Through summoning demons from the depths of hell as the frontman of metal pioneers
Black Sabbath
in their best days, partying hard through the '80s and landing on a reality show focusing on his dysfunctional family in the 2000s,
Ozzy Osbourne
has kept on the wicked side for the majority of his decades-spanning career in evil. Starting his solo bid almost immediately after his departure from
Sabbath
,
Ozzy
turned in classic metal albums with early-'80s
Randy Rhoads
collaborations like
Blizzard of Ozz
and
Diary of a Madman
, and stayed consistently strong with many platinum-selling albums throughout the '90s, 2000s, and beyond. The
Ozz
man has never shied away from live records, repackagings, or greatest-hits collections, either, and
Memoirs of a Madman
collects standout cuts from each of his 11 studio albums, offering a full range of singles that shows the full spectrum of his development as the ever-menacing prince of heavy metal darkness. The 17 tracks here run in chronological order, from 1980's easily recognizable "Crazy Train" through to early-'90s power ballads like "Mama I'm Coming Home" up to "Let Me Hear You Scream" from his 2010 studio offering
Scream
. His
days get a nod or two as well, with a cover of their brooding piano ballad "Changes" that
and daughter
Kelly
offer up as a reworked duet, and an unreleased live recording of "Paranoid" from 2010. ~ Fred Thomas