computer speakers or even cell phones, using ghastly sounding MP3s as the source. It's gotten to the point that when someone says to you "Hey, so and so's album sounds good!", you have to question not who they are listening to, but how.