Stories about the behind-the-scenes creation of great rock albums are always interesting, but few are as absurd as the bizarre and disgusting plan that Zakk Wylde hatched to get revenge on Ozzy Osbourne during the recording of No More Tears (1991).
Those who listen to classics like "Mama, I'm Coming Home" and "Hellraiser" can't imagine the problem the band faced at the time: the Prince of Darkness became a nightmare for the musicians and crew, as recounted by guitarist and producer Duane Baron in an interview with Metal Hammer .
“Ozzy was always releasing these stink bombs. You could use them to evacuate entire buildings, not just rooms. [The crew] thought he couldn’t finish the album,” Wylde explained about the seriousness of the issue, which left those present “choking” on the smell.
“Honestly, at first we thought he had a real problem. He was letting them go everywhere: in the studio, on flights, even when we went to Las Vegas for a weekend and he let one go in the casino!”, confirmed Baron.
After a while, Zakk Wylde decided to get revenge and enlisted the help of drummer Randy Castillo for a disgusting prank. “Every day Oz would sit on a couch watching World War II videos or something, so I took my huge turd in a bag and made a small hole, arranging it until it was properly hidden in the back of the couch. Meanwhile, Randy would go and shit in some Tupperware, which he kept in the fridge for later,” the musician described.
When Ozzy tried to continue with his routine of watching videos and looking for something to eat, he had an unpleasant surprise. “I was just trying to watch my World War II videos, thinking 'what a horrible stench is that?' I went to get something to eat, thinking we had some leftovers… They were shit leftovers, if they were!”, Ozzy yelled, according to Wylde.
In the end, everything ended in good humor. “Hilarious as hell, man. There were shenanigans like that happening all the time – it was a miracle that it all got done [on the album]! I can just imagine him pulling the shit off the couch, thinking, 'How much do I pay these damn bastards to shit in my room – did I pay them to do that?!'” the guitarist concluded.
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