Down to Earth

Ozzy Osbourne | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 16, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00005QG9G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (218 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,613 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Gets Me Through

2. Facing Hell

3. Dreamer

4. No Easy Way Out

5. That I Never Had

6. You Know...(Part I)

7. Junkie

8. Running Out Of Time

9. Black Illusion

10. alive

11. Can You Hear Them?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

For the first five minutes of Down to Earth, one feels like cracking open the champagne to celebrate a triumphant return. To a deliciously dirty blues riff that sounds like Led Zeppelin getting hot and sweaty with prime Black Sabbath, "Gets Me Through" finds Ozzy deconstructing his showbiz persona in a Robbie Williams-turns-rock-god style: "I'm not the kind of person you think I am . . . I try to entertain you the best I can." It's a brilliant track that's at least partially a parody, yet it rocks like a bastard. The rest of the album, however, isn't quite up to the opener's high standards. "Facing Hell," while a fine foot-stomper, is stuffed with horror clichés. The same goes for "Black Illusion" and "Can You Hear Them." The album really goes off the rails, though, with "Dreamer" where Ozzy weeps about global warming and "You Know," in which our hero apologizes to his kids. But even at its worst Down to Earth displays enough eccentricity to keep one entertained and brimming with respect. --Ian Watson

Product Description

The Limited Edition contains as a bonus a unique thirteen minute piece tracing the history of Ozzy from Black Sabbath to OZZfest 2001. It includes interview footage and rare footage of Ozzy performing "Crazy Train" and "Mr Crowley" with the late Randy Rhoads. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking for the next Ozzy/Sabbath album? This could be it!, October 28, 2001

By 

"blozor" (Jacksonville, AR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down to Earth (Audio CD)

I started this album thinking it was going to be another No More Tears or Ozzmosis, and I was disappointed upon the first listen. I wasn't expecting to get out if it on the first listen what I actually did get out of it on the second listen. This album sounds almost nothing like anything else in Ozzy's solo career. There's no fast, glam metal guitar, there's not as many screeching, catchy Randy Rhoads or Zakk Wylde guitar riffs. What makes this album special is the fact that it sounds more like a vintage Black Sabbath album than it does an Ozzy Osbourne solo album. It comes complete with all of the tuned-down, heavy guitar riffs and crunches that sound a little too suspiciously like something Tony Iommi would dream up. The lyrics on the strongest songs, "Can You Hear Them?" "No Easy Way Out" and "Alive" are also more mature and twinged with creepier, gothic imagery.

I think some of this has to do with the fact that almost none of it was written with the help of Zakk Wylde. Instead, it was almost completely written with guitarist Joe Holmes, so it doesn't have a lot of Zakk's style.

My only complaint is that this album has too many acoustic ballads. "Dreamer" sounds too much like Lennon's "Imagine," and compared to songs like "Road To Nowhere" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home," the ballads on this album just fall completely flat. Still, when this album picks it up and kicks out the metal, it rocks. "Can You Hear Them?" I think is the strongest track on the album, kicking in with a strong beat and the type of smart, doomy lyrics that the Disturbed and Godsmack listeners of today would really enjoy. As do some of the other stronger songs, such as "No Easy Way Out," "Alive" and "Junkie," (a Rollins-esque song about his almost 30-year battle with drugs).

If you don't go into this album expecting to hear "No More Tears" or "Perry Mason," and instead "Iron Man" or "NIB," then you should like it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars meh....., August 13, 2004

By 

jsklfsjlfds "paranoid_warpig" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down to Earth (Audio CD)

im a sabbath fan. im an ozzy fan. but ozzy just hasnt been the same since..well...he got sober and quit drugs. ever since No more tears, hes had that mainstream sound. also, why the heck was zakk ditched for writing and replaced with this 'joe holmes' character. his riffs...just are mediocre. im the guy that still craves the legendary sound of zakk when they wrote No Rest for the Wicked. now THAT was an ozzy album. still, this album has its bright spots. PS: to the guy that said Mike Bordin was a million times better than randy castillo ever was: WRONG. randy was simply the greatest drummer ozzy ever had in his solo career.

Gets me Through (8/10): i dunno, i feel like ive heard it before. its just so...predictable. i HATE predictablility. still, holmes writes a so-so riff and zakk plays it. the words are a bit uninspired.

Facing Hell (10/10): Yes. the best track on the album peroid. the solo zakk plays is the best ive heard since no more tears, and although the lyrics are all cliche, i still think this should have been a single. or something.

Dreamer (9/10): it loses that 1 point cuz ive heard it so many times. after you hear it 10 billion times, you get tired of it. this coming from the guy that listens to blizzard/diary/bark/ultimate/wicked 24/7. ozz sings of global warming, but the piano bit sounds similar to ozzmosis' Old LA Tonight.

No Easy Way Out (9/10): i like this too. sure, its a bit nu metalish and all cliche lyrics, but it rocks well.

That I never Had (8/10): the echoing ozzy voice is so ANNOYING! but, the solo is simply amazing, as only zakk could play (and holmes could write).

You Know...(5/10): a waste of my time.

Junkie (9/10): this is a great song. ozz sings of his looonngg battle with drugs. good solo/riffs.

Running out of time (9/10): ozzy sings of dying, which i dont want to think about because he is god. actually a decent song, i think its probably better than Dreamer anyway.

Black Illusion (6/10): headache time. stuffed to the brim with horror monsters-eating-me-killing-you-guy type lyrics. the chorus just falls flat.

Alive (7/10): the way it falls in and out of ballad mode and into heavy mode is quite good, but the playback is annoying, forming a so-so song.

Can you Hear Them (6/10): more killing-you-guy lyrics, but the brilliant part is the instrumentals (the constant drum beating, and the dual guitars). unfortuatly, not a great way to end the album.

OVERALL: well, zakk sounds muffled. the whole guitar area is lacking with its cookie-cutter riffs and solos. get zakk back on the writing team. in fact, the whole writing team was pretty inexperienced anyway, and it painfully shows on this album. still, ive loved ozzy since i saw Shot in the Dark on MTV, and i thank ozzy for trying to go back to a heavy sound after the balladfest of ozzmosis. unfortunatly, singers evolve their sound, as has ozzy. the whole music scence really has changed, adn we'll never hear the 80's type of music. still, i love ozzy, and i still listen to this from time to time. ozzy noobs: tryout Blizzard of Ozz, DIary of a Madman or No Rest for the Wicked first. also listen to Master of Reality (black sabbath).

16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just forget Ozzmosis ever happened., October 20, 2001

By 

Thomas Anderson "Metal Head" (Harrisburg, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Down to Earth (Audio CD)

Ozzy's new "Down to Earth" album is a triumphant return to the Ozzy of old. It has a sound somewhere in between "No More Tears" and "No Rest for the Wicked". Great guitar riffs and rhythums. Decent guitar solos. Ozzy must have learned something from all of the Ozzy Fests. But can we blame him for trying to make a mainstream album back in '95 when the music industry had turned to bands like David Matthews and the like? Well maybe not, but he has finally gone back to his ripping melodies and classic Ozzy vocals.

Most of the songs are good unlike what Amazon had to say. Actually I found that the "Gets Me Through" single isn't as good as the rest of the album. The second song, "Facing Hell" is good. It contains a good guitar rhythum. "Dreamer" is a ballad of sorts like "Momma I'm Coming Home" was. "No Easy Way Out" totally rocks with a cool guitar riff going on. In fact that song was a seller in itself to a friend of mine. "That I Never Had" is pretty good. Decent guitar rhythums. "You Know...(Part 1) is a short light song of what about I don't know. Confused on that one.

"Junkie" is pretty good as well. "Running Out of Time" starts out kinda like an acoustical ballad, but then electrifies later on in the song and is actually quite interesting. The last three songs, "Black Illusion", "Alive", and "Can You Hear Them?" all are excellent rockers. Great guitar rhythums and solos.

The only thing I found strange was that the "clean" distinguishable bass sound is not at all prevalent in this album as I believe the bass is used quite a lot in a rhythum guitar mode.

The band members are Ozzy on lead vocals of course, Zakk Wylde on Guitar, Robert Trujillo on Bass, and former drummer from "Faith No More"--Mike Bordin on Drums. I think Mike Bordin is somewhat responsible for the change in sound on this album. Although I could be wrong.