It’s hard to imagine in the light of his household name status since The Osbournes, but at the point of his ousting from Black Sabbath Ozzy Osbourne’s future looked shaky.
Retrospectives invariably focus on decapitated bats, and bladder emissions on sites of historical significance, at the expense of acknowledging the fact that comeback Blizzard Of Ozz and Diary Of A Madman set the bar for much 80s metal.
In a 2016 ranking of Ozzy’s solo catalogue, Classic Rock placed No More Tears (1991) at number three behind those two early-80s classics, a rating borne out in the quality of songwriting and the intensity of performance from Ozzy and his band.
Guitarist Zakk Wylde’s dominant musical presence is key to the album’s success, his big riffing, and squealing licks and solos hot-wiring highlights No More Tears and I Don’t Want To Change The World.
Elsewhere Ozzy’s gift for memorable vocal melodies gels with lyrical contributions from Lemmy on Mama I’m Coming Home and Hellraiser. This two-LP edition enhances the original with the addition of bonus tracks (Party With The Animals, Don’t Blame Me) worthy of replacing lone stinker Zombie Stomp, demos and live tracks.
