Whether Ozzy will ever be able to top Tribute as his best live album is questionable, but Live at Budokan is a solid entry in the history of Oz.
Unlike some “live” albums of recent memory, this is no mishmash of past performances strung together (Note: by this I meant Mötley Crüe’s disappointing and only technically accurate Live. — DJF), but numbers from one concert, which gives the album a much more organic feel. The Japanese fans sing along on classics like “I Don’t Know” with gusto.
The selections run the gamut from Black Sabbath (“Paranoid”) to the most recent album (“Junkie,” “That I Never Had”), which, if you attended the concert in March (2002; I saw the show in Winnipeg — great on all points. — DJF), should sound familiar.
For those who haven’t had the live experience, Live at Budokan serves as a good introduction. One complaint: there isn’t much from Ozzy’s late-’80s material, not even “Miracle Man.” (Though there is a great version of “Bark at the Moon.” —DJF) Nevertheless, Ozzy, Zakk Wylde, and company put on a good show.
Ozzy Osbourne
Live at Budokan
- (Epic/Sony Entertainment)
- Four stars out of five
Originally published in Uptown Magazine, May 2003
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