Better solo career: Ozzy or Dio?

Of the two solo careers of Sabbath's first two singers, which one had a better solo career? As much as I love Dio, I'll go with Ozzy. He's a little more consistent, and he knows to surround himself with excellent guitarists. Now, Dio is great too, and had an excellent vocal range even up to his last performances, but some of his later day stuff was a bit too plodding and slow, some even verging on doom metal, which is not what I listen to Dio for.

Dio!!!

Both are great but your point about better guitar players gives the Ozman the nod

Dio by a LARGE margin. I don’t care that much for Ozzy solo.

I love Dio (who was the better singer), but Ozzy gets my vote since he had better melodies and more memorable songs. He put out some of the best melodic heavy metal of the 80s.

Ozzy for nostalgia reasons, Bark at the Moon was part of a game soundtrack that in hindsight was my first conscious encounter with heavy metal. Besides, I never found Dio that interesting except maybe several songs from Holy Diver.

To be honest, I think it was pretty even.  Both put together powerhouse bands.  Both did what they wanted to do musically without the labels really making them be more radio friendly.  Both put out epic albums for many, many years and filled arenas.

Both Ozzy and Dio put out some classics and also a lot of filler.  

Both apparently were controlled by their out-of-control wives and as a result, treated some of their musicians very poorly.

But as far as overall song-craft and musicianship, I'd have to go with Ozzy. 

Dio however did help to deliver two of the best Black Sabbath records, Heaven & Hell and The Mob Rules.  
That band had been floundering with Ozzy for a while before that.

Nothing Ozzy did solo is as good as Holy Diver, Last in Line, or Dream Evil. You people be crazy .

Pethead wrote:Nothing Ozzy did solo is as good as Holy Diver, Last in Line, or Dream Evil. You people be crazy .

Nonsense, young lad.  I'll have you know that only 6 out of 10 voices in my head tell me I’m crazy. The 7th makes barking noises, the 8th crackles like rice crispies in milk, the 9th tells me to eat bugs, and the 10th hums Lee Greenwood songs.  So there.

Pethead wrote:Nothing Ozzy did solo is as good as Holy Diver, Last in Line, or Dream Evil. You people be crazy .

 But it IS better than Angry Machines and Strange Highways!

Constantine wrote:

Pethead wrote:Nothing Ozzy did solo is as good as Holy Diver, Last in Line, or Dream Evil. You people be crazy .

Nonsense, young lad.  I'll have you know that only 6 out of 10 voices in my head tell me I’m crazy. The 7th makes barking noises, the 8th crackles like rice crispies in milk, the 9th tells me to eat bugs, and the 10th hums Lee Greenwood songs.  So there.

By far the best part of this post is the Lee Greenwood reference. 

“I’m proud to be an American…”

Nothing on Dio's albums match the guitar playing on Ozzy's albums. The ABBA has warped your brain.

Too bad for Ozzy that songwriting is more important than guitar work.

Dio, hands down!

Ozzy!

Primarily because he had the great Randy Rhoads on his first two albums. But I also love Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. 

I think Vivian Campbell kicks arse (especially on the first two), but after that the Dio stuff is just as spotty as Ozzy. Of coarse Dio was a superior singer technically… but there is something about Ozzy’s voice and tone that is unique and works well with the music. Ozzy has that sinister sense of doom to his voice. And his madman personality.

Black Rider wrote:Nothing on Dio's albums match the guitar playing on Ozzy's albums. The ABBA has warped your brain.

I agree!

But Vivian’s solo on Rainbow in the Dark is iconic!

I’ll take Diary of a Madman over any Dio solo album.

Constantine wrote:Both Ozzy and Dio put out some classics and also a lot of filler.  

Both apparently were controlled by their out-of-control wives and as a result, treated some of their musicians very poorly.

But as far as overall song-craft and musicianship, I'd have to go with Ozzy. 

Dio however did help to deliver two of the best Black Sabbath records, Heaven & Hell and The Mob Rules.  
That band had been floundering with Ozzy for a while before that.

I agree with the first part about their wives…

I do love the Heaven and Hell album, but to me the true Sabbath will always be the first 5 albums with Ozzy! Especially Paranoid and Master of Reality.

Ah, my 2 favorite heavy metal voices backed by mighty musicians
This is an agonizing decision

From a longevity standpoint, the obvious choice is Ozzy but his 10 albums since the mid-80's have been lackluster to me. Those first 3 albums!!!!

Dio's 8 albums since the mid-80's also have been lackluster to me. Those first 2 albums!!!!

I can't say I'm familiar enough with both catalogs to judge. My inclination is to say that I highly favor Ozzy Sabbath over Dio Sabbath, but probably give a slight edge to Dio solo over Ozzy solo.

oldschooldoom wrote:Ah, my 2 favorite heavy metal voices backed by mighty musicians
This is an agonizing decision

From a longevity standpoint, the obvious choice is Ozzy but his 10 albums since the mid-80's have been lackluster to me. Those first 3 albums!!!!

Dio's 8 albums since the mid-80's also have been lackluster to me. Those first 2 albums!!!!

What? No More Tears is his best.

No More Tears is a snoozefest. Pass the ABBA.

No Rest for the Wicked was good, though.