Published on Nov 30, 1998
Remember back in ’91 that Ozzy declared that this would be his
last album ever? That he would retire after the tour? Yeah, it
lasted all of one week. Whether or not he actually believed that
this album would be his last album, I cannot say. Some of those
emotions do find their way in here. But above, Ozzy keeps his
rockin’ train rollin’ with this album.
The album begins with the fine enough “Mr. Tinkertrain.” Here
Ozzy becomes the ringmaster in the rock circus. Nice enough and fun
enough. Next comes the Grammy-winning “I Don’ Want To Change The
World” where Ozzy answers back to his detractors. “Tell me I’m a
sinner/I got news for you/I spoke to God this morning/And he don’t
like you.” Sometimes pointing the finger at a guy like Ozzy means
you get it chewed off.
Other rockers include “Desire,” “Hellraiser” and “Zombie Stomp.”
(When is Rob going to cover “Zombie Stomp”?) On top of that is his
best title track in a while, “No More Tears.” The bass in this song
is heaven. Why they cut it for
The OZZman Cometh, I will never know. The piano, the guitar,
everything about this song is Ozzy.
With that there’s the two ballads, “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and
“Time After Time.” “Mama” is a good pop ballad–both fitting in the
late 80s vein and not really being just that. “Time After Time”
does bring some of those “retiring” emotions.
However, it’s the closing track, “Road To Nowhere” that tries to
drive home the point that Ozzy was leaving. “The road to nowhere
leads to me.” With those words, Ozzy was trying to say goodbye to
his fans and the music. And the song does a fine job of conveying
that message.
As we all know, however, Ozzy didn’t stay out of the music
business for long. Which was good, as
Ozzmosis is terrific. So, does that mean that what he said
in this album was faked? Probably not. It just means that those
were his feelings back then. While fitting in the metal of the
early 90s,
No More Tears was trying to say goodbye to his fans. Not
bad.