RIP Ozzy Continues: The No Albums

[Chip Z'Hoy]

Listened to No Rest for the Wicked earlier today; listening to No More Tears now.

No Rest for the Wicked: Never got into this one, still not into it. It starts off really strong. Once it hits "Bloodbath," it's a slog until "Demon Alcohol," then it just peters out after that. (I guess "Hero" was an unlisted bonus track? Did anyone care about this at the time?)

No More Tears: I think this album belongs in the classic 1991 albums conversations, right up there with Nevermind, Blood Sugar, Illusion, Black Album, Ten, etc. Whatever he was going for on Wicked, he nailed it here. And it sounds amazing, always has.

In my mind, this is when Ozzy became "respectable Ozzy." And he was going to own the bat and dove and pissing on the Alamo stuff and laugh right along with you. We've left the raw meat era; we're in the Lennon glasses era. Ozzy brand Ozzy.

For me, it was downhill from here, but I'm going to give those albums a relisten too. I think I've listened to Scream maybe twice so that'll be interesting.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

"No More Tears," the song. I mean... come on.

DOES ANYBODY HATE THIS SONG? Probably overplayed by now but when this came out, I was out of my mind. I thought I was done with Ozzy and I went absolutely bonkers for this song. Immediately begged my mom to take me to the mall ( ) so I could buy not just No More Tears on cassette, but the Don't Blame Me home video as well.

(Trivia: When my band recorded a demo back in the 90's, I wanted to sample the guy saying "Get the gun, get the gun, shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot." We were that kind of band. No, I don't have the demo. Yes, it's absolute dogshit.)

[Bono Nettencourt]

[FreddyFender]

Yeah, No Rest felt like a really phoned in effort after the 1-2 punch of Ultimate Sin and Tribute.

In hindsight that’s not fair, but Ultimate Sin and Tribute had hit songs that were all over MTV. I don’t remember seeing Miracle Man anywhere but HBB - Ozzy standing around some pigs just felt like step down.

[DangerZone]

I listened to ‘no rest for the wicked’ last night.
“Breaking all the rules” is one of Ozzy’s great tunes.

Axl must have let Ozzy borrow the deep robot voice pedal for this album

[Chip Z'Hoy]

Listening now, I think the dud on Tears is "Time After Time." I might've said that before; I've never been a big fan. And no album other than Slave to the Grind needs THREE ballads.

[Indy_Rob]

No Rest was pretty bad. I would've thought that having a new, young hot shot guitarist would give it a boost but the songs were crap. Breaking All the Rules was decent, but Fire in the Sky and Hero were really good. What's up with not listing Hero on the album?

[FreddyFender]

Listening now, I think the dud on Tears is "Time After Time." I might've said that before; I've never been a big fan. And no album other than Slave to the Grind needs THREE ballads.

The dud is Zombie Stomp! But Time After Time is bad too. The title track and Mama Im Comin Home are perfect, but they really should have had Daisley do the rest of the lyrics - they sent him home after he recorded bass, and the step-down as far as lyrics is really obvious.

[SchenkerFan]

No Rest was just kind of dull. I bought it after hearing Miracle Man and was let down by the rest of the album. I've played it many times hoping that something would suddenly click and I still don't remember how the other tunes go. Maybe Fire in the Sky. The entire Zakk era is not that strong apart from No More Tears.

[TravisBicklesMohawk]

No Bone Movies . . .

[Psychobolia.com]

No1: I love Miracle Man + Crazy Babies + Bloodbath in Paradise, but the songwriting isn't as strong as those first 3 albums...
No2: Ozzy goes mainstream here, but I like it. Some filler, but most of the album kicks ass, a bick step up from No1.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

Listening now, I think the dud on Tears is "Time After Time." I might've said that before; I've never been a big fan. And no album other than Slave to the Grind needs THREE ballads.

The dud is Zombie Stomp! But Time After Time is bad too. The title track and Mama Im Comin Home are perfect, but they really should have had Daisley do the rest of the lyrics - they sent him home after he recorded bass, and the step-down as far as lyrics is really obvious.

Daisley did do the lyrics, but this time he refused a one time payment and wanted publishing.
The Osbournes scrapped his lyrics, sent him home and called Lemmy. Daisley had to negotiate a cancelation fee and got 5.000 dollars.
I still have no idea who wrote the lyrics outside of the 4 songs by lemmy.

[Mojo]

I guess I'm in the minority because I really like No Rest. "Devil's Daughter," "Crazy Babies," "Miracle Man," all fucking killer. The only truly crap songs on there are "Fire in the Sky" and "Hero," and even those aren't terrible.

The solo in "Devil's Daughter" is easily one of Zakk's crowning achievements, for me. That hybrid picking shit is (tee hee) wild.

As for No More Tears, it's worth the praise it gets. I had that album on repeat pretty much every day on the bus ride to and from school for weeks. The solo in "No More Tears" is a masterclass in getting to the point and playing exactly what the song needs.

Also, "SIN" is a grossly underrated Ozzy track and the second solo is my favorite piece of Zakk guitar playing I've ever heard. Blues based soloing at its absolute finest.

[LitaStrauss]

I still have no idea who wrote the lyrics outside of the 4 songs by lemmy.

I've wondered this too. Like for "Time After Time" it's just credited to Ozzy & Zakk, so did Zakk write the lyrics? He's obviously written plenty for BLS but those lyrics don't really sound like him. Same with the songs credited to Ozzy, Zakk, and Randy. Was Randy writing lyrics? Was Ozzy totally incapable of writing any lyrics?

I also like No Rest For The Wicked and agree that "Devil's Daughter" is one of Zakk's best solos. "Miracle Man" is great too.

I think "Ozzmois" and "Scream" are his two weakest albums but there's still cool stuff on them too. "Down To Earth" is a bit on the weak side too.

[Indy_Rob]

The only truly crap songs on there are "Fire in the Sky" and "Hero," and even those aren't terrible.

Mojo and I are diametrically opposed here. Those are my favorites (see my post above).

You haven't been huffing paint thinner, have you? Eating paint chips?

[Mojo]

You haven't been huffing paint thinner, have you? Eating paint chips?

What does that have to do with anything?

[kytepunches]

I always thought there was something wrong with my cassette when i got No Rest… . It sounded muffled or muddy to me , even when i got the C.D. . I couldn’t get into it because it didn’t sound very good and the songs were weaker. It was a huge disappointment after Ultimate Sin . I was ready to give up on religiously Ozzy albums. Then No More Tears was an instant classic and was sonically brilliant.

[FreddyFender]

I still have no idea who wrote the lyrics outside of the 4 songs by lemmy.

I've wondered this too.

Surely it was whoever they paid a fee to write the lyrics and give up credit/publishing - like they did with Daisly on BATM.

[Indy_Rob]

You haven't been huffing paint thinner, have you? Eating paint chips?

What does that have to do with anything?

Just busting balls.

[HueyRamone]

I think "Ozzmois" and "Scream" are his two weakest albums

I still dont understand why Ozzmosis is almost universally disliked. Exactly what is wrong with Ghost Behind My Eyes? Or Tomorrow? Or My Jeckyl Doesnt Hyde?
I get that Perry Mason wasnt exactly the leadoff single that No More Tears was, but I wonder if people truly gave that one a chance

I guess im jumping the gun on Chip's reviews

[FreddyFender]

Ozzmosis is a bunch of slow 90s grunge songs. Not hard to guess why it would be disliked around here.

[pieceofme]

What did people think about him doing another train song?

[Chip Z'Hoy]

What did people think about him doing another train song?

I don't remember making that connection, but I was in junior high and pretty dumb.

I think subconsciously I was just like "He's English, they like their trains over there."

[LitaStrauss]

I think "Ozzmois" and "Scream" are his two weakest albums

I still dont understand why Ozzmosis is almost universally disliked. Exactly what is wrong with Ghost Behind My Eyes? Or Tomorrow? Or My Jeckyl Doesnt Hyde?
I get that Perry Mason wasnt exactly the leadoff single that No More Tears was, but I wonder if people truly gave that one a chance

I guess im jumping the gun on Chip's reviews

I bought that record the day it came out. I liked Perry Mason and Thunder Underground. See You On The Other Side and I Just Want You are fine. Otherwise it's "eh." Coming after "No More Tears" it was a bit of a let down. Not horrible, but the weakest album he had put out by the point, at least for me.

The b-Sides of The Whole World's Falling Down and Living With The Enemy are better than the rest of the tracks on the record.

[pieceofme]

What did people think about him doing another train song?

I don't remember making that connection, but I was in junior high and pretty dumb.

I think subconsciously I was just like "He's English, they like their trains over there."

I can confirm this is true.

He even starts talking about Crazy Trains in Desire.