Last year, Ozzy Osbourne confirmed that 15 songs had been recorded for his next album, and the “Prince of Darkness” said it would be “similar in tone” to 2020’s “Ordinary Man.” The album’s producer, Andrew Watt, previously revealed that the new album will feature numerous guest appearances including Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, Eric Clapton, Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan, Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and late Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Now, Ozzy has revealed that the album is complete. “I’m so happy to let everyone know that I finished my new album this week and delivered it to my label Epic Records,” read a post from Ozzy’s Instagram. “I’ll be sharing all the information about the album and its’ upcoming release with you in the next several weeks.”
On the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Smith talked about the guest stars on the record. “Tony Iommi and Ozzy have never collaborated outside of Black Sabbath,” he said. “Tony sent us a bunch of riffs and we took what we thought was the best of ’em, which was f*cking great. So Andy’s on the bass doing f*cking great — the bass on the song is amazing. And Tony sent us the riffs — files; he’s in England — and we played to it. It’s f*cking got everything. It’s got all the stuff that you would want. Ozzy loves it. And so he’s on that track. Then Eric Clapton plays a f*cking wah-wah Cream-type solo. We’re, like, ‘Eric, can you solo on this song? Wah-wah, please. Eric, what do you think about this, with the wah-wah?’ Because that’s his f*cking thing. And so he’s soloing all over this other track. Then Jeff Beck is on two songs. We tried to get Jimmy Page, we tried to get the holy trinity, but I don’t think Page plays anymore too much, unfortunately. But Mike McCready’s on a track. Josh Homme, my neighbor from Queens (of the Stone Age, solos on a track. And then Zakk Wylde is on the record as well, all over it. So it’s like if you’re a guitar player, [it’s] pretty f*cking good.”
Watt told Guitar World in 2020 of the album: “ … I think it’s so cool for a rock fan to be able to listen to half an album with Chad Smith on drums, and then you flip it over and you get to hear Taylor Hawkins. And you know, the last album was really special for everyone involved. And so there was no point in Ozzy or me doing this again unless we thought we could bring something new to the table. And I feel like we’re achieving that.”
