Artist: Ozzy Osbourne 
   Title: Black Rain
   Label: Sony BMG

Hands up all those who thought the career of Ozzy Osbourne was all washed up and was no longer the rock icon most people thought he was?  WRONG!!!  And what a way to prove those doubters that there's still life left in the man who was side-tracked by MTV for a while with this heavy with a capital 'H' album, backed up by his old mates Zakk Wylde on guitar, Rob 'Blasko' Nicholson on bass and Mike Bordin on drums, along with John Sinclair on keyboards.

The almost grungy sounding 'Not Going Away' starts the album off with it's slightly dragged out sound, then Wyldes bludgeoning guitar leads into what could easily be a tale of Ozzy's life story in 'I Don't Wanna Stop' with it's tribal style drumbeat leading the rest of the song and Ozzy telling us ... "All my life I've been over the top, I don't know what I'm doing, all I know is I don't wanna stop" ... Yeah and don't we all believe him!

Title track 'Black Rain' is lyrically a gloomy song that needs no explanation as it's too close to home on the global scene at the moment, and Wylde's guitar work makes you shudder as it adds it's own bit of darkness to it all before coming to an end with a barrage of heavy bass and the sound of gunfire.  Strangely enough, this song would make an excellent first single but would it be allowed any air play?  Continuing with the global theme, the almost funky sounding 'The Almighty Dollar' points the finger at global warming with it's gut wrenching bass lines and Ozzy sounding really pissed off, talking for us all with the line ... 'How could you fuck us all over' ... and Wylde having his say via some really heavy guitar work.  Definitely a song that the G8 gang should be made to listen to at their next meeting.

One song that doesn't quite hit the mark is '11 Silver' with it's tinny vocals in most parts and it sounds a bit rushed if anything, almost thrashy and at the very end you hear Ozzy ask if it's the last song so maybe it was even a bit too fast for him to keep up with!.

There had to be a ballad on the album and the big 'O' comes up trumps with 'Here For You' with a piano and orchestra almost floating over some sad yet meaningful words and some neat lightweight guitar work that is reminiscent to 'Mama I'm Coming Home' and is surely a future single.

The anti-nuclear based 'Countdown's Begun' with it's stark message of ... 'You may see the mushroom but you won't hear the blast' ... is forcefully delivered by Ozzy over thudding drums and bass as Wylde's raging riff adds its own voice to things before 'Trap Door' and its quite modern sound, almost in a Velvet Revolver style, ends things.

With this return to form I just wonder if Sharon gave Ozzy a big kick up the backside to get a much needed good album out of him, as this should bring him right back into the limelight and make his supposed successors sit up and listen ... and worry!!!

Review by Bob Baldwin.

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