''Black Rain'' is the tenth solo studio album by British
heavy metal vocalist
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
, released 22 May 2007 via
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
. It is Osbourne's last album to date to feature drummer
Mike Bordin
Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...
, and the first to feature bassist
Rob Nicholson. It is also the first album since 2001's ''
Down to Earth'' to feature
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
player
Zakk Wylde. However, he left again after the album's release, but reappeared again on Osbourne's 2022 album ''
Patient Number 9''. ''Black Rain'' debuted at No. 3 on the US
''Billboard'' 200,
selling about 152,000 copies in its first week; making it Osbourne's highest debut to date. The album has been certified Gold in US.
Releases
The album was released in several different versions. The original US version was released in a thin, brown digipak with the crowned skull Ozzy Osbourne logo (pictured lower right), and for the rest of the world, it was released in a standard jewel case featuring cover art of Osbourne with "Black Rain" falling. This cover included a booklet complete with lyrics and album credits. The US version did not include a booklet, lyrics, or album credits. The Japanese release was the same as the other releases outside of the US, except for the fact that it included two bonus tracks, "I Can't Save You", and "Nightmare". The
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
release of the album included the aforementioned "Nightmare", plus an exclusive bonus track, (only for those who preordered through iTunes) "Love to Hate". It also included a printable pdf file of the booklet, complete with lyrics and album credits. This same booklet was later made available as a free pdf download from Osbourne's website on 1 June. The song "I Don't Wanna Stop" was also featured as the theme song for
WWE Judgment Day 2007.
In the US, limited edition copies of the album were sold with special codes inside of the packets, which could be used to redeem a pair of
Ozzfest 2007 tickets. Ozzfest 2007 was nicknamed "Freefest" because all tickets were free.
The album was reissued in the US on 14 August in a new jewel-case package containing the full booklet with lyrics and new colour cover art and photos, also containing CD extra bonus content featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the "Black Rain" photo shoot.
A "tour edition" version of the album was released on 20 November 2007. This release includes an extra CD with 3 recently recorded live tracks and 3 studio tracks originally available on international releases or digital versions.
Reception
''Black Rain'' received mixed reviews. ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' referred to the album as "highly skippable"
and
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
called it "quite embarrassing".
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
was somewhat less harsh in its assessment, giving the album 3.5 out of 5 stars while noting that "Nothing on Black Rain could really qualify as an Osbourne classic."
Usage in media
Television
*
WWE
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
used "
I Don't Wanna Stop
"I Don't Wanna Stop" is the first single from heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne's 10th studio album, '' Black Rain''. The song was first announced and released through Osbourne's website.
Background
"I Don't Wanna Stop" was named the official them ...
" at the official theme song to the 2007 PPV
Judgment Day
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
. Osbourne later performed the song live on the May 18, 2007 edition of ''
WWE Friday Night SmackDown''.
* Osbourne performed on ''
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...
'' on 21 May and 22 May.
* Osbourne appeared on the second annual
VH1 Rock Honors, and performed three songs, "
Crazy Train", "
Bark at the Moon
''Bark at the Moon'' is the third solo studio album by British heavy metal vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, originally released in December 1983. The album marks Ozzy's change to a synth infused pop-metal sound, with both its "sonic production, and in ...
" and "
I Don't Wanna Stop
"I Don't Wanna Stop" is the first single from heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne's 10th studio album, '' Black Rain''. The song was first announced and released through Osbourne's website.
Background
"I Don't Wanna Stop" was named the official them ...
". It was aired on 24 May 2007 on
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
(TV airing cut the "Bark at the Moon" performance, but it airs as a music video on shows like Rock Fest and Metal Mania.)
* Osbourne appeared on
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
's ''
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' on 25 May 2007 and performed "I Don't Wanna Stop".
* Osbourne performed "
Not Going Away
"Not Going Away" is the second single released from Ozzy Osbourne's 2007 album '' Black Rain''. The single peaked at number 14 on '' Billboards Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. The song is about Ozzy saying that he wants to perform until he is phys ...
" on Spike's Scream Award Ceremony.
Video games
* The song "
I Don't Wanna Stop
"I Don't Wanna Stop" is the first single from heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne's 10th studio album, '' Black Rain''. The song was first announced and released through Osbourne's website.
Background
"I Don't Wanna Stop" was named the official them ...
" is featured in the video games ''
Guitar Hero: On Tour'' and ''
Madden NFL 08
''Madden NFL 08'' is a 2007 American football video game based on the NFL that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 19th installment in the ''Madden NFL'' video game franchise. It features the former Tennessee Titan ...
'' It is also featured as DLC for Rock Band and Rock Band 2 in the Ozzy Osbourne Pack 01.
Radio
* "
I Don't Wanna Stop
"I Don't Wanna Stop" is the first single from heavy metal singer Ozzy Osbourne's 10th studio album, '' Black Rain''. The song was first announced and released through Osbourne's website.
Background
"I Don't Wanna Stop" was named the official them ...
" is used as the opening bumper music on the
Boomer and Gio
''Boomer and Gio'' (previously ''Boomer and Carton'' from 2007–2017 and ''The Morning Show with Boomer'' in 2017) is a morning drive sports radio program on WFAN-AM and WFAN-FM in New York City. It is hosted by former National Football League ...
morning drive sports-talk program on WFAN.
Track listing
Personnel
*
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
– vocals, harmonica, production
*
Zakk Wylde – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
*
Rob "Blasko" Nicholson – bass
*
Mike Bordin
Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...
– drums
Production
*
Kevin Churko – producer, engineer, mixing
* Zack Fagan – additional engineering
* Kane Churko – additional
Pro Tools
*
Vlado Meller
Vlado Meller is a Slovak audio mastering engineer, currently with Vlado Meller Mastering in Charleston, South Carolina. Meller works across many genres of music, with credits on rock, hip-hop, pop, jazz, metal, dance, opera, Broadway, and classica ...
– mastering
* Joshua Marc Levy – art direction and new logo design
Charts
Weekly charts
Singles
Certifications
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Rain (Ozzy Osbourne Album)
Ozzy Osbourne albums
2007 albums
Columbia Records albums
Epic Records albums
Albums produced by Kevin Churko