The wait is finally over. Today (September 9th), Ozzy Osbourne has released his highly-anticipated 13th studio album, Patient Number 9, featuring a star-studded cast of collaborators including his lifelong pal and former Black Sabbath bandmate, Tony Iommi. The pioneering metal axeman played on the album's second single, an ode to masturbation called "Degredation Rules," but he also shredded on the standout track, "No Escape From Now," which you can now hear in all of its glory.
While "Degredation Rules" was lyrically bonkers and musically pretty akin to Ozzy's typical solo fare, "No Escape From Now" has a bit more of a Black Sabbath feel to it, beginning with tearful acoustic strumming and building up to a jagged lead riff that Iommi twists into glowing solos and brooding, atmospheric bridge chugs. Check it out above via YouTube.
Although Iommi has a hefty presence on this new record, and the pair recently untied to rip a couple Sabbath classics at the Commonwealth Games, Ozzy recently shot down the prospect of a proper Sabbath reunion, tellingKerrang! that he wants to distinguish any and all Iommi collaborations as something separate from their former band.
"If Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi do an album together, it's going to sound like a Sabbath album," Ozzy said. "Tony was the sound of Sabbath. There's no getting away from the fact that, when he plays with me, it'll be some kind of a reflection of that.
"Maybe the tracks he did on my album was like what Sabbath should have been had we stayed together, but I want to take it away from Sabbath. We put that band to bed. And if he wants to [make it another] Sabbath album, I'm not doing it!"
Patient Number 9 is out now and you can pick it up on vinyl, CD and cassette over at Revolver's shop.
