Leadfoot
I'm a big Band Of Gypsys fan as well. Machine Gun is just on another level. Jimi was beyond brilliant on that album, but it definitely would not have been as soulful without Billy and Buddy. I had the Isle of Wight concert on video which had Billy and Mitch playing with Jimi. And the beginning of Machine Gun just didn't sound right because Mitch didn't play it straight forward like Buddy did. He tried to do his trademark rolls, and it just didn't sound like a machine gun anymore.
Did I get off topic??? :)
Back to Blizzard and Diary...
Now I've read in the past that on the remasters, Ozzy had different players re-record Bob Daisley's and Lee Kerslake's parts so he didn't have to pay them. Can you tell whether the drums and bass have been redone? If so, that's the ultimate act of greed by Ozzy (or more likely Sharon), and is just plain desp*cable.
Not sure what on and off-topic but you pretty much summed my thoughts about Machine Gun right there. In fact, I always thought Isle of Wight was a pretty tragic show. It's almost like seeing Superman without his superpowers or something - it seems to me that Jimi is struggling and doesn't seem all that happy. Some stuff is great, but not all that magic - compare that to other nights where it felt like he had some sort of telepathic control over feedback and whatnot and everything worked.
The way he dropped the guitar and walked away at the end pretty much sums it up.
But back on topic, as you say...
I did not buy those re-recorded versions, but I've heard them. There are also a few songs included on the Ozzman Cometh. I don't know how they'd sound to someone who's never heard the original records, but to me, they sound like the drummer and, less obviously, the bass player, are playing on top of an existing record - which is the case I guess. They don't gel into it.
The Randy Rhoads fan in me will dare say that it does have the advantage of further separating the guitar tracks from the mix, shedding some new light on them. So it can be interesting. But that's it.
By the way, I like Bordin and Trujillo - I was a fan of both Faith No More and Suicidal Tendencies back in the days - so it's nothing against them or the way they play.
Ozzy claims that he'd had enough of being harassed by Daisley and friends. Daisley's take on it is obviously different, and probably more credible - though I cannot figure out why he kept coming back in the fold and writing for Ozzy album after album until the 90s if he felt he'd been let go for some unfair reasons and wasn't being treated well.
Though I guess maybe after all I understand why he came back - because, that's a job, and not many musicians can afford to refuse a big check.
But, IMHO, if you accept to sell your songs and the rights to them for a certain amount, you can't complain that you weren't treated fairly and start slinging mud because the album made millions of $.
Of course, one could argue that the right thing to do for Ozzy would have been to further compensate and give a bonus, but, that's entirely subjective.
At any rate, re-recording the albums wasn't a good idea. But the Osbournes learned their lesson on this one I guess. They can't get away with just about anything.