- Country: UK
- Style: Heavy metal / Hard rock
- Label: Epic
- Release date: 9 September 2022
Patient Number 9 is the follow-up to 2020’s Ordinary Man, and Andrew Watt is back producing. The guest list is absurd. Jeff Beck on the title track and “A Thousand Shades”, Eric Clapton on “One of Those Days”, Zakk Wylde all over the place, Chad Smith on drums. And Tony Iommi plays on two songs, the first time he’s appeared on an Ozzy solo album.
Those Iommi tracks are the reason to come back. “Degradation Rules” is a slow, filthy blues stomp with harmonica blasting through the intro, and it sounds like 1970 in the best possible way. The title track is strong too, a creepy, slow-building epic with a Beck solo that cuts right through the mix.
The rest is uneven. Thirteen songs is too many, and Watt’s glossy production sands the edges off tracks that needed a bit of grit. Ozzy himself sounds better than anyone expected, though. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Album, which says plenty about the goodwill around him. Not a classic, but a far better late-career record than it had any right to be.
Best tracks:
Patient Number 9
Degradation Rules
Parasite
One of Those Days
Author’s rating: 7.7/10
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