1992 - February: Ozzy Osbourne "No More Tears"

What the Riff?!?

No More Tears, the sixth solo studio album by Ozzy Osbourne, was released at an interesting time in rock music. Hair metal acts were in decline, and grunge was about to take off. Nevertheless, Ozzy hit it big with this album, reaching number 7 on the Billboard 200 charts, and providing Osbourne's only solo top 40 hit. No More Tears is generally considered his best album since his first two solo albums, "Blizzard of Oz," and "Diary of a Madman," both of which featured the late Randy Rhodes on guitar.

The songs on the album are largely written by Ozzy, drummer Randy Castillo, and guitarist Zakk Wylde. Motorhead bassist and front man Lemmy Kilmister wrote the lyrics to four of the tracks on the album. Additional musicians for this album were Bob Daisley on bass, and John Sinclair on keyboards. This would be the last Ozzy album to feature Castillo and Daisley.

As became more common in the compact disc era of the 90's, the tracks on this album tend to be longer than the typical single. None of the tracks clock in at less than 4 minutes, and the longest falls just short of 7 1/2 minutes.

In addition to boasting Osbourne's first top 40 hit, he also received a Grammy for "Best Metal Performance" for the track "I Don't Want to Chane the World" when released on his "Live & Loud" album in 1994.

Rob brings us this heavy metal throwback for this week's journey back to the 90's.

Mama, I'm Coming Home
This track peaked at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Osbourne's only top 40 solo single. This power ballad contains lyrics by Lemmy Kilmister, the front man from Motorhead. The song is about his wife Sharon, who helped turn his life around.

Desire
A crunchy deep cut talks about going for what you want - not changing over time, seeking the same desire. Osbourne also makes a reference to "Crazy train," his hit from the early 80's. "It's the same old desire, nothing's changed, nothing's the same. Burning like fire, don't you ever take my name in vain."

Road to Nowhere
The last song on the album is a reflection on life. Osbourne had gone sober after 20 years of drugs and alcohol, and he looking at how "the road to nowhere leads to me." "I was looking back on my life and all the things I've done to me."

No More Tears
This very dark title track has an epic feel, and despite its length hit number 5 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 32 on the UK Singles chart. The lyrics are told from the perspective of a stalker in a red light district seeking a victim to torture.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Wayne's World by Aerosmith (from the Saturday Night Live skit “Wayne's World”)
This skit finds Wayne (Mike Myers) and Garth (Dana Carvey) partying in their basement with the band Aerosmith.

STAFF PICKS:

Tough It Out by Webb Wilder
Wayne starts out the staff picks with a deep cut. Webb Wilder was born John Webb McMurry in Mississippi, and carries a high energy combination of rock, psychedelic, blues, and rockabilly genres in this song that encourages the listener to keep fighting for dreams even when the odds seem stacked against their fruition.

Alive by Pearl Jam
Lynch brings us a song which evolved from songwriter and front man Eddie Vedder's original intention. Vedder reflects on the feelings of a boy discovering that he was a stepchild. While the lyrics were intended as reflecting the curse of an emotional weight from family history, fans interpreted it as an affirmation of life.

I Can't Make You Love Me by Bonnie Raitt
Bruce takes the energy way down with this soft hit off Raitt's eleventh studio album, "Luck of the Draw." Bruce Hornsby provides the piano accompaniment. Nashville writers Mike Reid and Allen Shamblin wrote the song after hearing about a drunk man being sentenced for shooting at his girlfriend's car. When asked if he had learned anything, he said, "I learned, Your Honor, that you can't make a woman love you if she don't."

Anybody Listening? by Queensryche
Rob finishes the staff picks with a "prog metal" song off the "Empire" album that questions whether we really are communicating with people, and wondering if we are understood whether by word or deed. It was an epic with multiple tempos, dynamics, and key changes that finished off the album.

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

Masquerade by Yes
We close out with a surprisingly short song by the prog rock virtuosos off their "Union" album.

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