Gary Graff

It's arguably the most potent lineup since Josh Homme put QOTSA together in 1996, and it's embellished on the band's sixth studio album by guests.

Osbourne winds up by concluding that “I don’t believe that God is dead,” and if you don’t find that all too reassuring, consider — do you really want Black Sabbath to make you feel better? Naaaaah…

The album is quieter and torchier than its predecessors, with the singer delivering uniformly stellar vocal performances.

This adjunct to “Animal” is unapologetically escapist and highly programmed fun.

Most impressively, Osbourne’s new band displays a tempo-shifting aptitude similar to vintage Black Sabbath.

“Battle Studies” finds Mayer musing about “finding ways to keep the good alive” in romance. He also marches into fresh stylistic terrain…

The listener won’t be sniffling through the spirited 11-song "Doin' My Thing."

The quartet returns 14 years after its last new studio album (and seven years after Staley’s death), with an 11-track set that sounds like it could well have been recorded in the same session as the 1995 “Alice in Chains.”