If you forget about the dreadful covers album (and most of us rather would) then ‘Black Rain’ comes six years after Ozzy’s last studio effort, the generally well received ‘Down To Earth’. On initial hearing then one thing about this album is abundantly clear, it might not say his name on the cover but this is just as much Zakk Wylde’s album as it is Ozzy’s and the guitarist clearly plays an integral part in keeping the Osbourne show on the road. Wylde’s trademarks are stamped across this record and ensure the material contains an edginess that would otherwise be lacking and tellingly he gets a co-writing credit on no fewer than eight of the ten tracks.

One thing that ‘Black Rain’ does have is plenty of variation, sometimes this works and sometimes not. Lead single ‘I Don’t Wanna Stop’ is definitely something of a departure and falls into the somewhat dodgy territory (at least as far as Ozzy is concerned) of modern alternative rock. The two ballads, ‘Lay Your World On Me’ and ‘Here For You’ are pleasant enough without coming close to any of his previous efforts although the latter has some nice piano touches. By far and away the best song on ‘Black Rain’ is ‘The Almighty Dollar’ (and you can guess the irony in the lyrics just from the title); a seven minute number with some clever and funky bass work, a huge chorus and the trademark Ozzy scream.

Elsewhere the title track (about oil and its effect on the world in case you hadn’t realised from the cover) starts off with some harmonica that takes you back to ‘The Wizard’ but never really get going and Wylde gets his fair share of moments in the spotlight with some heavy riffing on ‘Civilise The Universe’ and ‘Countdown’s Begun’ and some forays up and down the fret board on ‘11 Silver’.

This is a half-decent album but pales when compared to former glories and there are certainly moments here when you get the feeling Ozzy is just going through the motions. But whilst creatively his best days might be a long way behind him Birmingham’s favourite son can still belt out a solid metal tune from time to time. If you have never heard an Ozzy album then there are far better places to start but long time followers will simply cherish that the fact that he is still here and making music.