Ozzy Osbourne Down To Earth CD

Initial pressings of DOWN TO EARTH will include regular audio tracks as well as multimedia computer files. The Enhanced portion includes live perfomance footage of Ozzy Osbourne performing with Randy Rhodes.
Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Tim Palmer (acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards, drums, background vocals); Zakk Wylde, Danny Saber (guitar); Michael Railo (keyboards, background vocals); Robert Trujillo (bass); Mike Bordin (drums).
Recorded at Jim Henson Studios, Hollywood, California.
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Personnel: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Tim Palmer (guitar, keyboards, drums, background vocals); Danny Saber, Zakk Wylde (guitar); Mike Bordin (drums).
Audio Mixer: Tim Palmer.
Recording information: Jim Henson Studios, Hollywood, CA.
Photographer: Nitin Vadukul.
Ozzy Osbourne's eighth solo studio album, Down to Earth, shows the madman of rock relying on a supergroup of metal musicians to bring his sound together. Longtime Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde is back, this time with Suicidal Tendencies bassist Robert Trujillo and Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin supplying the rhythm. Despite the ever-changing world of heavy metal, Ozzy has a strangely timeless sound that he does not stray from on this record. Thick, heavy songs like "Gets Me Through" could really be on any Ozzy record after 1989 and fit in, but it is this bizarre reliability that keeps the album as listenable as it is. There are a few off moments, most specifically when it comes to the occasional murky production that muffles Wylde's fiery guitar and Bordin's drums. Producer Tim Palmer gives it more of a grunge sheen than a heavy metal sound, which does work on some tracks but takes a little of the punch out of songs like "Junkie." Still, this has all the main ingredients of good Ozzy: a big fat Black Sabbath number ("Gets Me Through"), some wonderfully cheesy ballads ("Running Out of Time"), some tracks that can offend teenagers' parents ("Facing Hell"), and the song about how darn crazy he is ("Alive"). Sure it may be predictable, but no one looks to Ozzy to pioneer new sounds. Anyone who liked Ozzy's output from the '90s will probably embrace this album with open arms, and anyone who does not like him will probably know to avoid this. ~ Bradley Torreano
Six years of waiting for a new album had impatient Ozzy fans biting the heads off of live animals, but DOWN TO EARTH finally arrived. Whereas OZZMOSIS may have harkened back to Ozzy's early days of Black Sabbath, EARTH is unmistakably solo Ozzy. First single "Gets Me Through" is a radio-friendly thank you to his fans in which he exclaims "I'm not the anti-Christ or the iron man." The piano intro is reminiscent of "No More Tears." Piano is also featured in "Dreamer" and "Running Out Of Time," two of The Ozzman's most well crafted ballads. Ozzy maturing? Yes, but in a GOOD way.
Things get heavier on "No Easy Way Out," featuring the driven guitar wizardry of longtime collaborator Zakk Wylde. Joe Holmes, Ozzy's road guitarist of recent years lends his writing talents to "That I Never Had" and "Junkie" (a midtempo rocker telling the tale of a desperate addict). "You Know (Part 1)" is a wonderful acoustic cut about Ozzy's fatherhood role. Anchored by the fantastic rhythm section of Robert Trujillo and Mike Bordin, the playing on EARTH is exceptionally tight. Tim Palmer's production steers Osbourne in a melodic direction, as the album's use of strings, synth, and background vocals complements some of Ozzy's best vocal performances in years.

1st Pressing Contains A Bonus Enhanced CD Feat.Randy Rhoads

Rolling Stone (11/8/01, p.45) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...Solid rock...the black-chrome edge in Osbourne's voice adds a layer of thrill to the album's chunky surging...He's never done it better."
Spin (1/02, p.108) - 6 out of 10 - "...Osbourne vaults from semi-tender Diane Warren-like ballads to full-on arena screamers to environmentalist paeans..."
Q (11/01, p.126) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Arguably his best work since 1981's DIARY OF A MADMAN...this is a subtle updating of his signature heavy rock..."