Down to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album)

Down to Earth
Studio album by
Ozzy Osbourne
Released16 October 2001
Recorded (2000-04-00) (2001-08-00)April 2000 – August 2001
StudioHenson, Hollywood
Genre
Length48:34
LabelEpic
ProducerTim Palmer
Ozzy Osbourne chronology
Ozzmosis
(1995) 		Down to Earth
(2001) 		Under Cover
(2005)
Singles from Down to Earth
  1. "Gets Me Through"
    Released: 4 September 2001
  2. "Dreamer"
    Released: January 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[2]
Rock Sound[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

Down to Earth is the eighth studio album by English heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne. Released on 16 October 2001, it reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart and number four on the US Billboard 200. "The Ozzfest was doing well", Osbourne explained. "I just wanted to be like the Grateful Dead and keep it going by touring, but the record company said they'd like a new Ozzy album."[5]

Down to Earth spawned just two singles, although both reached the top ten of the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and the top 40 of the Canadian Singles Chart, and reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.

Excluding his contributions to re-recordings of Ozzy's earlier material, Down to Earth is the only Osbourne studio album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo, who left to join Metallica in 2003. It was the first Osbourne album to feature drummer Mike Bordin, previously of Faith No More, though he had played live with Osbourne since 1996, as well as the last to feature guitarist Zakk Wylde until 2007's Black Rain. Though he plays on the album, Wylde did not contribute as a songwriter for the first time since joining Osbourne's band in 1988, because many of the songs were written before Wylde rejoined the band. Osbourne's previous guitarist Joe Holmes was involved in the writing and Osbourne chose to use outside songwriters such as producer Tim Palmer and Aerosmith collaborator Marti Frederiksen.

"Working with Tim on this album reminded me of [late guitarist] Randy [Rhoads]", Ozzy remarked of Palmer. "If it hadn't been for him, there wouldn't have been an album ... He has incredible patience, just like Randy."[6]

Allegedly, the Weezer song "Hash Pipe" was slated for this album. Ozzy approached that band's vocalist, Rivers Cuomo, for song ideas, and Hash Pipe was one of them, however, Osbourne did not use the song,[7] and Weezer included it on their Green Album instead.

  1. ^ Torreano, Bradley. "Ozzy Osbourne – Down to Earth review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  2. ^ Weingarten, Marc (19 October 2001). "Down to Earth". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. ^ Perrone, Pierre (November 2001). "Reviews: Rock". Rock Sound. No. 30. UK: IXO Publishing Ltd. p. 88.
  4. ^ Fricke, David (8 November 2001). "Ozzy Osbourne – Down to Earth". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 27 August 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  5. ^ Wilding, Philip (January 2002). "Return to Ozz". Classic Rock #36. p. 50.
  6. ^ Wilding, Philip (January 2002). "Return to Ozz". Classic Rock #36. p. 52.
  7. ^ "Weezer's 'Hash Pipe' was almost an Ozzy Osbourne song". NME. 28 May 2021.