313. Ozzy Osbourne / Black Rain. 2007. 3/5

When this album was first released I was way too excited about its contents. Sure, at the time it was exciting because it had been a number of years (six as it turns out) since Ozzy had released an album, and though it had been on the lower scale of Ozzy albums, that didn’t mean that a new one wasn’t going to be great. Lots of things had come together that gave great optimism for what was to come, and some of that was not misplaced. But on reflection it is difficult to see just why I was so excited about it initially, because when listened to retrospectively it seems as though there were some flaws that for some reason I must have glossed over in my enthusiasm. In fact, when I first reviewed this album my opening statement was: “The madman is back, and though he may not be quite as mad as he once was, this is a startling return after so many years out of the recording scene.” Not quite.

Since the amazing No More Tears was released in 1991, Ozzy had released 1995's Ozzmosis, which was generally great, and 2001's Down To Earth, which was generally average. With this being only his third album release in 16 years there is always the chance that the writing could be either chock full of goodness or a little on the stale side. The first thing done right here was the reinstatement of Zakk Wylde to his rightful position of collaborator, guitarist and everyman. Zakk has tuned down for this effort, no doubt in an effort to help Ozzy's vocal range, but it also acts as a stimulus to create a heavier sound in the songs. Having written so much stuff for his own band Black Label Society in recent years, Zakk seems to have brought a similar style to this Ozzy album with him.

So my main gripe with the songs on the album is that the tempo has generally settled into a very slow and steady one, not surprisingly in a similar way that recent Black Label Society albums have done. Songs such as “Lay Your World on Me”, “Here For You” and “Countdown’s Begun” are very much in this category and for me keep the album stuck in second gear without being able to break free. All good enough songs, with great guitar riffs from Zakk, but I was looking for more. Then you have “The Almighty Dollar” and “Civilize the Universe”, which are in much the same style, but both really overextend their welcome. They are slow and samey, and Ozzy stretches out the vocals as well, and even then both songs feel as though they are over about halfway through... but they just keep regenerating and continuing, and it gets to be a real punish to continue on. Once again, after listening to this album a lot, I have gotten used to them and can tolerate them, but it does make it hard now to return to the album with a lot of enthusiasm.

What about the rest? Well, the harmonica in “Black Rain” is a bit naff and feels unnecessary but I enjoy the song despite this. The opening track “Not Going Away” does tend to plod on as well but when in the mood it is an enjoyable enough song. “11 Silver” picks up the middle of the album, while the best songs by quite a stretch are the first single “I Don’t Wanna Stop” and the closing track “Trap Door”, which is where most of the momentum of the album seems to reside.

This came out at around the same time as Megadeth’s “United Abominations” album, and I listen to these both together a lot, so I guess a part of my enjoyment of that album rubbed off on my opinion of this at the time. However, since then I guess a little bit of perspective has crept in, and my initial joy of the album has cooled somewhat. It isn’t a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, and both Zakk’s guitaring and Ozzy’s vocals are always great to listen to. Faith No More’s Mike Bordin on drums and new bassist Rob "Blasko" Nicholson play their roles well. There are probably four songs here that could probably force their way into your Ozzy playlist if you were a mind to do so, but that would probably be it.

Best Songs: “Not Going Away”, “I Don’t Wanna Stop”, “11 Silver”, “Trap Door”.

Rating: “Justify your ego, living with denial, and the thoughts so vile won't fade away.” 3/5