Scream

I've never been a fan of Ozzy Osbourne. I've always found him dreadfully over-celebrated. Yes, the first four Black Sabbath albums are landmark metal LPs but I think this was so in spite of Ozzy's mediocre vocal limitations. Had Ronnie James Dio been the singer from the start those albums would likely be even better. Nevertheless, Ozzy's place in rock history was cemented.

Surprisingly, he became even more famous as a solo artist. There's little doubt his dubious acts of animal cruelty and dimestore Satanic image (rather than musical talent) made him the megastar, fascinating teenagers and arrested adolescents for years. It didn't matter that it didn't take long for the so-called "madman" to become a parody of himself. Nowadays he's a man with zero credibility among metal diehards who consider him the poster child for biggest sellout, washed up rockstar boob on the planet thanks to that insipid reality show.

Though he has a rich catalog of solo "hits" I've only liked one of his albums from start to finish and that was his solo debut "Blizzard Of Ozz". Since then he's been consistently inconsistent.

All that being said I admit I was pleasantly surprised by this tuneful, harder sounding version of his shtick. I've heard some bemoan alleged "groove metal" flourishes and the record being overproduced but it's actually one of the best sounding albums I've heard from him. Sure, it's definitely a commercially-minded collection and produced two terrific singles and videos. The crunchy, lumbering "Let Me Hear You Scream" is a catchy fist pumper, while "Life Won't Wait" is a melodic midtempo, alternative rock ballad with a tastefully restrained vocal. The video was hands down the best he's even been in. He even shows a bit of self-conscious humor at the end. Those who find fault with such "fluff" obviously have never understood that Ozzy Osbourne has always been "funny", albeit usually unintentionally.

Of course Ozzy does mean business on these songs. "Diggin' Me Down" is yet another attack on religion, specifically Christianity. The problem is Ozzy doesn't seem to understand Christianity very well. When he asks "So come on Jesus/Don't keep us waiting here for you/How long? Cause my faith is breaking/The pure and divine are diggin' me, diggin' me down" he appears unaware that Christians do have an answer to that question. Still, I really want to believe Ozzy is at least somewhat sincere here. After all, the "problem of evil" has been one of the most difficult theological issues facing the Judeo-Christian mind for centuries. How can a loving God exist while the world is full of evil? Though there's good explanations it is a fair question. "The son of man or an obsolete facade/How will I know you're the Son of God?". He's tackled these subjects before but his focus is more mature, balanced and even thought-provoking, rather than simple disdainful mockery ("Miracle Man" for example).

"Crucify" directs it's angst towards politicians. "Time" has Ozzy lamenting the dilemma of mankind: " Our destiny connected,Invited, unexpected,Life isn't fair, but still it goes on (goes on)/We all live and we all die,Say hello then say goodbye,The sun will set until the next dawn (next dawn)" . Has Ozzy been reading Ecclesiastes?

Back to the sound of the record. Guitarist Gus G doesn't sound all that different from his predecessor Zack Wylde. That's not a bad thing. The production mixes traces of industrial, doom, alternative rock, muddy grunge so it never sounds as sterile and polished like earlier efforts ("The Ultimate Sin", "No More Tears") and I for one enjoy the new (to Ozzy that is) sound he's been building since his previous set, "Black Rain". The only drawback is the album does seem to turn stale the more you listen to it. Time will tell if this one holds up.