Ozzy Osbourne

Inexpicably, Ozzy Osbourne had his biggest American hit in the spring of 1992, just after grunge took over the world. Certainly, it wasn't the ideal time for Ozzy to be climbing the charts, but he had never released a single quite as chart-friendly as "Mama, I'm Coming Home." A big, sweeping power ballad similar to his Top Ten hit duet with Lita Ford, "Close My Eyes Forever," "Mama, I'm Coming Home" may not appeal to Ozzy's headbanging hardcore following, but it's a very good hard rock ballad and one of his finest singles. And it was released in a number of permutations as a single. In the U.S., it was released as a CD-5 single supported by "Don't Blame Me" and "Party with the Animals." It also was issued as promotional single and jukebox single, containing only the title track plus (on the CD) various edits. It was also released in Europe as a two-part CD/12-inch single. The first features the single version of "Mama, I'm Coming Home," plus "Don't Blame Me," "I Don't Know" and "Crazy Train." The second features "Goodbye to Romance" and "Time After Time." None of the B-sides on any of the versions are particularly noteworthy, but they're not bad, either. Certainly Ozzy fanatics will want to seek out all the variations, but casual fans will either want to stick with the album or the U.S. CD single. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide