Originally published by L.S. Media. July 11th 2010.

After the sad news that heavy metal lost one of its shining lights earlier this year, with the death of Ronnie James Dio it is perhaps fitting that one of the best metal albums to have come out in years is by the man who Ronnie replaced as lead singer with the band that started it all.

Love him or loath him, genial brummie or cartoon caricature, devoted family man or establishment loose cannon, it is hard to pin down exactly what Ozzy Osbourne is. What there can be no doubt over is the man’s capability to pull a great album out of the fire and introduce himself to a brand new set of fans.

Scream is without doubt one of Ozzy’s finest albums to date, it is punchy, relevant and most of all a damn fine listen. Each song grabs you by the balls and refuses to let go till you acknowledge the fact that where pop music can change its fashion every few months, the art of heavy metal and rock is best left to those that have lived it, dreamt it and bitten the very life out of it.

It certainly has helped Ozzy that the album is part produced and written by Kevin Churko and Adam Wakeman (the son of legendary keyboard player Rick Wakeman), Kevin has had the time to get used to the ways of Ozzy with his work on the previous studio album but for Adam it is a revelation, his work really coming to the front of people’s awareness after many years of being more associated with the world of Progressive Rock.

Whatever your own personal views of Ozzy Osbourne and the life he has lived, you can’t ignore how influential the man has been, whether through the early days with Black Sabbath or from his extensive solo work, there are many bands today that wouldn’t be the band they are without him having been in their lives.

Ian D. Hall