The following is a Designated Cheerleader piece by @zacharymull for the Best Album of 1991 tournament. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you follow the link to vote in the tournament. Thanks!

Ozzy got sober in 1990. His drug abuse and erratic behavior had dominated his career for years. Now newly sober, his wife and manager Sharon seized the moment. Heavy metal was near the end of its commercial high point, but Ozzy was still a big name. She hired a couple of Tom Werman’s assistants to produce. Longtime bassist / lyricist Bob Daisley played bass on the album but got fired when he asked to retain publishing rights on his lyrics. She found an A-list replacement in Lemmy from Motorhead, who wrote 6 songs for the record. (Who wrote the rest of the lyrics? Beats me. It wasn’t Ozzy.) Guitarist Zakk Wylde could do the flashy solos and riffs but had a great ear for songs and wasn’t above being a utility player when the arrangement needed it.. The result is one of Ozzy’s best records. It’s not as musically daring as his albums with Randy Rhodes, but it’s more focused and consistent. And it prolonged Ozzy's career by a decade at least. Here was a guy with 23 years in the game demonstrating that he could still make music that was commercially relevant in the 1990s. It’s even more impressive when you consider how thoroughly the 90s wiped out the 80s metal scene. An interesting bit of trivia: Ozzy played more songs from No More Tears on his most recent tour in 2018 than he did on the 1992 tour to support the album. If anything, the record has grown in appreciation among fans since the 90s.

– @zacharymull