By Asher Evermon, Staff Writer
Ordinary Man, the 12th studio album from English singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne, comes with an array of emotion, meaningful lyrics, and the most recognizable voice in all of rock and roll.
Right off the bat, “Straight to Hell” welcomes the album perfectly for old followers and newcomers. The song captivates the ‘70s version of Osbourne’s music with disruptive lyrics, a very distinct voice and hard-hitting drums and guitars.
Osbourne has perfected this composition throughout his long career and stuck near to this formula for most of the album.
“Ordinary Man (feat. Elton John)” seemed like Osbourne took his soul and placed it on a platter for all to see, reminiscing on his past career from every mistake and success he has accomplished as an artist. He lets us know his fears of being forgotten and expresses his feeling of not wanting to die an ordinary man.
Released as the first single from the album, “Under the Graveyard” continues Osbourne’s topic of the album, death. Out of the whole album, this song carries his voice the greatest. With slow articulation of verses that lead into a chorus with crashing drums and guitars, this is easily one of the best songs of the album.
Advancing further into the album, songs like “Eat Me,” and “Today is the End’’ get lost in the greatness of the previous songs. These songs showcase Osbourne’s beautifully constructed choruses while having a larger emphasis on hard metal. “Holy for Tonight,” also an underdog, proves to be a close contender with emotional lyrics and Osbourne’s voice rising above a rather mellow beat.
Nearing the end of the album, Post Malone is featured on the song, “It’s a Raid,” with the name completely justifying the song. With a heavy premise on drums, the screaming lyrics seem to provoke an uprising near the end of the song. It’s clear that Osbourne made this as a crazy ending to one of his concerts.
Osbourne places his soul into this album letting us see his mind as if he was transparent. Leaving little room for interpretation, he lets us all know of his past mistakes and feelings of death. Despite some average songs scattered throughout the album, as a whole, Osbourne introduces one of his best albums in the past few decades. He holds up to his reputation as the “Godfather of Heavy Metal” and creates an album that will be remembered by many of his longtime fans as well as the newcomers. 5/5