Album number 13 from legendary Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne takes the route of having less of a band feel and more a collection of all-star guest collaborators. Along with right-hand man, songwriter, and producer Andrew Watt (who also plays multiple instruments) and longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde, there are a wide assortment of folks joining Ozzy on this one, most notably a selection of guitar heroes, drummers, and bassists whose names should all be familiar to just about everyone.
The legend himself Jeff Beck appears on the opening title track, a real catchy song that is among the best the Ozzman has delivered in many years, filled with hooks and Beck red-hot guitar solos, and he comes back for the less successful but still fun "A Thousand Shades". For most, it's the appearance of Ozzy's mate in Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi, who adds his molten doom riffs and sizzling leads to the crushing "No Escape From Now" and the more bluesy "Degradation Rules", that will be worth the price of admission. Yes, more of these two together, preferably as Black Sabbath, please! "Immortal" is a fun '80s styled heavy metal romp, featuring Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on lead guitar, and a surprisingly welcome return to rock guitar from Eric Clapton on "One of Those Days" is another easy album highlight. Wylde tosses in some scorching leads on the otherwise generic rocker "Parasite", the atmospheric "Mr. Darkness", the pop metal of "Nothing Feels Right", and the crunchy "Evil Shuffle", the latter easily the best song of the four. "Dead and Gone" is another atmospheric number with lots of keyboards and vocal layers, but it's lacking some punch, and the same can be said for "God Only Knows", a song that feels like it should be heavier, and is instead bogged down by Watts' overcrowded production. Brief closer "Darkside Blues" is basically just a time filler, and could have been skipped altogether.
Overall, there's enough to like here on Patient Number 9, but it's pretty obvious that lots of work has been doing getting Ozzy to sound remarkably good here in the studio, and much of the album wants you to think these songs are heavier than they actually are. Yes, there are some nice crunchy moments, but at times I'm thinking the guest stars are the highlights of some of these songs, a few of which are fairly unremarkable. A handful of tracks are very strong, the rest kind of fall in line with much of what Ozzy has been delivering for the last twenty of so years.
Track Listing
1. "Patient Number 9" (featuring Jeff Beck)
Ozzy OsbourneAndrew WattRobert TrujilloChad SmithAli Tamposi
7:21
2. "Immortal" (featuring Mike McCready)
OsbourneWattSmithTamposiDuff McKagan
3:03
3. "Parasite" (featuring Zakk Wylde)
OsbourneWattTrujilloTamposiTaylor Hawkins
4:05
4. "No Escape from Now" (featuring Tony Iommi)
OsbourneWattSmithTamposiIommi
6:46
5. "One of Those Days" (featuring Eric Clapton)
OsbourneWattSmithTamposiMcKagan
4:40
6. "A Thousand Shades" (featuring Jeff Beck)
OsbourneWattSmithTamposiRyan Tedder
4:26
7. "Mr. Darkness" (featuring Zakk Wylde)
OsbourneWattTrujilloTamposiHawkins
5:35
8. "Nothing Feels Right" (featuring Zakk Wylde)
OsbourneWattSmithTamposiChris Chaney
5:35
9. "Evil Shuffle" (featuring Zakk Wylde)
OsbourneWattTrujilloSmithTamposi
4:10
10. "Degradation Rules" (featuring Tony Iommi)
OsbourneWattSmithTrujillo
4:10
11. "Dead and Gone"
OsbourneWattTrujilloSmithTamposi
4:32
12. "God Only Knows"
OsbourneWattTamposiHawkins
5:00
13. "Darkside Blues"
OsbourneWatt
1:47
Total length: 61:10
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