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I just downloaded and listened to Ozzy's new album Black Rain! I love it! I can't wait to see him perform some of these songs at Ozzfest 2007, which I have tickets for the Chicago show!
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Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain
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AMG Review of Black Rain
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music GuideTo 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 ock & 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 The Osbournes, his annual OzzFest tour turned into an institution of sorts, helping launch new bands while tending to his metal credibility. Now, that is a ock & roll 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, Ozzy 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.
Black Rain was released just a year and half before Ozzy'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 Ozzy 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 ock as reminiscent of Lennon as it is of Sabbath is oddly appropriate. Nothing on Black Rain could really qualify as an Osbourne classic, but there's something curiously comforting about Ozzy relaxing a little bit and singing songs that are strangely age-appropriate -- something that's not respectable, necessarily, something that is still metal, 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 Ozzy'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 Black Rain 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 Osbourne's Under Cover and also produced Cheap Trick's 2006 Rockford, has a long history of pop editing and engineering, including credits on Britney's Oops!...I Did It Again, Shania Twain's Up!, and Celine Dion's New Day Has Come, and all that history is evident in the album's slightly too punchy and precise sound. But even if Black Rain is a bit clean, a bit soft in the center, it's far from an embarrassment, and it's surprisingly likeable -- kind of like Ozzy 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.
Ozzy's Black Rain Is Awesome!
Professor Puff's: "Black Rain" by Ozzy Osbourne
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Track:I Don't Wanna Stop
If you're among the many who think that the years of heavy drinking, partying and copious amounts of drugs have some how pickled Ozzy Osbourne's brain like a cocktail onion, reducing him to the mumbling, mummy-ish cartoon seen on MTV's "The Osbournes" then let it be known that the clarity, focus and intelligence Ozzy's ninth studio album "Black Rain" may come a surprise to those expecting a cat...
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Ozzy On Eating Poo With Mötley Crüe
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To promote his new album ??Black Rain?? (Sony), Ozzy discussed some more taboo matters in a recent interview with the UK Telegraph. In it, we see Ozzy reflect back to the earlier days, before his children's drug problems. We are harkened to the days of his feces eating escapades with MÖTLEY CRÜE, being on drugs without reservations. The good times, the simple times. Here are some of the highlig.
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Ozzy Upset At Sheriff's Sting Op Disguised As Ozzy VIP Party
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Fargo, North Dakota's Sheriff Paul Laney used a ruse to capture out-of-contact criminals: a special invitation to an exclusive Ozzy Osbourne party. The invitations were mailed to more than 40 Fargo residents who had "allegedly ignored court summons and child-support payments or failed to pay fines" according to a VH1 report. The invitations promised two tickets to Ozzy's concert on Monday nig...
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Ozzy Treated At Denver Hospital
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The Prince Of Darkness was taken to a nearby Denver hospital Saturday night following his concert in the Mile High City. Earlier that day Ozzy had been complaining about leg pains that eventually turned out to be a blood clot. Osbourne had Sunday off to recover and is scheduled to be on stage with Ozzfest tonight (Monday) in Kansas City, Missouri."Ozzy Osbourne had a minor outpatient procedure ...
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Professor Puff's: "Black Rain" by Ozzy Osbourne
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Track:I Don't Wanna Stop
If you're among the many who think that the years of heavy drinking, partying and copious amounts of drugs have some how pickled Ozzy Osbourne's brain like a cocktail onion, reducing him to the mumbling, mummy-ish cartoon seen on MTV's "The Osbournes" then let it be known that the clarity, focus and intelligence Ozzy's ninth studio album "Black Rain" may come a surprise to those expecting a cat...
More >
More Free Tickets To Ozzfest Available
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The 428,000 free tickets to Ozzfest that have been given away thus far represents the "largest number of free tickets distributed in the US in the history of the concert business"! And it's not over yet! Ozzfest organizers have unleashed a second round "on the house" for the remaining 21 shows that make up the mega-metal tour. Those who want free tix, still have to jump through the hoops at ...
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New Single: Listen To Ozzy's "I Don't Wanna Stop"
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Ozzy Osbourne has relaunched his official Web site, Ozzy.com. And to steer people to the new social-networking fanbase Ozzy’s camp has posted a new track “I Don’t Wanna Stop” off his first studio album in six years, Black Rain, due May 22nd. The gritty “I Don’t Wanna Stop” can be spun here: http://www.ozzy.com/popup_player?trackId=130The title of Ozzy’s new track may be denouncing
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Ozzy: Direct My Video
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Track:I Don't Want To Stop
Ozzy Osbourne is holding a contest to direct the video for his single I Don't Wanna Stop from his upcoming release ??Black Rain?? (Epic).Ozzy and his band shot footage in front of a green screen and are giving fans the opportunity to download it and use any other imagery. Qualifications of the contest are best summed up by a statement released by the band's publicist: "They just have to use the...
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Ozzy's Black Rain Is Awesome!
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I just downloaded and listened to Ozzy's new album Black Rain! I love it! I can't wait to see him perform some of these songs at Ozzfest 2007, which I have tickets for the Chicago show!
More >
New Studio Album From Ozzy; First In Six Years
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Metal legend Ozzy Osbourne will have his first new studio album in six years, Black Rain (Epic) released on May 22.The album, which deals with the current sad state of civilization, was produced by Ozzy and Kevin Churko; Ozzy utilized his touring band - Zakk Wylde (guitar), Mike Bordin (drums) and Blasko (bass) - for the recording. “I just thought there’s so much fucking bad news, the only wa
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Not Going Away
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from Black Rain. Really good album, One of my fav songs
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 "Black Rain")
