When a song like Ordinary Man is released, the lineup it possesses puts you in a unique place to write a review. It might say FT. Elton John, and it does, Sir Elton John plays piano and sings on the track with Ozzy Osbourne, but, and this is a big but, the rest of the band aren’t bad either!

With a guitar solo from Slash, backing from Duff McCagen and drums from Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Chad Smith, this song is going to get a lot of attention. Putting the personnel in the band aside, actually, it’s a beautiful song that carries some real emotion on lots of levels. With powerful lyrics, that, if you know anything about Ozzy Osbourne or the rest of the band there is real sentiment there and you can connect to it and follow the story effortlessly throughout the entire 5 minutes. 

When Elton John plays piano, you know it’s Elton John, certain characteristic fills tell you and you can hear that straight away in this track, which gives it a nice familiarity. Ozzy Osbourne, who really can deliver ballads brilliantly, sings a melody that soothes and flows wonderfully with the piano and strings in the early parts of the song. But what makes this song really special are the words, from the first line suggesting that Ozzy was ‘unprepared for fame’ and how that affected his life, admitting he has ‘been a bad guy’ and ‘higher than the blue sky’ and later questioning why he is ‘still alive’ show a real openness to the creation of the song. Sir Elton John’s vocal seems to be the counter, the support, like two friends talking during their latter stages of life. Both Sir Elton and Ozzy’s voices together work incredibly well. I’ve not heard them sing together before, but it really works. They are different enough to be able to tell who is who, but yet completely in unison with each other. Then there’s the solo from the one and only Slash. It starts as a traditional rocker solo, but builds and at one point shows the blistering speed that really only Slash and his Les Paul can play, with precision and clarity which makes Ordinary Man really quite a special collaboration with some of the worlds best. At one point, it feels like you are falling down a hill, as Slash starts the build up slowly, then gradually gaining momentum into an uncontrollable blurr that, whilst played with aggression fits this emotional track beautifully. 

This song is everything music should be. Collaboration, creativity, musicianship and true, honest lyrics that are personal to the artist who delivers them with power. There are chord changes and melody lines that remind you of early Elton John, there are sections that even take you back to Sergeant Pepper and then there’s the consistent Chad Smith, giving you a solid beat for Duff McCagen and Slash to work some magic over. There is no risk, that when the time actually comes (we all hope this is along way in the future) for either Ozzy or Sir Elton John, neither will die an Ordinary Man! 

 Rock