The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

REVIEW: Ozzy Osbourne – Scream

Thirty years ago, Ozzy Osbourne made his debut on the world stage as a solo artist, having already achieved huge success as the vocalist of Black Sabbath. Most predicted he would fail, or die young due to his infamous lifestyle. Yet his 1980 effort, ‘Blizzard of Oz’, became widely regarded as one of the finest metal albums ever released. This sums up the path that Ozzy’s career has taken. Time after time, he has denied both musical critics and medical science, and now, at the age of 61, he releases ‘Scream’, his tenth studio album.

BY ANDREW SCOTT

Most artists at Ozzy’s age would not want to toy around with a successful formula, yet Ozzy has never been one to rest on his laurels. ‘Scream’ is his first album not to feature guitarist Zakk Wylde since 1988′s ‘No Rest for the Wicked’. Gus G, formerly of Greek power-metal outfit Firewind, takes up the mantel. Not content with a new guitarist, Ozzy has also drafted in a new drummer, Tommy Clufetos. In theory, this would send out a clear message, that Ozzy was back, and sounding more metal than ever.

Unfortunately, music does not always live up to the artist’s expectations. Most songs are driven by sludgy riffs that make listeners question how much of the album was actually written by the new axeman because this has Wylde’s fingerprints all over it. ‘Scream’ never crosses into poor musical territory, but much of it feels overly familiar. With a worrying lack of coherent song structure, the worst offending tracks sound like a haphazard collection of discarded riffs and scale runs. Undoubtedly, this album has more in common with 2007′s disappointing ‘Black Rain’ as opposed to Ozzy’s classic early albums.

However, it is easy to be overly critical of an album that is, at its core, a pure heavy-metal record. In a musical landscape dominated by emo, pop-punk and indie, it is refreshing to hear the 61 year-old Ozzy, and his talented metal assemble, still melting faces with distorted riffs and lightning solos. There are a few tracks that really stand out as well. The opener ‘Let it die’ for instance would raise hell in any mosh pit. ‘Let me hear you scream’ is another track written for Ozzy’s loyal touring fanbase, whilst ‘Diggin’ me down’ has a superb, chugging riff and a brutal drum beat. The most important thing of all is that Ozzy is having a blast on every track; his voice sounds as uniquely mesmeric as ever.

While ‘Scream’ may not have the same catchy hooks of Ozzy’s earlier works, nor the technical genius of the late Randy Rhoads, it nevertheless receives full marks for heaviness, and the enduring character that Ozzy puts into each and every track. Ozzy has not rediscovered the secret behind his phenomenal 1980′s output, but it should still be enjoyed by anybody who loves to raise the horns and bang their heads.

Tags: Andrew Scott, Gown, newspaper, Ozzy, qub, Queen's, queen's university, Review, students, The Gown

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 1st, 2010 at 11:50 am and is filed under Arts + Ents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.