To a certain extent,
Ozzy Osbourne
doesn't need to make new music -- and to a certain extent he hasn't, choosing to not record an album of original material in the years immediately after the reality TV show
The Osbournes
once again turned him into a household name. At the peak of
Ozzy
's fame in the early '80s, he was a boogeyman, embodying all the dangers of
rock & roll
, but the TV show made him safe, even cuddly -- a punch line at the White House Foreign Correspondent's Dinner -- which just helped him rake in the money, particularly since in addition to riding the wave of
, his annual
OzzFest
tour turned into an institution of sorts, helping launch new bands while tending to his
metal
credibility. Now, that is a
machine, one driven entirely by personality, not new musical product, and one that was nearly in perpetual motion, never needing new grist for the mill to turn a profit. Yet there's always a risk that an enterprise like that could grow a bit stale, even with the occasional box sets, live albums, and cover records to keep things humming. And so,
finally got around to a new album original material, releasing
Black Rain
in the summer of 2007, a full six years after
Down to Earth
, his last album of originals, and well past the sell-by date of his TV show -- proof that this record isn't about cashing-in, it's about keeping the
Osbourne
machine rolling.
was released just a year and half before
's 60th birthday, and he does sound like a veteran -- he can't wail like he used to, opting for a lower-register growl, but perhaps the biggest indication that he's getting on in years is that he doesn't rock as hard as he once did. Sure, longtime axeman
Zakk Wylde
is here playing some mean guitar, but this isn't as heavy as he was even a decade ago, lacking both the gut-level punch and monster riffs of even his post-
Randy Rhoads
work. Certainly, this level of heaviosity is missed, but it's also true that if
really strived for a brutal attack he might wind up sounding older than he already does here, so hearing him ease into a hazily dark, vaguely psychedelic heavy
rock
as reminiscent of
Lennon
as it is of
Sabbath
is oddly appropriate. Nothing on
could really qualify as an
classic, but there's something curiously comforting about
relaxing a little bit and singing songs that are strangely age-appropriate -- something that's not respectable, necessarily, something that is still
, but something that isn't quite as heavy as before, yet retaining that swirling, circular melodies and murky grind that has been his stock and trade for nearly 40 years. If the music feels a bit older, so do
's lyrics. He spends a startling amount of time addressing the ills of the world, ranging from terrorism to consumerism, and for once his fondness for gloomy doomsday imagery jibes with the conventional-held opinion of the state of the world (although he never gets as apocalyptic as
Cormac McCarthy
's
The Road
, or the
Left Behind
series, for that matter, which frankly is a relief). This unintentional zeitgeist piggybacking helps
feel timely and appropriate, which is a mildly shocking turn of events, and helps the album feel something closer to a work of art than a piece of product for the Ozz machine. It's hardly a perfect record -- producer
Kevin Churko
, who engineered
Under Cover
and also produced
Cheap Trick
's 2006
Rockford
, has a long history of
pop
editing and engineering, including credits on
Britney
Oops!...I Did It Again
,
Shania Twain
Up!
, and
Celine Dion
New Day Has Come
, and all that history is evident in the album's slightly too punchy and precise sound. But even if
is a bit clean, a bit soft in the center, it's far from an embarrassment, and it's surprisingly likeable -- kind of like
himself in the new millennium, really, so it's nice that he finally has an album that lives up to his well-scrubbed, reputable persona. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine