The big news surrounding this release is the fact that it’s the first album of all-original material from Ozzy since 1988’s No Rest For The Wicked, not to feature guitar legend Zakk Wylde – who’s hard at work with Black Label Society. His replacement, Gus G from the Greek power metal band Firewind, unfortunately didn’t get to write any of the 11 songs heard on Scream. Neither did bassist Blasko or drummer Tommy Clufetos (both of whom are Rob Zombie alumni). Ozzy and producer Kevin Churko (who worked on 2007’s Black Rain) penned the album with assistance from keyboardist Adam Wakeman. Despite leadoff single ‘Let Me Hear You Scream’ receiving its world premiere on the CBS television drama CSI: NY, the song has become a staple in arenas and stadiums across North America as – you guessed it – it makes the crowds scream. Contrived or not, it fares much better than the opening track ‘Let It Die’. A captivating intro quickly gives way to a monotonous thump, over which The Prince Of Darkness recites a rather pathetic laundry list of lyrics: “I’m a rock star, I’m a dealer, I’m a servant, I’m a leader, I’m a saviour, I’m a sinner, I’m a killer.” After an overwhelming negative reaction from fans to initial reports that the album was to be called Soul Sucka, Oz ditched the title but kept the song, changing its spelling to ‘Soul Sucker’ – a decent, but hardly remarkable track. ‘Diggin’ Me Down’ calls out Jesus Christ, asking why he doesn’t save us? Controversial subject matter continues on ‘Latimer’s Mercy’, a song written about Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer who took his teenage daughter’s life in 1993 via carbon monoxide poisoning to end her suffering from cerebral palsy. ‘Life Won’t Wait’ and ‘Time’ are a pair of ballads that simply don’t compare to Ozzy’s classic slow songs of the past. But the biggest gripe of all on Scream is Ozzy’s vocals – they sound digitally manipulated and completely over-processed. Anyone who’s seen the 61-year old former Sabbath frontman live in the last decade knows that his sound on stage and his sound on CD are nothing alike.