OZZY OSBOURNE – Ordinary Man

The Ozzman Returns

The new album from Ozzy Osbourne titled Ordinary Man shows us what an extraordinary man he really is.  For 10 years fans have waited for something new from the Rock n’ Roll rebel, the man who can rightfully say he had a hand in creating Heavy Metal as a genre. It’s hard to compare this new release with such classics as Blizzard of Oz and Diary of a Madman that were created some 40 years ago, but fans have an album in Ordinary Man that harkens back to Ozzy’s youth, and there are some real gems here.

Straight to Hell

Ordinary Man has songs that show us Ozzy’s sense of humor, and songs that show us that he can still speak to everyone about life, hard times and things that matter to the ordinary man. The first cut “Straight to Hell” starts out with almost angelic voices, followed by a heavy riff that reminds one a little of Queen’s “Tie Your Mother Down” in style, then immediately hits you with Ozzy singing “Alright now!” and “Come on now!” lifted straight out of Black Sabbath’s “Sweet Leaf”.  The lyrics are definitely showing Ozzy’s less serious side, but work well with the composition.

Next we have a heavy ballad titled “All My Life” that feels like the kind of song that Ozzy has made a career out of singing. The lyrics are well thought out, the melodies stick in your brain, and the guitar solos have a familiar tone and sound including a few lead riffs that seem to have been pulled from another time and place in Ozzy’s career. It’s a great second song to move the album along, and one of the stronger tracks on the album.

“Goodbye” starts out with a bass drum that would at first make you think that “Iron Man” was about to commence, but instead Ozzy comes in with a melancholy dirge followed by a heavy slow riff right out of his deep past. The guitars are drenched in delay and reverb, and the tone is very raw. The song is a solid tune that again feels right at home on this record, which is part of the point. The album feels like it was made almost as much by an Ozzy fan as it does by Ozzy himself, from the little bits like a maniacal laugh, to the epic styled solos that remind us of the great Randy Rhoads.

An Un-ordinary Duet

The title track is a major ballad featuring a duet with Sir Elton John, which may come as an unexpected surprise to some, except that Ozzy has long been a huge fan of Elton. “Ordinary Man” talks about how Ozzy does not want to be remembered as an ordinary man, and the duet works well in delivering that message. The piano is played by Sir Elton, and they work well together on this composition. Though not this reviewers favorite track, it is one of best produced tracks on the album.

Under the Graveyard

“Under The Graveyard” is an autobiographical song about when Ozzy left Black Sabbath in the late 70s, and feels like it rings true through his performance. Ozzy has always had a talent for connecting with his audience through great story telling, and he continues to do so here. Other fun tracks are “Eat Me” and “Scary Little Green Men”, but the rest of the album has a few songs like “Take What You Want” which feels a little disconnected from the rest of the album and might leave a few fans wondering why it’s on the record at all.

All Stars

Ozzy has an all star line up on this record, with Duff McKagan on bass, Chad Smith nailing it on the drums, and various guest stars from Slash to Tom Morello making appearances. The one issue with this album is the very uneven production quality of the mix. Andrew Watt has done a decent job on guitar, but lacks consistency in the mixdown. With a major star like Ozzy, there is no reason to have songs sound like they were recorded in a garage by a novice engineer. On some tracks like “Its a Raid” the clipping is so bad that the song is almost completely unlistenable, which is sad as it is a pretty damn cool song.

Final Notes

What could quite possibly be the last studio album from one of the Heavy Metal greats of all time should have been a hit out of the park, but due to some very uneven production instead lands somewhere lower than it deserves. If you are a die-hard Ozzy fan, by all means you should get this album. One thing is certain, Ozzy has once again shown us that he is the farthest thing from what anyone else would call an “ordinary man”.

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Tracklist

1. “Straight to Hell”
2. “All My Life”
3. “Goodbye”
4. “Ordinary Man” (featuring Elton John)
5. “Under the Graveyard”
6. “Eat Me”
7. “Today is the End”
8. “Scary Little Green Men”
9. “Holy for Tonight”
10. “It’s a Raid”
11. “Take What You Want”

CD: (00:49:21)

Studio credits

Ozzy Osbourne – lead vocals, harmonica (track 6)
Andrew Watt – guitars, production, keyboards (tracks 2, 4-10), piano (track 4), bass guitar (track 7)
Duff McKagan – bass guitar (tracks 1-6, 8-10)
Chad Smith – drums, percussion (tracks 1-9)
Slash – guitar (tracks 1, 4)
Charlie Puth – keyboards (tracks 1)[17] Elton John – piano and co-lead vocals (track 4)
Tom Morello – guitar (tracks 8, 10)
Post Malone – co-lead vocals (tracks 10, 11)
Caesar Edmunds – synth bass programming (track 1), synth bass (tracks 2, 3, 6, 9, 10)
Happy Perez – keyboards (tracks 5, 8)
Louis Bell – keyboards (track 10)
Travis Scott – vocals (track 11)

Get the album here, along with more amazing Ozzy swag for your collection.

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