Ozzy Osbourne - Down To Earth (2001)

"Down to Earth" is Ozzy’s eighth studio album, released six years after 1995’s *Ozzmosis*—a process that was an agonizing struggle, with the release date pushed back time and again. I remember looking forward to it immensely; *Metal Hammer* would occasionally feature updates—claiming it was coming in the spring, or perhaps next year—but the wait felt interminable. And now, 25 years have flown by...
Zakk Wylde played no part in the writing of this record; sitting around idly, fumbling about, or wasting time was never his style—he was releasing new albums with his own band almost every year. The songwriting was largely a collaboration with producer Tim Palmer, though a few tracks involved Ozzy’s former guitarist, Joe Holmes—who, incidentally, never played on a full-length studio album. If memory serves—and I don’t want to get this wrong—Holmes was actually a student of Randy Rhoads. Recordings from the Japanese leg of the tour were later released as a CD and DVD the following year. Afterward, Zakk moved on once again, only to resurface on the 2007 album *Black Rain*—contributing not just as a guitarist, but as a songwriter as well.