Ozzy Osbourne released Down to Earth on October 16, 2001. His eighth studio album followed a discarded first attempt and the return of guitarist Zakk Wylde, with producer Tim Palmer helping restart the sessions. The record ranged from the heavy opening single “Gets Me Through” to “Dreamer,” a piano ballad Ozzy wrote with Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Marti Frederiksen.
Getting there required a change in how Ozzy was working. In an August 2001 interview with journalist Dan Epstein, he recalled beginning the record the previous year with guitarist Joe Holmes, bassist Robert Trujillo and drummer Mike Bordin. He had been turning up, working through the day and leaving without much enthusiasm. Sharon Osbourne suggested calling Wylde, believing he could get the sessions moving. Ozzy said they abandoned that first attempt and started again with Wylde and Palmer, finding an “instant connection.”
Sharon had also recruited Palmer. As he explained to MusicRadar in 2013, his work with David Bowie and Robert Plant helped put him in consideration. He and Ozzy connected over British comedy, listening to Monty Python, Dad’s Army and The Goon Show during breaks. That rapport mattered during sessions Palmer remembered as difficult to organize. Musicians came and went, and he kept working while disagreements about personnel remained unresolved. Once the lineup settled, the recording moved to A&M Studios.
Wylde’s return did not erase the writing that had happened before him. Holmes retained credits on “That I Never Had,” “Junkie” and “Can You Hear Them?,” each written with Ozzy, Trujillo and Frederiksen. Wylde played guitar on the finished album without receiving a songwriting credit. His role was different from his work on earlier Ozzy records: he was interpreting material developed with other collaborators, alongside Trujillo’s bass and Bordin’s drums.
Palmer became one of those collaborators. Ozzy welcomed his song ideas, and their work together produced “Gets Me Through.” The album opener addressed the distance between Ozzy’s public reputation and the person behind it, while thanking the fans who sustained his career. Its subject was personal, even as the arrangement gave Wylde and the rhythm section room for the heavier playing expected of an Ozzy record.
“Dreamer” approached that personal side through melody. Ozzy told journalist Fred Varcoe that its tune had arrived unexpectedly while he was working with Jones and Frederiksen, calling it the “coolest melody I’ve ever written.” Piano and strings supported the vocal, giving the song a different shape from the album’s heavier material. The same writing partnership also produced “Running Out of Time,” making their collaboration a substantial part of the record beyond its best known ballad.
Down to Earth reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200. Both “Gets Me Through” and “Dreamer” entered the Top 10 of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.
The recording lineup continued into the album’s live campaign. Ozzy, Wylde, Trujillo and Bordin performed with keyboardist John Sinclair at Tokyo’s Budokan in February 2002. Released that June, Live at Budokan included “Gets Me Through,” “Junkie” and “That I Never Had,” placing three songs from Down to Earth alongside established material such as “Crazy Train” and “Mr. Crowley.”
