The Ultimate Sin: Ozzy's least favourite album, and his best-loved cover?
She stands on the back of a green winged beast, hair flying, claws out. The beast has fangs, blond hair and a face you might recognise.
A woman with wild black hair, a white blouse, a tight corset and thigh-high heeled boots stands on the back of a green winged beast, arms flung out, fingers like claws. The creature crawls over a bubbling red ground under a sky on fire. Look at its head: shaggy blond hair, bared fangs, wide mad eyes. It looks an awful lot like Ozzy himself. In the bottom right corner, a small signature: Boris, 85.
Boris paints the beast
The painter is Boris Vallejo, the Peruvian-born artist best known for his fantasy art: muscled heroes, monsters and sorceresses. On an Ozzy record that style fits like a glove. It is glossy, over the top, half sexy and half scary, and it makes most other Ozzy sleeves of the decade look a little shy.
Killer of Giants
The album almost had a different name. Its working title was Killer of Giants, after one of its songs, and Ozzy switched it to The Ultimate Sin at the last minute. It was his first record after a spell in treatment for substance abuse in 1985, made with Jake E. Lee on guitar, Phil Soussan on bass and Randy Castillo on drums. Producer Ron Nevison recorded it in London, at Townhouse and AIR, and in Paris at Studio Davout.
A hit Ozzy never liked
The Ultimate Sin came out in early 1986, with the single Shot in the Dark. It climbed to number six in the US and became Ozzy's first album to reach the top ten in both America and the UK.
And yet Ozzy later called it his least favourite solo album. His complaint was the production: in his view the songs were fine, but everything ended up sounding the same, and it was the one record he said he would most like to remix. So here is a funny thing. The album Ozzy liked least comes wrapped in one of the sleeves his fans love most.
About the poster
This is The Ultimate Sin sleeve printed as a 50 × 70 cm (20 × 28 in) portrait poster, from 2025. It is an original magazine insert, never hung, with no staple holes, folded three times as issued. The sheet is double-sided, with Ozzy Osbourne on the back, so it is Ozzy whichever way you hang it.
Browse all original Ozzy Osbourne posters.
Quick answers
Who painted The Ultimate Sin cover?
Boris Vallejo, the Peruvian-born fantasy artist. His signature, dated 1985, is in the bottom right corner.
What was The Ultimate Sin originally called?
Its working title was Killer of Giants, after one of the songs. Ozzy changed it to The Ultimate Sin at the last minute.
Why did Ozzy dislike The Ultimate Sin?
He blamed the production. He said the songs were fine but everything sounded the same, and called it the album he would most like to remix.
How big is the poster?
50 × 70 cm (about 20 × 28 inches), portrait. It is a separate insert, so it has no staple holes, and it is folded three times as issued.
What is on the other side?
Another Ozzy Osbourne poster. The sheet is double-sided, so you choose which side goes on the wall.