My Music Journal 2025: July 23, 2025

 

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Time: 6:07 AM
Song: Goodbye to Romance
Artist: Ozzy Osbourne
Mode of Consumption: Listening to MP3s on shuffle while riding stationary bike.

Link to song: https://open.spotify.com/track/44iFQNDCVfv2WHPdn7Wy1R?si=6e07cd2586d849db

I remember when I first really started to dive into Ozzy Osbourne music in high school, I was surprised how a guy with a moniker like the “Prince of Darkness” could also have such sweet, ballad-like songs in his catalog like this one and “Mama, I’m Coming Home.”

Although if you look at a contemporary in Alice Cooper, he also has some solid ballads like “Only Women Bleed,” and “I Never Cry.”

I imagine there are a lot of reasons for this.

Songs like this were more likely to get played on Top-40 radio stations, so it allowed hard rockers like this to expand their audience.

It probably allows the band to catch their breath during concerts when they are playing a series of harder rockers. Might even be a break for the fans. The same could be true on albums.

The increased instrumentation harkens back to bands like the Beatles from the 60s when guys like Ozzy and Alice Cooper were in their late teens and early twenties. It’s obvious this was an influence on them. I remember an interview probably 25 years ago where Ozzy said that he still hadn’t made his “Sgt. Peppers.”

Whatever reason, Ozzy’s range from hard rock to ballad is one of the reasons he gained mainstream popularity that continued until his death yesterday. There likely won’t be another musician or entertainer quite like him.