Dan Epstein of the Revolver magazine (Website) has been told by Ozzy Osbourne that he has finally discovered the perfect environment for making records: the brand new soundproofed guest house behind his Beverly Hills mansion, which he’s outfitted with a Protools rig and mixing desk.
"When I made records before, I'd have to get up, get in a cab or car, go to the studio, and wait for everyone to turn up," Osbourne explained. "If you're already inspired before you leave for the studio, you're fucked by the time you get there! But now I have the luxury of working in my own home. I can play the music on my own sound system, and I can lie down in my room and watch my flat-screen TV whenever I like."
Unlike 2001's slickly produced "Down to Earth", the previous album of original Ozzy material, the new disc promises to be a rawer and heavier affair. With the same band that backed Osbourne on his scattered 2006 Ozzfest dates – Zakk Wylde on guitar, Mike Bordin on drums, and former Rob Zombie bassist Rob “Blasko†Nicholson. Although long time Mutt Lange protégé Kevin Churko is helping as the engineer, the album has to official producer.
"Kevin's working the machines and helping me with the songwriting," said Osbourne. "He really knows what he's doing with the ProTools, which is good because I can't work the fucking thing. I can barely work a light switch!"
"We just went in and jammed out the riffs, just like how they made 'Back in Black' and all the SABBATH record," said Wylde. "I don't need Bob Rock there to tell me what to do, like that 'Vagina Monologues' band METALLICA. When you know where you're going, you don't need to ask for fucking directions! It sounds like classic Ozzy — there's piano ballads, there's an acoustic thing, and then there's the heavy shit. From the beginning, Oz kept saying to me, 'Zakk, we need another 'No More Tears' — we've gotta piss all over that fuckin' record. This thing's gotta be able to hang with 'Diary of a Madman'!'"
"I always try to make a great album," says Osbourne. "It's not like I go in there and go, 'You know what? I've had a great run — I'm gonna do a piece of shit for my next album!' But to be perfectly truthful to you, 'Down to Earth' was just a filler album to me. It did well, and some people liked it, and I loved the ballad on it ['Dreamer']. But this album I put in the same league as 'No More Tears', 'Blizzard of Ozz', and 'Diary'. It's definitely my influence of SABBATH coming out, here and there. But then again, I would have liked to see SABBATH put out an album like this at this stage of the game."
