There has been a lot of talk about Ozzy’s latest album mainly due to the fact that guitarist of 20 years Zakk Wylde was dropped in favour of some new blood, Gus G from Firewind. Now this got a bit messy with what seemed to be a lack of communication between Ozzy and Zakk but it seems everything was resolved and Ozzy had a point, his music was becoming more Black Label Society than Ozzy and Zakk had the longest run of all Ozzy’s guitarists anyway so he has to be happy with that. I have to say considering that Ozzy was born in 1948 and has had, well, a colourful life to put it politely he has done an incredible job on this record and sings with the energy and passion of a twenty-something Ozzy!

What Ozzy has done though by bringing Gus G into the equation is to completely reinvigorate and re-invent himself with some of the best music he has ever written. Gus does an incredible job fitting into the big role and there are even the odd nod to Randy Rhoads and the big guy Zakk Wylde himself, most notably in the track “Let Me hear You Scream” which has a very Zakk flavoured solo and “Diggin’ Me Down” which has a “No More Tears” feel to it mixed with a machine gun chugging riff. The riffs are pretty monstrous throughout but also memorable, the opening track “Let It Die” for instance has a very catchy chorus which will get stuck firmly in your head for days, the solo on this track is a non-shred melodic solo and is very anthemic before breaking into an early Metallica style riff, I love this track.

“Soul Sucker” is another track with crushing riffs and a blistering solo where Gus gets to stretch his wings a little but it’s not an album of non-stop metal chuggery, “Life Won’t Wait” drops the tempo and has a more commercial edge to it with acoustic guitars and quite almost ballad-like sections interspersed with massive riffs. The final track “I Love You All” has an almost Beatles sound to it, kind of like the middle section of “No More Tears” when it breaks down to piano, it only lasts for 1 minute and is almost sounds like a last goodbye to his fans, although this isn’t the case as he mentions his next album in a recent interview with Australian Radio Network Triple J .

“We all must end together now, all one by one we fall. For all these years you’ve stood by me, God bless I love you all.”

“Time” is another slower track, typical Ozzy power ballad with a Randy inspired solo, nice touch.

“Fearless” is a cross between modern Ozzy and old Ozzy with a great solo from Gus, while “I Want It More” has more of a contemporary Ozzy feel with its fast staccato riff and brilliant playing by Gus G including a face-melting solo that has a bit of all Ozzy’s previous guitarists in there.

The penultimate track “Latimer’s Mercy” has a great down-tuned riff with plenty of Wah thrown in and is a real head-nodder with the thudding bass line.

All in all this is an amazing album from Ozzy with great guitar playing from Gus G, it has been a long time since I have had anything positive to say about Ozzy’s music which I think that he felt himself, this release firmly puts Ozzy back on the Heavy Metal map which at his age is an amazing achievement.

Official Ozzy site – http://www.ozzy.com
Gus G MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/gusgofficial