10 More Songs That Are Huge Outliers On Rock Albums

When one thinks of Ozzy Osbourne, many different words come to mind. Legend. Mad genius. Birmingham. But you’d have to ask a lot of people before somebody came up with the word “sentimental”. 

Osbourne’s 1991 album No More Tears was written largely as a collaboration with guitar icon Zakk Wylde and Lemmy from Motörhead and, for the most part, it sure sounds that way. This is the album that features the raucous title track, Hellraiser, and a song called Zombie Stomp. 

However, power ballads were all the rage in the early 90s, so Ozzy jumped on the bandwagon. 

Mama, I’m Coming Home was originally written for the piano before it was turned into a full-on Bryan Adams-inspired tearjerker. Ozzy sings about how his mother could have been a better friend to him and how “times have changed and times are strange”, as Wylde makes his guitar weep mournful notes.

This brazen attempt to capture a trend might not sit well with the rest of No More Tears, but it did achieve its goal of becoming a mainstream hit. It’s the only Osbourne solo song to ever reach the top 40 in America.