Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzmosis

THE REVIEW

I think it's time to consider Ozzy Osbourne as a musician, not as a bat-eating buffoon.

With the previous *No More Tears* and this highly successful *Ozzmosis*, Ozzy is keen to convey the message: stop talking only about how many drugs I take and how much alcohol I can drink. I am a man like everyone else ("You're no different to me" he sang in the second track of *Bark at the Moon*), but most of all, I am a musician, a singer.

And what a singer! Perhaps, in the diverse panorama of singers who have stood behind the Black Sabbath microphone, it can be said that Ozzy was the least technically prepared. But how can you compete with sacred monsters like Ian Gillan, Ronnie James Dio, Glenn Hughes, the very talented yet underrated Tony Martin?

Nonetheless, Ozzy's vocal color, his power, passion, and the emotion in his voice have marked the history of hard rock and heavy metal.

And we certainly must credit this man for accompanying himself with (and thus introducing us to) some of the greatest musicians of the last 40 years: from Randy Rhoads to Jake E. Lee, from Bob Daisley to Zakk Wylde, from Robert Trujillo to Lee Kerslake.

But enough about music history and let's focus on this album specifically.

In my opinion, *Ozzmosis* represents a step forward compared to the overrated *No More Tears*, which in turn was a step back compared to the reckless and dazzling guitar tour-de-force that was *No Rest for the Wicked*.

Certainly more modern in sound and production, another merit of Ozzy is that he has always been able to modernize his sound and take the best from the music around him. Here he shows the influences of the best grunge (Alice in Chains, Soundgarden) but remains always Ozzy, more often escaping the cliché of the catchy but predictable song with riffs and solos heard a thousand times, as he only occasionally managed in *No More Tears*.

"Perry Mason" is a track for the annals, a piece that fantastically opens the album, as best as it could, as Ozzy has accustomed us in almost all of his albums with openers like "I Don’t Know," "Over the Mountain," "Bark at the Moon," "Miracle Man."

After an unsettling yet hypnotic intro, perhaps the best riff that Zakk Wylde has produced in his long career sticks with you and doesn’t let go; spectacular verses, Ozzy's voice is in top form, stellar chorus. Goosebump-inducing drum fills. One of Ozzy's best songs ever.

The next "I Just Want You" is good but a bit repetitive in my opinion, a great idea that remains just one, and Ozzy and company manage to turn it into a five-minute hit. It is noticeable that on bass is a legend named Geezer Butler.

"Ghost Behind My Eyes" is the unexpected standout. A lullaby where Ozzy harmonizes fantastically, a piece that the Fab4 would have been proud of.

The album continues well with "Thunder Underground," a heavy and not as immediate piece as the previous ones, then drops a bit after the catchy "See You on the Other Side."

"Tomorrow" and "Denial" are tracks with some good sections but a bit unfocused; the former is better, the latter a bit more convoluted, but with an Ozzy who here shows that he has somehow managed to internalize and make his own the influences we talked about earlier.

"My Little Man" is yet another good ballad where Ozzy demonstrates his ear for melody and singable choruses. Much to the chagrin of all the die-hard metalheads who shudder at the sound of a piano, Osbourne does just as well with intense pieces as with power-ballads; in fact, to be honest, he's a master of the genre. It closes with a series of less strong tracks but which still manage to achieve a decent standard.

In essence and to summarize, I really liked *Ozzmosis* and consider it a very dignified album, worthy of his excellent discography.

Sure, the first part is decidedly superior to the second. In a hypothetical (and yet another, I think there are at least two official ones) best-of, "Perry Mason," "I Just Want You," but especially "Ghost Behind My Eyes" (for which I have an absolute soft spot) could not be missing.

It will be a very sad day when you are no longer with us, but thank you always, Ozzy, for all the emotions you have given us!