Album
Bark At The Moon
1983 · Rock
58 collectors on Gatefold own this
Bark At The Moon is a Metal album by Ozzy Osbourne, originally released in 1983. On Gatefold: 211 pressings tracked, owned by 58 collectors.
About
When virtuoso guitarist Randy Rhoads died in a plane crash in 1982, not long after collaborations with Ozzy Osbourne turned him into a hard-rock hero, the metal world held its collective breath. They knew Ozzy would continue: He’d already brought in temporary replacements with Irish wunderkind Bernie Tormé and Night Ranger guitarist Brad Gillis. But who could fill Rhoads’ shoes on a more permanent basis? The answer was Jake E. Lee, the San Diego shredder who helped make 1983’s <i>Bark at the Moon</i> one of the most exciting records of Ozzy’s career. Though the album’s poppier, synth-enhanced sound has its detractors, <i>Bark at the Moon</i> is nothing short of a revelation. The title track and lead single, which also became the basis for Ozzy’s first music video, kicks off with a machine-gun riff and Ozzy’s diabolical laugh. Replete with 1980s horror synths, werewolf lyrics, and Lee’s mind-bending guitar work, it became an instant Ozzy classic. But Lee wasn’t the only new member of Ozzy’s band. Former Black Oak Arkansas and future Whitesnake drummer Tommy Aldridge had taken over for Lee Kerslake after the recording of 1981’s <i>Diary of a Madman</i>, and retained the position for <i>Bark at the Moon</i>. Bassist Bob Daisley also returned to the fold. Though he’d played on and written lyrics for Ozzy’s first two albums, Sharon Osbourne ousted him from the subsequent live band—twice. This led to another issue: Though all of the songs on <i>Bark at the Moon</i> were credited to Ozzy at the time of its release, it eventually came out that Lee and Daisley had written the vast majority of the album. Former Rainbow keyboardist Don Airey reprised his role from Ozzy’s first two albums, bringing swelling synths to the moody “You’re No Different” and the incredibly ELO-esque “So Tired.” Daisley wrote stomp-rocker “Now You See It (Now You Don’t)” as a fuck-you to Sharon for all the firing and re-hiring he had endured. (Opening lines: “Overbearing woman, making it so hard for me/Can I ask a question? Do you think that you can take a blow?/This is why I always come and go.”) Ozzy and Sharon either didn’t realize, or didn’t care. Thematically speaking, “Rock ’n’ Roll Rebel” is a slight variation on <i>Diary</i>’s “You Can’t Kill Rock ’n’ Roll,” though musically heavier and lyrically more autobiographical. “Centre of Eternity,” listed as “Forever” on European pressings and introduced as such by Ozzy onstage, opens with tolling bells, monastic chants, and church organ before Lee punches a hole through the wall with a vicious riff. The album’s closing tracks, “Slow Down” and “Waiting for Darkness,” are its most underrated. The galloping bass and guitars of the former are pure Iron Maiden, but Ozzy and Airey add gravitas and melodrama in equal measure. The dark-alley atmosphere and slow-burn histrionics of the latter are unlike anything Ozzy did prior, and hint at some of the new territory he and Lee would explore on their next collaboration, <i>The Ultimate Sin</i>.
via Apple Music
The Clerk says
The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Tracklist
Side A
- A1Bark At The Moon4:14
- A2You're No Different4:58
- A3Now You See It (Now You Don't)5:04
- A4Rock 'N' Roll Rebel5:25
Side B
- B1Centre Of Eternity5:23
- B2So Tired3:57
- B3Slow Down4:18
- B4Waiting For Darkness5:11
Sound DNA
- Metal
- Heavy Metal
- distorted
- foreboding
- occult
Originally released on the 15th of November 1983 by CBS Associated Records in the USA with red perigram on logo and title and original tracklist.
In Europe (specifically in UK) it was released on the 2nd of December by Epic Records with blue perigram on logo and title, often alongside with different tracklists like including "Spiders"
The album marks Ozzy's change to a synth infused pop-metal sound, with both its "sonic production, and in Ozzy's imaging.
This is Osbourne's first album to feature guitarist Jake E. Lee and only studio album to feature drummer Tommy Aldridge.
Bark at the Moon is the only Ozzy Osbourne album on which the songwriting is credited entirely to Osbourne. However, guitarist Jake E. Lee maintains that he composed a significant amount of the album's music but was cheated out of his writing and publishing claims by Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon. Lee claims that after he had composed the songs and completed recording his parts in the studio, he was presented with a contract which stated that he would have no claim to any writing or publishing relating to the album. The contract also stated that Lee could not mention this publicly. Lee claims he signed the contract because he had no legal representation and because Sharon threatened to fire him and have another guitarist re-record his parts if he refused.
Osbourne himself admitted several years later in the liner notes to The Ozzman Cometh that Lee had been involved in the album's writing to at least some degree, stating that the album's title track was in fact co-written by the guitarist. Osbourne's bassist at the time, Bob Daisley, has mirrored Lee's account of the album's production, stating that he co-wrote most of the music with Lee and wrote the vast majority of the lyrics. Daisley has stated that he accepted a buyout from Osbourne in exchange for a writing credit. Osbourne's former drummer Lee Kerslake, who also played with Daisley in Uriah Heep after leaving Osbourne's band, stated that Daisley had been hired by Sharon Osbourne to write the Bark at the Moon album for "$50–60,000 or whatever it is. He was offered the chance to write with Ozzy. Words, music – write the album.
Shortly after Bark at the Moon's 1983 release, a Canadian man named James Jollimore murdered a woman and her two children after allegedly listening to the album. The media and Christian groups began to infer that the music was Satanic and had influenced Jollimore to commit the act. The timing was particularly inopportune for Osbourne, who was, at the time, facing allegations that his song "Suicide Solution" had influenced a fan to commit suicide (despite the song not being about actual suicide, it is instead about AC/DC's lead singer drinking himself to death).
In 2002 it was re-issued again, although this version was actually a new remix of the album. This 2002 remixed version of the album was met with mixed reaction; many elements found in the original mix are not present in the remix, namely several lead guitar parts. In addition, the song "You're No Different" has an alternate ending (with the fade-out removed) and "Centre of Eternity" has an altered intro segment. This edition also included the bonus tracks "Spiders" and "One Up the 'B' Side", originally the B-side of the "Bark at the Moon" single.
Some EU pressings identified the track "Centre of Eternity" as "Forever", on tours for the album, Osbourne referred to it as "Forever"
"Spiders in the Night" was originally only included on the European, Australian, New Zealand and Greek releases, but was included on the 1995 CD reissue and the 2002 reissue, listed simply as "Spiders"
Within several weeks of its release it was certified gold for over 500,000 sales in the US, today it has sold over 3,000,000 copies in the US.
In the UK, it was the third of four Osbourne albums to attain silver certification (60,000 units sold) by the British Phonographic Industry, achieving this in January 1984.
1983 US and other pressings with red perigram on logo and title
original pressing with red perigram on logo released on the15th of November 1983 (opens in a new tab)
US Carrollton (opens in a new tab), Carrollton (opens in a new tab), Carrollton (opens in a new tab), Carrollton (opens in a new tab), Carrollton (opens in a new tab), US (opens in a new tab), US (opens in a new tab)
UK (opens in a new tab), UK (opens in a new tab), UK RE (opens in a new tab)
Canada Columbia (opens in a new tab)
Brazil (opens in a new tab)
Mexico (opens in a new tab)
Venezuela (opens in a new tab)
Philippines (opens in a new tab)
Japan (opens in a new tab)
Hong Kong (opens in a new tab)
Australia (opens in a new tab), Australia (opens in a new tab)
New Zealand (opens in a new tab)
South Africa (opens in a new tab)
Peru (opens in a new tab)
Mainly EU pressings with blue perigram on logo and title, often alongside with different tracklists like including "Spiders" (December 1983)
EU Haarlem (opens in a new tab)
UK Aston Clinton (opens in a new tab)
Greece (opens in a new tab), Greece RP (opens in a new tab)
Spain (opens in a new tab), Spain (opens in a new tab)
Argentina (opens in a new tab)
1984 Ecuador (opens in a new tab)
1986
EU (blue perigram) (opens in a new tab)
UK (blue perigram) (opens in a new tab)
UK (red perigram) (opens in a new tab)
1988 South Korea (red perigram without lycanthrope) (opens in a new tab)
1990 Spain (opens in a new tab)
2023
US blue cobalt RSD (opens in a new tab)
US blue cobalt (opens in a new tab)
US (opens in a new tab)
EU blue cobalt RSD (opens in a new tab)
EU (opens in a new tab)
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- Bob DaisleyBACKING VOCALS BASS BASS, BACKING VOCALS
- Don AireyKEYBOARDS
- Jake E. LeeBACKING VOCALS GUITAR GUITAR, BACKING BAND
- Louis ClarkARRANGED BY
- Ozzy OsbourneLEAD VOCALS VOCALS VOCALS, WRITTEN-BY
- Tommy AldridgeDRUM DRUMS
58 collectors on Gatefold own this · 211 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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