Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth - 2001
I'm going to be extraordinarily kind to Oz right about now. At this point he's the only one standing from the original metal bands.
Sabbath is over.
Dio is a cartoon version of what he THINKS metal is turning into.
Deep Purple is a funk/prog jam band.
By 2001 Metal had given over to a new breed. The days of hippy psych metal gave way to glam which became hair metal and was wiped away by Tool, Korn and math rock.
But Ozzy had one thing the other bands did NOT have: Sharon.
Ozzy comes across as barely functional. But the daughter of his manager who became his manager sure learned a lot at the feet of her father. And thing one was never think you are better or lesser than your audience. Be the band they want you to be.
So, he became the Prince of Fucking Darkness.
He hired great players and good songwriters and excellent producers and made records.
Ozzy's sound hasn't changed much since the last record and he knows where his bread is buttered. One of my favorite tracks in the entire catalog is the opener for this one. "Gets Me Through" is the one where he acknowledges his past, his roots and his gratitude for his fans.
The ballad, "Running Out Of Time" has just enough weirdo Floydian production mixed through a taffy machine of metal and Queen that it becomes a great centerpiece. The other ballad, "Dreamer" shoots a little to hard for the Aerosmith money.
I like Down to Earth. As much as the last one. Maybe even a little more.
Grade: A
ASide: Gets Me Through
BlindSide: Running Out of Time
DownSide: Black Illusion
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