It always changes depending on the particular song… I often use more than one reference to get a good “average”. For hard-ish rock styles, I’m pretty partial to this track by The Baby Animals from '91. It was produced/mixed by Mike Chapman, engineered/mixed by Kevin Shirley, and recorded at Bearsville Studios NY. The Youtube sound quality sucks, but I have the album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yD5G2ot3udk
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how good can this get with EZ Drummer 2 and D.I. bass?? Im assuming the EZ Drummer should be excellent and I have a lot of different kits for it. My only worry is how good can I get the D.I. bass to sound?
You should expect to get great sound from DI bass. @ColdRoomStudio has done a few detailed writeups on dealing with bass that would be a great place to start. Did those survive the migration from RR?
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mix 2
any better?
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It’s hard to tell that there is a kick drum in there. The drums are slightly quiet in general, but that kick is nowhere to be heard. The guitars are quite loud. Actually, everything is loud except for the drums.
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None of it survived… But I outlined what I did with a DI bass on a recent mix here:
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in that case I give up completely lol
mix #3
Hip Hop remix. All drums, nothing else. This is like when the son of a famous drummer starts a band. Guitar player just got hired and probably get fired next week so he doesnt get any mix
this might be a nice reference track for me.
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not that im disagreeing, because I think you are 100% correct.
That being said, what do u think of this pro mix?? drums totally buried. guitars super loud
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Well Kerslake and Daisley obviously didn’t matter much to Ozzy anyway… they got replaced for the remaster of 2002! 
Bad Sharozzy… Not Cool!
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The vocals sound they are super-imposed on top of the backing, like vocals on top of a karaoke track. They need to be EQ’d and mixed in at the right level. They are also pitchy, which doesn’t help.
The drums are not defined. I can hear the snare in the quieter parts but in general the drums turn into a mush in the denser parts. Can’t hear the kick drum anywhere.
The toms have got some kind of crazy halo delay on them. Its not good.
The whole mix is short of mids, (600Hz-ish), has too much honk (320Hz) and the guitars are biting my ears at about 3.2kHz.
The mix is light on subs too but that’s probably the least of your concerns at this point.
Ah, if that’s the mix you are using for a reference, then yes, you’re spot on with the levels.
But… I think standards were a bit more lax back then. Or the production was an afterthought and the songwriting and playing were what they were focusing on. Whatever the case, if you like that sound, then you’re on the right track level wise.
which mix r u commenting on?
mix 3 should be a little better
nah, didnt use a reference track. I sort of doubt im at that point yet. Sort of like a kid with watercolors using Michaelangelo as a reference
u check mix #3? (in OP)
This comment cracked me up. 
I love the first 2 Ozzy solo albums but I’d have to agree with what Boz said about the drums being too quiet. I wouldn’t have thought that way 20 years ago but I feel that way now. The production wasn’t horrible in my opinion but it has some glaring weaknesses. I think they got by on sheer songwriting and some good vocal, guitar and bass sounds, even though Blizzard of Ozz wouldn’t be considered a balanced mix by today’s standards.
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im thinking that crazy loud guitar was some sort of wack remix or youtube thing. I love the overall sound of the first 2 Ozzy albums. Sort of dark and sometimes reverby but everything is nice and clean and clear. Rhythm section sounds amazing
“todays standards”?? wtf is that?? No one even makes this kind of music anymore lol. So what standards we talking about? Panic at the Disco? Bruno Mars?? pffft, whatever lol
Im largely motivated by trying to match up with the sounds I heard as a teen and young adult. So that means rock stuff from like, say, '80 - '92ish and also of course looking back to Led Zep etc.
This is another overall song sound id like to get. again, sort of dark
or even this
and of course, im sure im the ONNNNLLLLYYYYYY guy on this board who cant dial this up in 3 secs flat lol
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Loud , clear cutting drums have been a big part of hard rock, metal recordings for a long time. I used to favour having loud guitars…, probably because I’m a guitarist but I find that when I turn the drums up and relax the guitar levels my mixes tend to sound better. But just like you, I really love those first 2 Ozzy albums. Lee Kerslake played some awesome shit on those albums…they should’ve turned those drums up ! Same with the old 70’s era Black Sabbath albums. The drums sound like cardboard…And so much of that music was awesome. I’m a huge Ozzy era Sabbath fan.
If you ever get that Van Halen guitar sound let me know how you did it. I love his tone !..You can hear his pick attack on both rhythm and lead. I’m listening to these videos that you posted and I’m realizing once again how little distortion he actually used in comparison to most heavy rock guitarists. But his tone is superior …to everyone’s…I’m biased though. 
Listen to Van Halen, Fair Warning if you want to hear a great sounding mix with loud clear drums, awesome guitar playing, great songs and a beautifully balanced mix. You can actually hear the bass clearly on that VH album.
yeah, i was going to post a song from Fw. its similar to 1984 IMo
nice and warm, roomy, punchy. one thing about VH, they didnt really use a ton of tracks.
Im not so much (at all) worried about Eddies actual guitar tone. Im more talking just the overall sound and vibe of the albums. Overall album tone etc.