Ozzy Osbourne has shared the first taster of long-awaited new material with the single ‘Under The Graveyard’ – taken from his first album in 10 years, ‘Ordinary Man’. Check it out below.
The Black Sabbath turned solo icon has not released an album since 2010’s ‘Scream‘. After a long period of ill health, it was confirmed by his wife Sharon that he would be dropping a new record in January.
Now, a sample of what’s to come has arrived in the form of ‘Under The Graveyard’ – a dose of pure Ozzy, with dark but soulful classic rock culminating in heavy and proggy riffs, with Osbourne defiantly weighing up his own mortality: “Under the graveyard, we’re all rotting bones – everything you are, can’t take it when you go, I ain’t living this lie no more.”
Recorded in Los Angeles, the album ‘Ordinary Man’ features producer Andrew Watt on guitars, Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) on bass and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on drums.
“It all started when [his daughter] Kelly comes in and says ‘do you want to work on a Post Malone song?’” said Ozzy. “My first thing was ‘who the fuck is Post Malone?!’ I went to Andrew’s [Watt] house and he said we will work really quick. After we finished that song, he said ‘would you be interested in starting an album.’ I said ‘that would be fucking great, but now I am thinking I don’t want to be working in a basement studio for six months! And in just a short time, we had the album done.
“Duff [McKagan] and Chad [Smith] came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings. I previously had said to Sharon I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going ‘I haven’t got the fucking strength…’ but Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album.”
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In January, while recovering from pneumonia, Ozzy suffered a fall at home. He underwent neck surgery for his injuries, the aftermath of which he described as “agony beyond anything I ever experienced before in my life”.
Ozzy has been recording new music to keep himself occupied during recovery. In August, he revealed that he had nine song ideas so far, joking that they would end up on a solo album titled ‘Recuperation’.
He also worked with Post Malone and Travis Scott on the track ‘Take What You Want‘ from Malone’s recent album, ‘Hollywood’s Bleeding’ – described as the “catalyst” for getting Ozzy back in the spirit for making more new music.
“I’d never even heard of this kid,” Ozzy said of Malone. “He wanted me to sing on his song ‘Take What You Want’, so I did and then one thing led to another. I started recording a new album with Post Malone’s producer Andrew Watt. It’s only nine tracks but it was a catalyst to get me to where I am today.”
Fans now await news of a tour, after Ozzy postponed all of his 2020 UK and European dates.