OZZY OSBOURNE – Scream Tops Charts!

Scream – OZZY OSBOURNE’s first album in three years and 10th studio album overall–has entered the charts in the Top Ten in seven countries. Beyond earning the #1 slot on the charts in Greece, Scream’s chart entries include: U.S., #4; Finland, #3; Japan #4 (international chart, #11 on combined chart); Norway, #5; Canada, #4; and Germany, #7. In his native England, Scream is at #12; it also is #11 in Australia. The acclaimed album (see quotes below) was released June 22 via Epic Records, with first single “Let Me Hear You Scream” now #1 on both Active Rock charts and still #1 at Mainstream Rock for the 5th week.

Just before Scream was released, the rock icon hosted a Sunday afternoon in-store CD signing at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles (June 20). The first 600 fans who purchased a copy were also given a free ticket to that night’s 10:00 PM House of Blues show. OZZY and his band–new guitar player Gus G., bassist Blasko, drummer Tommy Clufetos and keyboardist Adam Wakeman–raised the roof with a red-hot performance encompassing new material and his many classics.

The multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer recorded most of Scream at his Los Angeles home studio, The Bunker. It was produced by OZZY and Kevin Churko, both of whom did the same honors for OZZY’s 2007 worldwide million-seller Black Rain. OZZY co-wrote all the songs, primarily with Churko.

OZZY will embark on an 18-month world tour in support of SCREAM. His U.S. dates will kick off with an August 12 performance at the 70th anniversary of the Sturgis motorcycle rally in South Dakota before he launches this year’s OZZFest on August 14. The six OZZFest dates will feature the main stage line-up with full sets from Ozzy, Mötley Crüe, Rob Halford, DevilDriver and Nonpoint. Second stage headliners and six-time OZZFest veterans Black Label Society will be joined by Drowning Pool, Kingdom of Sorrow, and Goatwhore, Skeletonwitch, Saviours and Kataklysm. Each OZZFest date will include 13 bands on two stages with music beginning at 1:00 PM. In addition, concert-goers can once again visit the OZZFest “Village of the Damned” featuring a mix of interactive activities, shopping and entertainment throughout the venue concourses.

Here’s some early critical praise for SCREAM:

“Oz is as sharp as a dagger and at the top of his headbanging skills for Scream. His voice is clear, and he belts every song with conviction. The opening tune, ‘Let It Die,’ sets the bar. This is metal music that begs for arena play, where the sounds of heavy bass, cowbell wallops and guitar power chords can expand. Ozzy’s vocals are as good as they get as he mixes his controlled scream with funky swagger. That sweat-and-danger attitude carries into ‘Let Me Hear You Scream,’ which combines thrash metal with a tempo that would allow ‘Scream’ dance-hall success…This is heavy, stairway-to-hell music that demands more volume than your ears should hear.”
–Dan Aquilante, New York Post

“‘Time’ is easily the best ballad on the album. It’s Ozzy singing at his best and has clearly the finest chorus on the record. It sounds part Beach Boys, part The Beatles (the band that got Ozzy into rock in the first place)”
– Randy “Rocket” Cody, TheMetalDen.com

“The highlight is the fist-pumping first single, ‘Let Me Hear You Scream,’ on which, against a blitzkrieg of snarling guitars, the Ozzster works up a real rebel yell.”
–People Magazine

” Metal master Ozzy Osbourne thrashes, roars and rocks on a strong batch of tunes…”
—Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News

“…a glorious, imaginative effort by by Osbourne, quite possibly his best album release since 1981’s Diary of a Madman.” (4 stars)
—Patrick Prince, Goldmine Magazine,

“…this is the most invigorated and relevant Ozzy’s sounded in years…cuts like “Crucify” and “Soul Sucker” [are]… bristling with a brutality and energy that rockers half Ozzy’s age have trouble mustering…his best album in more than 15 years.”
–Jason Ferguson, SHOCKHOUND.COM

www.ozzy.com