No More Tears

I wonder how many times I've heard Ozzy Osbourne's hit "No More Tears?" Hundreds, I'm sure.

The other day I was driving and the song cane on Hair Nation and I cranked it up and just really enjoyed the experience. Instead of making the track background noise because I am so familiar with it, I really tried to be an active listener and enjoy the guitar parts. I had a great time just rocking out by myself.

When I got home several hours later, I was still thinking about the song. I went to the track's Wikipedia page and re-read some facts about it and I watched the official video again, too. I then remembered that I never cared for the video much.

The brilliance of the song is that killer bass line (thank you Mike Inez!) and the building crescendo of the lead guitar refrain (thank you Zakk Wylde!)

If a song like "No More Tears" came out today, would it would catch on? Probably not because no one would hear it, lost amongst a sea of pop and rap radio and Instagram influencers. Plus at just about six minutes, the song is long by today's standards, especially considering people have the attention span of gnats these days. I wish I would have been old enough to see this tour.

Comments

[Basileus]

This song and album were pretty huge for my age group in High school. Well, maybe Mama I’m Coming Home more than this song was the one that made Ozzy cross over for my age cohort. I was already tracking on Ozzy from the Randy Rhodes years but mostly because I had an older cousin who was a huge metal head. I just remember that No Rest for the Wicked made zero impact but this song and album were huge. It’s a great song. I distinctly remember noticing Wylde’s overdriven guitar sound during the verse breaks.

Having said that, other than a handful of songs, where does Wylde stack up among Ozzy’s guitarists? Rhodes is first, obviously, but I would rank Jake before Wylde. Not sure if that is a opinion shared by many.

[stu]

i saw this tour in dallas and it was amazing. as much as the band played from this album, it didn’t feel overweighted.
it’s also the only ozzy solo show i’ve seen. it was the first time motorhead was to cancel here (but not the last). and it was interesting seeing alice in chains play since layne had broken his foot just before (so he sat on a couch most of the show.)
as for the ozzy guitarist ranking system, i know i’m way in the minority, but “no rest” has always been my favorite. so dark, so heavy, so unexpected. i guess i still place randy first, and jake behind zakk. but that’s no slight to jake, it’s just that those two albums don’t hold up to me.

[Him]

And thanks to Daisley for playing the bass notes that Inez wrote!

I'd likely put Lee in front of Wylde too. But just by a hair, and just because I really loved _Bark at the Moon_. So hard to follow in the footsteps of RR. He made it seem easy. Special mention goes to Brad Gillis on _Speak of the Devil_. Geesh, that had to be nerve-wracking. No wonder Torme (RIP) was out in a hot second!

While I never get tired of the song, the video hasn't aged that well. And I have to say, in a pinch (harmonics, right?), Zakk's cover of the song is pretty good for what it is. But I do laugh when I compare the fresh-faced pictures of ZW from his early years with his faux-biker-chic nowadays.

Side note: I would have loved to have seen Alice with Layne, Stu. How did they sound?