Ozzy Osbourne

Ozzmosis

The Music Ozzy Was Meant To Make

Review Score:

(10/10)
Ozzy's most underrated album and arguably his best. His most personal work to date, the album goes from strength to strength with only a bare exception or two. You'll see two words repeated through almost all of the reviews for this album -- epic and sweeping. It truly can't be summed up any other way. Let's go track by track:

1. Perry Mason - The most popular track from this album and an absolute solid rocker. Top notch vocal performance from Ozzy.

2. I Just Want You - One of Ozzy's best and perhaps the most unique song he has penned. His vocals are magnificent here, as he allowed more of his natural talent to show and didn't go with the higher range that he's known for [the trademark strained falsetto from hell], while utilizing multi-layer vocal tracking. The video isn't to be missed either.

3. Ghost Behind My Eyes - Simply a gorgeous and dark love song. The lyrics are beautiful. Enough cannot be said about this song.

4. Thunder Underground - One of the hardest songs on the album, if not the hardest. Amazing vocal work on this song and incredible lyrics. Should have been a huge hit with his fans, but got lost in the shuffle.

5. See You On The Other Side - Tender and sentimental, probably highly popular among his casual fans. It's very, very pretty, but does tend to wander into the maudlin.

6. Tommorow - Ozzy Does Scary (TM). Back to his roots with this track, it's hard and meant to be played at 11 on your volume dial. Good stuff.

7. Denial - While not bad, this falls into the mediocre range. His vocals tend to be a bit rough here.

8. My Little Man - The one rather bad track on the album. Very sweet idea, but the lyrics are lacking and the arrangement is shoddy. No go. However, this is compensated by the addition of the far superior "Aimee".

9. My Jekyll Doesn't Hide - Despite the horrible title, this is actually a rather standout song. Vocals are very good and the lyrics are, as well. On the harder end of the spectrum.

10. Old L.A. Tonight - This one jockeys for title of Best Track with TU and JWY. Lush and ambitious, it begins with gentle and lovely piano work, moving seamlessly into a gorgeous guitar solo and Ozzy's flawless vocals. Again, another of Ozzy's best that gets overlooked in favor of lesser songs. A perfect end to an almost flawless album.

11. [Bonus] Whole World's Fallin' Down - The first of the bonus tracks, this is actually an excellent song. It took a few listens for me to get into it, but it now falls in my top 20 favourite Ozzy songs. Catchy, catchy riff.

12. [Bonus] Aimee - The second of the extras, this is a perfect song. It manages to be a regretful lament to his daughter while not being maudlin; it's introspective and pensive. Beautiful track.

Ozzy leaves behind the overblown excess of the 80s with this album and the cliched "metal" imagery that everyone expected. In doing this, he produced possibly his most meaningful and artistic album to date. By stripping away the persona that had become bigger than his music, his talent as a songwriter and vocalist truly shows here. Another reviewer added Ozzy's quote of "I haven't made my Sgt. Pepper album yet", and stated that this was it. I'm inclined to agree -- Ozzy has yet to reach these heights again, and I'm not sure if he ever will. If you buy only one other Ozzy work besides the seminal Diary of a Madman and Blizzard of Ozz, let it be this one. Buy it with no expectations and allow yourself to be floored by the subtle brilliance of this album.

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