Title track aside, Ozzy and the band never manage to sustain any kind of atmosphere even with (or maybe because of) the persistent keyboard presence, causing some songs to sound silly instead of creepy or emotional. The ballads and stomping rockers are - needless to say - pretty awful, sometimes even feeling uncomfortable to listen to. The title track is the exception, but even that flounders in its mid-section with the unnecessary inclusion of a voice-over and hamfisted piano interlude ruining the dark atmosphere. The singer sounds dangerous as he fires out the last verse, and that can't be said of him anywhere else, where he is usually just passable, even in the huge chorus of 'Mr Tinkertrain'.Īs for the songs, the whole band sound better when moving at some kind of pace (nothing is exactly fast), since the excitement starts to emerge even from the basic riffs of 'S.I.N.' or 'Zombie Stomp'. It's the only song where the whole band unite as one, with even the plodding drums and occasionally terrible Ozzy turning in great performances. However, it's Bob Daisley who leaves his mark on that song with one of the most distinctive bass riffs of all time, which is surprising considering how quiet he is for the rest of the album. His contribution to the title track sounds phenomenal by comparison to the rest of the album, since he manages to pull off one excellent riff (I remember hearing this on the radio and needing to find out which song it was) and something rather different, which actually manages to be subtle and interesting for a change. He gets it very right on 'Zombie Stomp', although that isn't a terribly complicated song, mostly riding through a single riff and a cool build-up, as well as a sweet solo. Zakk Wylde is guilty to a much larger extent than before, because the previous album contained plenty of catchy riffs and fills, plus a few tasty solos, but there are too many parts where he's content to simply chug and play power chords that make little use of his talent and little use of my neck. There wasn't any change from the lineup for 'No Rest for the Wicked', but the energy levels had dropped off by this point to the extent that some of the songs just slide wetly past without leaving any impression. The other way we can analyze the patchiness is by taking a close look at the contributors on this album. Compared to the 80s Ozzy albums, some of this is clearly aimed at stadium rather than metalheads, which makes the pace slower and irritatingly stomping at times, while the touches of class and interest tend to be more in the details than main features. As usual, we get two shit ballads ('Mama I'm Coming Home' and the piss-poor 'Time After Time') and some fairly average rockers like 'Desire' and 'Hellraiser', which are both exciting in places yet clearly overlong and without a finishing touch. The first two tracks are pretty decent, the title track is great, 'Zombie Stomp' is a lot of fun, and I guess 'S.I.N.' or 'Road to Nowhere' might be alright, though they only amount to one good song between them. The first way is to sort out the well-written songs from the shit ones, which takes no more than one listen. 'No More Tears' is pretty much the definition of a patchy album and its patchiness can be divided two ways. The problem with most of Ozzy's solo material is that you know exactly what you're going to get, so there aren't many surprises, plus the quality is often lower than you would hope for, leaving you with a handful of filler, a handful of decent tunes, and no hands left to press the repeat button. As far as 'Mr Tinkertrain' goes, we just about make it as far as redeeming itself, but there are points when this album just doesn't have the planning, the chops, or the balls to pull itself out of the middle of a very quiet road and make listening worthwhile. If the first lyric of an album is "Would you like some sweeties little girl?" you had sure as hell better follow that up with a fucking amazing experience that justifies that particular decision. Many of my initial criticisms remain in the review, though I have deleted or edited passages to reflect my current opinion. EDIT I originally called this album a "failure" and gave it 35% based on my disappointment with the chops and catchiness that the band failed to deliver, but I have since reconsidered that this is quite fun and has quality in enough songs to warrant a better score.
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