After his departure from Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne took the bold decision to embark on a solo career in order to restore a sense of life into his status as one of the most formidable rock and metal artists.
Distancing himself from the drama that had seen him acrimoniously sever ties with the band he helped form, he managed to corral together a group of supremely talented musicians to help him prove himself as an artist in his own right. Considering Black Sabbath’s late ‘70s output had seen them enter a period of creative decline where things were becoming stagnant by comparison to the strength of their earliest records, Osbourne knew that he had to turn back to basics and deliver exactly what he did best.
His first two records, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, were both well-received by critics and audiences, and seemed to have done the job as far as reinvigorating Osbourne’s career, and this was largely down to how the tight songwriting and musicianship felt as though there was a sense of urgency to what he was delivering. He didn’t need his Sabbath bandmates to survive; he was embarking on a new chapter, and thriving in this new environment.
However, tragedy struck when his wunderkind guitarist Randy Rhoads was tragically killed in a plane crash at the age of 25, and Osbourne had to work hard to get a replacement in, which was no easy feat. Rhoads was an exceptional talent, and had been touted as one of the most gifted players to emerge from his generation, so getting someone to fill his shoes was not going to be an easy task.
Initially, Osbourne would scramble to find a replacement, and quickly settled on former Rubicon and Night Ranger guitarist, Brad Gillis, to fill the vacancy left by Rhoads, but he departed soon after his appointment. The player they would settle on prior to entering the studio to record Osbourne’s third solo record was Jake E Lee, with Gillis returning to Night Ranger after completing a sole tour with the band. Lee may have been the perfect fit, but that didn’t take away from the fact that the hole left in Rhoads’ absence was going to be a gigantic obstacle for the rest of the band to overcome.
Osbourne even proclaimed in a 1984 interview that getting over Rhoads’ passing made the recording process for Bark at the Moon far more difficult than he’d have hoped, and the fact that they chose to record the album at Ridge Farm Studio in Surrey, where the first two records were made with Rhoads, played on Osbourne’s mind so much that he found it tough to even return to anything that was made there.
When asked if Rhoads’ absence had affected him, he replied: “Very much so. To the point where I realise I can’t ever go back. The vibe we had once in that studio is no longer there, you know. So I’ve got to find a new place.”
Grief is never an easy thing to navigate in the right way, but given how Osbourne had successfully moved on from Sabbath before, he knew that in order to do what’s best for his career, he needed to move on from this period as well and continue in a positive fashion.
