A slice of heaven after Ozzy’s year of hell
OZZY OSBOURNE Ordinary Man (Epic) Verdict: Robust but reflective )))** BEST COAST Always Tomorrow (Concord)
Verdict: Fades after blistering start )))**
OZZY OSBOURNE is one of rock’s great survivors, but even he has been sorely tested over the past 12 months. The Prince of Darkness has battled bronchitis, recovered from a fall and revealed last month he’d been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Only this week, he was forced to cancel a North American tour to focus on his health issues.
The news hasn’t all been bad. Even in a year he calls ‘the most painful and miserable’ he has endured, he has come up with his first new solo album in a decade.
As is the case with many rock veterans, he gets by with a little help from his friends and Ordinary Man — made with a cast including Elton John and guitarist Slash — is refreshingly robust.
It came about in an unusual way, too. Ozzy finally put his long association with Black Sabbath to bed once the heavy rockers had completed a farewell tour in their Birmingham hometown in 2017, and he had no immediate plans to return to music until his appetite was whetted by last year’s surprising collaboration with US rapper Post Malone.
In a mind-boggling coming together, Osbourne, 71, sang on 24-year-old Post’s Take What You Want single (a hit driven by a drum machine rather than sludgy guitars), and became pals with the rapper’s producer Andrew Watt. When Watt suggested working on more material, Ozzy put together an all-star studio band and quickly wrote some songs.
Made with Watt on guitar and a heavyweight rhythm section of Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff Mc Kagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Ordinary Man casts the rock legend in an unexpected light.
Famous as a hell-raiser who sings of wizards and devils and once bit the head off a bat on stage, he’s also, underneath it all, a classic song man who grew up worshipping The Beatles.
There are nods to his wild days here, just as there are some heavy blues riffs recalling Sabbath in their pomp. But the most interesting moments deviate dramatically from the old formula.
Having sung the tender rock ballad Close My Eyes Forever with Lita Ford in 1988 and duetted with actress Kim Basinger, Ozzy is a versatile performer. Here, he hooks up with Elton and Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash on a title track that is essentially a love letter to his wife Sharon. There’s also, on energetic It’s A Raid, a further liaison with Post.
AMID a number of reflections on mortality there’s even, among the Beatles-style harmonies that adorn Holy For Tonight, a hint of repentance: ‘Pray for me Father, for I know not what I do,’ sings Ozzy in a voice still distinctive for its gloomy timbre, rather than its great range. There are moments of silliness.
Eat Me is a daft comedic interlude and Scary Little Green Men a batty discourse on alien life, during which Ozzy asks: ‘Men on the moon, won’t you tell us the truth?’
Ordinary Man was recorded quickly — ‘I haven’t done that since the first Black Sabbath album,’ says the singer — and some of its lyrics could do with greater finesse.
But given what its maker has gone through recently, it’s a miracle it’s here at all. Amid his travails, Ozzy is still far from ordinary.
OSINGER Bethany Cosentino has also done plenty of soul-searching in the five years since her last album with Los Angeles pop duo Best Coast.
Having overcome romantic strife and writer’s block, and given up alcohol, she now sounds very much rejuvenated on a comeback that opens in blistering style.
Working alongside multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno, she first made her name by writing about Californian sun, relationship issues — and her pet cat Snacks — on tunes that recalled Sixties girl-groups and Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac. Those influences remain (including Snacks) but Always Tomorrow also looks beyond them to The Bangles and Blondie.
Everything Has Changed, a song about quitting booze and finding domestic happiness, was written before Bethany, 33, had addressed her demons, but it sets the tone perfectly for a set of tight, punchy rock songs.
The engaging For The First Time reiterates that she is no longer a tortured soul, though the quality of the material dips after a convincing start.
Graceless Kids features a spoken-word section that had Cosentino worried she might sound like Taylor Swift, who often employs the same device. She does — but that’s not such a bad thing.
The disappointment arrives with the more routine rockers that leave a record that could have been great sounding merely good.