Ozzy Osbourne - Under Cover
Few people have had an impact on (rock) music like this particular man. Ozzy fucking Osbourne must be one of the most respected men on this planet, and now I , with my twenty years of age, get the incredible honour to review a new album by this living god. A cover album that is. A tribute to Ozzy’s personal heroes, featuring covers of The Beatles, Cream, The Rolling Stones and mister John Lennon himself.
Now I just couldn’t start reviewing, I first had to do some research. I went on a quest to find all the originals on MP3 to be able to judge if the Ozzman did a good job. I collected all of them and started comparing. Some of them were revived very well by Ozzy, others were just raped pretty hard. Some cool songs were just put in a new jacket, like for instance 21st Century Schizoid Man by King Crimson (I just love the original) and “Fire” from The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. Pretty cool to hear Ozzy say that he is the god of hellfire!
The sound quality of the album is superb, and I guess most old-skool Ozzy heads will like this stuff. For the people that bought the Down To Earth album this could somehow appeal to them as well. But for the real young metalheads and rockers, avoiding this is your solution. Except if you liked his cover for Black Sabbath’s “Changes” that he recorded with his daughter Kelly for some reason. I think that to be the most awful song on this disc.
Now about the man himself. Considering his age and experiences I can understand why he wanted to do this, but he should also realize that his voice from, say like 15 years ago is no longer present. He sounds more digital than vocal on this record if you know what I mean. And that is for me not a good thing.
Now about the DVD side, it contains a video for one of the songs, all songs in enhanced stereo and the best of all; dinner with Ozzy and friends. There he sits with his son Jack, Lemmy from Mötorhead and two other friends who I just can’t remember right now, some kind of tour managers I believe.
During dinner they discuss all kinds of insanely ridiculous Ozzy scandals that caused me to erupt in laughing every now and then. That guy has lived to the fucking max, he is the personification of rock ‘n roll if you ask me. Who for instance knew that it was kind of a hobby for the rest of the Black Sabbath members to light Bill Ward’s (drums) beard on fire for fun? Hilarious! The only stupid thing about it is that it’s censored, so no fuck, shit and asshole over here.
I think the old fans will be pleased with this, but no new ones will be gained with this record. I just hope he quits now because he’s getting more digital with every album he puts out. Draw a line dude.
70/1001Details Sony
Released on Tuesday Nov 1st, 2005
Rock
Writer @DemonDust on Wednesday Dec 14th, 2005
Tags: #Ozzy Osbourne
Tracklisting
1. Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh)
2. In My Life (The Beatles)
3. Mississippi Queen (Mountain)
4. Go Now (The Moody Blues)
5. Woman (John Lennon)
6. 21st Century Schizoid Man (King Crimson)
7. All The Young Dudes (David Bowie & Mott The Hoople)
8. For What It’s Worth (The Buffalo Springfield)
9. Good Times (Eric Burdon & The Animals)
10. Sunshine Of Your Love (Cream)
11. Fire (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown)
12. Working Class Hero (John Lennon)
13. Sympathy For The Devil (The Rolling Stones)
14. Changes (with Kelly Osbourne) (Black Sabbath
2. In My Life (The Beatles)
3. Mississippi Queen (Mountain)
4. Go Now (The Moody Blues)
5. Woman (John Lennon)
6. 21st Century Schizoid Man (King Crimson)
7. All The Young Dudes (David Bowie & Mott The Hoople)
8. For What It’s Worth (The Buffalo Springfield)
9. Good Times (Eric Burdon & The Animals)
10. Sunshine Of Your Love (Cream)
11. Fire (The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown)
12. Working Class Hero (John Lennon)
13. Sympathy For The Devil (The Rolling Stones)
14. Changes (with Kelly Osbourne) (Black Sabbath
Line up
Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
Mike Bordin – drums
Jerry Cantrell – guitars
Chris Wyse – bass
Mike Bordin – drums
Jerry Cantrell – guitars
Chris Wyse – bass