Down to Earth

Down to Earth is the eighth album, released after a gap of about six years since Ozzmosis, built around Zakk Wylde with a powerful rhythm section of bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin. It came at a time when Ozzy was drawing attention from a new generation through the success of Ozzfest and the reality show The Osbournes, and the record presents a twenty-first-century Ozzy that joins modern heaviness to his familiar sense of melody. The forceful “Gets Me Through,” where heavy riffs and earnest singing act as one, became a new signature song that charted high on the US rock chart. The grand ballad “Dreamer,” sung about the environment and the future, is widely loved and highlights Ozzy’s expressive power as a singer. From the tense “No Easy Way Out” to the lyrical “Running Out of Time,” dynamic songwriting fills the record, and the robust groove of Trujillo and Bordin supports the whole album. Reaching No. 4 on the US chart and facing the changing times head-on while keeping Ozzy’s characteristic heaviness and melody, it is an accomplished comeback.