Hard Core From N 68

From Blizzard to Budokan, this is the most extensive and revealing collection marking the incredible career of one of rock's living legends. 50 tracks with 15 previously unreleased tracks including 10 newly recorded covers of some of Ozzy's favorite and most influential songs. Also includes 13 collaborations between Ozzy and artists ranging from Motorhead and Black Sabbath to DMX and Wu-Tang! Special deluxe packaging includes a 60 page full color book with rare photos, memorabilia plus liner notes and track by track annotation written by Ozzy himself! Epic. 2005.

Detroit's The Rockets are not one of the groups people might think of when considering that city's storied history of great bands - for a reason, since they weren't all that special. Still, they have a vital link to the Detroit sound as drummer Johnny "Bee" Badanjek was in Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels and Detroit and guitarist Jim McCarty was also in the Detroit Wheels and went on to join the failed supergroup Cactus. Their 1979 record, Rockets (Turn Up the Radio), had two pretty solid AOR staples (in the Detroit area anyway) in their blistering cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well" and the rollicking "Turn Up the Radio." By the time of 1981's Back Talk, the band was still in the netherworld of being a perennial opening act and really struggling to survive…

One of Blue Note's greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver's signature LP and the peak of a discography already studded with classics. Silver was always a master at balancing jumping rhythms with complex harmonies for a unique blend of earthiness and sophistication, and Song for My Father has perhaps the most sophisticated air of all his albums. Part of the reason is the faintly exotic tint that comes from Silver's flowering fascination with rhythms and modes from overseas - the bossa nova beat of the classic "Song for My Father," for example, or the Eastern-flavored theme of "Calcutta Cutie," or the tropical-sounding rhythms of "Que Pasa?" Subtle touches like these alter Silver's core sound just enough to bring out its hidden class, which is why the album has become such a favorite source of upscale ambience…

One of Blue Note's greatest mainstream hard bop dates, Song for My Father is Horace Silver's signature LP and the peak of a discography already studded with classics. Silver was always a master at balancing jumping rhythms with complex harmonies for a unique blend of earthiness and sophistication, and Song for My Father has perhaps the most sophisticated air of all his albums. Part of the reason is the faintly exotic tint that comes from Silver's flowering fascination with rhythms and modes from overseas - the bossa nova beat of the classic "Song for My Father," for example, or the Eastern-flavored theme of "Calcutta Cutie," or the tropical-sounding rhythms of "Que Pasa?" Subtle touches like these alter Silver's core sound just enough to bring out its hidden class, which is why the album has become such a favorite source of upscale ambience…