Tower Records, the iconic music chain that defined the retail music business in the pre-digital era, is back and celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ozzy Osbourne‘s “No More Tears” with an exclusive limited-edition vinyl and t-shirt bundle. This limited run of only 500 units is available now at TowerRecords.com and includes the exclusive Tower Records two-LP colored vinyl set, 7″x7″ photobook with pics from the launch event, and an exclusive “I Was There” t-shirt.
Ozzy first premiered “No More Tears” with a surprise launch at Tower Records in New York City on September 17, 1991.
More than 30 years after its release, “No More Tears” will be celebrated with an expanded digital audio album due out September 17 (Sony).
Upon its release, “No More Tears” yielded four Top 10 singles on the Billboard Rock Tracks chart, “Mama, I’m Coming Home” (#2), “Road To Nowhere” (#3), “Time After Time” (#6) and the title track (#10). In addition, the album’s “I Don’t Want to Change The World” earned Ozzy his first Grammy for a live version of the track that was featured on his 1993 “Live And Loud” album. The Grammy-winning track was one of the album’s four songs co-written with Ozzy‘s longtime friend and colleague Lemmy Kilmister; the others include “Mama, I’m Coming Home”, “Desire” and “Hellraiser”. The album has remained an Ozzy classic, earning a spot (#22) on Loudwire‘s “Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the ’90s” with Ultimate Classic Rock including “No More Tears” on their list “Top 100 ’90s Rock Albums.”
“I have a lot of great memories of making the album,” Ozzy says. “We worked hard on the record with John Purdell and Duane Baron, who became extra two members of the band. Before we went into the studio, we discussed what we were going to do — everything was planned. It’s so nice when you get a producer who’s more like a part of the band than them saying, ‘nah, you do it this way.’ Because we write them and when you write the songs, you have a mental picture of how you think you want it to sound. Sometimes you’re surprised for the better, but other times you’re disappointed, but John and Duane did an extraordinary job on the album. It was really, really well done. Every song was worked on for a long time and we spent extra time trying to get things right. But there was also lots of goofing around and we had a good time making it. And Zakk‘s playing on it is spectacular.”
Zakk Wylde adds: “On the first record, it was, like, ‘I can’t believe I’m here.’ I had definitely crawled into the fire and kept thinking. ‘You gotta produce. You got to come up with some cool stuff.’ On ‘No More Tears’, I guess I was more relaxed. With Ozzy, whenever we’re playing riffs, he would be like ‘keep playing that riff.’ Pretty much every time he just gets up there and starts singing what comes to him naturally, he knocks it out of the park all the time. I mean, there’s very, very few times where he’s actually said, ‘No, let me come back to that. I don’t like what I’m singing. I’ll come up with something better.’ Whatever you’re hearing on the record is pretty much first thing he started singing that naturally came out of him, that he started hearing in his head. Which is amazing. My love for him and admiration for him has just gotten even stronger and bigger over the years. It’s bigger than the music. It’s always a good time whenever we’re together, it’s always like it’s a laugh fest, and then making the records is beyond hilarious as well.”
“Mama, I’m Coming Home”, the album’s biggest hit which Ozzy co-wrote with Kilmister, started with Zakk at a piano, has gone on to become not only a rock anthem, but a classic song among soldiers.
“At that time, a lot of people were going to Iraq war,” Ozzy notes. “We heard that the GIs were sending that song to their wives. Soldiers still love that song.”
“I remember when we were working on the album, I originally wrote ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ on a piano,” Zakk says. “I had the music, and then when we got to the studio, I transposed it to the 12-string guitar. I was like ‘oh let me try it on the 12-string and see what it sounds like.’ That’s how it evolved into the song, originally it was just me and Ozz noodling on the piano.”
The “No More Tears” expanded digital audio album track listing is as follows:
01. Mr. Tinkertrain
02. I Don’t Want to Change the World
03. Mama, I’m Coming Home
04. Desire
05. No More Tears
06. Won’t Be Coming Home (S.I.N)
07. Hellraiser
08. Time After Time
09. Zombie Stomp
10. A.V.H.
11. Road to Nowhere
12. Don’t Blame Me*
13. Party With the Animals*
14. I Don’t Want To Change The World (demo)**
15. Mama, I’m Coming Home (demo)**
16. Desire (demo)**
17. Time After Time (demo)**
18. Won’t Be Coming Home (S.I.N) (demo)**
19. Mrs J. (demo)**
20. I Don’t Want to Change The World (live)†
21. Road to Nowhere (live)†
22. No More Tears (live)†
23. Desire (live)†
24. Mama, I’m Coming Home (live)††
* bonus tracks currently on the digital album at DSPs
** demos from the 1991 promo CD “The No More Tears Demo Sessions” (also the “Prince Of Darkness” box set), not currently at DSPs
† live audio from “Memoirs Of A Madman” DVD, San Diego 1992, not currently at DSPs
†† live audio from “Memoirs Of A Madman” DVD, MTV 1992, not currently at DSPs
Photo credit: Jeff Katz
