Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Fifty-seven years ago this year, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, and the man that would come to be known by many as the Face of Metal, Ozzy Osbourne, broke into the scene.
Black Sabbath formed in Birmingham (that’s England for you scholars). In 1979 Osbourne was booted out of Sabbath for, believe it or not, substance abuse “”ISSUES.”” In the ensuing forty years, he has released, (according to Wikipedia), twelve studio LPs (counting Common Man), five live albums, seven compilation albums, five EP’s, sixty-three singles, nine video albums, and thirty-nine music videos (the things MTV use to play). From the Blizzard of Oz forty years ago to the just-released Ordinary Man, he’s been making solid rock. This new record FOR THE MOST PART has not deviated from the successful formula OZZY has had. And as I said, for the most part.
The record feature performances by a couple of “uncommon collaborators,” they being Slash, Post Malone and Sir Elton John. The LP was released on the EPIC label and produced by Andrew Watt (also playing guitar) and Louis Bell, featuring Duff McKagen of GnR on bass, and Chad Smith of the Chili Peppers on drums. There were also appearances by Post Malone (The man who must succeed in music because he’ll never get a job anywhere else) and Tom Morello.
Overall it’s an enjoyable album, but a couple of the songs, track ten “It’s a Raid” and track eleven “Take what you want” in particular, starts decently and has decent bits but then slides into a bubblegum factory. Using voice modulations that reminded me more of a song by Cher.
-
Track one “Straight to Hell” is an excellent classic Ozzy tune. His voice is strong, and the instrumentals kick ass.
-
Track two “All my life,” is a little slow, but it’s trademark Ozzy power ballad.
-
The beginning and overall tone of track three “Goodbye,” and track eight S.L.G.M sound similar.
-
Track four “Ordinary Man” featuring Elton John is an Elton / Ozzy Beatles like power ballad.
-
Track five “Under the Graveyard.”
-
Track six “Eat Me,” gets a thumbs up.
-
Track seven “Today is the End.”
-
Track eight “Scary Little Green Men” is another ballad-like track that morphs into a rousingly fun song. The only issue is the scary green man’s voice sounds more Japanese than E.T.
-
Track nine “Holy for tonight” all are typical Ozzy tunes. Track three and nine sound as if they feature Slash.
-
Track Ten “It’s a Raid” featuring Post Malone takes off from the first note then nose dives into a 60s Herman’s Hermits like track.
-
Track eleven “Take what you want” is also a Post Malone track.
