Besting death at every possible turn in recent memory – through his Parkinson’s diagnosis and numerous lung issues – Ozzy Osbourne will unlikely “die an ordinary man”. Avoiding that very fate is just one of many pensive introspective insights that Oz threads throughout his 12th studio solo release.
Breaking the 10-year drought since 2010’s Scream, Ozzy’s return brings forth some of his most lyrically intimate work to date, splayed across stately ballads as well as the typical lunacy that we’ve come to expect from the grandfather of metal. Should we be surprised? Not really. Despite his age and having enough near misses that would make cats jealous, Ozzy has always been metal’s comeback kid. His entire solo career was predicated by his fall from the heights of Black Sabbath only to bless the world with Blizzard of Ozz which itself is rarely omitted in the slew of best metal albums of all time lists.
What is more surprising is Ordinary Man’s fervent sense of lachrymose that grounds the usual tales of satan and cemeteries with real weight. This is, of course, tempered with a handful of tracks that revel in their outlandishness with Eat Me having Ozzy uttering the line “my meat is nice and tender” in a track allegedly inspired by some German bloke who put out an advert inviting people to come and eat him. Yet, for as many tongue-in-cheek moments about cannibalism and aliens (Scary Little Green Men), there are as many instances of bitter self-reflection.
Ordinary Man shines brightest in these moments of melancholy. The title track, a personal highlight, is a gorgeous piano-led duet that marries the Prince of Darkness to the Rocketman himself. Elton’s key work is simply sublime and is matched with a gorgeous orchestral arrangement that plays well to the LP’s bombastic production while Ozzy solemnly questions “don’t know why I’m still alive”. Hearing Ozzy so vulnerable – we do again in Under the Graveyard with “Death doesn’t answer when I cry for help” – is genuinely harrowing at times but indicative of a man who has sat on the edge of the mortal coil for so long.
Some may argue the elegiac writing comes across as shallow with more albums already confirmed in the pipeline but when life is as arbitrary as Ozzy’s every album should be written as if it’s his last.
Looking across the album’s line-up is more like reading the cast list of the next Avengers film than anything else. We’ve got Guns n Roses’ Slash and Duff McKagan, Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chilli’s Chad Smith, Charlie Puth and even Post Malone. Aligning all the stars is producer Andrew Watt, a man who has more credit for producing pop and R&B numbers than dirty riffage and guitar-slinging wizardry; enter Ordinary Man’s chink in the armour. It’s all very well to bring over some rock ‘n’ roll legends for a jam but their performances will only be as good as the production you dress them up in, and in Ordinary Man’s case, some of them may as well be stark-bollock naked.
In some cases, Watt’s work…works. Ballads like Ordinary Man and Holy For Tonight come packed with audibly grand soundscapes and Ozzy’s timeless vocal harmonies are given ample space to breathe, the more no-nonsense thrillers still pack their punch too with the efficacious dirt on Straight to Hell and Under the Graveyard sounding great if a little overblown. The drive is missing, however, from tracks like All My Life and Today Is the End (the only track I’d describe as meh). Their interesting instrumental sections are let down by uninspired choruses that lack presence as everything is cramped like a storm in a teacup that ultimately gives rise to much ado about nothing.
It was also a little odd to have Post Malone’s song Take What You Want jarringly bolted onto the end of the album. The track, featuring Ozzy and Travis Scott was originally from Post’s 2019 release Hollywood’s Bleeding and brings a disturbing arsenal of trap beats and artificial percussion to the mix that leaves a bitter aftertaste. Sure it was fun to hear Ozzy sing a Posty-style melody but it robs one of the LP’s highlights, It’s a Raid (feat. Post Malone), of its fantastic outro as Ozzy and Post go out screaming in a blaze of glory when police arrive at what we can assume is a drug farm (considering it’s Ozzy it could be a satanic ritual for all we know).
Fortunately for Ozzy, these are blips in an otherwise very enjoyable tracklist that has produced more strides than it has slip-ups. Ordinary Man is simply another testament to Osbourne’s strength, his performance shining through the album’s shroud of lyrical and compositional darkness with the welcome garnishes of absurdity that’s part and parcel with the Ozzy experience. I have no doubt that Ordinary Man’s highlights will be adopted as some of his greatest work. It’s rowdy, fun and in many places heart-breaking; and sadly, we just don’t know if we’ll see it again.
8/10
Words: Alex Mace