Scream - Ozzy Osbourne

I have always been a Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne fan although Ozzy's latest collection of rock romps, Scream, has literally blown my mind. For a guy who evidently has difficulty just walking and talking Ozzy is one guy who definitely and undoubtedly knows how to rock!

Scream (the album) is the first studio album to feature Ozzy's new guitarist Gus G and the guitar work of Gus G is sure to satisfy many Zakk Wylde fans the world over - his style is very similar and his riffs are pretty awesome. Cool heavy rock riffs combined with pinch/squeal (artifical) harmonics are present on the heavier songs throughout the album whilst the riffs on the softer songs are original and inspiring.

What's immediately evident about the album though, is how it's been produced. It's no secret that modern production techniques now involve heavy use of vocoders (auto-tune), granulizers and all the rest of that lark and this seems to be rapidly becoming the main way of producing music in order to make it sound as smooth and polished as possible. Scream is no exception and the results are literally stunning.

Although many rock musicians would argue that such production techniques, whilst used on ALL commercial releases, lead to fakery and are not 'natural' these techniques have actually always been used during the mastering process. It's just that these techniques are now being used to their full extent.

Let It Die kicks the album off with a simple rock riff layered over with dynamics and effects accompanying Ozzy's voice which has been brought massively up to date - this is the first time we have heard grit in Ozzy's voice, this is the first time we have truly heard Ozzy screeching in tune and this is the first time we have heard true attitude in Ozzy's voice - he sounds absolutely awesome on this track. Not that Ozzy has ever needed these effects of course, he managed just fine when he was in Black Sabbath.

Whilst these effects are imminent on the first few tracks of the album, by about half-way through listening it does seem as though this has been done purposely to suck the listener in. As the album goes on these effects don't seem to be as strong or as present through the later tracks. The further into the album you go the more 'classic' reminiscency of Ozzy seems to return. However, justice is definitely done and most, if not all, rock bands have started applying these techniques to their studio recordings.

As with all Ozzy Osbourne albums there are a few softer songs, but these are well written, original and inspiring. All in all, this is one superb album which deserves a lot of recognition not just for it's production values but also because none of the songs on the album are reminiscent of any older Ozzy material.