Here is the original press
release for this album:
OZZY OSBOURNE is going UNDER
COVER to pay tribute to the songs he covets most on a new DualDisc
coming out November 1 on Epic Records. Titled UNDER COVER, the audio
side of the 13-track disc features newly recorded versions of OZZY’s
personal favorites--including "Woman" (John Lennon), "Rocky Mountain
Way" (Joe Walsh) and "Go Now" (The Moody Blues)--plus songs he
recorded for 2005’s gold-certified box set Prince Of Darkness, such
as “In My Life” (the Beatles), “21st Century Schizoid Man” (King
Crimson) and “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield).
The DVD side of the UNDER COVER DualDisc contains the video for “In
My Life,” a stirring collection of archival footage spanning OZZY’s
career. Other highlights include the half-hour presentation “Dinner
With Ozzy and Friends” where OZZY, as only he can, tells some of his
favorite stories to guests who include son Jack Osbourne and
Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister. In addition, there are classic moments
showing OZZY’s repeated attempts to light Black Sabbath drummer Bill
Ward’s beard on fire and his encounter with a group of nuns at an
airport.
35 years into a massively successful music career--with over 90
millions albums sold--the Grammy Award-winning legend told Revolver
(3/05), “For many years now, I’ve thought that it would be great to
do some covers, old songs that mean something to me…It’s just me
having a bit of fun with some songs that are already proven.” In his
Esquire feature (1/05), OZZY clarified the basics for interpreting
other artist’s songs, saying “If you’re going to do a cover of a
song that has a great melody, don’t change the melody.”
Rolling Stone’s David Fricke reacted to the new cover songs that
appeared on OZZY’s four-CD, 52-song Prince of Darkness box set by
noting (3/24/05) “…the greatest shock is the authentic force that
Osbourne, who was born into poverty and never finished school,
brings to his whispered-goth reading of John Lennon’s ‘Working Class
Hero.’ ‘If you want to be a hero,’ Osbourne sings in a searing whine
uncannily like Lennon’s, ‘well, just follow me.’” Revolver’s J.D.
Considine raved (5/05), “…[covers of] King Crimson’s ‘21st Century
Schizoid Man,’ for instance, or Mountain’s ‘Mississippi Queen’ are
pure genius.”
OZZY recorded the new songs with producer Mark Hudson, a powerhouse
band--Mike Bordin (drums), Jerry Cantrell (guitars) and Chris Wyse
(bass)--and guest musicians that included Ian Hunter (vocals on “All
The Young Dudes”), Leslie West (guitar solo on “Mississippi Queen”)
and Robert Randolph (pedal steel on “Symphony For The Devil,” guitar
solo on “21st Century Schizoid Man”).