I’m starting my look at the other musical honorable mentions of 2020 today. Ironically, I did a review for this one back in 2021, but it wouldn’t be right to leave it off the table during this look back at the most plague-ridden year of this decade so far. A triumphant return in the early parts of 2020, Ozzy Osbourne came back after almost a decade from his last album, and after touring with his old bandmates from Black Sabbath for their final tour towards the end of last decade. Coupled with the fact that he was diagnosed with mild Parkinson’s, it seemed like the Blizzard Of Ozz would never make his own music again.....until he did. So with that out of the way, here is my revised review of Ordinary Man. Let’s begin.
Background
The 2010s was an interesting time for the Blizzard Of Ozz. 2010 saw the release of Scream (Which wasn’t a bad album at all), and a few short years later he regrouped with his old bandmates in Black Sabbath to release the album 13 in 2013, and go on for a farewell tour that lasted until early February of 2017. For a brief time after that, Ozzy went quiet, until a weird encounter by the end of that decade. In September of 2019, he would be featured alongside rapper Travis Scott on the Post Malone track “Take What You Want” (From Post’s 3rd album Hollywood's Bleeding). The song would go onto be Ozzy’s first Billboard Hot 100 top 10 in over 30 years, marking the occasion as the longest gap between top 10 appearances in the chart's history. However, rumblings from the shadows of a new Ozzy Osbourne album was in the works, and on the 9th of November of 2019, it was shown that such a record was coming. In an interview on that day, the Blizzard Of Ozz revealed that he worked with Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan, and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith on the album, and when it came to the recording of it he said that the entire process was done "in just a short time", adding ""Duff and Chad came in and we would go in and jam during the day and I would go work out the songs in the evenings. I previously had said to Sharon I should be doing an album, but in the back of my mind I was going, 'I haven't got the fucking strength.' But Andrew pulled it out of me. I really hope people listen to it and enjoy it, because I put my heart and soul into this album."”. Then on the 21st of February in 2020, the release known as Ordinary Man would be put out for the public.
Ordinary Man would go on to chart pretty highly on the Billboard 200 & UK Albums Chart. The number 3 spot on both of those lists, to be exact, and was Ozzy’s 8th top ten album as a solo artist. The record would also be met with mostly high praise upon it’s release, with Allmusic critic Fred Thomas giving it an almost positive rating, writing “The production is huge but the energy is spontaneous, sounding like it was as fun to make as it is to listen to. 71 years old at the time Ordinary Man was released, Osbourne's voice is in great shape, sounding more or less like he always has. How he's making music this strong after riding the crazy train for more than half-a-century is anyone's guess, but the better songs here rank among his best.”, and Josh Gray of Clash magazine saying that “Ordinary Man is far from perfect, but all Ozzy Osbourne's solo releases tend to reflect their creator's flaws to one degree or another. It does, however, absolutely succeed on its own terms, serving its purpose by reminding the world just what we'll miss when this titan among titans finally departs us for good.”
Basic Description
Ozzy’s supposed final goodbye.
Now, we all know that Ordinary Man wasn’t a goodbye mostly due to Patient Number 9 in 2022, but at the time in early 2020 it felt it. Similarly to Rammstein’s retrun in 2019, the whole mood surrounding the record came across like the end of something incredible. That’s not to say that it’s a perfect experience, cause there are issues for sure. However, what we get outside of those faults is one of the most emotional releases that Ozzy has ever put onto a CD. As old as he was at the time & with the health issues he was facing, he none the less managed to get onto his feet, and delivered a pretty introspective album. I’ll be repeating this at the end of the review, but if he was to have ended his time in the spotlight with Ordinary Man, it would have been a nice way to go. Flawed, but nice.
Best Track
Like I said in my original review & in part 3 of my overview, it is so hard to not like the title track. On an album that’s seemingly introspective, this song is the most in that regard. Opting for a slow pace, Ozzy is singing like an old crooner that’s at the end of career, looking back at how expansive it was, and not wanting to go away like an average joe. The instrumentation is equally soulful, with Slash on the guitar, Duff McKagan on bass, and Chad Smith on drums pouring their hearts out. Perhaps the most important guest on the song is Sir Elton John, who provides some beautiful piano playing & singing himself, and even feels like he’s just as much of a part of the song as Ozzy himself. It’s really hard to not get misty-eyed when you listen to this, as it really feels like he could go away at any point. Never.....skip.....this.....song.
Ordinary Man
Over on the energetic side of things, It’s A Raid is one of the funniest songs I’ve ever heard! Based on a highly humorous story of his time in Black Sabbath, the track is incredibly fast and energetic, with the instrumentation and vocal work matching the pace. Post Malone manages to get in some singing as well, and he actually sounds pretty good when you can hear him. It’s genuinely hard to not laugh when you know the story, and even if you don’t know it, you’ll get a really big smile when you listen to this from beginning to end. There was no other way to conclude Ordinary Man than with this track.
It’s A Raid *
Worst Track
Like I said in my original review & part 3 of my overview, there were no bad songs per se, but a bunch of issues that definitely weighed the album down. Ozzy had issues with his voice, and thus a bunch of auto-tune was put in. There was also the 54 additional musicians brought onto the record, which was way too many, but Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slash from Guns & Roses, Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine, and rapper Post Malone were perhaps the best and didn’t feel like they were taking up space (Post Malone especially). Finally, you had up to 26 people working on the engineering, mixing, production, and recording, which is way too many individuals if you ask me. All of this ultimately felt like too many cooks at the soup pot.....even if the end result was still tasty to a degree.
That being said, Darkside Blues is the lone bad track. Available only on the Japanese edition of the album, it’s a minute & 47 second long, but it’s oddly forgettable. It’s basically Ozzy & the crew trying way too hard to sound like an old-school blues song, complete with effects that try so hard to sound dated. Another version would appear on Patient Number 9, and while I still don’t think it’s a great song there, it’s faaaaar better on that record than on this one.
Darkside Blues (Ordinary Man Version)
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
Ordinary Man
Overall Impression & Rating
Ordinary Man was far better than what many of it’s critics said at the time. Yes, it’s got some problems. Major problems in some cases. However, if you are able to get past it faults, you will find one of the best Ozzy Osbourne albums that has ever been released. Though the record to come after would be improved to an extent, there’s just something about the raw emotion on this release that grabs you a little faster. I can understand why some wouldn’t like Ordinary Man, but it’s managed to gain a big following of fans.....myself included.
Ordinary Man gets an 8 out of 10.
And that was my revised review on Ozzy’s first release of this decade. Faulty for sure, but there’s a lovely diamond underneath that’s worth seeking out. If Ozzy would have ended his career on this record (As many thought was going to happen), then it wouldn’t have been a bad way to go. So, join me at the end of the month for a look at my other 2nd honorable mention of 2020.....and the musician in question is one that I’m surprised took me this long to finally look at here. See you soon!
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If you’d like to read my original review of this album, click on the link below:
Album Review: Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man
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The story in question, taken from a comment on Youtube:
“The song is based on the time when Ozzy was in Black Sabbath, and he wanted to turn the A/C down. But, he got the thermostat confused with the emergency police call button. So, when everybody saw the incoming squad cars, they thought it was because of the massive amounts of cocaine and marijuana that they had. So, Ozzy was hiding in a bathroom with a toilet backed up from pot, and trying to snort a buttload of Coke with one of his roadies when the maid answered the door, and he heard a cop say "Yeah, there's this button next to the air conditioning that you can use to call us in the case of an emergency. You'd be surprised how often this shit happens. Have a nice day." So, Ozzy turned to his roadie and said, "Y'know, we really need to teach Bill how to use the fucking air conditioning."”
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