Ozzy Osbourne is having an absolute ball on ‘Ordinary Man’, and he’s not afraid to explore corners of the graveyard he’s hitherto untouched.
This album is Ozzy Osbourne hosting us to his finest entertainment and at the end of the day, it’s a hell of a good listen too.
Ultimately, Ordinary Man sets the bar for hard rock records for the next decade and not only lives up to, but exceeds, Osbourne’s legendary status, 50 years later.
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.
If this is Ozzy’s swansong – and his lyric sheet, advancing age and postmillennial work rate suggest that’s not inconceivable – then, like Sabbath’s 13, it’s a credible end to an extraordinary career.
Ordinary Man is the most poignant, deranged and high-volume album about growing old you're likely to hear.
This is an album to celebrate. There’s life in the old dog yet, and what’s more he’s learned some new tricks, which can only be applauded at this point.
There’s strong songwriting, both musically and lyrically, with a handful of infectious choruses throughout the album. If anything, Ordinary Man suffers from being too crisp and too polished.
It succeeds in its rawness, its slapdash cobbling together of predictable riffs and lunatic poetry. It falls down on its inability to break free from the template Ozzy laid down with Randy Rhoads a lifetime ago
It’s nice to hear Osbourne feeling engaged and energized again — something lacking on his last few releases. If it is, indeed, his final testament, it’s not a bad note to go out on.
While the album may be entitled Ordinary Man, Osbourne has come through with a record that proves that even in his old age, the Prince of Darkness can still be unpredictable.
It's silly, it's sad, it's an eternally clumsy man bowing out with as much grace as he could ever muster.
Some of the songs are elegiac, some are packed with comic-book laughs, but throughout the album he sings with a youthful vivacity that seems at odds with his seventy-something years.
The record is easily the most captivating music he's made on a solo record since the early '90s, and despite small flaws with select songs, he's created another record worthy of people's attention.
The end result is an engrossing number of tales written and smothered by slapdash and generic songwriting, which is a damn shame when you look at the bigger picture.
On his best album in decades, the most famous man reaches again for big hooks and big statements, with help from new friends like Post Malone.
Ordinary Man may have its lachrymose moments lyrically ... but that’s not true of the music.
There’s a lot to like on Ordinary Man. For fans of Ozzy Osbourne, from his Black Sabbath days through his solo career, much of the album will be familiar territory and new material from the Prince of Darkness will always be welcomed.
What to expect from an Ozzy Osbourne album in 2020? I see nothing but pleasure
Ozzy is a legend that we owe a lot to and we'll never be able to thank him enough. First of all, we owe him mainly Heavy Metal, with his band Black Sabbath, notably with 2 innovative albums released 50 years ago just this year (offbeat of course) to name but a few, then of course his solo career where he offered us so many wonderful things in the 80s. So when I heard that he had cancelled his tour, that he was ... read more
Ozzy's new and final release is pretty much what you would expect from him at this late stage in his career, but that doesn't make it any less of a joy to listen to.
Ordinary Man is a very enjoyable and highly emotional album. Seeing as this may be his last ever studio effort, you can really tell that he wanted to make something special here. Realistically, he could have ended his studio output off with Scream and no one would mind, but he went the extra mile and made an album he could be ... read more
Oh my fucking God. I honestly forgot how AWFUL this album sounds. If you thought that it wouldn't go worse for ozzy's album mixing, then you probably never heard of this record.
This shit is SO overcompressed to the point that it actually ruins some songs that could have been good. But instead just turns into a noise because of the mixing.
About the songs, there are some really great stuff, like the title track (featuring Elton John), Scary Little Green Men and All My Life. And even the song ... read more
1 | Straight to Hell 3:45 | 68 |
2 | All My Life 4:18 | 72 |
3 | Goodbye 5:34 | 66 |
4 | Ordinary Man 5:01 feat. Elton John | 81 |
5 | Under the Graveyard 4:57 | 71 |
6 | Eat Me 4:19 | 65 |
7 | Today Is the End 4:06 | 60 |
8 | Scary Little Green Men 4:20 | 76 |
9 | Holy for Tonight 4:52 | 69 |
10 | It's a Raid 4:20 feat. Post Malone | 62 |
11 | Post Malone - Take What You Want 3:50 feat. Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Scott | 83 |
#11 | / | Louder |
#15 | / | Kerrang! |
#22 | / | Revolver |
/ | Alternative Press |