OZZY OSBOURNE spoke with Kevin O'Hare from Masslive.com recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Masslive.com: Many people have said Scream your best album since 1981’s Diary Of A Madman. Do you think so?

Osbourne: "I’d question that. I’m glad they say that but any album I’ve made I’ve had fun making them. I like No More Tears (1991) as well, but then again I’m not always right. But in the past sometimes I’ve wanted to finish the album off and I’ve put something quick on there. People go, 'it’s the one you just click to the next track.' But I bet you anything kids will come up to me and say 'why don’t you play so and so?' And I’ll say, 'you like that?' I’m not always (expletive) right. I make a record for me primarily. If the world likes it, it’s a bonus. If people are saying that Scream is the best album since Diary Of A Madman then so be it. Blizzard Of Ozz (1980) and Diary are very special albums for me ‘cause they’re with (guitarist) Randy Rhoads y’know."

Masslive.com: Recently you and Tony Iommi of BLACK SABBATH announced that you have amicably resolved your problems over the ownership of the Black Sabbath name and court proceedings have been discontinued. Did that take a lot of work to get to that point and does it mean you’d possibly consider a Black Sabbath reunion?

Osbourne: "It’s not going to happen for at least a year or two because I’ve got my tour and an album to do, whatever. But it’s not added to the realms of never ever. I would be a liar if I said to you I wouldn’t want to do the ultimate Black Sabbath album ... We never set down when we were kids and went like, 'this is going to be looked upon when we’re (expletive) 60 as a milestone in music.' That was not our intention. But it kind of happened. I always wanted to be a Beatle and people said, 'well Black Sabbath is a heavy metal version of THE BEATLES.' But I would love to do, absolutely love to do a really great monumental Black Sabbath album. Whether we can, I don’t know. I spoke to Tony Iommi about three weeks ago, I spoke to Geezer (Butler) about a week ago, I speak to Bill Ward all the time. But I won’t do it without the other three ... Black Sabbath is four guys as far as I’m concerned. We all depend on each other."

Masslive.com: When you’re thinking about Randy Rhoads, what are your favorite recollections?

Osbourne: "There are so many. In the bottom of my heart I said to one of the band members I don’t think he’s going to make old bones ... 'Only the good die young,' they say. The worst thing of all is that I still keep in touch with his mom. She’s very, very old, she can hardly see, she’s still teaching in the school. I get so (expletive) sad. To think of losing one of your kids before you die is just out of the question. I know that if that was the case with one of my kids, my wife would go (expletive), and I’d be three seconds behind her. That’s what really gets me. It’s very (expletive) sad.

I remember years ago, I did a video for 'Crazy Train'. We used his flying-V (guitar) with the polka dots for the video. I opened the guitar case and it had not been opened since the day it was sent back to his mother from the tour. There were still the half-smoked pack of cigarettes and (expletive) it freaked me out man. I’m not just saying it because he’s gone. He was a special person. He was loved by us all. He was the first guitar player – remind you I only had one before – from Sabbath to Randy was such an enlightened move because with Sabbath they’d go, 'ok, this is the riff, you got to put a vocal on that.' I had to move around them. When Randy came, I had the melody to 'Goodbye To Romance'. He said 'is that a song or no?' I said, 'it’s a melody.' He said, 'let’s work it out,” and then he said 'it’d be better if you sang it in this key.' He was very good at doing that, he helped me more than just give me something to sing on."

Read the entire interview here.