Ozzy’s 13th studio album coming almost two years after the release of the previous ones gave us the chance to write our opinions about it, that are not actually match! No matter what you think a release from a such a personality is without a single doubt a significant event for our favourite music and beyond, whether it’s a good record or not. Check out what our editors think…
Once more Ozzy is cheating death with a new album screaming with his characteristic sense of humour: “I never die, because I’m immortal”, or maybe he is saying that knowing that his body already fails him. Technology do wonders making the vocals to sound right, although the production have some issues (you’ve got Jeff Beck, why the hell you are burying his guitar in the mix?). The songs touch different periods of his huge career, some of them are just over average, while Eric Clapton’s rock’n’roll-y mood cannot be left unnoticed. With contributions from Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, even Josh Homme, it’s no wonder that this album draws our attention, wether it’s going to be his last, or not. As a matter of fact, “It’s better to burn in hell than fade away”, in his own words!
Konstantinos “MincrimeK” Vlachos
I don’t think anybody was expecting a new album from Ozzy so soon, and at the same time so good. Except from the production that sounds a bit murky and surely makes you wonder why, the songs in total are pretty good, while some of them are great.
I wasn’t impressed by the contribution of Iommi, Clapton and Beck, to be honest, but it was Zakk Wylde’s comeback in the studio on “Parasite”, “Nothing Feels Right” and “Μr.Darkness”, that made everything click and sound natural. There’s stuff there intentionally noding to the past.
The good thing about “Patient No.9” is that is surely better than “Ordinary Man”, it doesn’t contain any experiments, or something alien to Ozzy. Despite being at the dusk of his career and he can barely stand on his two feet, he is still capable of making a memorable album. There’s not too many artists in his age that can do that.
Yiannis Dolas
A reborn Ozzy and an Ozzy from the good ol’ days, is what flows through “Patient Number 9”. The album impressed me as I didn’t expect so much energy from him, but also such a synthetic flair (if we believe that he wrote the songs). The multitude of huge artists that contribute to the album helps the most in that each track seems to have its own “identity” so that “Patient Number 9” sounds like a Best Of. The twelve actually slow/mid tempo tracks of the album, based on the melody but also on excellent guitar parts, could be the epilogue of a glorious career of perhaps the best persona who came out of metal music. But where will it really stop? Ozzy….sorry…God only knows…
Dimitris Kazantzis
We should all feel genuinely happy and privileged. Yes…I am talking for all of you out there who are still passionate about this music. You see, Ozzy had absolutely no reason at all to head back into the studio and record another album…yet, he did so! He brought along for the ride a few rock legens (Iommin, Beck, Clapton, Wylde) and…let there be “Patient Number 9”! Don’t expect pompous and exaggerated statements…at least, not from me. Nevertheless, “Patient Number 9” is a better album than “Ordinary Man” and quite possibly the best thing that the Madman has delivered since “Ozzmosis”. This is an album that leaves you under the impression that it’s more traditional, more guitar-driven, more…Ozzy! Not many differential elements with its predecessor but with a definite focused compositional approach. That’s “Patient Number 9” for you.
Highlight: “One Of Those Days”…what a brilliant song!
Sakis Nikas
As much as I love Ozzy, the truth is that his last great album was 1991’s “No More Tears”. Mediocre to good albums followed, with the worst of them all being the despicable “Ordinary Man” that came out two years ago and we expected it to be his last. This did not happen and “Patient Number 9” followed. Unfortunately.
On this record, Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Mike McCready play guitars, old familiar Robert Trujillo plays bass and Chad Smith plays drums mainly with the recently deceased Taylor Hawkins as a guest. But does it matter? The terrible production has completely drained out the sound of these huge guitarists and they had little to zero participation into the songwriting process.
For the fourth album in a row, the producer has a large share in writing the songs and for the second time in a row, Ali Tamposi, who does that mainly with shitty-pop and shitty-rap “artists”. The songs and the production are at levels of bad alternative rock and again have nothing to do with the history and style of this huge singer. If it had come out without Ozzy’s logo on the cover, no one would have given it much attention. So simple. Piece of crap.
George Terzakis
