Search - Ozzy Osbourne :: Under Cover

The Emperor Has No Clothes

James Choma | 05/12/2006

(1 out of 5 stars)

"No question about it. Ozzy was a force to reckon with in his day. He lived the rock and roll lifestyle to its fullest, and came close to cashing in his chips many times. Songs like "Crazy Train," "Flying High Again," "You Can't Kill Rock and Roll," and "I Don't Know" are definitive Ozzy Osbourne. (Man, I love those songs) He definitely earned the title of "Madman of Rock and Roll" in the 80's and into the early 90's.



So what's an aging Heavy Metal star to do in his later years? You've got to keep those paychecks rolling in. And while you still enjoy making music, singing about Crazy Trains, Barking at the Moon, and how you Can't Kill Rock and Roll begins to look a little goofy after you're well past the age of fifty.



Do you quietly fade away, enjoying your golden years, or do you release an album of odd cover tunes? Why Ozzy chose to put his legacy and reputation on the line with a tired sounding covers album, I don't know. "The Osbournes" made him out to be somewhat of lovable, crotchety, bumbling old man. This CD doesn't help.



As much as I love what Ozzy's done over his amazing three decade career, I think the time has come to call it a day. But for one reason or another his camp has decided to release an embarrasing collection of cover tunes that fall outside the music genre he's known for! Ugh! Why?



Now there are certain artists that have successfully gone outside of their normal musical styles -- Elvis, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones -- but they are the exceptions rather than the rule. There are so many more that crash and burn. This, my friends, is yet another sad flame out.



What might have worked better? Sticking to music that suits his voice. And let's face it, Ozzy has a distinctive voice with a narrow range. Songs like "In My Life," "Go Now," and "For What it's Worth" are great for vocalists with the range to do them. From Ozzy, they are fingernails on a chalkboard.



What did work on the album? To some degree, Mountain's "Mississippi Queen," and King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man."



I'm all for taking a risk -- but make it a calculated risk. My guess is that no one in the Osbourne camp is willing to admit that the emperor has no clothes."

Well

Jesse | Canada | 11/09/2005

(1 out of 5 stars)

"First of all the people saying ozzy is greedy and insulting him for putting out countless compilation albums have not paid much attention to recent Ozzy interviews. The reason ozzy did the cover songs for the box set to begin with was because he was sick of his fans being ripped off, you see Ozzy knows he has too many but the record label was gonna put out the box set either way. Ozzy decieded to put out some cover songs as something extra for the fans.



He didn't have the time to put the effort into make a new studio album so what he did was recorded some stuff while he was on the road at Ozzfest 2004. That might actualy be the downfall of this record actualy, Ozzy didn't have the proper time to do it right and after getting off stage every night was probably realy tired, it might come across as Ozzy not putting enough effort into the songs.



Now that this is done Ozzy should take a little break and then get back to doing what he does best, making some new orifinal music."

This really has some great stuff on it

Nicole S. Arnold | CA | 11/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Ok, so yeah, it's a cash in from his record company. Another one.

But I have to say, the production on his previously released cover songs seems to be markedly better.

His covers of Woman, In My Life, Working Class Hero and Go Now are extremely well done. His voice has held up well, despite what bitter metal heads say.

The DVD on the otherside is priceless as well, full of stories from the crazy Ozzy from the 70s and 80s.

It's a good CD, worth the 13 bucks or whatever.

Do beware that because this is a dual disc, it might not work on all your media players."