By PETER GRIFFIN
When Ozzy Osbourne released the album No More Tears back in 1991, it was to be his swansong - one last burst of noise from the heavy-metal figurehead before he settled into his forties and rock-star retirement.
Ten years later, with a couple more albums, half a dozen Ozzfests
and the Retirement Sucks tour under his belt, settling down is the furthest thing from his mind.
Osbourne's had his fair share of addictions during a 30-year reign as the Prince of Darkness. Some he's managed to kick - with help from the Betty Ford Clinic. But music, he just can't give it up.
"It's what I do you know?" He shouts into his speaker phone in Los Angeles. "It's all music to me."
Osbourne's just finished rehearsing for the day. He sounds tired and irritated.
He has good reason to be. Fresh from the 27-date Ozzfest marathon, a travelling roadshow of metal bands headlined by the 52-year-old godfather of the genre himself - Osbourne has just a few weeks to perfect his solo show before hitting the road on Halloween in support of new album Down To Earth.
It's a heavy collection of songs that could easily have been drawn from the material that didn't make it onto his last album - 1995's Ozzmosis. With Zakk Wylde's familiar guitar all over it and its trademark lyrics of self-loathing and a world gone wrong, Osbourne's 13th solo album should bump his album sales over 70 million, but is unlikely to impress the critics.
Not that Osbourne is anxious to break new ground. The Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne sound urged a generation of bands to turn up their amps and down-tune their guitars.
But don't think Ozzy has drawn a little inspiration in return.
"They've not rubbed off on me at all," he says of his youthful Ozzfest proteges. "I only get to the shows at 6 o'clock in the afternoon, so I don't really get a chance to listen to them."
After last month's terrorist attacks, new songs such as Facing Hell and Running Out Of Time take on a macabre new twist.
Osbourne was visiting Manhattan the day the Twin Towers were destroyed. US media agencies reported that he and wife and manager Sharon sought solace in a New York church as the dust settled.
"I was a good distance away from it, thank God. I saw this big, black cloud rise up."
As celebrities become nervous to be American, Osbourne is determined not to retreat to the safety of his Beverly Hills mansion.
"We had the IRA in England all my [expletive] life so we were kind of used to it."
Tour cancellations are out of the question. Known better for biting off the heads of small animals and thrashing hotel rooms than for his sensitivity, Osbourne renamed the upcoming solo tour Merry Mayhem after originally calling it Black Xmas. Nu-metallers Rob Zombie and Mudvayne will share Osbourne's tour bus on the pan-American trek.
Preparations are already under way for the seventh installation of Ozzfest, set to kick off towards the middle of next year, and in the process break a new wave of fledgling metal acts. Ozzy wants to take Ozzfest global next time round - a Big Day Out for headbangers. But an Australasian show will depend on the state of the world.
"I'd like to bring the Ozzfest around the world, but everyone's afraid to fly now since this terrorist thing. I don't give a [expletive] whether I fly or drive."
Despite its size, Ozzfest is a family affair. Sharon is the business brain behind the festivals, while Osbourne's 16-year-old son and aspiring musician Jack acts as talent scout, visiting clubs to check out rising stars on the metal scene.
"He's got his own fan club, his own online [expletive] website and everything," says Osbourne. "He goes under the name Jack Sabbath."
Between solo efforts and festival madness, a new Black Sabbath album may emerge next year - followed by the inevitable cash-in tour.
Osbourne, Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and the rest of the original crew assembled this year to pen six or seven songs, the first new material from the original Black Sabbath lineup since 1978 - when a drug and booze-addled Ozzy was booted out of the band.
"We gave all our ideas to Rick Rubin to see what he thought of them and that's the last I saw of them," Osbourne says of the producer responsible for the sounds of Slayer and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
With the lucrative festivals, Ozzy figurines, official websites, biographies, movie appearances and albums, Osbourne has become a corporation - a true multimedia man. I put that to him.
"Look, I don't care about being a millionaire. Ask my wife, she keeps buying [expletive]. Money's not the reason I started playing music," he vents.
"No, no Ozzy," I try to explain, fearing an abrupt end to the interview.
"A MULTIMEDIA man."
"Ooh, sorry! I've had my foot in lots of different pies over the years," he agrees.
Lately he's even expanded into the video gaming world, assuming the lead character in the new PlayStation 2 game Black Skies, where players will be able to role-play parts of the star's tumultuous life - from the crazy 70s to the family-friendly 90s.
Osbourne isn't taking his gaming debut too seriously. Due for release next month, he hasn't even seen the finished version yet, let alone had a play.
"I wrote a song called Black Skies and I went into a studio and did all the sound effects and voiceovers - ah, eh, Ooh, uggh!" he imitates.
It's his songs, some intensely personal, that he's most passionate about. But ask him what the lyrics on Down To Earth mean - "I'm not the kind of person, you think I am. I'm not the Antichrist or the iron man" are the opening lines of first track and single Gets Me Through - and Osbourne's not interested.
"I've got in a lot of trouble in the past because people have misread my lyrics and they've totally got it wrong. I can't help that, you know?"
Lyrics are a touchy subject for the master of metal.
In the early 80s a handful of angry parents launched lawsuits against Osbourne, claiming their sons had committed suicide after listening to his sweet ballad Suicide Solution.
For months he was followed on tour by angry mobs. Eventually he emerged from the legal action victorious - if not indignant and feeling misunderstood.
The song was a rant against alcohol, inspired by the death of gravel-throated AC/DC frontman Bon Scott - and, presumably, Osbourne's liquid affections.
"I'm fed up explaining my lyrics," he says wearily. "It took me all the [expletive] time in the world to write them. It's a bit of an old record for me you know?"
Enough said.
Whatever inspires Osbourne's riff-heavy tunes, he's about to unleash them on an American audience that has likely already shelled out to see Ozzy on the Ozzfest circuit - bought the T-shirt and live album.
"I've got so much stuff to choose from now, I could do two different shows a night," he says.
He admits his schedule is all-consuming.
"I barely have enough time now to take a piss in the day.
"I'll get up and work from morning to night, you know?"
We know.
"I mean, could you imagine Ozzy sitting by the fire with a pipe watching the [expletive] sun go down?"
Not for all the bats and doves in the world.
* Down To Earth and Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium are out now.
By PETER GRIFFIN
When Ozzy Osbourne released the album No More Tears back in 1991, it was to be his swansong - one last burst of noise from the heavy-metal figurehead before he settled into his forties and rock-star retirement.
Ten years later, with a couple more albums, half a dozen Ozzfests
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