In terms of iconic and world changing albums: he's already done it on numerous occassions (albeit mostly in sabath over thirty years ago)! What more does he need to prove? The man should save whats left of his dignity and retire as gracefully as possible.
I'm not saying he needs to
prove anything, nor am I criticising what he's done in the past, I was referring to Ratty's specific point about "Ozzy's
Sgt Pepper". Yes, he's made lots of great albums, and he was in the band that for all intents and purposes invented heavy metal. That's a bloody great achievement as far as I'm concerned.
But HM isn't the Beatles, and
Master Of Reality isn't
Sgt Pepper (much though I might like it to be).
Sgt Pepper's an album (and an album cover) that would be recognised by
billions of people, literally all over the world. It transcends musical genres, even transcends music altogether.
Ozzy may be pretty famous, but most people only know him as a funny old long-haired bloke who swears a lot. The "man in the street" wouldn't know a Black Sabbath or Ozzy album from a hole in the ground.
As to whether or not he'll ever make this hypothetical "
Sgt Pepper" album - Ozzy's only ever been as good as the people he works with. In Sabbath he had the charisma, the eccentric personality, but it was Tony and Geezer who wrote the songs. In his solo career, he's displayed a remarkable talent for finding genius guitarists - especially the first one - and made some very good records, but still the music depends a great deal on his collaborators (no matter what the writing credits may say). And the people he writes with now aren't anywhere near as good as the people he wrote with then.
It's not a criticism to say Ozzy's no Lennon or McCartney. Not many people are.
