The Ozzman Cometh is a compilation album by British heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne released in 1997. It is his third greatest hits collection. Its initial, limited edition 2-CD pressing contained five previously unreleased songs. Versions released in 2002 and later have only one disc, and the song "Shot in the Dark" is replaced by "Miracle Man". This was due to a legal action brought about by the song's co-writer, Phil Soussan, for unpaid royalties. The tracks "Black Sabbath", "War Pigs", "Fairies Wear Boots", and "Behind the Wall of Sleep" were performed by Osbourne's previous band Black Sabbath, during a session for the BBC Radio 1 Sunday show "The John Peel Sessions", conducted by British DJ John Peel and dated 26 April 1970. "Fairies Wear Boots" and "War Pigs" are early versions of tracks that would finally be recorded on the band's second albumParanoid and thus have different lyrics. The interview found on the second disc is from 1988, where Osbourne speaks about his latest album at the time, about his new guitarist Zakk Wylde and his past days in Black Sabbath. Note on versions post-2002: The album tracks are from the 2002 remasters, for which Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman were partially re-recorded. The original drum and bass tracks were replaced with recordings by Osbourne's then-current bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin, as a management response to legal action by original bassist Bob Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake for unpaid royalty fees. Note also the deliberate misspelling of Daisley's and Soussan's names in this CD's sleeve notes: 'Bob Daisy', 'Bill Susan', as well as Rudy Sarzo's - 'Trudy Sarzo'. The tracks from Bark at the Moon are the original recordings, but later mixes of the songs. The compilation won a 1997 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for Best Hits or Compilation Album. The album is currently out of print. In 2014, Osbourne released the compilation Memoirs of a Madman, which is said to be an updated version of The Ozzman Cometh.
