No More Tears (Ozzy Osbourne song)
{{Infobox song
| name = No More Tears
| cover = Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears single.jpg
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = Ozzy Osbourne
| album = No More Tears
| B-side =
- "S.I.N."
- "Don't Blame Me"
- "Party with the Animals"
| released = 16 September 1991{{cite magazine|title=New Singles|magazine=Music Week|page=29|date=14 September 1991}}
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = *Heavy metal
| length =
- 7:23 (album version)
- 5:54 (The Ozzman Cometh edit-single version)
| label = Epic
| writer =
- Ozzy Osbourne
- Zakk Wylde
- Mike Inez
- Randy Castillo
- John Purdell
| producer =
- John Purdell
- Duane Baron
| prev_title = Close My Eyes Forever
| prev_year = 1989
| next_title = I Don't Want to Change the World
| next_year = 1991
| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|CprfjfN5PRs|"No More Tears"}}}}
}}
"No More Tears" is the fifth song and title track on the 1991 Ozzy Osbourne album No More Tears. It reached number five on the U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100,{{cite web|title=Billboard singles chart history-Ozzy Osbourne|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=ozzy osbourne|chart=all}}|access-date=February 17, 2009}} number 17 on the Dutch Top 40 chart and number 32 on the UK Singles Chart.
Overview
The song originated from a jam session, according to guitarist Zakk Wylde: "We were just messing around in rehearsals. Mike started jamming that on the bass, then Randy started playing drums, and then John started doing that keyboard bit."{{cite web|publisher=Songfacts|last=Prato|first=Greg|url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/zakk-wylde|title=Zakk Wylde: Songwriter Interviews|date=January 6, 2014|access-date=May 29, 2019}} Osbourne considers this song to be "a gift from God", as stated in the Prince of Darkness liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title=Prince of Darkness |title-link=Prince of Darkness (Ozzy Osbourne compilation) |others=Ozzy Osbourne |year=2005 |publisher=Epic Records}}
A shorter edited version of this song was released to some radio stations, and can be heard on the 1997 compilation album The Ozzman Cometh. The full-length version appears on The Essential Ozzy Osbourne.
Theme
In the 2002 remaster booklet for the No More Tears album, Osbourne stated that the song was about a serial killer.
In the September 27, 2018 issue of Weekly Alibi, while texting with music critic August March, Osbourne claimed he wrote the song while in Albuquerque, New Mexico.{{citation |url=https://alibi.com/music/56927/Its-Ozzy-Time.html |title=Music Interview: It's Ozzy Time! |newspaper=Weekly Alibi |date=September 27, 2018}}
Music video
The video consists of Osbourne singing alone at times and with his backing band at others, intercut with footage of a woman (model and actress Mariah O'Brien) entering a room, sitting in a chair, and crying until she is completely submerged in her own tears. The video was shot to accommodate both the album version and the edited version of the song. Some channels played the full-length video, and others played the shortened version. Osbourne's daughter Kelly is seen at the end of the video in an angel costume lip-syncing the words at the end of the song, "It's just a hand in the bush," which repeats until the video fades out.
Critical reception
Richard Gilliam of AllMusic wrote "the song has precisely the sort of hard, rhythmic drive that marks good heavy metal" and "Osbourne’s sharply edged vocals are among the strongest of his solo efforts" but "near the end of the song there’s a pointlessly overproduced art-rock bridge that mars the song’s otherwise fine dynamic flow."{{cite web|url={{Allmusic|class=song|id=t930718|pure_url=yes}}|title=Song review "No More Tears"|last=Gilliam|first=Richard |website=Allmusic|access-date=14 December 2009}}
Consequence of Sound called it, "a successful song indebted to both glam metal and prog rock released the same year as Nirvana’s Nevermind", and ranked it as the best song on the album, with "Mama I'm Coming Home", as "a close second."{{Cite web|date=2019-02-28|last= Schafer|first= Joseph|title=Ranking Every Ozzy Osbourne Solo Album from Worst to Best|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2019/02/ranking-every-ozzy-osbourne-solo-album/2/|access-date=2021-02-10|website=Consequence of Sound|language=en-US|quote=It was a successful song indebted to both glam metal and prog rock}}
Cover version
The song was redone by guitarist Zakk Wylde as a bonus track on the second reissue of the Black Label Society album Sonic Brew as well as on its own promotional E.P. called No More Tears.
Releases
- 7" single, 1991, Epic Associated Records. Additional track is "S.I.N." Catalog #35-73973 for US.
- 7" single, 1991, Epic/Sony. Additional track is "S.I.N." Not available in the US.
- CD single, 1991, Epic/Sony. Special UK package. CD single in an embossed CD wallet with room for each solo studio record. Each sleeve has a different picture. Additional tracks are "S.I.N." and "Party with the Animals".
- CD single, 1991, Epic/Sony. Promo only version, one track.
- 12" picture disc, 1991, Epic/Sony. Additional tracks are "S.I.N." and "Party with the Animals". Not available in the US.
- CD single, 1991, Epic/Sony. "Maxi single" with "No More Tears", "S.I.N.", "Don't Blame Me", and "Party with the Animals".
Personnel
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Ozzy Osbourne|title=No More Tears|certyear=2021|award=Platinum|type=single|access-date=14 December 2021}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Ozzy Osbourne}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by Ozzy Osbourne
Category:Songs written by Mike Inez