Artist : Ozzy Osbourne

Album : Ordinary Man

Release Date : 21-02-2020

Added : 01-04-2020

At 71, we no longer expected an album from the 'Prince of Darkness' and yet 2020 sees the release of a new studio recording by 'Ozzy Osbourne', 'Ordinary Man', the last 'Scream' already dating from 2010. In the meantime there has been the reformation of 'Black Sabbath' with the album '13' released in 2013 and which had caused a lot of ink to flow at the time without actually making the unanimously, certainly because the critics expected much more from the English while, if this album had been released by a less known band, they would have been much more forgiving.

In short, the Englishman known for these extravagances as much in his private life as in his musical career, surprises us with this new baby who sees the participation of young rappers 'Post Malone' and 'Travis Scott', guitarist 'Andrew Watt' but also bassist 'Duff McKagan' and guitarist 'Slash' all two of 'Guns N 'Roses', drummer 'Chad Smith' of 'Red Hot Chili Peppers', guitarist 'Tom Morello' and even an appearance of 'Elton John' and suddenly, we tell ourselves that we have a beautiful assorted of intergenerational artists which automatically translates into a variety of compositions while preserving the very particular style of the Englishman. Indeed, from the start with 'Straight To Hell', the characteristic voice is there with an energetic and powerful title in a style reminiscent of 'Black Sabbath', then, in the same vein, we can also cite 'Goodbye', 'Eat Me' and 'Today Is The End' and even if 'Under The Graveyard' and 'All My Life' are lighter, they keep these reminiscences of the seventies. Besides these titles, we find other quieter compositions with for example the magnificent ballad in duet with 'Elton John', 'Ordinary Man' and with a beautiful guitar solo of 'Slash', then 'Scary Little Green Men' with a great guitar performance from 'Tom Morello' or the second ballad 'Holy For Tonight'. Also note the last 2 tracks, first of all the crazy 'It's A Raid' with 'Post Malone', between punk and rock, and 'Take What You Want' (also present in the last album of 'Post Malone'), in which the 2 rappers bring a touch of modernity quite distant from the universe of Ozzy.

In summary, without foreshadowing the future and given Ozzy's current state of health, 'Ordinary Man' could very well be the swan song for this emblematic artist who offers us compositions that characterize him if well and, even if he makes us believe that he is an ordinary person, he will have marked the 50 years of the hard-rock scene with 'Black Sabbath' and quite a few other artists, and will remain for hard-rock fans through the ages, beyond his extravagant escapades, an extraordinary artist...

Line Up / Musicians

Ozzy Osbourne (Vocal), Andrew Watt (Guitar), Duff McKagan (Bass), Chad Smith (Drums) + Guests : Elton John (Vocal, Piano), Post Malone (Vocal), Slash (Guitar), Tom Morello (Guitar), Travis Scott (Vocal)