Since the passing of heavy metal hero Ozzy Osbourne earlier this year, there has been an outpouring of tributes and cover songs to honor his incredible legacy. From his time in Black Sabbath to his storied solo career, the Prince of Darkness touched countless lives with his music.
Today, we’re checking out an amazing cover of his 1991 hit “No More Tears” by the collective Brass Against. The group, which “shares the goal of creating music to inspire social and personal change,” adds a new texture to the song with their arrangement by music director Andrew Gutauskas.
Brass Against has a horn-heavy instrumentation featuring Gutauskas on baritone saxophone, Nadav Nirenberg on Trombone, Wayne Tucker and Oskar Stenmark on trumpets, and Joe Exley on tuba. The band is filled out by guitarist Brad Hammonds, drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell, and violinist Eli Bishop. Vocalist and Broadway star Morgan James fronts the group to add a feminine touch to Ozzy’s lyrics.
The original arrangement of “No More Tears” begins with the bass guitar pounding out a syncopated riff. This was an unusual element for most metal songs, especially for a title track to an album.
In the Brass Against version, Gutauskas plays the riff on his baritone saxophone. The instrument already takes a lot more air support than others in the saxophone family, so his persistent groove is a marvel in itself. As one YouTube commenter put it, “Dude on sax is gonna need some oxygen after maintaining this groove for 7 minutes.”
Hammonds mirrors the heavy guitar chords from the original, which act as a response between each line of the verse. The guitar is tuned in drop C#, which gives the riff a heavier tone. The lick leans on the root, flat 3rd, fourth, and flat 5th of the key. Each interval reinforces the dark sound, with the flat 5th (also known as the tritone) adding extra dissonance.
Things get even more interesting during the instrumental breakdown at the 3:16 mark. The band stays true to the original by building to a climax before dropping off. Instead of a piano part, Gutauskas arranged the section to be played by the brass instruments. Their sustain gives further ambience to the more pensive part of the music.
Next up, we get a surprise. The build up section brings the guitar and drums back into the equation, but just as we get to another climax the violin steps in to take what is traditionally a guitar solo. Bishop plays all the original notes for another impressive feat.
As incredible as the instrumental playing is, James is digging deep to bring meaning to every word she belts out. Her energy and phrasing for the final verse and chorus are absolutely stunning.
Brass Against even shared a clip of just that portion of the song on Facebook, saying “We know that our newest song No More Tears with the amazing Morgan James is LONG! The whole thing is AWESOME, but this might just be our favorite part of it.”
Watch their amazing take above, and then get the sheet music for “No More Tears” to make your own version:
