GiGinJapan Artwork of Japanese CDs (mostly) Ozzy Osbourne / Ozzfest 2018: The Final Concert of Ozz / 2CDR / Shades
The Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA 31st December 2018
Play sample :
On February 1, 2023, Ozzy Osbourne put an end to his half-century tour life. A superb live album where you can experience his last (?) Full show is now available.
“Although Ozzy has hinted at retirement many times, this time it’s not just words.” After all, Ozzy for the past four years has been a series of injuries and illnesses. He repeatedly postponed the tour each time, but he finally gave up on recovery and declared that he could not move from city to city anymore.
“Then when was your last show?” That was “OZZFEST 2018” held at “December 31, 2018 Inglewood”. This work is a superb audience recording that vacuum-packed the full show. Although it is the closest show, more than four years ago. Let’s take a quick look at what happened in the meantime.
●2018
・ April 27-October 4: 43 performances
《October 6: Hospitalized for hand surgery》
・December 31: OZZFEST 2018 held ← This work
●2019
《February 6: Rehospitalization due to influenza complications》
《March: Fell at home and injured the spine》
・November 24: Guest performance at AMA (1 song)
● 2020
《January 21: Parkinson’s disease announced (diagnosed in 2003)》
《“ORDINARY MAN” release on September 21》
● 2021
● 2022
《June 13: Underwent major spine surgery》
・August 8/September 8: Appearance at events (2 times, 3 songs)
《“PATIENT NUMBER 9” Released on September 9》
● 2023
《February 1: Announcement of retirement from tour》←※Now here
This is my biography from 2018 to 2023. The first was a small scratch on his right hand. He got an infection and was hospitalized. While taking care of the tour, he caught the flu, had complications, and suffered a spinal injury in a fall at home. An old injury from a motorcycle accident in 2003 worsened, and at one point he was unable to walk. The tour was repeatedly postponed and announced new dates, but in the end, it ended up being a retirement announcement this time without resuming.
In such a flow, “OZZFEST 2018” was the only one that came true. At that time, the only injury was a hand injury, and the postponement of the tour was just “just in case”. Ozzy, who had already gotten well, had no time until the tour resumed, and it was a special event held out of numbness, saying, “I can’t wait anymore!”
This work, which is a vacuum-packed version of such a “last scene”, is a superb audience. The 3-disc set “OZZFEST: NEW YEAR’S EVE 2019 (Shades 1027)” coupled with ZAKK SABBATH on the same day at our store, which was the master who was talked about as “Tour No. 1” at the time, was very popular. This work picks up only the Ozzy edition.
“The most amazing thing is the unbelievably straight core of the audience.” There is no sense of distance, it jumps straight into your ears, and the details are super delicate. Even if you listen with headphones, you can’t feel the acoustics of the venue, and the only evidence of the audience record is the lively applause between songs. At first, I doubted that it was actually an IEM, but the natural balance and sound were too beautiful for that. As a matter of fact, “NO MORE TOURS II” did not have many recordings that reached the “transcendence” level, but this work heals that dryness at once. It is a transcendent one that can be called “as if it is a sound board” without any questions.
The show drawn with that quality is the last and best performance of “NO MORE TOURS II”. Let’s organize the full set of the memorable last stage here.
● 3 masterpieces (11 songs)
・ Paranoid: Fairies Wear Boots / War Pigs / Paranoid
・Blizzard of Oz: Mr. Crowley/Suicide Solution/I Don’t Know/Crazy Train
・No More Tears; No More Tears/Road To Nowhere/I Don’t Want To Change The World/Mama I’m Coming Home
● Others (2 songs + α)
・Bark At The Moon／Shot In The Dark
・Inst Medley (Miracle Man/Crazy Babies/Desire/Perry Mason)
… and it looks like this. “NO MORE TOURS II” was a farewell tour, but it was concentrated in a style that overemphasized the three major masterpieces “PARANOID”, “BLIZZARD OF OZZ” and “NO MORE TEARS” instead of evenly …. There was variety in Jake era “Bark At The Moon” and “Shot In The Dark”.
And the performance that spells out such a set is the best. As I mentioned earlier, I haven’t had the flu yet, and I’m still burning with the desire to shake off the frustration of the cancellation. In “Suicide Solution”, it’s exciting (bitter smile), but other than that, it’s unusually strong in recent years. After “Fairies Wear Boots” there is also a countdown to welcome 2019.
And above all, Zakk Wylde. Ozzy is the strongest right-hand man who surpasses even Iommi, but that wild guitar explodes. Far from weakening, it’s even more intense and heavy, and it’s amazing. You can listen to the same aggressive playing as “LIVE & LOUD” in all songs. Especially the power of the big medley placed in the middle stage is amazing. Too awesome. While pushing “War Pigs” over 13 minutes with bombs, a sharp instrumental medley that avalanches from there. From “NO REST FOR THE WICKED” to “OZZMOSIS”, the famous riffs and solos are constantly played. From there, the drum solo → “I Don’t Want To Change The World”, a large medley of about 28 minutes, is like a jam section of BLACK SABBATH in the 70’s. That long highlight feeling that was not reproduced even in the original SABBATH’s “THE END” is drawn by Zack’s hand.
Ozzy declared that he could no longer tour. He also said, “I’m looking for a performance that doesn’t require me to move between countries and cities.” Even if such a show is realized, blanks for more than four years have already been opened. You can not expect a full show full of active feeling like this work anymore. This work is a full live album where you can experience the ultimate show that will be the last of such emperor Ozzy Osbourne. A piece of cultural heritage itself. Please experience it with the affordable 2-disc set specification.
★ Ozzy Osbourne gave up on recovering his physical condition and declared the end of his tour life. It is a superb audience recording of “December 31, 2018 OZZFEST 2018” where you can enjoy the last full show that was held before that. The straight ball core has no sense of distance, it jumps straight into your ears, and the details are super delicate. You can fully experience the historic night that will be Ozzy’s last with a transcendental recording where you can not feel the venue acoustics even if you listen with headphones.
Shades 1682
