1185. Ozzy Osbourne / Patient Number 9. 2022. 4/5

How the hell is Ozzy Osbourne still alive?! After the life he has led, and the substance abuse he has been a part of, it still boggles the mind that firstly he is still alive, and secondly that he is still able to perform on stage as well as he does, though that has certainly almost ceased in recent times. Indeed, following the reunification with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler for the “13” album for Black Sabbath, it was felt that perhaps that would be the conclusion of his performing career. But no, instead he worked up to and into the covid pandemic period to produce the “Ordinary Man” album, one that utilised a plethora of guest musicians, and changed up his usual style of music. There was some chart success for the album, and also his collaboration on a single with Post Malone, and while this drew in some new fans to his music, it has to be said that many of the long term fans – myself included – felt as though it was a mixed bag, and that after several listens were happy to put it back on the shelves without too much thought of dragging it back out again.
So when it came to announcing this new album, it did come as a surprise. On top of his growing illness with Parkinson’s disease and everything else that he was working with, a new album, coming so soon after his previous one, seemed like a pipe dream. And it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that my own feelings on a new album were mixed. On one hand, I’m always excited for the release of a new Ozzy album – how could you not be? On the other hand, most of his albums over the last two decades have been uneven, and in places just plain ordinary. You always hope for brilliance, but was there any scope for any of that to remain?
Once again, there were a lot of artists used throughout the album, though the bulk of the songwriting was done by Ozzy (presumably) alongside two other writers, producer, instrumentalist and song writer Andrew Watt, and Alexandra Tamposi who had co-written hit songs with many modern day pop artists. Other artists were then invited to submit guitar riffs and the like, from which they would then join in and help flesh out those riffs that the main writers liked into full songs. In the long run what this created was an eclectic album with different flavours and sounds, while still retaining a core within the tracks to ensure they fit well together on the album, which in my opinion made this album a much better listen than the previous album.

In my opinion, what makes this album an improvement on the previous album is that there has been a better quality of musician brought in to help write and perform on this album. Now that isn’t to decry those who were a part of the last album, but some of the guys brought in on this album KNOW how to write and play on an Ozzy Osbourne album. The number one in this category is Zakk Wylde, whose mysterious absence from Ozzy albums at times over the last two decades is noticed when it happens. It was definitely noticed on “Ordinary Man”. On this album Zakk is back, and plays on many of the songs and is heavily featured on four – the brilliant “Parasite”, “Mr Darkness”, the sensational solo section of “Nothing Feels Right” and “Evil Shuffle”. Ozzy has complained in the past of Zakk’s writing being ‘too Black Label Society’ for his albums, but when Zakk is shredding it feels like Ozzy is at his strength.
Then we have Tony Iommi who contributes to two songs, “No Escape from Now”, which sounds like it could have come straight off that Black Sabbath album ‘13’ with Tony’s solo, and also “Degradation Rules” which tries to hark back to the beginning, with Ozzy joining in on harmonica. It’s great to hear these two together again.
Beyond this, there are some other pretty handy axe wielders on show. Jeff Beck contributes on the first single and title track, as well as the later track “A Thousand Shades”, both excellent songs. Eric Clapton comes on board on “One of Those Days” and does a typically excellent job. And then take a look at the list of other guest musicians who contribute to these tracks. Drummers Chad Smith and Taylor Hawkins before his unfortunate demise, bass guitarists Rob Trujillo and Duff McKagen, as well as Josh Homme and Mike McCreedy. And not to forget the great violins in both “One of Those Days” and the terrific “Dead and Gone”.
All of this – the song writing partners, the amazing musicians involved – has created a wonderful portrait piece, one completed by Ozzy himself. His vocals are still just amazingly good, and how can you not love hearing Ozzy sing? There’s no shouting or screaming, there’s no missed notes or vocals a little off. Every song here sounds terrific, and Ozzy is absolutely on song in every way. And, as I’ve said before, for someone who has had his health issues and at the age of 73 is getting up there, his voice is still the one that many people think of as the best in heavy metal.

I was 50/50 going into this album when I heard of its imminent release. And I love Ozzy, but for me he hadn’t really done a truly Ozzy album since “Ozzmosis” back in 1995. Every album since has been flawed, boring, or pieces of both. He had moved away from the success of his early writing cohorts in Bob Daisley and Zakk Wylde, and gone with different sets of collaborators, and I felt that this harmed the success of those albums. He had even spurned Zakk from playing on some of those albums, and that didn’t feel right either.
But from the moment I hear the first single, which was the title track, it did feel and sound a lot more naturally like Ozzy Osbourne, and that gave me confidence going into the album proper. And I haven’t been disappointed. I don’t think there is a bad track on this album. Sure, there are a few that are a bit slower or go to other others that I am not entirely thrilled about when it comes to my music pleasure, but overall I think this is a triumph. And it is made by the players. It’s hard to dismiss Chad Smith, Rob Trujillo, Zakk, Iommi who are the main players here, along with all the other who make their contributions. The songs are written in the style that allows Ozzy to be himself, and be dragged along into the mix of the excellent musicianship and song structures that exist here. Whether you are a guitar lover, or an Ozzy lover, there is something for everyone here. It is undoubtedly the best album Ozzy has released in 25+ years, which is truly a remarkable achievement in itself, mirroring the recent success of Judas Priest’s “Firepower” album in channelling the past in a positive modern way.
Is this now the final hurrah for Ozzy? It seems almost impossible that he would be able to do any more live tours. But the excellence of this album so soon after “Ordinary Man” could perhaps suggest that, when it comes to releasing another album, or albums, then perhaps we have not heard the end of the great man. No matter what, this is an album to be listened to. In fact, for me, it is probably the album of 2022. And I never thought I’d be saying that about an Ozzy Osbourne album in the 2020’s.

1184. Skid Row / The Gang's All Here. 2022. 4/5

If you are as old as me, and were at that perfect age for when Skid Row first hit the music scene, and for a period of about six years stole the limelight and looked as though they had the world at their feet, then you have probably been waiting around for 25 years to see if they could ever regain those feet that appeared to come out from under them in the late 1990’s, with the somewhat acrimonious split with lead singer Sebastian Bach and drummer Rob Affuso.
In the years since, there has been a litany of lead singers and drummers who have populated the band, while the released work of the band has dried up to a trickle. Only two full albums, “Thickskin” and “Revolutions Per Minute”, were released in the years between 1996 and 2022, with another couple of EPs that tried to keep the flame alive beyond that.
Former Dragonforce lead vocalist ZP Theart had been with the band since 2016, and the talk of a new full length album began once again. However, despite the fact that Theart had a terrific voice, there always seemed to be a delay on just what was occurring with the band during this time. It was intimated that the personalities didn’t quite mix as well as they would have hoped, while it can be said that perhaps his vocals didn’t match the music either.
At the start of 2022 the band announced that Theart had moved on, and almost immediately they announced the recruitment of Erik Gronwall as his replacement. Little known outside of his native Sweden, Gronwall had won Swedish Idol in 2009, and gone on to a successful solo career as a result, and also joined the band H.E.A.T, with whom he recorded four albums.
At some stage Gronwall came on Skid Row’s radar, with many fans tagging them on social media about his vocals and how much they would suit Skid Row. There is little doubt that his range and voice do sound remarkably like original vocalist Seb Bach’s, but the band backed Theart despite this. Eventually though, the planets aligned, and the band decided to go with Gronwall, not only as their new lead singer, but to front the band on their first new album in 16 years.

If there was any real doubt as to why the band recruited Gronwall as their lead vocalist, the opening tracks to the album lay that to rest. From the opening strains of “Hell or High Water”, the similarity in the vocals between he and Bach is significant. “Hell of High Water” could almost have been dragged off the debut album such is its similarity across the board. The follow up title track of “The Gang’s All Here” ramps up the attitude, and utilises the best Skid Row has to offer – good backing vocals, nice guitars, and a happy feeling to the song. “Not Dead Yet” continues on in that vein, while “Time Bomb” has its moment but feels a little cliched amongst the first tracks.
“Resurrected” has that great attitude that the band’s best music has always contained, great guitar, terrific singalong lyrics and backup vocals that support Gronwall’s posing and pointed performance. It’s one of my favourites from the album. “Nowhere Fast” jumps between the mid-tempo range that modern Skid Row has adapted to, while also throwing in a bit of hard biting slow tempo drums to emphasise the chorus. “When the Lights Come On” changes things up again, visualising the kind of hair metal songs the band released on their debut all those years ago, focused on the same sort of subject matter and song highlights that they provided back in the day. This is one of the songs where Gronwall really sounds like the band’s first vocalist, in some places the resemblance is uncanny. And then there is the crowd chanting favourite “Tear it Down”, where you can imagine the crowd fist pumping and chanting along with the vocals in tandem with the band.
“October’s Song” is a long winded power ballad that for me is probably one that will sit well with the hard core fan base, but for my tastes doesn’t hit the mark. To be honest it doesn’t even work in a way of promoting the band on radio or those types of institutions, because at just over seven minutes in length it is too long. And really, if you are going to write this kind of song, make it four minutes maximum and get it over and done with. It’s not a mood killer, but it outstays its welcome well before the final chords are struck. “World on Fire” on the other hand fights back hard and sharp, and finishes off the album in the same way it started, with a fresh take on a band’s original sound and songwriting.

As I said in the opening, Skid Row came along at the exact right time of my life. All of those youth anthems that they wrote were aimed at my generation, and they were great years to be out there and listening to music and going to live gigs. I tried really hard to get into “Subhuman Race” but it just didn’t gel with me, and despite this and the changing of the guard, I still gave every Skid Row release a go and hoped it would be the one that rediscovered their mojo.
This is the one that has finally done it. Whether or not you want to call Erik Gronwall a Bach clone, it really doesn’t matter, because his vocals fit the band and the music they have written, and the band fits his voice. Some of the songs seem to be inspired by those early classics, without trying to replicate them. Maybe that’s just Erik’s voice, or maybe it was something that the band tried to achieve. Either way, what Skid Row does succeed with on this album is restoring the pieces to their correct order, and in many ways making them a listenable commodity once again.
I got this album on its release. Enough excitement had been built up with the initial selection of songs to whet the appetite, and I guess I was hopeful that everything would come together in a way that allowed this album to be as enjoyable as it could be. It isn’t about trying to make it sound like they did 30 years ago, it is about harnessing those memories and providing an output for them in the modern day. In all of those ways, the band has succeeded. I wouldn’t compare it to those first two albums, rather I would listen to it with the sound of those albums in mind, and allow that to swing the mood into this new era.