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Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain
(Epic-Sony/BMG)
Looks like the crazy train has finally run out of steam. And it's about time.
You'd think that after nearly 40 years in rock, Ozzy Osbourne would have seen it all, done it all, ingested it all and bitten the head off most of it.
But the prince of @#$%ing darkness's latest disc has managed to break new ground -- it is, we are told, the first album he has made sober. It shows.
Black Rain is not only the 58-year-old bat biter's first studio set of original tunes in six years. It's also the most coherent, focused and crafted set in a lot longer than that.
The secret to its success is its simplicity. Ozzy recorded the disc in his home studio with his dependable touring band. Guitarist Zakk Wylde co-wrote eight of the 10 tunes, delivering a consistently high-grade supply of his trademark fire-breathing riffs and fretburning solos.
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And studio whiz producer Kevin Churko -- whose previous credits include the even-scarier likes of Celine and Shania -- adds enough dusty electronic textures and sonic manipulations to make the disc sound fresh and contemporary, without sacrificing Osbourne's classic metal on the altar of trendiness.
The guy who earns most of the credit, though, has to be the Iron Man himself. After sleepwalking through his last few albums, he finally sounds awake and in the moment. His vocals are strong. His delivery is remarkably clear. His lyrics actually seem to have a point, even if they are just the usual stuff about war and greed and drugs and death and religion and mother Earth and how much he loves Sharon.
Thankfully, he keeps the last point to a minimum -- there are only two ballads on the 45-minute disc, and even they're a cut above some of the simpering fare he's dished up over the decades.
So, along with being the first CD he's made straight, Ozzy's Black Rain is also his first disc in years that's worth the money.
With any luck, it won't be the last.
Not Going Away 4:33
The Ozzman cometh back heavy. Drummer Mike Bordin and bassist Blasko lock into a plodding dino-stomp beat while Wylde unspools a grinding slab of Sabbathy riffage, tossing a springy whammy-bar lick at the end for good measure.
OZZY SAYS: "Only I know what goes on in my head."
I Don't Wanna Stop 3:59
The disc's hooky first single kicks it up a notch, with a thundering Rob Zombie-style tom-tom groove and a chunky, low-neck guitar riff. A descending string synth adds an ominous overtone.
OZZY SAYS: "I don't know what they're talking about."
Black Rain 4:44
Ozzy gets political with some pointed anti-war lyrics about flag-draped coffins and children marching into the desert to die. The backing track paints the picture with marching footsteps, a tolling bell, droning Middle Eastern tones and countermelody, a snake-charmer solo. Extra points for the slight echo of Gimme Shelter on the chorus.
OZZY SAYS: "Politicians confuse me."
Lay Your World on Me 4:19
Ballad No. 1 is a moody affair, with a slow, snare-heavy drum line, bell-like keyboard tones and the expected blanket of strings and vocals. Zakk offers up some suitably weepy guitar licks.
OZZY SAYS: "I can be the pillar of strength that you need."
God Bless The Almighty Dollar 7:00
The band stretches out on the album's ambitious centrepiece. This mini-epic based on An Inconvenient Truth isanchored by a sluggish funk-metal groove and decorated with tympani, a trippy bridge and an intricate, King Crimson-circa-21st Century Schizoid Man middle. It doesn't feel like a seven-minute track. That's a compliment.
OZZY SAYS: "We won't be breathing for long -- when it's all gone."
11 Silver 3:43
The rubberized opening riff to this antidrug screed comes straight from the grunge basement. But the thwacking beat, wailing vocal and fistpumping chorus -- complete with ready-made audience-participation cues -- is tailor-made for the stadium. Wylde does double-duty with fiery harmonized solos. Don't miss the disc's funniest moment: Ozzy asking "Is that the last song?" at the end of the cut.
OZZY SAYS: "I don't know if I'm awake or if I'm dreaming."
Civilize the Universe 4:42
A bassy, spacey synth sequencer sets the pace. The band falls in step with a propulsively funky groove, some chuggy licks and a soaring, anthemic chorus.
OZZY SAYS: "Bad habits are hard to break."
Here For You 4:37
Ballad No. 2 is a classic grand-piano weeper, right down to the swelling strings. Expect it to replace Mama, I'm Coming Home as the first dance at this summer's white-trash weddings.
OZZY SAYS: "Cross my heart until I die."
Countdown's Begun 4:59
The opening guitar arpeggios, the chugging midtempo groove, the lyrics about holy war and doomsday clocks -- it's like Ozzy's version of Hell's Bells. But with some swirly vocal and synth overdubs that add a layer of trippy psychedelic to the proceedings.
OZZY SAYS: "You may see the mushroom. But you won't hear the blast."
Trap Door 4:03
A closing ballad? No way, dude. Ozzy goes out with a big bang -- a driving rocker full of neck-sliding chords, robotic backups, squelchy synths and a mid-song fusillade of pounding tom-toms.
OZZY SAYS: "Big head leads to confusion."