Steal Away the Night- An Ozzy Osbourne Day-By-Day by Martin Proof

Hardbound, 252 Pages, Backbeat Books Publishing

By Chris Loeffler

Few rock legends have kpet in the pop-culture spotlight like Ozzy Osbourne. Even when he isn’t making music he embodies the edginess and excess of rock and roll. From his time in Black Sabbath to his solo acts, he’s always managed to maintain a certain rock dignity despite forays into mainstream media through reality TV or general tabloid exposure. He comes across as nothing more or less than who he is.

Steal Away the Night is a hardcover rock history book written by Martin Popoff and published by Backbeat Books. Largely, the book is a mid-level view of Osbourne’s 40+ year career as rock and metal’s infamous madman. Hardly a neutral observer, author Martin Popoff offers a celebratory, insider’s account of Ozzy’s many rises and dips, expanding to address Black Sabbath bandmates and future collaborators as the gravity of Osbourne’s ascent in music pulls in current or would-be influential players into his orbit of the metal scene. 

The core narrative uses calendar dates to follow the chronological story of Ozzy from 1948 to 2013 and chapters are divided into decades rather than specific incidents. The Ozzy-centric main story is supplemented by colorful graphic design and copious photos taken from the events documented on a given page. Ephemera, trivia, and written artifacts pepper the pages and create entertaining, if brief, diversions that complement the core story and better flesh out the world Ozzy lives in.

Sabbath and Ozzy fanatics who have read previous biographies won’t find any surprise revelations in Steal Away the Night, and the book is more interested with sticking to factoids and sound bite-based reporting than creating a probing, flowing narrative. As such, the book is the ideal coffee table book. It is attractive and a nice diversion read with no passage taking more than a single page to finish. Fly-away quotes from Ozzy and friends adds a personal feel to the book and inject life into the straight-ahead central story. 

Steal Away the Night isn’t going to convert new fans to the Ozzy empire, and it doesn’t offer anything particularly new to the story, but its slick design, high production quality, and pure celebratory nature of all things Osbourne will certainly appeal to people looking to enjoy and share the history of one of rock’s most iconic personalities. 

Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.