He returned in 2020 with a new studio recording, 'Ordinary Man' in which, at the time, he had invited artists as diverse as the rapper 'Post Malone' or 'Elton John' and, 2022 sees the release of a new album, 'Patient Number 9', which shows, again, a beautiful skewer of guests, this time instrumentalists and parades names that made the golden years of 70s rock, with 'Jeff Beck', 'Eric Clapton ' and 'Tony Iommi' (for those under fifty, one of the founders with Ozzy of 'Back Sabbath') but also younger ones like 'Mike McCready' and 'Zakk Wylde'. He also surrounded himself with a luxury rhythm section that many artists would like to have with bassist 'Robert Trujillo' of 'Metallica' and drummer 'Chad Smith' of 'Red Hot Chili Peppers'.
With this impressive line-up, he offers us a good hour of very varied good rock which makes the album very pleasant because it alternates different atmospheres with a very catchy start to the title song (see the video above) which automatically turns on the foot tapping machine and in which 'Jeff Beck' sends us some very nice riffs and guitar solos. 'Immortal' follows suit and shows a heavier face, then, 'Parasite' continues in this energetic atmosphere with a swaying rhythmic à la 'Led Zeppelin' with a crazy solo from 'Zakk Wylde'. Alternately, the three following compositions bring more moderate atmospheres with 'No Escape From Now' and its slow tempo, then, the quiet 'One Of Those Days' (see the video here) is a real melodic gem and, finally, the semi-acoustic ballad 'A Thousand Shades' (see the video here) is also a real treat, these three titles each benefiting from the masterful interventions of the trio of guitarists 'Tony Iommi', 'Eric Clapton' and 'Zakk Wylde'. The second part of the album continues in this diversity with a 'Mr Darkness' (see the video here) which as its title suggests is quite dark and very beautiful module way of the calm parts and others much more muscular, then, 'Nothing Feels Right' (see the video here), on a slow tempo, is still illuminated by the feeling of 'Zakk Wylde' which releases a grandiose guitar solo. The same 'Zakk Wylde' is also present on 'Evil Shuffle', more classic but very effective with its original rhythmic changes, then, 'Degradation Rules' continues in this strong hard rock taking us back a few decades with, this time, 'Tony Iommi' accompanying his partner from the first decade of 'Black Sabbath'. Much smoother, 'Dead And Gone' is no less catchy with its bass line conducive to headbanging, the album ending, first of all, with the magnificent ballad 'God Only Knows' reminding us of one last time that Ozzy' has this talent to lay out compositions with memorable melodic lines and, finally, the short offbeat comma 'Darkside Blues' (but hey, we're still in an 'Ozzy Osbourne' album), accompanied by Ozzy at the harmonica reinforcing the southern side.
In summary, at 73 years old and after more than 50 years of good and loyal service, 'Ozzy Osbourne' continues to live up to his image as a rock demon and this new offering shows that he is still in the game. suddenly and that he knows how to accompany himself with talented artists to release us a quality album with all the ingredients of a timeless rock... | |
