OATH TO VANQUISH:

• Applied Schizophrenic Science (2006) Never seen this before, death metal from Lebanon! But why not? There's angry people wherever you go (considering the current state of the area, they may have more to be angry about than most). This debut album is actually quite impressive. Shades of old Broken Hope, Malevolent Creation, Brutality, or the best comparison would probably be Disgorge except with a more riff based approach that has straight forward song structures instead of complete chaos. Vocals are a mix between super low and gargled and ruthless high-pitched screaming in about equal portions. Lots of fast picking on the guitars, as well as tremolo and some slightly more melodic bits. The drums are highly triggered, clean and complex, with plenty of blasting and machine-gun doublebass. The production is good, a little bit of reverb to make the sound more epic, but not enough to make the band sound weak or far away. Some really good riffs here too, there's enough slower bits and more melodic bits to give contrast to the insane blasting. Nothing super innovative or anything, but very well done death metal that's highly satisfying in ever respect.

OBITUARY:

• Slowly We Rot (1989) The debut for the band. Not only should you own this because it's a piece of history, but again, some lesser known songs on this CD kick some serious ass.
  
• Cause Of Death (1990) A classic CD from which a good chunk of the band's modern live set comes. After a successful first album, the band had to show with their second album that it wasn't just a fluke, and they did with better production and better songs. Even if you own their live album and their best-of "Anthology", there are many lesser known songs on "Cause Of Death" that are just as good if not better than their more well known material. So go and buy it today!
  
• The End Complete (1991) Not as strong as their first 2 albums, although probably the most well known and popular album by the band. The songs are decent, and certainly a number of their classics come from this album, but in general I find the production quality to be lacking. The band is missing that big huge sound that just about all their other albums have. The distortion is slightly muffled, too smooth and doesn't sound like a huge army of guitars. This album is still worth buying, but only after you get all their others.
  
• World Demise (1994) Not in any rush to become the fastest band on the planet, they prefer a slower, more plodding type of death. Excellent and memorable riffs, the band smashes you with this immense wall of sound. Think of them not as a jack hammer, but as a cement truck rolling over your body several times.
• Don't Care (1994, EP) 3 song EP, two tracks off "World Demise", and a bonus track from the "World Demise" session. The bonus track is ok, but a little too derivative, making this EP a collector item only.
• Back From The Dead (1997) The riffs are still there, but there's nothing terribly innovative on the album, and the production doesn't sound as polished as World Demise. Also, a few of the songs rock a little too hard for my taste (ala the new Entombed style). The whole album comes off as forced, it's an average effort at best. Get World Demise instead.
• Dead (1998, Live) What can I say, this album has a good selection of music, some excellent riffs, good production with a clear mix. If you like Obituary, you will not be disappointed.
• Anthology (2001, BestOf) What every good bestof album should be, 3-4 tracks from every album the band produced, which makes it a perfect introduction to all the band has to offer. However, if you already have all their albums, don't buy this, the two bonus songs both suck, one is a bad techno remix, the other is some sort of weird "moody" song that sounds like nothing the band has ever done before, and it should have remained that way.
• Frozen In Time (2005) Obituary are not only back, but seemingly untouched after a 7 year break, with all 5 original members returning. That's quite a feat really (even when Suffocation reformed they managed to just hold on to 3 originals). And it's no surprise they'd title their new album "Frozen In Time", since that seems to be what happened, the band got frozen back in '98, and have now been thawed, and they haven't even skipped a beat. "Frozen In Time" is pure Obituary, a band who's style really hasn't modified or progressed during their career, and why should they change the formula? The production on this album is great, not quite as large as on "World Demise", but still thick. It's a short album, only 10 songs, but it does the job of saying "Hey everyone, we're back!" A few of the songs really aren't that exciting, like for example the first track (an instrumental) has some excellent riffs, but it fades out at the end which seems like a lack luster way to begin an album. They really should have put that song at the end. Tracks like 'Insane' are cool, and the main riff in 'Mindset' is one of those riffs that only Obituary would write. Overall, the album is nice and solid, a few filler songs but plenty of good material, and a nice reintroduction to the band.
• Frozen Alive (2007, DVD) THE must have DVD for all Obituary fans. First off, this is a concert from the same venue in Poland that did the recent Sinister DVD. So expect fantastic camerawork, excellent pacing on camera switching, excellent lighting, and fantastic sound. As for the performance, Obituary are at their finest. The show is about 90 minutes, and has a good variety of songs (I'd personally like a few more tracks off "World Demise", but that's a personal nit since that's my favorite album of theirs). They play a lot of material that's already available on the "Dead" live CD, but also a bunch of stuff off the new album as well as a few more oldies. It is funny though, a lot of the stage banter is identical to the stuff off of "Dead", I guess the band's stage show doesn't change too much, even after taking a long break. The mix is great, you can clearly hear every instrument. I also love how the two guitarists have tuned their guitars to take up different parts of the audio spectrum. One guitar is very bassy and slightly muted. One is nasally and harsh. Together they form one awesome guitar tone. And you can clearly hear the solos over the other rhythm guitar. The band is fun to watch on stage, it's obvious they're really enjoying themselves up there. The DVD also has a few bootleg extras, and almost an hour of interviews with the band where they get down into the details on everything, a lot of band interviews come off as dumb or boring, but this one kept me watching all the way through. I really can't think of how this DVD could be any better, so again, you will not be disappointed.
• Xecutioner's Return (2007) Unfortunately, the return of the Xecutioner isn't as exciting as I'd initially hoped. First off, the guitar tone is totally muffled. It cuts off all the attack from the guitars, turning them into a smooth mushy sound. I mean, they might as well be performing on keyboards, all the notes blend together with no separation. And second, the songs just don't have that special spark to them. There's a few ok songs, but most of the rest sounds like recycled riffs, stuff that might be fun to jam to in the rehearsal hall, but nothing worth putting to tape for all the world to hear. On the up side, one notable bit about this CD is the solos are cooler than normal, they're a little faster and some really interesting passages. Really kind of a letdown, I was hoping for more. A step down from their previous album.

• Expectants (2007) If you remember the band Scar Culture or Sickbox, or if you've heard Chimaira's first album, or the heavier parts of Meshuggah's "I" EP, this is in a similar vein. Very, very low guitars with lowish angry vocals. Riffs generally consist of single notes played in somewhat unconventional rhythms. The sound is punchy, tight, and as said before, the guitars are tuned very low. The drums are midpaced, but with spurts of super fast double bass now and again. Songwise, the album does tend to blend together rather than having specific memorable songs, but taken as a whole, it definitely creates a powerful mood. One acoustic number in the middle of the album manages to give a nice break, and has a nice uneasy feel to it. If you enjoy start-stop math metal type rhythms, this albums got some cool stuff to offer. Thoroughly enjoyable.
  

• Whimsical Uproar (1987, Demo) Whimsical is certainly the word :) Old school thrash without a lot of the technicality of later released, but still fun to headbang to if you like the whole Dark Angel / Testament thing with death metal vocals overtop. 3 tracks.
• From This Day Forward (1990) A combination of old school thrash and death metal. The mid-range vocals are definitely death, but the riffs and performance is definitely thrash with a few melodic bits. The production is clear, although not very in-your-face (there's lots of reverb and echo here so it sounds like the band is playing in a chasm somewhere). The riffs are generally good, and these guys obviously have some talent, a good indication of things to come.
• Nemesis (1993) Technical death/thrash metal at it's best. The music is tough to play, the song writing is perfect, the sound is perfect. Very complex songs (like old Metallica), but with a more processed, outer space kind of sound. Tons of alternate picking and downpicking make this album a guitar players nightmare. A must buy album.
• Cybervoid (1996) I didn't like this album as much as Nemesis. The songs are shorter and more straight forward, but still a well produced, chunky album.
• Planet Claire (1998, Promo)
• Carnivore Mothermouth (1999) Cyber metal for a new millennia, starting where the last album left off, but a much improved result in so many ways. First the songs, these songs are very catchy, just about every song is memorable all the way through the entire album, these rhythms totally get the listener wanting to mosh (or dance, since some of these beats do incorporate a certain dance techno element, but don't worry, not in a bad way). Several of the songs have a much stronger industrial feel (lots of repeated riffs) in a Meshuggah Chaosphere feel, others are still more riff based and are similar to older work, or the likes of Fear Factory. Speaking of everyone's favorite factory, the drumming on this album is a vast improvement, lots of complex double kick rhythms that lets the kick drum become an integral part of the song. The sound is unearthly, really huge and in your face with every instrument clearly heard. Everything has a very spacy feel due to the proper use of tight reverb, keyboards and samples in appropriate places. The guitar sound is very thick, and very distorted, making it difficult to actually tell notes apart sometimes (this is also due to how low the guitars are), but the band remains razor tight. An excellent album, if you like bands that do that techno industrial thrash death thing, definitely pick up this CD.
• Greatest Pits (2002) A sort of BestOf album commemorating 14 years of the band's existence, and also marks unfortunately the end as the band broke up earlier this year. Contains 12 songs from their previous albums on the CD itself. Then if you have a computer, you can view 11 of their songs transcribed for guitar, and listen to 10 extra bonus tracks, 8 of which are from their early demos (early thrash style, the recording quality is pretty poor but it's fun from a historical perspective I suppose), one new track called 'PsychoMatrix' I believe from the "Carnivore" recording sessions, and a cover of Ozzy's 'Suicide Solution'. Maybe it's just because I'm from Montreal and fondly remember going to the band's shows, but I have to agree with the words printed in the accompanying booklet, "Now nothing is gonna be the same from his day forward..."

• Age Of Brutality (1992, EP)
• Suffocated Truth (1992)
• Amputated Souls (1993, EP)
• Perversion Mankind (1994)
• The 3rd Chapter (1996) Take a touch of black metal, add it to a standard death metal band, add great production and a super tight sound, some melodic parts, some insane fast parts, and then add happy female vocals along with some guy who sounds like satan in a bad mood. What can I say, it works.
• Whipped, Raped...Obscene (1997, Video)
• Human Barbecue (1998) Death / Black / Melodic metal in the same style as their last album. Still excellent production, but the songs are a bit weak. Some of the later songs are better, but it's a mixed bag of great and mediocre riffs. Still decent overall. Includes a cover of Slayer's 'Raining Blood' at the end.
• Demo-Niac (1999) 10 songs from various out of print demos the band recorded. The booklet has absolutely no info about how many demos, of when they were produced, or whatever, so all I can say is the songs are pretty good, we have another early version of the bands signature song 'Utter Disgust', the production is good on all tracks (even considering their demo status), but obviously not as good as their later albums. Probably only something a big fan of the band would like, otherwise, get their other albums.
• Intense (2000) Well, the songs got a lot better, more like the stuff from the 3rd chapter. The usual blasting drums, and good steady doublekicks, great production, angry vocals (most of the black metal elements are gone now, replaced with a more straight ahead death treatment). Certainly nothing inventive, but I cannot say bad things about any band that spends time writing a good riff and backing it up with good production and a truckload of hatred for mankind. I'm really digging these songs, worth checking out.
• Cold Blooded Murder (2002) See my review of "Intense", basically everything I said there can be said about this album, good songs, good production (a little thicker than "Intense", more layered guitars for a larger sound). Nothing new but plenty of intensity and good riffs to make this an album worth owning.
• Where Sinners Bleed (2006) Man, it's been 4 years now. And the band is back with a vengeance. This album is way faster and angrier than their last two, a little less melody, a little more blasting and doublebass. But otherwise the core of the band is the same Obscenity we've come to know and love. A little old school actually, it's been awhile since I've heard death metal in this style. But that shouldn't make it any less enjoyable. Decent songs, a bit of nostalgia to the early 90s, but they're just as relevant now as they were then. Recommended.

• Demo 2003 (2003, Demo) 3 song demo, sort of Hum with Tool / hardcore vocals. First off, for a demo, this has really great production, everything is very clear and well mixed. Guitarwise lots of strummed chords with plenty of distortion. The drumming is pretty complex, keeping a strong beat but lots of fills. Vocal wise, the vocalist sounds a bit like Maynard James Keenan from Tool, certainly the sung parts remind me of that, and then every once inawhile he'll go into these hard core screams. Song wise, the tunes are pretty catchy. This band is at that early stage where they are more a collection of influences than something totally original, but considering the production and the good songs, I think there's plenty of potential here for the band to gel into something cool. Well worth a listen and to keep an eye out for.
• Demo 2004 (2004, Demo) A new 3 song demo, 10 minutes of music. Same overall style as their last demo, except the songwriting on this has definitely gone up a notch. You know that point where a song stops being an assembly of individual riffs and just becomes a song? The band has reached that point and beyond, I could easily see myself enjoying a full length album of material like this. And while the same obvious influences are present, they've achieved a much better blend. My only last critique would be that the band may wish to accentuate the guitar sound a bit more during the screamed sections. I.e., have a slightly harsher guitar sound when the vocalist screams might help the screamed vocals blend with the rest of the music a bit better. For that matter, a bit more treble in the mix overall would probably be a good idea, but otherwise the production is really good. I definitely think the band is ready to move on from the demo stage to doing a full length, so hopefully they've sparked some label interest with this EP.
• On A Dead Machine (2005) Very similar to their most recent demo, with all the same strengths and a few of the same minor nits (like for example some more top end to the guitars would have been cool). Some of the songs are rerecorded versions of their demo material, along with some nice new songs that are equally as good if not even better. Despite the material coming from a number of periods, it all gels together really nicely with a very consistent sound and performance. A lot of variety too, you have some great lively songs, some angrier songs with the screamed hardcore vocals, and then some songs that are very soft indeed with beautiful singing and great melody. The really neat thing is how they do a lot with really a quite minimal approach, for example, the songs are not super complex, but they manage to keep them interesting with great writing and great melody. Their sound manages to sound big and yet really isn't too layered, no obvious overdubs or keyboards/samples, just a guitar/bass drums and singer for the most part. When you don't have a thousand things hitting the listener at the same time, your songs better be strong (which they are), because you can't distract them with complexity. Fans of Hum, Filter, or Devin Townsend's Ocean Machine / Terria would do well to grab a copy of this album ASAP.
  

• World Abomination (1991, Demo)
• As Blood Flows (1993, Demo) See European Oppression review.
• Solstice of Oppression (1994) Very technical minded death metal (or heavy thrash with death metal vocals), while not as solid as Agony, the song writing is excellent and very memorable. Good production although a little unrefined and muffled at times. I really like how they combine complex tapping riffs and acoustic layers with straight ahead good riffing. Technical but not overly technical, they combine the complex with the simpler riff to have musicianship with anger at the same time, which I appreciate. Out of print and hard to find, but all Oppressor fans should have a copy of this.
• 7" Oppressor (1994, EP) A 7" with two songs, 'I am Darkness' and 'Valley Of Thorns'. These are early demos of songs that appear on "Agony". The sound quality is pretty bad, and the production is super soft, this 7" is for collectors only, if you want the songs how they should be heard, buy their full length album.
• European Oppression (Live, 1995) Five live tunes, two unreleased tracks, and seven tracks from the "As Blood Flows" EP. The live songs come from various shows around Europe, so the recording quality goes from great to bad depending on the performance. The unreleased tracks are good, including a cover of "Looks That Kill". The stuff from "As Blood Flows" is also quite nice, the recording quality is quiet (you'll have to bump up your volume), but it's also clear and well mixed (with adequate high and low end, only ever so slightly muffled). The riffs are a little simpler than later Oppressor stuff, but have all those usual gems. If you're into the band, this will fill up all those holes in your collection.
• Agony (1997) Very well done Death Metal. A very technical band, lots of harmonics, strange tapping licks and bizarre acoustic interludes. And the production is crystal clear, lots of bottom end with some serious chunk. Great songs, really well thought out. Their aggressive sound should not be missed.
• Elements Of Corrosion (1998) Similar to their last album, except a little faster and overall more aggressive. Lots of really amazing riffs, excellent song writing, very original and technical stuff. Unfortunately, the production totally sucks. Where the previous album had a thick, full sound, this recording is horrible. Way too much top end, a very thin recording sound. I have no clue what happened to that great production from the last album. But even with this major downfall, I find myself listening to the album a lot, because of the great songs.

• A Coming Into Existence (Demo, 1998) Now re-released and remastered from the band, this contains 4 songs all available from their 2000 Debut. It's a different drummer, and a few other modifications to the now solid lineup, but overall a good EP, with great production for a Demo (although obviously not quite as good as their official release). Some of these songs seem possibly faster than those recorded for the "Origin" album, although certainly not as fast as the ultra hyper "Informis" album. Worth getting if you're a fan of the music.
• Origin (2000) Standard death metal with an emphasis on achieving a very precise and staccato sound. Sounds a little like Deranged or Deeds Of Flesh, a never ending onslaught of intense blastbeats and triggered double kicks. Guitar sound is a little top heavy, but clear and, as mentioned before, very precise. Sound wise, think Malevolent Creation's "Stillborn" album then remove most of the reverb and add some bass. Most riffs revolve around quick switches between tremolo picking and then fast downpicked chugging. Riffs are pretty complex, which makes the music a bit tough to mosh to sometimes, but unlike say the newest Deeds Of Flesh album, they do manage to keep the riffs flowing a lot better with less sudden changes, making the music a bit more straight forward, and keeping a riff or two stuck in your mind for longer. Vocals are medium range angry screams. In general, a very decent debut album, I highly recommend throwing it on your pile of purchases if you're at your local store and see a copy lying around.
• Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas (2002) Without a doubt one of the sickest albums I've heard for quite sometime. Holy fuck this shit is fast. I mean, it really does sound like they went in and sped up the tape, except I couldn't believe a reasonably well known band would dare to do so, afraid of the revenge from the fans. From the first second after the intro your jaw will be on the floor. Anyways, same general style as the last one, tremolo picking and more chunkier riffs, but no slow chugging songs to be found, it's all top speed from beginning to end. Vocals trade off between 3 separate vocalists doing their thing at different pitches, all well done. Riff wise, while the songs do have a certain similarity to each other, there's enough stand out stuff to make sure you know what song you're listening to. Expect very technical riffs that change times quite frequently, although they retain a pretty decent level of groove. Very technical drumming, a constant assault of buzzsaw double bass and superfast blasts mixed with a chaotic flow of crash hits and other random percussive sounds. If you're into speed, this will be your new bible. Very impressive, and highly recommended.
• Echoes Of Decimation (2005) You know it's funny, Nasum releases "Helvete" when I wanted "Human 2.0" part 2 ("Human 2.0 is one of my favorite albums), and when it doesn't deliver I give it a bad review. Now here's Origin, they release "Echoes Of Decimation" that is basically "Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas" part 2 ("Informis" is also one of my favorite albums, and a former album of the year winner), and my first response is I'm not sure if I dig the lack of progression. I guess there's no pleasing me. But those feelings quickly departed as I came to the realization that I was listening to one of the absolute fastest, scariest, brutalist set of songs ever recorded on cd. It's true! First off this album is mixed better, with more bass, less muffled topend, it's a total makeover without losing that buzzsaw guitar vibe that contributes so much to their brutal sound. The songs may take a little longer to stick in your brain, but once they're there, they're stuck, trust me. And yes, despite John Longstreth leaving the band, somehow the band found an equally fast drummer in James King, this guy is sick. Guitarwise, lots of tremolo picking, sweep picking and overall crazy riffs that are just impossible to play. Heart attack inducing mayhem. If you enjoyed "Informis", you must, must, must buy this.
• Antithesis (2008) Origin is back, with the same lineup as their amazing "Informis Infinitas Inhumanitas" album (including drummer John Longstreth). And the results are great, but I'd still probably have to place this release ever so slightly behind their last 2 efforts. But that's not really a bad thing, considering how awesome those albums were. All the elements you expect are here, with probably their best mix yet. And there are a few really awesome songs with standout riffs, especially 'Al-Gorithm' and the album opener (although the opening song gets a little repetitive in the middle). There are even a few songs with slower parts, which are absent from their last 2 albums. A couple of intros help differentiate the songs, although do you really need to make a 40 second intro a separate song? My only real beef is that there are a few filler songs on the album. And that while their 2nd album seemed fresh, so many bands are doing the ridiculously fast hyper drumming and picking things these days, this release doesn't add much new to the mix. But still an impressive album, fans of the band will certainly enjoy this one as well.
  

• Jihad (2001, EP)
• Sevas Tra (2002) I listened to this their 1st album second, so when I say this is similar to their last album, I'm actually going forward in time as opposed to backward. But I'm sure you get the idea, just read the review for the second album first and then this review will make more sense. My main issue with "House Of Secrets" isn't a problem at all on "Sevas Tra", there's way more angry heavy stuff here. Yes, there are still some whispered intros, but because there are less of them, they don't become repetitive, they do what they're meant to do, break the album up a bit. Track 2, 'Blood Pig' is a serious knock to the groin, it's just so devastatingly heavy, from the vocals to the super low guitar rumblings. Track 3 and a few of the others have some rapping type stuff I'm not a huge fan of, but it's done decently for the style, and mixed with a lot of screaming and growling, so I don't find it too distracting. This album is strong all the way through, and the final song which deals with molestation is just super frightening, it just makes you feel ill. Talk about emotional impact. Fans of Pantera, Slipknot, early Korn, or Coal Chamber will eat this stuff up. Definitely the stronger of their two first albums, hopefully their upcoming third album takes more from this than from their second release.
• Abominations (2004, DVD)
• House Of Secrets (2004) Metalcore band that packs a serious punch when they want to. First off, you can't discuss the band without discussing the female vocals. Yes, all the sounds you're hearing are indeed the work of a lady, and she does an awesome job, managing to sound like a girl without sounding like a girl. I know that sounds contradictory, but I guess what I mean is you realize without a doubt that she's a girl from her voice, and yet she makes her voice do things that you just don't hear a female voice generally do. The variety is the best part, from whispers to singing to screaming to growling to super-low distorted gargling, imagine the vocal variety of Slipknot, but in female form. The album starts out with 'Warhead', which is a prime example of what the band can do. Super chunky pounding Pantera style riffs with an insane range of vocal carnage overtop. 'Buried Alive' brings it down a notch at the beginning to whispered vocals and some moody music before exploding into into some slow, sludgy pounding riffs with the words "I hate my life" screamed overtop. The album continues with some good songs, and a few soso songs. I guess my only beef with the album really is that some of the songs are a little too generic sounding, and the whispered intro growing to a full on assault formula gets repeated way too often. A little more than half the album seems to be these whispered intros, I feel the band should shift things more in the angry direction. They've proved they can do it, they just need to do more of it. I recommend this album, it's got some great songs, but is a little uneven, so be warned.
• The Ascension (2007) Capitol merges with Virgin, and poor Otep are caught in the middle. What's going on? Has the band been dropped? Will their new album ever come out? After a rocky and I'm sure frustrating couple of months for the band, they get let go, and venture off to find a new label. Man, did Capitol make a big mistake or what. After an uneven 2nd album, the band really redeems themselves with "The Ascension". Great songs and a great performance, the whole album gels really well with plenty of song variety and outstanding moments. Not that every song is perfect, but the vast majority of it is great, the few weaker moments are short lived, and the quieter whispered bits are better integrated into the heavy parts of the music. The CD starts off with the usual bang. Track 3 is a slow song with a really odd chord progression that I really like, very original and spooky sounding. They do a cover to Nirvana's 'Breed', which is really well done, I always knew the missing ingredient in Nirvana was fast doubekicks. And that leads us to their loudest and angriest song, 'March Of The Martyrs', which is a really fantastic song. A big step up from their last album, this is on par with if not a touch better than their debut.
  

• Blizzard Of Ozz (1981) The crowned prince of metal decides to step out on his own (and leave Black Sabbath behind), and the result is a classic album. Helped along by now legendary guitarist Randy Rhoads, Ozzy pumps out some of the best written songs ever. A must have in any metal collection.
• Diary Of A Madman (1981)
• Live E.P. (1982, Live)
• Speak Of The Devil (1982, Live)
• Bark At The Moon (1983)
• The Ultimate Sin (1986)
• Tribute (1987, Live) A live tribute album featuring and dedicated to Randy Rhoads, who is gone but not forgotten. The sound quality is pretty good, and the guitar playing is spectacular.
• No Rest For The Wicked (1988)
• The Ten Commandments (1990, Best Of)
• Just Say Ozzy (1990, Live)
• No More Tears (1991) Ozzy welcomes Zakk Wylde into the guitar slot, who proves that not only can he shred like satan, but he can write a good riff, and perform it with a menacing and thick tone that's damn tough to beat. Some of the songs on the album are unmemorable, but overall, and especially during the title track, you'll be blown away by the sound and good riffs. Ozzy is ready for the new decade.
• Live And Loud (1993, Live) As the title suggests. Two discs worth of quality Ozzy songs, well produced (almost as good as a studio album, I wonder how many overdubs were used...), and with tons of Zakk (big thick guitar tone, lots of squawks and quick fills). Imagine many of Ozzy's classics performed with proper production mixed with a few of his newer masterpieces. A fitting addition to any Ozzy fan's CD collection.
• Ozzmosis (1995) More powerful songs from Ozzy and Zakk. A few too many power ballads on this album (such as 'I Just Want You'), but then there are these powerhouse slow plodding monsters like 'Thunder Underground' that slap you around with their heaviness. Good riffs, good performance, I do wish a few of the songs had been a bit faster to add a little more variety. The production is thick as usual, with an unending massive guitar tone, giant bass sound and soulful orchestration, everything is well mixed and balanced. Ozzy manages to (as usual) capture depression, hope, sorrow and all kinds of other emotions with a single word, and backs it up with excellent songwriting. If you liked "No More Tears" you'll probably like this too.
• Ozzmosis Import (1995) An import with one Bonus track: 'Whole World's Falling Down', which is a really great song, heavy with several memorable riffs and a killer solo. It could very easily have been a single from the CD, if you don't already own Ozzmosis, I highly recommend getting the import so you can get this song.
  
• The Ozzman Cometh (1997, Best Of)
• Down To Earth (2001) While you have 11 decent songs whose riffs tend to stick with you, there really is nothing in this album that stands out as spectacular. Maybe it's because Zakk Wylde didn't write any of the music on the album (although he does perform), the riffs just don't jump out at you, the power isn't quite there. Maybe it's just that the vocals have more prominence here, and the guitar is not very central to the music. While I love Ozzy's voice, It's the music that lays the foundation, and the music just doesn't seem to be happening. Otherwise, a decent album, but his last two were more than decent, so I'm afraid this one is a bit of a letdown.
• Black Rain (2007) After a six year break (during which he did his reality TV show, among other things), Ozzy is back producing music. And while he doesn't reach the heights of 1991's "No More Tears", he definitely has improved over his last few albums. It seems Ozzy's goodness is directly proportional to the intensity of the song. The faster and more energetic the song, the better it is. Songs like 'Not Going Away', 'I Don't Wanna Stop' and the surprisingly heavy 'Trap Door' are all excellent, and well worth a good old fashioned headbang. But slow "ballads" like 'Lay Your World On Me' and 'Here For You' or midpaced songs like 'Civilize The Universe' just strike me as filler material. As a whole though, there's way more good songs here than bad. And may I take a moment to say the packaging really sucks, no liner notes, no pictures, no booklet. I'd consider it sparse even if it were an EP. If you enjoy Ozzy's bleak singing and Zakk Wylde's usually distorted and grungy guitarwork, and are fine with skipping a few soso songs to listen to some really great ones, I'd recommend picking this up.