Info on Ozzy’s “Black Rain”

April 10, 2007 by

There was a press release issued by Ozzy’s offices today with info on his new album, which is due next month. The title of the album is “Black Rain”. It is due to be released May 22nd, and that is a worldwide release date – sort of. If you live outside the US/Canada, your specific date will be that week, check with your local stores and shops for a specific date in your region.
Anyway, the band lineup on the album should be familiar.
Ozzy – Vocals
Zakk Wylde – Guitar
Rob Nicholson (Blasko) – Bass
Mike Bordin – Drums
I don’t know who is on keyboards on the album. When I asked if Adam Wakeman was still the keyboardist, since he was the keyboardist of record the last time Ozzy’s solo band did anything, I was told he was still the touring keyboardist, but didn’t give me any info on who is playing on the album.
There was some other info I was able to piece together from the press release (which you can read in full on my Black Rain discography page here) was a track listing. I’m unsure if this is the complete track listing, or what order they come in, but these are the tracks listed in the press release:
1. I Don’t Wanna Stop (First single)
2. Not Going Away
3. Thank God For The Almighty Dollar
4. Civilize The Universe
5. Black Rain
6. Countdown’s Begun
7. Trap Door
8. Here for You
9. Lay Your World Down on Me
10. 11 Silver
As noted above, the first single is the track “I Don’t Wanna Stop”, and will be released this Friday. The full album will be available at digital retailers such as iTunes, so I would assume that the single will be available there this Friday, but I’m waiting on confirmation of that. Unfortunately, no cover art is available, so I can’t post that. I also could not find any online retailer taking pre-orders for Black Rain yet, but when you can do that, I’ll post some links.
Also, Ozzy’s website has had a recent overhaul to be a “teaser” of sorts – you have to hover a cross over various hidden things to hear song samples from the new album. I’m personally not a fan of site designs that make you “play games” to find the content, but I’ve been told several people like that. If you like that kind of thing, head to http://www.ozzy.com and have at it. Or you can click these links, which are direct links to the respective sound samples.

They sound good and crunchy, but most of them are VERY short, and have hard cuts when they stop, so it’s hard to get a handle on what the full songs would sound like. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on a pre-release copy from the label and do a review before too long.
Thanks to John over at Sharon’s offices for sending me the press release, and Blabbermouth for the sample links.

Filed Under: Ozzy Osbourne