siLLy puPPy The years had been tumultuous for OZZY OSBOURNE after the death of Randy Rhoads as he was constantly trying to reinvent himself after the perfect band lineup of his first two albums. After a couple of albums with guitarist Jake E. Lee, the Madman was forced to find yet another guitarist after Lee jumped ship. Not exactly a surprise as it was later revealed that Lee wasn’t given credit for songwriting contributions on “Bark At The Moon,” and after the “Tribute” album was released during his tenure, it seemed too much to take and off Lee went to form his own band Badlands. After searching high and low, OZZY settled on the virtually unknown Zakk Wylde who had only played in small bands before auditioning for the coveting guitarist role with one of heavy metal’s hugest stars of the 80s. Actually the whole band had changed since “The Ultimate Sin,” with Bob Daisley reprising to take over Phil Soussan’s bass spot as well as John Sinclair usurping the keyboard throne of Mike Moran. Randy Castillo stick around on drums.

Zakk Wylde made his official debut to the larger world on OZZY’s fifth studio album “ NO REST FOR THE WICKED, “ which ushered in a totally new sound for the bathead chomping Madman. During the Lee years, the emphasis was placed on trying to recreate the lost Rhoads neoclassical style especially on “Bark At The Moon.” While still retaining some of the same flavor, “The Ultimate Sin” meandered a bit into more pop rock oriented territory which watered down the metal aspects of the classic OZZY heft. On “ NO REST FOR THE WICKED, “ Wylde dishes out a heavier metal feel once again while steering away from the neoclassical Rhoads era completely. Wylde contributed a more no nonsense bluesy shuffle style with distortion and metal angst turned up a few notches with heavy riffing, lesser emphasis on soloing and piggy guitar squeals. On the lyrical side of the equation, OZZY continues his assault on society with a stab at Jimmy Swaggart, the 80s televangelist who fell from grace after a prostitution scandal. Swaggart had been a huge critic of OZZY’s music and heavy metal in general.

Other tracks reveal more of the same with “Crazy Babies” and “Breakin’ All The Rules” showcasing OZZY’s rebellion-by-numbers approach and a nod to his vulnerabilities as heard on “Demon Alcohol.” Overall, “ NO REST FOR THE WICKED, “ is a decent album with several strong tracks showcasing Wylde’s new role as heavy metal guitar god however the songwriting is still below the standard of the unreachable magnificence of the first two albums. While “Miracle Man,” “Crazy Babies” and “Tattooed Dancer” are all excellent heavy metal rockers, some of the tracks like “Fire In The Sky” and “Bloodbath In Paradise” seem a little generic by OZZY’s standards. There is also a hidden bonus track, “Hero” on the CD versions which offers a nice surprise. I would hardly call “ NO REST FOR THE WICKED, “ even close to OZZY’s best album but it is not without its charm either as it really sounds like no other in his canon. After this one, Wylde’s role would expand and so would the diverse elements of the music itself. This is one i rarely listen to, but i have to admit that it has a raw aggression that is very appealing and a few stand out tracks that guarantee a nice heavy metal head banging experience.

Kingcrimsonprog Ozzy Osbourne’s No Rest For The Wicked was his fifth studio album as a solo artist and was released in 1988. This was the first Ozzy album to feature Zack Wlyde who replaced Jake E Lee on guitar duties.

Zack has a very different guitar style to either Randy’s or Jake E Lee’s; his playing is full of pinch harmonics, squeals and other little flourishes that make his playing different to each of Ozzy’s previous guitarists, on top of that he delivers a more heavy metal style of riff more frequently and as a consequence the direction of this album changed.

After the death of original guitarist Randy Rhodes, Ozzy started heading in a more commercial direction, but No Rest For The Wicked reverse the trend with a very rock orientated sound musically and much heavier production sound.

No Rest For The Wicked primarily contains straight up hard and heavy numbers, with a much less commercial direction than the previous two albums and as such hasn’t dated just as badly as they have. Surprisingly; give the increased heaviness of the album, it sold very well and was a large commercial and critical success.

The album is full of strong and well written music, including the excellent ‘Miracle Man,’ ‘Breaking All The Rules,’ and ‘Crazy Babies.’ The whole album is fairly consistent and the majority of the material is of that same high quality.

If you enjoy big riffs and bold guitar solos then this is a superb album, the only real flaw you could level at it is that it may be a bit repetitive, certainly so if you don’t like pinch harmonics. For everyone else, this shouldn’t put you off however and I highly recommend you give the album a shot.

Overall, No Rest For The Wicked is one of the better Ozzy albums out there, the material is strong, consistent and fairly heavy. Overall, it is a pretty essential buy for fans.

Stooge No rest for the wicked, and no rest for the Ozzman, as he gets back on track with a new guitarist in yet another lineup change.

I like what Zakk Wylde brings to the band on his first album as Ozzy’s axe slinger. His solos are solid, but I’m much more drawn into his riff writing. As a fresh face on the metal scene, he quickly puts his stamp on the Ozzy brand by contributing strong hooks in songs like “Breaking All the Rules”, “Crazy Babies”, and “Devil’s Daughter”.

Like some of the Jake E. Lee era songs, they tend to lean towards the hair metal side. While these songs lack the timelessness and atmosphere of the Randy Rhoads era material, they make up for it in energy. All songs, aside from the slower “Fire In The Sky” and “Hero” (which is a hidden track on the CD I own), would fit in nicely on a party mix tape (or playlist to be more modern :)). Not much on this album ranks highly among my favorite Ozzy tracks, but I’d only point to “Tattooed Dancer” as being notably below average or filler. It’s the one song I can never seem to remember off No Rest For The Wicked.

While very much a product of the 80s, No Rest For The Wicked is a fun album to bust out if you want some more up beat hard rock/metal.

Negoba Another New Kid, This Time a Keeper

Following Ultimate Sin, Ozzy (or maybe Sharon) unloaded guitarist Jake E. Lee for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps he was too moody, perhaps he was too pretty, who knows. But once again, the coveted slot was open again. Reportedly, Ozzy took a more active role this time and ended up with a youngster who would remain with him for several decades.

Zakk Wylde was a skinny Ozzy worshipper who had a Randy Rhoads Les Paul in his promo shot and had already memorized all of Ozzy's material. Ozzy reportedly passed on him as a clone at first, but eventually tapped the 19 year old for his band. Clearly, Zakk was giddy. His enthusiasm burst out of the album, and onstage. (This tour was one of my first.)

No Rest For the Wicked gets forgotten sometimes, but it's actually my favorite Zakk album. Unlike Lee, Wylde's tone is enormous. His riffs are crushing, heavier than anything Ozzy had recorded since Sabbath. The guitars on "Crazy Babies" are bludgeoning hammers. Zakk's trademark pinch harmonics and 9 mile wide vibrato sound like a dragon about to crush you in its steel trap. (Hey maybe they should make a movie about that)

All the songs are a bit nastier than on the Ultimate Sin, with "Miracle Man," "Fire in the Sky," and "Demon Alcohol" all being favorites of mine.

Bottom Line: Great, though sometimes forgotten, Ozzy Album

SouthSideoftheSky Miracle man!

Ten years after being kicked out of Black Sabbath and four good solo albums under his belt (three of which are all time classics and all of which contained classic songs), it seemed that Ozzy Osbourne could do nothing wrong. All kinds of problems haunted him; drugs, alcohol, the sudden and tragic death of his guitarist Randy Rhoads (RIP), several lawsuits, etc. etc. but all these problems only seem to have spurred him on! And indeed, this fifth solo album is once again a good one, even if I think that it was his least good one yet at that point. Jake E. Lee who replaced Randy Rhoads after the Diary Of A Madman album and played on Bark At The Moon and the previous The Ultimate Sin is here replaced with Zakk Wylde. Wylde would then stay in Ozzy’s band for many years to come, but musically No Rest For The Wicked is much more in line with Bark At The Moon and The Ultimate Sin than with Ozzy’s 90’s and 2000’s albums.

Like all previous Ozzy solo albums, this one too contains some ‘hits’ in Miracle Man, Crazy Babies and Breakin’ All The Rules. It is, however, songs like Fire In The Sky and Hero that stand out for me. Indeed, these two songs sound a bit like outtakes from the excellent Bark At The Moon album – my favourite Ozzy solo album. Several of the other songs here are, however, a bit too straightforward and catchy for my taste.

Still, this is a good album and a good addition to the previous four albums. It is, however, not the best place to start!