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Originally Posted by
binnie
Ozzy Osbourne – Scream
This is a unique Ozzy record for two reasons. Firstly, it is the only Ozzy record since 1991’s ‘No More Tears’ to actually live up to the hype job performed by Mistress Sharon Management – unlike every other Ozzy record of the previous 20 years, this one doesn’t suck more dick than Paris Hilton on an average Saturday night. Secondly – and far more importantly – this is the only Ozzy record not to be defined by the guitar player who lavishes his talents on it. That’s not to say that new boy Gus G doesn’t have his moments here, but rather to note that he hasn’t left his individual stamp on the Ozzy sound just as yet – largely because the songs were written before he became involved. The odd dazzling solo aside, this is a long way from his power metal day job, and there are a few moments where he sounds like a pastiche of Zakk Wylde.
However, the absence of a God-like guitar player actually makes for a stronger record, one in which the strength of Ozzy’s melodies and the craft of the songs dominates. Too often in the past both have been overshone by Zakk’s increasingly busy guitar style, but here we have an Ozzy Osbourne revitalized and re-focussed. Indeed, his vocals sound better than anyone could possibly have imagined – the ‘studio magic’ on his voice is well hidden, and thankfully he no longer sounds like a demonic incarnation of Kermit the Frog. Rather, he’s clearly having a wail of a time and is at his menacing best. Yet it’s the sheer heaviness of the material that staggers you: opener ‘Let It Die’ is six minutes of granite fury, whilst the double bass-drum blast of ‘Diggin Me Down’ is probably the heaviest solo tune Ozzy has ever penned. On the sludge of ‘Soul Sucker’ he nods to his Sabbath past, whilst ‘Fearless’, ‘Crucify’ and ‘I Want It More’ are the finest blend of Ozzy-style metal we’ve heard since ‘No Rest For the Wicked’, the latter possessed of a melody stronger than anything you thought that the double O had left. Seriously, that good.
Even the more introspective moments don’t hurt. There’s no ‘Mama I’m Getting’ Old’ or the aptly titled ‘Road To Nowhere’ here, nor is there a faux-Beatles ‘Dreamer’ tune to make us whince. The Creed-esque ‘Life Won’t Wait’ is a single in the waiting, and ‘Time’ has an oddly post-grunge feel to it – they’re no ‘Goodbye To Romance’, but you can’t have everything.
Is this the best metal record of the year? No – it’s not even the best metal record of the month. But it’s bloody good. Anyone expecting ‘Blizzard…’ or ‘Diary…’#2 will be disappointed, and rightly so. You don’t fuck as well as you did in 1981, and it’s uncharitable to expect an artist in his 60s to conjure up the vibrancy of his heyday. But judged against the last two decades of his career, this stacks up way ahead of the competition; it is also infinitely more inspired, and consistent, than the sort of records his peers are knocking out – ‘Black Ice’ is nowhere near as solid as this.
He’s Ozzy and he wants you to scream – you won’t be able to help yourself.