Annika Nelson
Staff reporter
Ozzy Osbourne – Patient Number 9
Heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne released his thirteenth studio album, Patient Number 9, on Sep. 13, 2022. This album comes after the artist’s public diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 2020, a life sentence which on the album thematically translates through the frequent mentions of mortality and death.
Dead And Gone serves as an unsettling look into Osbourne’s melancholy outlook on his future or the relative lack thereof. Though the album centers around the extreme difficulties Osbourne has been experiencing, it is not necessarily a dark album.
Degradation Rules features a jailhouse-rock harmonica melody coupled with the risky, raunchy themes Osbourne is known for. The real star of the album, the features, are unmissable hits, with notable tracks being A Thousand Shades featuring Jeff Beck as the haunting title track and the wistful melodies of One Of Those Days featuring Eric Clapton.
Though at times the record feels haphazardly compiled, Patient Number 9 serves as a fitting addition to the rock legend’s discography and is a must-listen for both classic rock and new metal fans alike.
Rina Sawayama – Hold the Girl
With the explosive success of her first album, SAWAYAMA, Rina Sawayama is back for more. Released on Sep. 16, 2022, Hold the Girl heavily draws from the early-2000s pop sound that Sawayama grew up with, yet remains true to the eclectic style that skyrocketed her to popularity.
The lead single This Hell combines the sounds of country-pop with 70s disco to fit a sacrilegious narrative about being wholly yourself regardless of the consequences. Thematically, the album is a letter to Sawayama’s experiences and traumas that lead her to finding peace within herself and her identity.
The album’s title track addresses the artist’s past self with a melody that echoes Madonna’s pop ballad Like a Prayer. While Sawayama is open and honest about her personal struggles with her identity in Phantom and Catch Me In The Air, the song Send My Love To John documents a relationship between a parent and a queer son in a powerful acoustic ballad centered around forgiveness, thematically tying the album together.
While some artists try and fail to encapsulate multiple genres in a single album, Hold The Girl does so in a cohesive way that all those who enjoy the experimental pop of today will love.
