Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears (1991)Release ID: 1191
As with all of the Ozzy Osbourne studio material I've heard over the years, "No More Tears" is a pretty enjoyable listen. Also in line with those releases though, I can't see myself ever finding it to be an essential heavy metal release. You see, despite Ozzy's records sporting some of the most beloved guitar work in my life, I simply can't look past the fact that there's also a fair dose of cheese & commercialism about them & Ozzy's vocals have never quite seemed to fit perfectly with that musical direction to be honest, even on his super-popular early releases. "Diary of a Madman" has always been my favourite Ozzy album, perhaps because it's a touch darker & less poppy than the others but I still wouldn't call it a genuinely great record. "No More Tears" sits very much in the same camp as the tracklisting is a real mixed bag. On the one hand we receive a couple of the best tracks of Ozzy's solo career in the dark & brooding title track & the energetic, metal-as-fuck "I Don't Want to Change the World" with chunky heavy metal number "Desire" being another particularly solid inclusion. On the other hand, the cheesy ballads "Mama, I'm Coming Home" & "Road to Nowhere" & glam metal inspired "Mr. Tinkertrain" & "S.I.N." leave a lot to be desired. Black Label Society/Pride & Glory axemaster Zakk Wylde is quite clearly the primary reason to listen to "No More Tears" with his ultra-shredding guitar tone & signature artificial harmonic squeals showing him to be at the very peak of his powers. The riffs & slide guitar work on the title track command the price of this album alone actually. Ozzy's vocals are pretty pedestrian throughout though it has to be said which takes a bit of the gloss of Zakk's handy work.
Despite these mixed comments, I'd suggest that the highlights (& perhaps a little bit of nostalgia) have seen me moving "No More Tears" ahead of "Blizzard of Ozz" & into second place behind "Diary of a Madman" these days. There's probably a touch more hard rock included here than there is heavy metal if you look at it closely but Wylde's exciting guitar work never allows the record to drift too far out of your average metalhead's reach. Sadly, I don't think "No More Tears" will ever be the release to see me moving Ozzy out of Best-Of playlist territory & into the realms reserved for consistently high-quality heavy metal recordings alongside his much stronger live releases such as "Speak of the Devil" & "Tribute" though & it's perhaps telling that I've never ventured any further into Osbourne's solo career than this either.
This is a classic album. The single's are great, "No More Tears" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home" are solid ballads. Zack Wylde does some of his best guitar work on this album in my opinion where he never over shadows Ozzy but still has some sick riffs and melodies throughout. The bad songs like Zombie Stomp have just enough cheese to be decent enough for a play through of this album. I would skip it on repeats but it doesn't feel out of place in general. I wouldn't say anything else really sticks out as bad and most are ok to good besides the aforementioned singles which are great. I would need another go around with Ozzy but this is up there for his best solo works.
I have long been a fan of the title track from this record. It always strikes me as full of menace and is structured well, but for some reason this promise had never taken me to a full a listen of the record until recently. Bearing in mind I do find the discography of the Black Sabbath frontman to be patchy at best I still feel sorely disappointed by No More Tears overall. The patchiness that plagues a lot of his records appeared to grow at an exponential rate for this one leaving a flat an uninspiring feel to the offering.
Things start off promisingly enough with the bite of Mr Tinkertrain a track which sets a good pace and energy for the record, Wylde's solo adds real power to proceedings and sets the bar high for the rest of the record. Unfortunately it tails off immediately with the mediocre I Don't Want to Change The World and then the drab Mama, I'm Coming Home. Only three tracks in things feel very inconsistent and badly arranged, like things have immediately gone off the boil. Other than the aforementioned title track, things don't ever really get going again.
Even Hellraiser feels underwhelming considering the wealth of metal legend that contributed to it. I don't get much of the clamour around Zakk Wylde to be honest. He is a competent guitarist most certainly but his work here is average at best and does nothing to alter my opinion that he is one of the more overrated players in metal. The timing and pace of his leads are often out to my ear and go beyond quirky pretty quickly. Not even the late Randy Castillo can do much to hold my interest here as I find myself reaching for the skip button with an all too frequent regularity.
One of the worst traits an album can leave you with even a whiff off is that it is just a collection of songs, stuck on an album without thought to consistency and quality control and this is exactly what No More Tears feels like. It fails to build up any momentum and just ends up lost in its own mediocrity.
