You Can't Kill Rock N Roll- Ozzy Osbourne's "No More Tears"

Ozzy's 6th solo album dropped back in 1991 and is largely responsible for keeping him relevant for the next four years as music shifted. He ignored grunge and kept doing what he was doing, but refined it. Lyrically, "Mr Tinkertrain" would have gotten him cancelled and an invite to Epstein Island. Musically, it rocks. "I Don't Want to Change the World" is a little too upbeat for my tastes and not dark enough, but it is one of the songs that became endearing as it stood the test of time as a staple of his live shows to come.

"Momma I'm Coming Home" is one of my least favorite solo songs, but it has grown on me over time, and it is hard to deny Zakk's playing on this one. It kept his career alive, and perhaps Sharon wisely persuaded him to do more ballads, not sure she asked him to write one about her, but I would not put it past her. If you ask the average person to make a solo Ozzy song and they do not name "Crazy Train," this is the song they will remember.  There are not a great deal of harder rockers on this album, but "Desire'  comes closer to what you expect from him. 

The title track is the album's best song. If you don't know it, I am not sure why you are even reading this. "Won't Be Coming Home" is not the album's most memorable song, as I had forgotten about it until digging back into this album. It feels like it's left over from the "Ultimate Sin' sessions. I'm not even sure in 1991 that I considered "Hellraiser" a metal song; it is a good grooving rock song that is on brand for Ozzy.  "Time After Time" is not quite a power ballad, but not as in-your-face as what you expect from Ozzy; however, it is well-written, and Wylde's playing continues to push the song into greatness. 

It takes two minutes to build up into the marginally more metallic "Zombie Stomp," which would have been heavier with different production, but at times, the production of this album reminds me of "Dr. Feelgood". The more jammed-out feeling of this song is fun. "A.V.H" is the first song that feels like filler to me, but this might be because the other songs went on to become such a part of his identity in this phase of his career. "The Road to Nowhere" is a case in point, as it was another power-ballad that worked its way into being in regular rotation live.  Stellar guitar work and good writing a major causes of its success. 

"Don't Blame Me" has plenty of motion behind it, though it simmers in hard rock without packing the punch of what we think of Ozzy's brand of metal. "Party With the Animals' falling closer to the definition of metal that I want from Ozzy, perhaps this is due to the higher energy driving it. I will go ahead and round this one up to a 10 as it has stood the test of time. 

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