OZZY OSBOURNE: Black Rain

Choice Of The Month June 2007
Cover	Release	Style
	2007-05-22	heavy metal
	Label
	www.epicrecords.com
	Website
	www.ozzy.com
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	46:28	88697101892
	Review by / Translated by	Rating
	Jany / Jennifer	9/10
nederlands	Review
This is the first time in six years that The Prince of Darkness has released an album containing new songs. Being a big Ozzy fan, that’s very exciting. How will the album sound? Can Ozzy still do it? If you take a close look at his solo reportoires, then you’ll discover that all of those albums were equally good. So you can imagine that the expectations are very high… ‘Black Rain’ begins strongly with the decent, contemporary sounding “Not Going Away”. The musicians weave their usual ‘Ozzy’ song, which contains those heavy riffs and a very modern sound. “I Don’t Wanna Stop” is the first single. The fans are treated to some awesome guitar work by Zakk Wylde and to a very catchy chorus. The title track, “Black Rain”, is an Ozzy reaction to the continuing turmoil of war on earth. You’ll hear some very beautiful effects in this song. The semi ballad, “Lay Your World on Me”, is based on a drum and bass loop that continues through the whole song. This can be called an Osbourne song as well, thanks to Ozzy’s wonderful melodies. He also has a view on climate change and that’s certainly no surprise. Ozzy ventilates his own version of “An Inconvenient Truth” while some amazing guitar playing keeps the excitement at a steady pace. Just listen to the Eastern influences and the Porcupine sounding piano work during the bridge of this song. “The Almighty Dollar” is based on the many earthly miseries (as Ozzy notices here) and that’s an understatement! “11 Silver” is an agitated, upbeat number that can't be compared to the rest of the songs. Zakk makes a worthy contribution to this song with some well times and sublime guitar work. A not too obvious “Civilize the Universe” is completely overshadowed by his ballads because they have always been something to look forward to over the years. These strong and sensitive songs have always contained a message and are gems that know how to touch and excite the listener in all their simplicity. Remember “Dreamer” (Down to Earth-2001), “Mama, I’m Coming Home” (No More Tears-1991) and “Revelation” (Mother Earth) (Blizzard of Oz-1980), just to name a few. The ballad this time is called “Here For You”. It’s one of the most sensitive and moving moments on the CD so now is the time to hold up your lighters. The super heavy riffs on “Countdown’s Begun” jerks us back down to earth and our daily confrontations. The last song, “Trap Door”, is propelled by an awesome bass loop and the drums sound a bit like some old Black Sabbath stuff. Ozzy has done it again. He’s written some solid, contemporary songs, accompanied by beautiful arrangements and great technical sounds. Ozzy’s typical voice and Zakk Wylde’s amazing guitar sounds have remained steadfast after all these years. The Prince of darkness lives up to his name and is lonely at the top!
Musicians
Ozzy Osbourne : Vocals Zakk Wylde: Guitar Rob "Blasko" Nicholson: Bass Mike Bordin : Drums
Tracklist
1. Not Going Away 2. I Don't Wanna Stop 3. Black Rain 4. Lay Your World on Me 5. The Almighty Dollar 6. 11 Silver 7. Civilize the Universe 8. Here for You 9. Countdown's Begun 10. Trap Door
Discography


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