UMUR "Under Cover" is the 9th full-length studio album by UK heavy metal artist Ozzy Osbourne. The album was released through Epic Records in November 2005. The album is a compilation of cover tracks. Nine of the thirteen (ten if you count the bonus track) also appeared on the 4 disc "Prince of Darkness" box set released in March 2005. Session musicians for the project are guitarist Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains), drummer Mike Bordin (Faith no More) and bassist Chris Wyse.

Ozzy Osbourne has chosen to cover tracks from, among others, Joe Walsh, The Beatles, King Crimson, Cream and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown. Some covers are better than others, but none of them really shine. It´s all a bit flat and uninspired. Things aren´t helped along by the polished sound production, which doesn´t exactly spell rock´n´roll blood, sweat and tears but rather dollars and mainstream appeal. I have absolutely no problem with the latter if the project felt honest and sounded great, but that´s not exactly the case here. If the booklet at least had told a story to each track about why Ozzy Osbourne had chosen to cover those particular tracks and what the tracks meant to him, it might have given the album another dimension, but of course it wouldn´t change the fact that "Under Cover" sounds a bit tired and dare I say soulless. Maybe best exemplified by the fact that the cover of "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson leaves out the kickass progressive middle part and turns even that badass track into an easily digestable mainstream heavy metal track. Where´s the grit and bite in that? The very soul of heavy rock/metal is simply missing here. Yes quite a few of the tracks are rock ballads and therefore shouldn´t be faulted for not being metal, but you don´t need to arrange them in the most saccarine way possible. Too many of the ballads on Ozzy´s own albums can be a bit of a trial to get through already and the ones on this album come off even worse.

While I´m tempted to give this album a really low rating, as it goes against just about everything I believe that rock/metal is and should be (call me conservative if you will), "Under Cover" does come off as a professional product, written and performed by professionals and I guess the craftmanship deserves a 2.5 star (50%) rating. I ain´t happy about it though and I certainly wouldn´t recommend "Under Cover" to anyone I know.

Warthur Bark At the Moon performed well enough commercially to put Ozzy's solo career back on stable ground after the death of Randy Rhoads threatened to derail it. However, whilst Jake E. Lee is a perfectly competent guitarist, he seems more prone to playing it safe than Randy was and doesn't bring any comparably exciting riffs and solos to the table - and come to think of it, the album as a whole is rather Ozzy-by-numbers.

There's the typical sappy ballad (So Tired, in this case), because for some reason Osbourne keeps thinking he can pull off that sort of material, there's at least one song with an irritatingly repetitive chorus (Now You See It Now You Don't), there's dull baiting of evangelists (You're No Different) and playing up of the Ozzy legend (Rock and Roll Rebel) because Ozzy had hit that tedious point in an artist's career in which the artist will delude themselves into thinking singing about their own image is useful and innovative, and so on.

On the whole, there's absolutely nothing unexpected about the album except for two tracks - Spiders, a synthesiser-heavy experiment which is one of the goofiest tracks Ozzy has ever sung, and the title track, which is genuinely good fun if you're into pop-metal. At this point in time, Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman had set a pattern for what was expected from an Ozzy album, and Bark At the Moon doesn't deviate from that in any significant respect.

Warthur Say what you like about Ozzy's treatment of certain other bandmates from the Blizzard of Ozz/Diary of a Madman years - remember the debacle with the 2002 remasters? - but to his credit he's always been extremely respectful of the legacy of Randy Rhoads, the prodigiously talented guitarist whose shredding skills helped his solo career kick off with a bang. It's only appropriate, then, that Ozzy gives equal billing to Randy on the cover of Tribute, the definitive live document of the Blizzard and Diary tours which is assembled with a particular eye to showcasing Randy's abilities.

Those who've listened to Past Lives or Live At Last know that Ozzy was always an energetic and enthusiastic frontman, and that's true on Tribute as well, which sees him and the band investing the song selection - pretty much everything from Blizzard, plus the best tracks from Diary of a Madman and some well-chosen Sabbath classics - with an infectious vitality. The solo tracks are greatly improved in this live context, the extra energy and drive resulting in a heavier and more urgent performance than on the studio albums in question, whilst the band prove themselves more than capable of doing justice to the Sabbath tracks - in particular, Randy's riffing on Children of the Grave give Tony Iommi's performance on the original a run for its money.

It's often said that had he lived Rhodes could have been the next Malmsteen, and whilst we'll never know for sure whether or not that was the case it's certainly true that his performances elevate this album from being a decent Ozzy live set to being a top-flight live metal album. Capping off Suicide Solution with a blisteringly fast solo, Rhodes shows off his technical skills without milking the spotlight too much, delivering a solo which is long enough that you feel you got your money's worth whilst being short enough to avoid becoming redundant or tedious. Key to his talent was, of course, his parallel interest in classical guitar; the album closes with a collection of studio out-takes from the recording of Dee, the short classical guitar instrumental Rhodes provided for Blizzard of Ozz, and whilst it might make repetitive listening for those not particularly interested in behind-the-scenes outtakes and studio chatter it nonetheless provides an intriguing snapshot of the man at work.

Any solo career runs the risk of simply becoming a vehicle for the main artist's ego. Ozzy's certainly not alone in being accused of that, but Tribute is the perfect counterpoint to that - an acknowledgement that there were two key talents in making Ozzy a solo megastar, and unfortunately one of them died far, far too young. It's also a really great live album, and a strong contender for being Ozzy's best solo release; certainly, I'd recommend it over Blizzard of Ozz, since the content of that is presented here in a greatly enhanced form. The band are even able to make Goodbye to Romance sound like it isn't completely sappy and saccharine - now that's what I call talent.

Warthur Ozzy's first solo album came out the same year as Sabbath's first post-Ozzy album. Sabbath had their secret weapon in the form of Dio himself; Ozzy, for his part, had his own ace up his sleeve in Randy Rhoads, a prodigiously talented guitarist whose shredding is far and away the most appealing aspect of this album.

Let's face it: as compelling as he was in his prime as a frontman, Ozzy's talent for lyrics has always been hit or miss, and that's never truer than on this album, with dubious rhymes infecting most of the songs and some pieces, like the bizarre anti-porn piece No Bone Movies, descending into incoherence. ("Hungry for bodge", Ozzy? Really?) What Ozzy has always needed is a high-quality musical backing to elevate his wails from drunken rambling to thunderous, almost operatic statements. In Sabbath this was provided by Iommi's doomy riffs; here, it's Rhoads who steps up to the plate with technically flashy soloing that pushes songs such as I Don't Know and Crazy Train from goof-off territory into the staples of Ozzy's act they became.

However, in any review carried out today, the album needs to hold its own not only against Heaven and Hell - which I would argue is a more consistent album, having no song as out of place or limp as the utterly needless ballad Goodbye to Romance that blots the running order here - but also faces stiff competition from Tribute, the double live album documenting the 1981 tour which was released in honour of Randy. Said album includes all the songs from here, plus a wealth of classical guitar material from Randy culled from the recording of the brief interlude Dee on Blizzard, without the sleek studio production job that renders some songs (such as Suicide Solution) rather lifeless on this disc. On balance, Blizzard of Ozz was a listenable and entertaining product that proved that Ozzy could be a viable commercial force without Sabbath, but it's not stood the test of time nearly as well as Heaven and Hell, or Ozzy and Rhoads' own Tribute.

Kingcrimsonprog Ozzy Osbourne released his eighth studio album Down To Earth in 2001, which was his first work as a solo artist in six years, and his second album since his planned retirement from music after No Mo Tears.

Zack Wylde is on board as the guitarist, filling the album full of pinch harmonics and metal riffs. Faith No More’s Mike Bordin handles the drums and Rob Trujillo plays the bass.

For the most part, Down To Earth is full of either mid tempo metal songs with a Black Label Society sound or big ballads with keyboards and string arrangements. Highlights include the famous single ‘Gets Me Through,’ as well as ‘Facing Hell,’ and ‘Running Out Of Time.’

The album is fairly strong, if a little unremarkable, a bunch of good but not life changing post-millennial metal songs, all of mid-level-heaviness and most played at mid tempo. When you are listening to the album you’ll enjoy it, but not a lot of it will carry through with you afterwards.

On the positive side, there is a lot to enjoy guitar wise, with big guitar solos going off regularly, which kind of makes up for the slight overproduction on Ozzy’s excellent vocals.

There is more good to say about it than bad, and overall Down To Earth is certainly worth a look for Ozzy fans; not exactly his best work nor anywhere near his worst, but worth a shot if you are already a fan.