Kingcrimsonprog Released to no inconsiderable amount of hype, 2020’s Ordinary Man is Ozzy Osbourne’s 12th full-length studio album.

There’s been a veritable whirlwind of press about it, which you’ve probably read already, but the salient facts are these: It’s a star studded affair full of collaborations, it was written and recorded really quickly during a period of ill-health, and it is better than anyone expected.

The most relevant guest appearances to rock fans are Guns N’ Roses’ Slash and Duff, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morrello, Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Chad Smith and of course, Elton John. However, read the Wikipedia article if you want a Chinese Democracy’s worth of further participants.

It was produced by Andrew Watt (remember him, from California Breed, the Black Country Communion spin-off ?) who has since gone on to all sorts of success in the mainstream music world. Watt also contributes much of the lead guitar, as neither Gus G nor Zakk Wylde were involved in the record.

Stylistically, the album doesn’t feel like a continuation of the previous albums Scream (2010) or Black Rain (2007) but rather, its feels like a strange midway point between No More Tears (1991) and Ozzmosis (1995). Well, for the most part at least, its also really diverse and a little unfocused and not really any one thing.

There’s a few ballads, one or two mid paced rockers, a big album centrepiece in the varied ‘Under The Graveyard’ and then the weird punky closer ‘It’s A Raid’ which also has a guest appearance from rapper de jour, Post Malone.

Interestingly, this album ends with the line ‘Fuck You All’ which contrasts Scream, which ended with ‘I Love You All.’ This makes the album end on a less soppy note, which it easily could have, as the title track and a few others definitely bare the hallmarks of being written during a health scare and having the ‘this is my last album’ vibe to them. Luckily Ozzy has since stated that he intends to make another record.

The general consensus among fans, critics and the general public has been that this album is way better than anyone expected. Some people have started throwing around ‘’best album since…’’ statements.

I would have to agree with this consensus, but also preach caution on the ‘’sinces.’’ Don’t buy into the unrealistically positive hype. It doesn’t live up to that high bar. There are flaws (the lyrics for one, and the production for another). This probably won’t turn out to still be many people’s favourite Ozzy album 10 years from now.

It is however, a brief, refreshing and entertaining hodge-podge of loose, sometimes ‘90s-sounding Ozzy and a few ‘’fuck it, lets just have fun’’ moments. In summary; Its simultaneously better than you’d expect, but realistically not as good as people say it is.

siLLy puPPy By the time the second decade of the millennium hit, OZZY OSBOURNE had more or less settled into a career of constant touring as well as America’s favorite deviant dad on the reality TV show The Osbournes. Despite it all, he still found time to head into his own home studio to record one more album, his tenth overall. Originally intended to be titled “Soul Sucka,” it was changed to SCREAM and was released in the summer of 2010 and to date remains his last solo album as he would hook up with his old buddies Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi to reform Black Sabbath (without Bill Ward). Jumping on board is newbie guitarist Gus G who replaced OZZY’s longest lasting guitarist Zakk Wylde who would focus on his Black Label Society. Also departing was Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin who would be replaced by Kevin Churko who also served as producer, engineer and mixer as he did on the previous release “Black Rain.” As Wylde also played keyboards on previous albums, Adam Wakeman, son of Yes’ own Rick Wakeman joined the crew to take over that part.

Despite OSBOURNE’s metal creds diminishing over the decades as more extreme forms of metal had long taken root and grown into veritable monsters, OSBOURNE still remains quite popular and his album hit #4 on the Billboard album charts. Part of OSBOURNE’s continued endurance is not only due to his reputation as the godfather of metal but a brilliant marketing strategy with SCREAM being promoted by downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series as well as public stunts at sports events. While not biting off heads of bats any longer, OSBOURNE proved he still had a knack for getting the word out. OZZY learned a while back that outside forces in the songwriting department were the breath of fresh air that he needed to spruce up his musical charm and therefore all eleven tracks were written by OSBOURNE and producer Kevin Churko with four of them finding extra help from Wakeman.

Stylistically SCREAM pretty much continues what OZZY began in the 90s with “Ozzmosis,” namely a blend of his 80s classic metal that utilizes heavy metal guitar riffing, bass and drums with a more down-tuned sort of 90s alternative metal approach finished off with OSBOURNE’s signature poetic vocal style. One thing about SCREAM that differs from previous albums is a more distinct use of industrial electronic effects especially on tracks like “Let It Die” and “Let Me Hear You Scream.” Gus G proves to be a more than suitable replacement but isn’t allowed to really shine in his own way as OZZY’s musical cast is more of a brand name at this point and the individuality isn’t allowed to let loose however he does shine a bit with a classical guitar intro on “Diggin’ Me Down.” Generally speaking, the emphasis of guitar solos that were prevalent in OZZY’s earlier years has been replaced by heavy thrashy riffing with the Zakk Wylde squeals still in play. In fact, i’d never know that this was a different guitarist if not for the credits.

Whether you can appreciate SCREAM depends on how well any of the albums after “No More Tears” worked for you. There is nothing substantially different and SCREAM is very much an OZZY-by-the-numbers affair with a few electronica additions that stand out. The tracks consist of the usual catchy melodic guitar hooks rooted in 80s classic metal and the production is bass laden with a continued alternative metal feel. Guitar solos do occur but are rather brief and there are more bridges and slower paced segments which add some needed contrast. Once again OZZY delivers a fairly decent album but certainly will never go down as his crowning achievements either. It does seem at this point OZZY was growing rather stale and despite mustering up an album’s worth of material, it was becoming apparent that it was time to move on to something new so when the Black Sabbath reunion took place, it was the perfect time to do so.

siLLy puPPy After 1988’s “No Rest For The Wicked,” the record company started cleaning up OZZY OSBOURNE’s bad boy image, which hard to believe by the standards of the 21st century, was quite the iconoclastic rage in the 80s with every televangelist and religious pundit lambasting the madman as public enemy #1 in the fight against moral deprivation and Satanic influences in popular music. This rebranding began with 1991’s “No More Tears” which after two decades of occult imagery and bat head biting antics depicted a clean and sombre OSBOURNE with an angel wing sprouting from his shoulder sporting a look of contemplative retrospectiveness. This was about the point when new high tides of heavy metal music were sprouting off from the parent source like a big bang and suddenly OSBOURNE’s role as heavy metal innovator suddenly shifting to godfather status where his legendary status as a solo artist and as lead singer with Black Sabbath overshadowed any musical contributions from this point on.

“No More Tears” also proved to be a huge commercial success proving that the OZZMAN could reinvent himself after his initial peak with Randy Rhoads and after this point he would never look back and try to repeat those years of classical innovation but instead veer off into the world of his Sabbath roots updated into a more alternative perspective but never missing the mark of OZZY’s quirky idiosyncratic nature. From this point forward, albums were mere supplemental to the hugely successful Ozzfest that institutionalized big ticket multi-band arena metal for the rest of time and in all of the 90s only the studio album “Ozzmosis” would find its way into the hands of fans. As the touring of OZZY’s rich canon of material continued to attract new followers, OSBOURNE’s interest in new music was so tamped down that he only released 2001’s “Down To Earth” and then only by the constant demands of his record label. And that’s where everything began to change forever!

Soon thereafter, OSBOURNE would go where no hostile preacher or heavy metal fan of his 1980s heyday would have ever suspected and that was into the world of reality TV in a show aptly called The Osbournes which starred his entire family thus essentially becoming The Brady Bunch of the 21st century and giving the good ole USA a much needed upgrade in portraying the national family values that had been stuck in rut from decades past not to mention a major boost for an MTV that lost its way many years prior. The show was a major hit and lasted a total of four seasons and showcased OSBOURNE more as a worn out drugged out family guy as opposed to the rock’n’roll rebel from another era. Of course between the hit series and the lucrative touring schedule meant OSBOURNE was not motivated in the least to release new material and during the show’s tenure the only album to hit the market was the repugnant cover album titled “Under Cover.”

At long last in 2007 a new album saw the light of day and OSBOURNE’s 10th studio album BLACK RAIN was released and took on a more serious tone than any albums that preceded. Proving that OSBOURNE’s cult of personality was solidified for time immemorial, the album debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts despite mediocre critique and a mere drop in the sea of music that had become a veritable metal universe of diversification. The album was released with two covers. In the US it came out in a brown cardboard slipcase with only a stylized log of OSBOURNE’s name whereas elsewhere a dark image of OSBOURNE standing under a stormy sky, getting soaked while fires burn in the background. BLACK RAIN saw the return of Zakk Wylde on guitars while Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin stuck around after the nauseating “Under Cover.” A new bassist in the form of Rob “Blasko” Nicholson was recruited and a new lineup was born.

Despite the seven year gap, BLACK RAIN sounds much like its predecessor “Down To Earth” with Sabbath infused traditional doom metal riffing more tailored for the alternative metal crowds presented in a bouncy stomping grind albeit with a considerably more robust production and mixing job than any album in the past. The liberal use of dynamics and stereophonic techniques gives BLACK RAIN a healthy boost of crunchy metal riff distortion with clever uses of silence as well as instrumentation and synthesized embellishments that seamlessly blend together making BLACK RAIN a seemingly exact science in perfect heavy metal extraction. Songwise, this album is another matter altogether. The album starts off with three exquisitely strong tracks. “Not Going Away,” “I Don’t Wanna Stop” and “Black Rain” which all hearken to OSBOURNE’s past both melodically and lyrically but with an upgrade in sophistication. They blast onto the scene and shout out that OZZY is back with a vengeance alongside Zakk Wylde delivering one heavy bluesy metal groove after another with the expected soloing and technical bombast with the title track even finding OZZY play the harmonica, something he hadn’t done since his Sabbath days.

The rest of the album is somewhat of a mixed bag though. BLACK RAIN contains the suspected ballads: “Lay Your World On Me” and “Here For You” which are particularly sappy and lackluster even by OZZY’s standards. While the rest of the tracks are classic heavy metal sounding they lack the oomf of the three standouts that lead the pack. “The Almighty Dollar” has a nice bass groove with interesting production and the remaining tracks are all decently done but OSBOURNE definitely sounds like he’s settled down and no longer interested in creating the most outrageous and earsplitting music possible. While once the madman turned in the godfather. This sounds more like the godfather has taken the next step and become the grandfather of heavy metal and that is by no means a bad thing. Having nothing to prove, OSBOURNE instead proudly does what he does best and that is create guitar riff driven metal that center around his poetic critique of the world around him which in this case takes on corporate capitalism, environmentalism as well as declarative stances that he’ll NEVER leave the metal world.

BLACK RAIN while a mere footnote in the lengthy and successful career that OSBOURNE has enjoyed for several decades (he was almost 60 at the time of recording) is by no means a throwaway album as it has plenty of interesting tracks to warrant an inclusion in anyone’s heavy metal collection. While it’s true that this one will do little to attract younger fans who haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, neither will it cause anyone to jump ship in disdain. In the end, BLACK RAIN does play it a little too safe in many ways and i could personally jettison the ballads but the album sustains a driving grind from the beginning despite tapering off towards the end. The album could’ve used another strong track or two but for what it is, i have listened to this one many times and the tracks that have struck me as good continue to get better. OSBOURNE proved he can continue on well into the 21st century and although most likely retired from breaking any new grounds hardly shows any signs of falling of his godfather precipice any time soon either.

siLLy puPPy Every so often in a metal god’s career, someone gets a wild hair up their ass and release something that is equivalent to entering the torture chamber and in the case of the godfather of metal himself, OZZY OSBOURNE delivers his biggest turd in the punchbowl of his career with his ninth album titled UNDER COVER which as the title suggests is indeed an unbelievably unnecessary collection of fourteen gawd awful tracks that makes me wonder after which party the quality control crowd passed out at when this was given the ole a-OK for release.

To be honest, i am not a huge fan of cover albums period but there are rare examples of where a band can pull off a track or two (such as Voivod’s extraordinary Pink Floyd cover “Astronomy Domine” or Marilyn Manson’s version of the Eurythmics classic “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This.”) There are even a scant few albums out there such as Between The Buried And Me’s “The Anatomy Of” which effortlessly tackles a wide swath of musical achievements that leaves me in awe, however most of the time these types of projects make me cringe and in the case of OZZY OSBOURNE’s take on his favorite tracks of all time, cringe i do indeed.

Yes, it’s true that an artist should be allowed to pay respect to other’s in the biz that moves him / her to tears and what better way than a pointless, boring and unflattering cover album to tell them how much they mean to him / her. UNDER COVER is really one big batch of ridiculously misconceived and uninspired tributes finding OZZY tackling everyone from Joe Walsh and King Crimson to Buffalo Springfield, Mott The Hoople as well as The Beatles with the cream of the crop torturous moment achieved on John Lennon’s “Woman.” A number one flop on the cringe-o-meter for sure.

Despite the ridiculous nature of this piece of musical excrement, the production team and guest stars on board is quite impressive with even Ian Hunter collaborating on “All The Young Dudes” as well as Leslie West of Mountain joining in for a guitar solo on “Mississippi Queen.” There are tons of other guest stars as well including Joe Bonamassa and Gregg Bissonette to name a few. While this is the only album to find Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell filling the shoes of the great Zakk Wylde, this is hardly something he will be bragging about when he’s telling tales of lore to his grandchildren.

This is definitely one of those fan collectibles only and since i am indeed an OZZY OSBOURNE fan who is a completist at least as far as studio albums are concerned, this one sits on my shelf and got listened to one time and never again, well until i pulled it down for this review and i have to admit that this is one of the most horrible experiences i could ever imagine subjecting onto unwilling ears and if there is a hell then this one is surely on perpetual replay for eternity. Sorry OZZY, i love ya, man but this is utter crap! Every track is AWFUL but hearing OZZY sing The Animals, John Lennon and Bessie Banks makes me want to hurl. I think i’m scarred for life :o

siLLy puPPy OZZY OSBOURNE had every intention of retiring after the “No More Tours” era of the early 90s but his restless spirit couldn’t kick the heavy metal habit and ended up recording another album, “Ozzmosis” in 1995 which would cement his status as metal god in the alternative 90s. Soon thereafter that release, he and his wife Sharon had organized a totally new event called the Ozzfest Tour which was loosely based on Perry Farrell’s (of Jane’s Addiction) successful Lallapolooza tours. The event took place annually and hosted two stages and a dozen or so different bands. The festivals turned out to be a huge success which led OZZY to focus on constant live settings instead of releasing new material.

By the turn of the millennium his record label Epic was demanding a new product, so back into the studios once again to record new material which emerged with his first 21st century album DOWN TO EARTH, the first album in six years. Another lineup change in the process with only Zakk Wylde returning from past glories. The new OZZY lineup would consist of bassist Robert Trujillo (Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Metallica) and drummer Mike Bordin, most famous from Faith No More. While not official members of the band, producer Tim Palmer added extra guitars, keyboards and military drums (on “Can You Hear Them?”) as well as Michael Railo helping out with keyboards as well.

It seems that OZZY had never had a more relaxed and stable period in his life where everything was running smoothly. He had the festival tours in his blood at this point and an army of collaborators to assist in the songwriting process, which was a wise decision to employ their talents because DOWN TO EARTH contains eleven strong heavy metal anthems in the vein of OZZY’s classic 80s metal spirit but yet exuded a strong 90s vibe such as the White Zombie heavy stomp heft on the heaviest tracks as well as the industrial synthesizer action that oozes out of the background between the cracks in the heavy metal bombast. It also seems that OZZY’s rekindling of Black Sabbath has rubbed off as well as many of the tracks have that old school early metal feel with crunchy fifth root chords chugging along like demons on ecstasy.

DOWN TO EARTH finds OZZY in a great spirit lyrically as well. His poetic lyrics propound the usual subject matter ranging from rough times in life to drug influenced experiences albeit from the point of the observer instead of the user. The tracks are all quite catchy and the true addiction is in the form of great tunes that have favorable solid melodies exquisitely performed by the top notch musicians on board. As usual there are even a few ballads such as “Dreamer” and “Running Out Of Time,” but at this point even the slow numbers are quite sophisticated in their orchestration and dynamics with clever arrangements and an alternative rock swagger. OZZY truly found a way to adapt with grace into the new world all the while retaining his timeless sense of godfather of metal status.

I have to admit that DOWN TO EARTH is one that didn’t grab me upon first listen. In fact i pretty much shelved it for several years before giving it another spin. This is not balls to the wall heavy metal in full madman status rather this is a contemplative collection of well-crafted tunes that stitch together various aspects of OZZY’s career and add a few modern ingredients into the mix which yields a rather excellent batch of heavy rockers and sweet syrupy ballads. OZZY’s voice seems even more controlled and relaxed on this one not to mention that the evil as fuck album cover which is one of the best in his canon. DOWN TO EARTH may not be one that blows you away upon first listen and one would surely expect something grand from the godfather at this point but what we get is that at all but rather an incredibly consistent collection of top crafted heavy metal tracks that only got lost in the shuffle because of the preponderance of newer metal acts that were stealing OZZY’s thunder at this point. Still though, not one to be missed.

progshine It is an interesting documentary that tries to focus on his personal life. But it stays in the middle of the road in the end.

You have this big and interesting chunk talking about Sabbath then when it comes to his solo career they talk about 2 albums and... that's it.

Look, if you're doing a documentary or you focus on the music or in the person, every documentary that tries to do both end up staying in the middle of the fail road.

This is interesting, it gives you an idea how Ozzy was really in bad shape for so many years and how he turned things around, but it's far away from being a great and complete documentary.