Ozzy Osbourne : "Ordinary Man"

Are you expecting Ozzy to put out his best album at 71 ? Considering the year he has this is his last album. It has more in common with "Bark at the Moon" than any of his other albums. The opener "Straight to Hell" came out a few months ago . It was pretty Sabbathy. I like it. Now here are where some of the bitter pills begin to surface. Before you rush to defend him.He is one of my favorites ever. That does not mean he gets a pass. It means the bar is high because lets face this guy was in Black Sabbath it needs to be.  "All My Life" is dialed in. It sounds like an 0zzy song, think more of a power ballad, but it has nothing really in it. He does a much better job with "Goodbye" which begins with an "Iron Man" like pulse. This one even builds up in fairly brisk metal. We have all heard his duet with Elton by now. Sonially it's next door neighbors to "Momma I'm Coming Home" .  It's ok, neither singer's best work by far.

The first single from this album that was not also on Post Malone album, "Under the Graveyard" is pretty solid for what I might want from Ozzy in  2020.  It is produced much like the Post Malone song, darker and with more feeling,. "Eat Me" starts off with harmonica before Duff McKagan's bass line comes thumping in. It's a pretty solid rock song, Lyrically I am not sure what he thinks he is singing about. I can not imagine he is getting it up these days. The bass remains a driving part , and you can hear how Duff's bass tone is produced in a way that gives it more of a Geezer sound. Duff normally has a more distinct tone of this own. Between this and "Goodbye" Ozzy is reflecting on his mortality a great deal as he should be. The melodies are strong on this one. His voice is also double tracked and soaked in effects so it's hard to say how his voice really is these days ,.

"Scary Little Green Men" starts off as a ballad on the verse and then kicks in for the chorus. Not the first time Ozzy has used this formula, it's a pretty solid song. I like the lyrics . "Holy For Tonight' is a fast forward classic, it's th kind of ballad I have already from him before and the perfect chance for me to go to the bathroom if I actually see him in May. "It's a Raid" is not what I expected from a song Post- Malone guests on/ It more of a Motrhead paced song. Malone sings it in more of a rock style than what we normally get from him. Which is what I think of as a more depressive version of Justin Bieber,.Yes "Take What You Want" is also on this one.  I will give this album a 9.5 , which is way better than I expected we were getting from him. Not better than "Diary" or even "Ultimate Sin" but for his age it's better than everyone who is not Alice Cooper.