Ozzy Osbourne

No More Tears

Perhaps Ozzy's most timeless album

Review Score:

(10/10)
No More Tears (1991). Ozzy Osbourne's sixth studio album.

Prior to this album's release and all through the tour of No Rest For The Wicked(1988), Ozzy had literally gone through hell. Considering all of his problems that don't need to be addressed here, this was not a great time for Ozzy. But once all was fixed between everyone involved, he collaborated with Motorhead's Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister to write and produce Ozzy's first effort of the 90s. NMT is a bit more melodic than any Ozzy release up to that point as it does display some of the aftermath of Ozzy's ordeals, yet it still retains the signature Ozzy sound that we've all come to expect. Perhaps no other rock/metal star has had as many commercial comebacks as the Ozzman himself, and NMT's success verifies that. Many can agree that Ozzy isn't the best vocalist in the world, but no one can deny that his voice will grow on you over time, plus he has great songwriting abilities and he tends to surround himself with excellent musicians. The 1990/91 yearspan was the last real commercial success point for hardrock/metal in the USA and there were some excellent albums that popped out around that time. Guns N Roses had the Use Your Illusion albums, Metallica had the Black album, Judas Priest had Painkiller, and of course Ozzy had NMT.

Out of the blue, I felt like I needed to review this album because I had just rediscovered it not too long ago. When I first bought NMT several years ago, I thought it was a decent hardrock album, though nothing really special. I generally prefer some of Ozzy's earlier material, and to this day my favorites are still Bark At The Moon(1983) and NRFTW, but one day I lost this album and strangely felt the need to replace it as soon as possible. After finally listening to NMT again, I must say that I overlooked a great gem and I appreciate it now a lot more than I initially did.

So what made me come back? It could've been the excellent production and the fact that Ozzy's third axeman Zakk Wylde just absolutely SHREDS here, but for the most part, I find that Ozzy just writes GREAT songs. If anything, I'd say that the songwriting ability on NMT is top notch and Ozzy's most consistent to date. I mean, it begins with not one, not two, but SEVEN stellar tracks which are all a blast to hear. You've got 'Mr. Tinkertrain', 'I Don't Want To Change The World', 'Desire', the title track, 'Hellraiser', 'A.V.H.' and 'S.I.N.' which are all equally amazing rockers. 'Mama I'm Comin' Home', 'Road To Nowhere', and 'Time After Time' are just the right kind of ballads for this album. I'd say that my absolute favorite songs on here are the midpaced rocker 'Desire', the pounding anthem 'IDWTCTW', and the greatest track of all 'No More Tears'. This slow paced masterpiece showcases the perfect combination of keyboards, guitar, bass, and melody. It even has a bit of progression towards the middle of the song followed by an astonishing lead by Zakk. I was a bit surprised to learn that this track was the last one written for the album, and the title was thrown on last minute! 'Zombie Stomp' is a good song instrumentally, albeit with some cheezy lyrics thrown in. Still, to consider that this is the weakest track is saying a lot because in reality there is no filler material to be found here.

Though the first few 2002 remastered Ozzy albums have been nothing but less than desirable due to the fact that the bass and drum parts were re-recorded, from NRFTW and on the albums have remained untouched. I'd say that of all the 2002 remasters, NMT is the one that you MUST buy because it has the greatest quality in terms of bonus tracks. You get the awesome B-side 'Don't Blame Me', and also the fast and goofy rocker 'Party With The Animals' which happened to be on the "Buffy The Vampire Movie Soundtrack". Both wrap up the album on a good note.

Replayability: Decent, whenever I need a quick Ozzy fix, or just feel like listening to some good hardrock.

In the end, NMT is a great album that increases its appeal with much time and repeated listens. It's a recommened listen for first time Ozzy fans and is likely to appeal more to most people than most of his other releases have. Not the greatest album of his, but it would be a shame for you to ignore it.

Other Recommendations:
-Any of the previous Ozzy albums (The more recent albums Ozzmosis(1995) and Down To Earth(2001) were disappointing for the most part)
-'Appetite For Destruction' by Guns N Roses
-'Metallica' by Metallica

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