He's No Ordinary Man

Photo courtesy of the Ozzy Osbourne Facebook page

Ozzy Osbourne’s latest album, Ordinary Man, presents the strangest batch of musical contradictions in recent memory. Despite having none of Osbourne’s band members write or perform, his twelfth solo album largely maintains the same style that he’s become associated with, albeit with a tad more pop sensibilities sprinkled throughout. Though many of its strengths unwittingly become a detriment at some point, the album provides a fun—if forgettable—listen for fans of rock.

The album reportedly came about after Post Malone’s producer, Andrew Watt, convinced Osbourne to record a full-fledged album following the success of Malone’s “Take What You Want.” Watt then managed to get Guns n’ Roses bassist, Duff McKagan, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, Chad Smith, to write the music over the course of four days. The resulting mix of influences is more successful than not, and Watt proved that he’s more than qualified with a guitar. There are also several guests across the various tracks, though none of them seem to have been used to their full potential. Elton John’s appearance on the title track works well enough within the context of the song, but his presence doesn’t add anything too substantial. The same critique can be levied at the guitar contributions from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello and Guns n’ Roses’ Slash; if it weren’t for their presence being indicated on the album’s advertisements, their contributions would’ve likely gone unnoticed. The guest with the most notable contribution was Malone himself on “It’s a Raid,” which somehow works for what it is.

Instrumentally, the metallic edge found on Scream was shed in favor of a more upbeat, straightforward sound. This isn’t to say that Osbourne’s sound has changed dramatically, as most songs successfully channel an element or two from his previous hits. A strong example of this would be the intro of “Eat Me,” which instantly harkened back to 1970’s Black Sabbath; the harmonica’s melody bleeds into a sludgy amalgam of distortion and psychedelia that initially sounds akin to a modern interpretation of Master of Reality-era Sabbath-worship. This brief window of nostalgic hope, however, is butchered by a stadium-rock-influenced verse and chorus (the latter of which includes a grunt that sounds as though Osbourne is having an agonizing bowel movement). Though it retains some of the generic hard rock qualities of his last several albums, Ordinary Man’s instrumentals are usually more fun than they are profound.

Osbourne, whose drug abuse has left his Birmingham accent impressively incomprehensible for the last quarter-century, belts out all of his lines with an astonishing degree of clarity. Though Osbourne’s voice works with the majority of the music, there are several tracks where his vocals were conspicuously pitch-corrected. Whereas autotune is present in most contemporary music, it often clashes with the style and moods found in hard rock and metal. His delivery on the chorus of “Today Is The End,” in particular, shows that the 71-year-old’s timbre isn’t quite as rich as it once was. Similarly, some of the choruses felt better suited for a pop song—though they retained the infectious, earworm quality found in pop, too.

The change in style isn’t unwelcome, but it creates a strange contrast due to a seemingly newfound thoughtfulness present in the lyrics. Whereas much of his earlier work addressed topics such as religion and the Cold War, the majority of Ordinary Man acts as a soliloquy reflecting upon Osbourne’s life. Though there is a smattering of songs with light-hearted topics, such as “Scary Little Green Men” and “It’s a Raid,” cuts like the title track offer a vulnerability rarely shown in rock. While this occasionally works to his benefit, the sobering messages are frequently diminished by the music’s almost joyous quality. The loss in seriousness isn’t necessarily bad, though. There are times where it almost sounds as though Osbourne was smiling when he recorded his lines, and his humorous side comes out more than it has on nearly any other release thus far.

Ordinary Man may not be for every fan of Osbourne’s, nor is it groundbreaking enough to get excited over. At this point in his life and career, though, it’s unlikely this album was made for the fans. Despite some of the tracks sabotaging themselves along the way, the release ultimately provides enough enjoyable moments to warrant its existence.