Ozzy Osbourne
Ordinary Man

Thinking of Ozzy Osbourne alive today is almost a miracle, and everyone knows this by now, but thinking of an Ozzy Osbourne album today is perhaps even more so, and some may take it for granted.
"Ordinary Man" is not solely an Ozzy Osbourne album but is the one where John Michael Osbourne lends his unmistakable voice and extraordinary charisma.
I preface this because I was curious about the return of the "prince of darkness" (from whom he managed to distance himself only after coming perilously close) after listening to a couple of singles and reading about the production that involved, among many, Post Malone; for personal taste his presence didn't excite me, but given the aforementioned points, I thought a commercial experiment could be intriguing, a prediction partly fulfilled.
Listening to the album, which comes with a simple but detailed booklet reporting the lyrics for each track and accurately describing the respective roles in production, it's clear how the opening track "Straight To Hell" immediately explodes with all the possible Heavy Metal in true Osbourne style. The songs "All My Life" and the super hit "Ordinary Man" delve into the album's theme, a complex emotional form of testament ("I don't want to die an ordinary man") almost to exorcise the current fears that hang over Oz's health and future; a difficult condition to accept but lightened by the impeccable composition of Elton John (reminiscent of that of a much more well-known man who went "like a rocket") that distinguishes the splendid ballad closed with another super signature, that of Slash and his typical final solo.
As mentioned, there is an almost impeccable production work mainly by Chad Smith (yes, the RHCP drummer) and the duo Andrew Watt / Post Malone. A production at times excessively polished and glossy, distant from the canonical heavy metal productions of the Black Sabbath of the last millennium, also due to a physiological process of modernization of instruments and production software. Watt, who could be Osbourne's nephew (born in '90) and boasts a respectable history of collaborations, is the prototype of the rocker of our times, faithful to the guitar but, like it or not, open to any form of contamination and collaboration; among the many are numerous productions with notable contemporary pop stars. This results in a melodic approach in a good part of the vocals, often seasoned with an excessive dose of auto-tune but accompanied by a robust and well-mixed sound, on the border between the metal of the single "Under The Graveyard" and the alternative rock of "Eat Me." The closing pair of tracks "It's A Raid" and "Take What You Want" is not entirely convincing, characterized respectively by collaborations with Malone and rapper Travis Scott; especially in the last track, it seems to be Osbourne in the role of the collaborator rather than the reverse.
Overall, it is clear that this is a commercial operation marked by a tribute to the icon Ozzy and distancing from the fears of the man John; an operation overall satisfactory and that, for the effort put in by everyone, well deserves a passing grade. The hope is to witness a dignified future and far from the exploitation of what is and will always remain an icon that doesn't need to prove anything more and thus open up to a new audience more inclined to musical genres far from rock and metal; an icon that will remain forever, even "Under The Graveyard."