Ozzy Osbourne - Ordinary Man

Pitchfork 65

On his best album in decades, the most famous man reaches again for big hooks and big statements, with help from new friends like Post Malone.

The Guardian 60

(BMG)
The elegiac lyrics on Osbourne’s 12th solo album stand in contrast with the off-the-cuff vibe of its music

Given his recent tribulations – notably his diagnosis with Parkinson’s – it’s hardly surprising that there is a sometimes elegiac feel to Ozzy Osbourne’s 12th solo album. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I gave my life a try / Forgive me, I didn’t say goodbye,” he sings on Goodbye. On the title track, a stately duet in the post-Beatles mould with Elton John, he opens with the observation “I was unprepared for fame / Then everybody knew my name”, before announcing “I don’t want to die an ordinary man” and “I don’t know why I’m still alive”.