Technical Ecstasy

Apathy is a killer. Be it in music or otherwise, it’s worse than the catastrophes in metal like Cold Lake, Prototype, Lulu, and Risk, as at least those tried to be something, even if they fell flat on their faces. Technical Ecstasy is Black Sabbath entering their malaise era with great apathy. It’s the sound of a band coasting on autopilot for the majority of its runtime.

This album starts off somewhat promising. The first couple of tracks are good to great. ”Back Street Kids” starts with a solid riff before the synths kick in. While keyboards and synths were nothing new in Black Sabbath’s catalog, they really don’t add anything to this song. Songs like “Snowblind” used keyboards to great effect, and the band would use them well in future, but on this track they just don’t work. Ozzy’s vocals are also particularly egregious on the bridge of this song. While I love Ozzy’s vocals generally, this is one of the worst examples of Ozzy singing to the guitar’s melody. It doesn’t work here. This is followed by one of the best tracks on the album “You Won’t Change me”. This song shows the band still has it, even if it’s only fleeting. The keyboards are great on this track and add some eerie bits that work alongside Ozzy’s vocals here. It also features some “Into the Void”-esque riffing. Gypsy reminds me of Deep Purple mixed with “Supernaut”.

The malaise sets in after “You Won’t Change Me”. As a drummer myself, I can testify that letting the drummer sing when they’re not the lead singer is rarely a good idea. “It’s Alright” doesn’t change this hypothesis. While Autopsy, Tomb Mold, Nocturnus and Exciter have singing drummers, they have always been that way. Sabbath is not one of those bands. “It’s Alright” encapsulates the energy of this album in its title rather fittingly. This album is the equivalent of a shoulder shrug or a lukewarm glass of water.

The production on this album does it no real favors. It isn't an active hindrance to enjoying the music on the whole, but is thinner than the sludgy “Master of Reality”. With the Dio era waiting in the wings, this production fails to garner much praise or criticism, given how punchy the Dio albums sound. Again, as the 3rd track states: “It’s Alright”. On certain songs the production works better (Dirty Women and You Won’t Change Me), but I will add there’s one moment where the production is bizarre. “It’s Alright” has a moment where the drum kits falls away, but the kick drum continues to be played. They decided to raise the volume of the kick and change the tone of it and it sounds incredibly limp.

Instrument-wise, the band continues to excel at their respective instruments. Iommi’s playing is always incredible, even if the songs aren’t there. Bill Ward’s drumming is brilliant on tracks like Dirty Women, as well as putting some of his jazz training to good use in the middle of “Back Street Kids”. Geezer Butler’s bass rounds out the sound excellently, and the interplay between Iommi and Butler is always a joy to listen to. Unfortunately, Ozzy’s vocals are rough on parts of this album. When the riffs were as good as they were on “Snowblind”, “Hole in the Sky”, “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” and more, Ozzy singing along the riff worked rather well. Unfortunately, when the songs started to falter here, Ozzy was left exposed. That said, this album has one of the finest moments in Ozzy’s career as well, on “Dirty Women”, where he summons up all the gumption he has for the roars in the mid-section. This song feels like the last true gasp of Sabbath’s original lineup at their best. Never Say Die would feature a couple worthwhile songs but fell off even worse than this release.

The tracks I haven’t mentioned so far are all fairly forgettable. The entire B side with the exception of “Dirty Women” is painfully mediocre. All Moving Parts (Stand Still) is generic ‘70s rock at a plodding pace. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor is in a similar vein to the previous track, but Ozzy’s vocals work better. “She’s Gone” is the worst song on the album. Sabbath’s ballads usually added something to the album, whether that was spacy vibes (Plant Caravan), folksy (Solitude), or heartfelt (Changes), this one adds nothing. It reminds me of some of the weaker songs on “Blizzard of Ozz”.

I think the reason this album sticks out to me so much is that it reminds me of the generic deathcore band you see opening for a great headliner on a Thursday show. You want to see the headliner and go home. Instead you know the concert’s going to go until 2 AM and the next morning is going to be rough. With “Heaven and Hell”, and “Mob Rules” right around the corner, the last two Ozzy Sabbath albums are just dragging out a rather painful era in Sabbath’s history. This album would probably be regarded better if it wasn’t surrounded by titans of the genre, but context matters. “Heaven and Hell” is one of the great comebacks in metal history, and the band truly sounds revitalized on that release. As a result, this one is hard to go back to, as it’s very sleepy sounding and just sounds like autopilot in musical form.

I feel like I’ve been fairly negative in this review, so I’ll concede, “Dirty Women” and “You Won’t Change Me” are fantastic tunes that could easily make a greatest hits album. “Gypsy” is weak in the first half, but the solo and layered vocals do some heavy lifting, and would be a good enough song live. The rest of these songs are not worth bothering with. This is the first Sabbath album where I’ve felt the need to skip large swaths of material (I always skip “FX”, but that’s not a song). If you’re wanting a bit more out of the Ozzy years and have played the first 6 albums to death, this one has something to offer you without a doubt. If you’re looking for a cohesive, heavy and brilliant album front to back, look elsewhere. While “Never Say Die” is much worse, “Technical Ecstasy” is the canary in the coal mine.

If ever there was a truly bad album in Sabbath’s catalogue. I am sure this record has its fans, for anytime a band has a discography as extensive Sabbath, there are certainly albums that fail to reach critical or commercial success for different reasons. Even more certain are the fans that come to appreciate those albums, even if for nothing than wanting to champion its under-performing nature. I doubt many of the albums fans can argue much of the criticisms this album has lauded.

Even the proponents of this release recognize that if a different band name accompanied the artwork, it would be obscure. It simply cannot stand on its own without its flaws being glaringly obvious. Because this is Sabbath however, Technical Ecstasy has the abject placement of succeeding six vanguard albums that redirected the course of music history. Certainly no easy act to follow and since it was the first true blunder of the bands output, it is doomed any way you try to approach the release.

Now while that reason is valid, it does not change one clear fact about this album; even the quality tracks (there are a couple) are weak and characterless. Ward’s drums are flatfooted, Geezer’s bass is just wallpaper and Iommi’s progressive tendencies are not reeled in. I normally appreciate diversity and the album does show some variety but none of it sounds organic. It sounds like a strong songwriting team fracturing as a result of several things all converging at once. So no focus can be found and while I normally adore Sabbath for their eclecticism, this album is consistent on one thing and that is what I dislike the most. SLOW TEMPOS!

I DO appreciate doom metal for what it is, but I simply cannot bear the vocals of Ozzy when the songs are slow. This is supposed to be Metal and, regardless of what adjective you wish to preface the genre with, the one element most associated with metal is energy. Where is the energy here? There are a couple of moments and, what do you know, they are the best songs. Fortunately, all three are grouped together between tracks 4 - 6. Gypsy, All Moving Parts (Stand Still) & Rock And Roll Doctor are the best these eight songs have to offer.

These songs work because they move along fast enough for the creation of easy vocal melodies, where Ozzy shines best. Contrast the funk-laden Rock And Roll Doctor, complete with resplendent piano by Gerald Woodruffe, with the aggravatingly wearisome You Won’t Change Me, complete with abhorrent vocals by Ozzy. He snivels in a discordant manner throughout this song and the unfortunate interlude of Backstreet Kids, which goes to prove my point. Backstreet Kids, when moving at a fast pace, was shaping up as a decent opener and one of Ozzy’s better performances of the record. As soon as he has to stretch out his vocal expression during that unfortunate interlude, it becomes like Mount Tambora levels of catastrophe. Another perfect example is with album closer, Dirty Women. It is said to be another highlight but I fail to see how anyone can claim that. It is seven minutes of plodding repetition, with a hook that goes nowhere, horrendous vocals, but the lone moment is exhibits any kind of energy Ozzy suddenly sounds respectable. It is not all on the Ozzman here however since the bands also fails spectacularly. The final two minutes are incessant noodling by Iommi as if the song is meant to blunder aimlessly around as if begging to be put out of its misery.

Even It’s Alright sung by Bill Ward proves it was not all Ozzy’s fault. While Bill certainly sounds better than Ozzy would have on this song (the reason why below), it is still a pointless and meandering ballad that fades out like an old dry leaf blowing into a sewer drain. Absolutely none of the music here stands out as worth your time. So how do I know Bill sang that ballad better than Ozzy would have? Well… Ozzy does not do very well when having to carry a slower moving composition but then add in sap coated balladry and it is a recipe for disaster.

We have reached transcendence on repugnant performances by someone I am told deserves the highest extolment as a vocalist. As I have disclosed many times, possibly to the point of annoyance for any reader, my favorite part of Black Sabbath is their eclecticism. Their desire to include everything they can under the Black Sabbath name, however She’s Gone is proof that variety for the sake of it does not always work. I am not inherently against this or any other type of ballad, even by a metal band, and the music of this song is rather idyllic. However if I wanted to listen to a band that falls somewhere within the realm of rock go full on Barry Manilow than I would listen to Styx. At least there Dennis DeYoung is a credible vocalist, this composition simply does not do Ozzy Osbourne any justice. I also think that it divulges this albums biggest defect, the songwriting is simply too spiritless for any band of this caliber.

She’s Gone can be seen as the trifecta of the three true ballads during the Ozzy era, (Solitude & Changes being the first two). Not only are they the only true ballads this lineup did, they are all the same lyrically. A lost loved lyric, never a result of inevitable demise but of the brokenhearted variety. So as little effort as possible, yeah?

Despite their melodramatic lyrics Solitude and Changes both work because the music was thick, heavy and extremely atmospheric or brooding with doom textures that it made songs both simultaneously different but still contextually authentic at the same time. For She’s Gone the music is blissfully major and therefore contradicts the lyrical tone, in fact without the melancholy violin strings one would think the music was almost whimsical and enchanting. However, again, the music is only at fault to a point, this performance is the most embarrassing of Ozzy’s tenure with the band.

So, to conclude, if this album had been made by an unknown band with an incompetent vocalist in the same year, it probably would not even qualify as ‘metal’. Most would never know it existed, but because it bears Black Sabbath’s immortal moniker it is weighed against the rest of the material.

To further illustrate just how bad this album is, consider those that only accept the Ozzy era of the band; who refuse to accept any Sabbath recording without this particular lineup. In the minds of those fans, this album was the end of the bands golden era, ending a six album run and then nothing of note in the 45 intervening years up to this here review. So Technical Ecstasy stopped the innovative train dead in its tracks, and since they never again recovered from this here derailment, it deserves its routine placement as the worst album of at least the Ozzy era, if not for the bands entire existence.

Highlights: Rock & Rock Doctor, All Moving Parts, Gypsy
Shadows: You Won’t Change Me & Dirty Women

Embarrassment: She’s Gone

Amazingly, Technical Ecstasy isn’t something that took overly long to grow on me despite it entering the last phase of weirdness amongst the Ozzy era. Though it’s pretty obvious by now that Black Sabbath have stepped beyond the comfortable boundary for many, I don’t think that’s a fault at all. Rather, the thing that holds this one back is the blunt lack of consistency in any way, shape, or form. If I heard all of these songs for the first time not knowing who it was, and you took away the vocals, I would assume it was a shuffled playlist.

Literally, not a single song on the entire first side holds anything in similarity sans Ozzy behind the mic. This is the weirdest mix of galloping rock ‘n roll, dreary doomism, and Beatles-like power pop balladry. Now with that in mind, on an individual level all of these things are great. “It’s Alright” is such a soothing number with its smooth delivery and wonderful instrumental toppings. I also think “You Won’t Change Me” has a darker edge from the organ alone than anything else on the entire disc. And just the intro of “Back Street Kids” should give you an idea of how solid the upbeat rock number is.

Side B is more or less a mildly diluted version of everything just described. In other words, far less memorable but strong enough when you revisit it, there just seems to be a missing link with the “does this stick?” factor. I suppose “Rock ‘N Roll Doctor” is immune (ha!) to that thanks to it having such a catchy chorus, but at the end of the day it’s definitely one of the more throwaway tracks. Much like that, “She’s Gone” is a decent one that I can enjoy as well, but still falls short in comparison to typical Sabbath balladry. The only true exception here is closer “Dirty Women,” a longer banger that shows the band’s classic colors a bit more clearly than anything on here. (Cue up a sped-up "Breakin The Law" in that solo, amirite?)

A plate of drastically different foods that mostly taste good is better than a plate of similarly dull foods that have zero flavor, and that’s my weird way of summing up Technical Ecstasy. The first three songs and the closer hold the most weight for sure, but nothing here is offensively bad, it’s just a bit poorly structured. If this awkwardness didn’t show the struggles going on with Tony and co., then the next one certainly would.

Many people consider Black Sabbath's "Technical Ecstasy" to be the beginning of the end. Personally, for me, it was over for the Ozzy era before this album was released. However, this album is a good bit better than "Sabotage" was, so there's some solace in that fact. To be perfectly honest, if you only cherry pick from this album, it could be one of the better Ozzy era Sabbath releases. But as a total package, there's much to be desired. This record is an incredibly mixed bag. There's a decent amount of interesting things happening on it, but there's also a ton that's just awful about it. There aren't many albums that are such a cluster of enjoyable material and garbage like "Technical Ecstasy."

"Dirty Women" seems to have been the track that has stuck around the most from this record, and there's good reason for that. It's certainly a better track on the album, and honestly one of the better Ozzy era Sabbath songs. Ozzy actually does a pretty good job at selling this song, especially on the chorus, but Iommi is the real hero. This is another song that shows what an absolute riff genius he is. Riff after riff on this track is fantastic. The opening riff has a heavy, yet 'sly' feeling to it. The transition riff after the verses is probably my favorite on the entire song, and its backed by some keys that add more weight to it. The riff that immediately follows that one is fantastic as well. Bill Ward throws in some cool double bass work towards the end to drive and keep the song building. My only complaint is that I think the outro is a bit too long. If about a minute was cut off it, I think it'd have been just fine. Great Sabbath track across the board here. Another pretty interesting track is "All Moving Parts." This song is another actually good combo of Ozzy and Iommi. Once again, I think Ozzy's vocals are pretty decent on this track. Maybe a little bit to bored sounding, but pretty solid for his standards. Iommi's riff is simple, but with a perfect flow to it, which Ward's equally simple drumming helps pound out. Geezer is also bouncing his bassline along very nicely on this track. It's some of his best work on this album. The quicker section a bit later is a great breath of fresh air to add some much needed variety to the song. Iommi leads on with another fantastic riff during it.

The only track on the record that can rival "Dirty Women" for me happens to be "Gypsy." Bill Ward opens up with a very tasty and unique drum groove, and after this intro, Iommi busts in with another very heavy riff which Geezer mirrors. The pre chorus is a fantastic one. Iommi uses another simple, but heavy and catchy riff with a piano behind him, giving him the weight he needs. This is a song that I really feel like has a lot of good ideas behind it. It paces itself very nicely to cut out an enjoyable track for this record. The opener "Back Street Kids" is another pretty solid one. It's a quick paced song for Sabbath's usual standards, and Iommi's chorus riff that he uses as an intro is heavy in an almost theatrical way. Ozzy's monotonous voice is actually a dead ringer for this kind of chorus, and it gives the almost robotic sound a great feel. The keys later on the song are also fantastic, and it helps the song almost become uplifting.

But where those four tracks are pretty enjoyable, the rest are terrible. This album has two ballads. Sabbath does not have a good track record when it comes to ballads, and these two are no exception. "She's Gone" is the better of the two, as Iommi's acoustic guitar melody and the orchestration that go behind the track are sad and downtrodden. However, while Ozzy's voice isn't the WORST on this song, his singing comes off as cheesy to me. Like a man who is faking a sad emotion instead of actually experiencing it. It turns the song from sad to downright pitiable, and it's a disjointed connection that just doesn't work. "It's Alright" is pure and utter garbage. Bill Ward's voice actually might even be better than Ozzy's, but this track is pathetic. It's not a beautiful song, it's not a happy song, it's not a sad song...it's just nothing. It's a song that doesn't know what it's trying to go for, and isn't the slightest bit interesting on top of it either. The entire four minute run time, it feels like all four members of the band are staring at each other, giving each other sideways glances as if to say "..what are we doing with this song again..?" It sounds utterly thrown together and accomplishes nothing.

The ballads aren't the only source of poor material on "Technical Ecstasy," though. "You Won't Change Me" is another very bad Sabbath track. The intro is a heavy, brooding one, and this might get you to think this is going to be the Sabbath song on the album that goes back to their classic roots, but it quickly devolves. The keys that come in are an odd transition, but what comes after that is just a boring jam. Iommi's guitar parts are terrible the whole way through, Ozzy's vocals are dull and uninspired, and neither Ward or Geezer are doing anything of their own to try and save it. The song pretty much keeps going in this direction without any transitions or progress at all. It's the second longest track on the record, and didn't even have enough interesting material to be the shortest. The one and only good thing I can say about this song is that Iommi's solo at the end is very cool.

"Technical Ecstasy" is almost an even 50/50 split of material that is worth existing, and material that is utter filler to justify the record's existence. When this record is on its game, it's actually one of the better Ozzy era Sabbath experiences. But the other half of the time when it whiffs, it's one of the worst. Honestly, a lot of times when I'm listening to Ozzy era Sabbath, I take the good songs from this record, and the couple of solid tracks from "Never Say Die" and combine them to pretend that the Ozzy era had one decent last gasp before fading away. While this is not a great album by any stretch of the imagination, I also don't think it's worthy of being written off nearly as much as many Sabbath fans do. This is the definition of a pick and choose album.

Like my title states, I believe that this album is underappreciated.

Yes, most fans dislike this album. Yes, the members of this band (especially Ozzy, if you need proof, read his autobiography) do not look back on this album/period fondly. Regardless, this album does not sound bad.

I will admit that the album may not be as good as the band's previous work, but it still sounds like a Black Sabbath production and album. The addition of keyboard synthesizers do seem to expand on the bands sound while adding to Sabbath's "darker" sound that they are known for. Also, let us not forget how the band had experimented and even used some synthesizer work on their previous albums. Looking back, one could also view the addition of the synthesizers as "being ahead of their time" or even "pioneers", since much of the next decades work (including metal and even Ozzy Osbourne's solo work) included keyboard synthesizers.

Also, the bands performance is still great. There is still the signature "dark" guitar work of Iommi throughout the album. Geezer's ant-establishment lyrics (which they have had in all of their albums) is well-represented, along with his bass. Ozzy's vocals, even though he was losing interest in the band, and was looking to form a new one, are actually just as good on this album as the earlier ones. Bill Ward's drums keep perfect time, cause the album to sound great (as always), and even his vocals, as represented in the track, "It's Alright", are rather good. Lastly, as stated before, the addition of the keyboard synthesizer work complements and adds to the overall feel and sound of the album.

There are also other reasons as to why this album is underappreciated. First for many fans, they did not care for the direction that the band seemed to be going. This is understood, for it is of personal taste. Second, it is well known that all of the band members (not only Mr. Osbourne) have admitted to having addiction problems, and at this time in their career led to many difficulties in this (and especially the next- Never Say Die!) album. Again as stated before, there is also Ozzy Osbourne's lack of interest in making this album due to his addiction problems, and looking to start another band with other musicians. Therefore, it only makes sense why some fans, and the band do not look at this album favourably.

Regardless of the problems stated above, the expansion on the sound and solid work from the band's members still make this an album worth listening to and an underappreciated work by Black Sabbath. This is especially evident in the fact that regardless of the problems that the band was going through, they were still able to come together and make a decent album together. This is proof of true talent, and one of the reasons why this band is considered on of the greatest in rock and roll. Even at their worst they were still better than others.

I do not hate this album. I totally understand why there are people who do, and even why people would be clamoring for Ronnie James Dio to join the group already (I would agree if he wasn't spending 1976 recording the seminal Rising and going on to record the classic Long Live Rock & Roll the year Black Sabbath shat out Never Say Die). Technical Ecstasy seems overproduced, and there's a lot of moments on here that seems the band is trying to sellout for some mainstream appeal. Case in point: It's Alright. These guys were so high they let Bill Ward sing a fucking Billy Joel song. Why do people hate Changes again? If you're gonna worship the Piano Man least attempt to emulate songs like Prelude/Angry Young Man or The Ballad of Billy The Kid (or Big Shot or Close To The Borderline, but those weren't written yet so they wouldn't have gotten the inspiration).

One critical piece of information that historians seem to forget around this time is that Black Sabbath have tuned their guitars instruments back up to standard. I'm guessing Tony Iommi was so high on cocaine he didn't need to make things easy on his fingers anymore. He was also high enough to think he was a record producer. His production here can best be described as sterile. You can hear all the instruments properly for most part but Tony Iommi's guitar just doesn't sound as full as it did on those early Sabbath albums. What's worse I swear they stuck with this sound up through Heaven & fucking Hell. I don't quite get how Martin Birch never figured this out and sought to immediately correct it (thankfully he would for Mob Rules, but still). Nonetheless, all the cocaine in the world can't stop Anthony Frank Iommi from writing some damn fine riffs. Dirty Women, All Moving Parts (Stand Still), You Won't Change Me (well the opening, anyway) and Gypsy are all solid heavy riffs in the Sabbath vein that we mostly recognize.

Nonetheless, there are also some bad moments here too. Like, really bad. Rock & Roll Doctor is ok on certain days, and other days you curse the band for making this a live staple for the remainder of the original Ozzy years. This song would have trouble cutting the mustard as a Status Quo song, let along a song by the band that redefined darkness and heaviness. She's Gone is Changes 2.0. I defend Changes a little more than most Sabbath fans but this song adds nothing, NOTHING that song didn't already. Complete waste of time. Even Dirty Women; the first four minutes are great but it just goes on and on and on and why the fuck didn't they fade this out 3 minutes ago? Especially since you can barely hear Tony under the millions of layers of vocals droning "dirty women" with as much inspiration as a Fred Durst drunk on Keystone. Oh, and that Breaking The Law riff everyone says is in Dirty Women? Well all I can say is if Priest did steal it, they put it to much better use than Sabbath did.

Technical Ecstasy is something I'd recommend for Ozzy Sabbath fans only. After Sabotage its like the band were creatively and emotionally drained. If you really want to own it, get it for as cheap as you can.

Black Sabbath's inaugural reign as the undisputed emperors of heavy metal music ended in 1976, when another Birmingham contender launched their sophomore attack, titled Sad Wings of Destiny, the record that started an utmost dominion of all things metal for the Priest, lasting 'til the beginning of the next decade, a period in which Sabbath had to bow down their head to the new Iron Thro… I mean, Metal Throne ruler, before the helping hand of Ronnie James Dio put them on the map again, ready to ride the NWOBHM as if they were Miki Dora. That was not only due to Priest's amazing streak of masterpiece after masterpiece alone, but also because of Sabbath's inability to maintain the heavenly high-level quality of their first six LPs. Their number seven, released seven month's after Judas Priest's breakthrough, turned out to be bad luck for the seminal quartet, as Technical Ecstasy lacks both interesting technique or any ecstasy at all.

The Dadaist cover artwork by Hipgnosis studio is certainly as far from the Sabbath aesthetic as possible, and remains one of the weirdest and most misplaced metal album covers of all time. The concept of two robots in intercourse is not that bad in itself, but the resulting image feels more suited for a Supertramp LP than anything metal or even hard rock-ish. Hell, there are darker and meaner Pink Floyd record covers, most of which happen to be designed by Hipgnosis as well. But when one listens to the Bill Ward-sung “It's All Right”, things start to make (NO FUCKING) sense between the non-Sabbath artwork and the non-Sabbath music. There are heavier Beatles songs than that, and I'm not fucking joking! It's not that Mr. Ward has a bad or unwanted voice, but the track is among the least-Sabbath (or metal) sounding they've ever put to tape. “Gypsy” is another one in which they tried to branch out, kinda trying their hand at Queen's baroque style, a failed enterprise somewhat rescued by the ever powerful guitarwork of the riff master himself, Tony Iommi, one of the few saving graces in this, or any, Sabbath material.

“All Moving Parts (Stand Still)”, side B opener, tries to conjure up the Coverdale-powered spirit of that era's Deep Purple, with some scent of 'sexy' funky hard rock, but The Prince of Darkness' voice sounds totally wrong and out of place in such a composition. Surprisingly, “Rock 'n' Roll Doctor” seems to insist with that direction, kinda anticipating the vapid glam metal that would appear half a decade into the future. What a waste of three minutes time in anyone's life! “She's Gone” is a sad ballad with some orchestration, and while it pales in comparison to “Changes” from Vol. 4, it's a decent tune, featuring the saddened Ozzy we all like to enjoy. The two minor jewels I would consider for an Ozzy-years Best Of compilation are “You Won't Change Me” and of course, their own seven-minute response to “Victim of Changes”, tip-top closer “Dirty Woman”. Even if both tracks sound closer to uplifting hard rock than to their gloom and doom of old, the riffing is strong and memorable enough in those two to save the album from being an utter failure.

The band abandoned the multi-instrumental exploration of the previous two releases and decided to focus again on rock's basics, but their decision to leave metal behind for more accessible sounds cost them their personality and grandeur. Even the production is flawed, with Butler suffering a bit of neglect, the remastered album version not helping much. Not that it would make much of a difference if his presence would have been enhanced in the original mix though, as the rhythmic section is too basic, straightforward and uneventful to cause much of an impact. Ozzy's voice remain distinctive, but it’s definitely not that suited for the compositions at hand, and the already mentioned Iommi shines mostly during the solos, but his riff selection for this record is not that impressive. Sadly, Never Say Die! would prove even more appalling, but as everybody knows, the second decade and second classic Sabbath lineup would bear sweetest fruit.

Technical Ecstasy doesn't do its name any justice and is the weakest release of the original Black Sabbath line-up. The problem isn't necessarily that the band shifted its sound from heavy and doom metal to adapt a more blues and hard rock inspired sound. This shift actually worked rather well for this record's successor Never Say Die! that had several great tracks such as ''Johnny Blade'' and ''Junior's Eyes''. Technical Ecstasy's problem is that the songwriting is all over the place. The tracks don't sound fleshed out, the different songs don't really fit together and the record is missing a truly memorable tune. Some people say that album closer ''Dirty Women'' is an overlooked gem but I have to disagree since that song doesn't give me anything and I find it very hard to not skip any parts of it over an excruciating length of far over seven minutes.

There are a few interesting experiments to be found on this album. Interesting has to be taken literally because these songs aren't particularly great but they aren't fillers either. They are just interesting. The ballad ''She's Gone'' comes around with acoustic guitars and violin sounds that one would rather expect from Simon and Garfunkel than Black Sabbath. This elegiac song is the band's most unique ballad and one can't deny that it has a really numbing atmosphere. ''It's Alright'' is another ballad but this one is a little bit more vivid and features some piano sounds instead. Once again, it's a song one would rather expect from a hippie band but then again, all Black Sabbath members were heavily abusing drugs during the recording sessions which might explain these soundscapes. The most outstanding element about this song is that vocals are performed by drummer Bill Ward and while his voice isn't as unique as Ozzy Osbourne's psychedelic style, his vocals would perfectly fit to a blues or soft rock group or a second-rate The Beatles cover band.

Aside of these unusual experiments, is there at least one truly great song on this release? In my opinion, there is exactly one to be found and this track is called ''Gypsy''. I like everything about this song from the vivid percussion overture over the simple but efficient hard rock riffs underlined by uncomplicated piano sounds to the epic and melancholic chorus. The song also features Ozzy Osbourne's most inspired effort on this release since he is missing some energy in most of the other tunes. I also like the slightly mysterious and occult lyrics that recall classic Black Sabbath songwriting. Despite having different parts, the songwriting sounds coherent and fluid in this song which is exceptional by this record's low standard. Still, this song is far from being related to metal and could rather be described as melodic hard rock but it succeeds very well in this particular genre and is good for what it is.

To keep it short, Technical Ecstasy can't be recommended to fans of Black Sabbath's early doom and heavy metal soundscapes and even as a blues or hard rock record, the successor Never Say Die! sounds much more focused and fresh. Technical Ecstasy is for avid collectors only or for people who usually aren't into heavy metal and are looking for a classic seventies rock record with an authentic hippie vibe. Technical Ecstasy isn't a disaster from an objective point of view but by Black Sabbath's standards, it's not only below average but even a contender for the band's worst studio record.

Black Sabbath of the early 70's released some of the heaviest, most drug-influenced and dirtiest albums ever. After their fourth effort, Black Sabbath Vol. 4, the band changed its sound. Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath, the band's fifth effort, ended its sludgy phase. The production was much cleaner, and the riffs became much more melodic. In addition, from that album and on Black Sabbath have started adding more and more progressive elements and synthesizers to their music. Despite the sound change, the album was well received among fans and critics, and it is still loved to this day. The following album, Sabotage, would drive further away from the band's original sound. Much more progressive than before, two songs in it pass the 8-minute mark, and in addition there is a heavy synth use, as clearly seen in Am I Going Insane (Radio). Sabotage was also rightfully well-acclaimed, and the problems only began to show up on their seventh studio album, Technical Ecstasy. It is considered by many the first bad Black Sabbath album.

In Technical Ecstasy, the band started experimenting a lot with different sounds and types of music. A lot of the heaviness they were known for is gone, and synth use is very prominent. Some of the tracks, and especially Rock N' Roll Doctor, can barely be considered metal. The aforementioned is a failed attempt at making a pop/rock hit, while All Moving Parts (Stand Still) and Gypsy are both groovy and upbeat with some sort of funk influences. The album also contains two ballads, It's Alright and She's Gone. The former actually being sung by the band's drummer Bill Ward. That leaves us with only three heavy metal songs on a Black Sabbath record, all of which are highlights of the record.

The opener Back Street Kids is fast and heavy with some great riffs and an unusual bridge to keep things interesting. The heavily synth-driven You Won't Change Me is extremely melodic and emotional, turning up to be one of the best moments of the album. The real highlight, though, is the closer Dirty Women. Over 7 minutes in length, this bombastic song shifts between some of the best riffs and solos the band ever preformed. The song could be easily matched against most of the songs on Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath.

Even when leaving the metal tracks aside, the album still does have some fine moments. The two ballads are both very nice, and the vocals by Bill Ward end up being very refreshing and fitting for a ballad, even though the ballad itself comes across as slightly cheesy. In contrast, She's Gone has a beautiful atmosphere, but lacks in the vocal section, seeing as Ozzy Osbourne is not very talented singing clean. Thus, the three track span from Gypsy to Rock N' Roll Doctor is easily the worst part of the album, but all three, and especially the first two, have some nice moments that prevent them from being total ass like the awesome guitar solo in Gypsy.

Lacking in the songwriting section as it may be, some other aspects of Technical Ecstasy pick it up. The production is perfect, very much resembling the great one on Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath, and the vocals on the heavier tracks are surprisingly very well executed and end up being some of Ozzy's finest moments. That being said, his vocals on some of the other tracks are absolutely atrocious. The performance by other band members is also very good, especially the surprising vocal performance by Bill Ward.

Technical Ecstasy is an album most Sabbath fans love to hate. While the band's distinctive sound did change in it, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Despite having some bad/average tracks, the album contains some amazing and overlooked tunes.

Years ago, when I first discovered Black Sabbath while playing Rock N' Roll Racing on Super Nintendo, I avidly sought out all their early discography, excited like a kid at Christmas with each new purchase. Alas, I soon realized only the 70's material featured Ozzy Osbourne on vocals, so I focused mainly on their first eight albums. Was I ever in for an unpleasant shock (#$@%!) when I popped the turnip which is Technical Ecstasy into the tape deck.

The opener "Backstreet Kids" immediately caught me off guard. With its pedantic, out-of-place ghetto references and Ozzy's overly nasal twine, it didn't take long for it to grind my (g)ears. The line at the end of the verses : " Nobody I know is gonna take my rock 'n roll away from me" is especially horrid. I remember feeling uneasy and cheated while sensing a foreboding apprehension of what was to come.

'Turns out my fears were well founded.

Many of the tracks seem like they were composed off the cuff; either the boys from Birmingham had one too many and strayed away from the beaten path or they were recovering from a serious hangover while writing them. As well, they sound hastily put together, as if the band was hemmed in by cloying record executives while trying to meet a deadline. Take "All Moving Parts", for example. The less said, the better. It's basically an uninspiring and boring song as flat as a glass of 7-Up left on the counter overnight. Another would be "Rock N' Roll Doctor", although I admit the cowbell and piano strokes are a nice touch. Other than that, one could say the entire song is a cry for help. ("Gotta See My Rock N' Roll Doctor" repeated a gazillion times.) I find it particularly unfortunate that Ozzy's vocal range bleakly hangs somewhere between the eerie and mesmerizing overtones of their earlier albums and the rock orchestra splendor of his solo days (i.e. Blizzard Of Oz, Diary Of A Madman, that sort of stuff). Somehow, he seems to lack his usual one-of-a-kind charisma and overall magnetism this time around.

A decent song which could have nicely complimented some other powerhouse of an album is "Gypsy", which has a cool David Bowie (RIP)/Rush vibe to it, yet here it is hopelessly lumped in with "It's Alright", and "She's Gone", two absolutely unnecessary pieces of saccharine whimsy. Hence, the problem: half of Technical Ex is comprised of fluff (of course, no disrespect to their instrumental of the same name) while most of it is devoid of any truly satisfying or memorable moments. This is not acceptable in my book!

Also, I could have done without the melodramatic synthesizers that pop up intermittently throughout the album. They definitely didn't manage to re-produce the psychedelic and welcome effect found on Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. As far as the rhythm section goes, the band seems to be asleep at the wheel most of the time. Geezer Butler's past synergy and drive from albums such as Paranoid and Master Of Reality are missing; his bass lines come off as cheap and generic. Bill Ward's drumming also lacks his earlier years' relaxed break beat style. "Technically" speaking, they're not at all impressive, thumping meekly.

All is not lost. The final track, "Dirty Women", saves the album from total disgrace (otherwise I would have rated it closer to zero). Although the main guitar riff sounds sort of derived from "Cocaine" by Cream, it still fully rocks, grabbing the listener by surprise with its octane driven power and Tony Iommi's flurry of much needed trademark barn burning guitar solos. Despite his shortcomings, Ozzy Osbourne redeems himself here. If all the songs had the same punch as this one, Technical Ecstasy could have been referred to in the same breath as Sabotage or maybe even Volume 4. Alas, it's stand-out quality is somewhat diminished by its misogynistic title and crass lyrics (I see a man, he's got take away women for sale, yes for sale./Guess that's the answer, 'cause take away women don't fail"). I'm not trying to preach here; I can appreciate a song about a man's relationship with a hooker, but this can be achieved in a tasteful, classy way. (A great example is Pentagram's "20 Buck Spin").

As for the cover, well I guess it's a love it or leave it affair. Hypgnosis had already come up with some pretty rad cover art (such as Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon and Led Zeppelin's Houses Of The Holy) but to me this looks like something inspired by a nicotine patch induced nightmare. Geezer Butler should have seriously refrained from designing it - let alone submitting it - and rather focused his undivided attention on the actual music. Granted, he may have been cleverly attempting to portray the looming threat of mall culture consumerism (robotic shoppers riding escalators) or perhaps technology's unavoidable encroachment on the masses. Instead it comes off as a ghastly eye-sore. A blank canvas would've been preferable.

In a nutshell, this album was a huge disappointment and is best left forgotten in order to not tarnish the awesome nostalgia derived from their first six albums. Even if he's still a huge inspiration, Tony Iommi scarcely shines on this release, except for on "Dirty Woman". Thank goodness! At least it didn't turn out to be a permanent thing, as his fretwork on Heaven And Hell clearly proves. The end result? Technical Ecstasy is substantially less appealing than past achievements. They really should have taken a couple years break after Sabotage in order to sort themselves out from their heavy drug use and come back to the table with a rested and more focused outlook. Heck, even the last Ozzy fronted Never Say Die ('78) surpasses it. In order to review this properly, I had to painfully re-listen to it one last time. Let's hope my sacrifice is worth it.

The year was 1976 and after a shockingly good streak of excellent album releases, Black Sabbath finally released 'Technical Ecstasy'; an album that isn't as consistently good as the previous ones. I say finally, as if it's a good thing, but I'm sure many people were wondering if the band could do any wrong, and 'Technical Ecstasy' proves us that Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne weren't gods but rather demi-gods. So, not completely flawless, but pretty much divine anyway, so who gives a fuck, eh?!

You really need to listen to this record in the correct mindset, because this is not so similar to the Black Sabbath albums that were released before this one. If you're aware of what direction the band was going (not necessarily down, but experimenting with "softer tunes"), then 'Technical Ecstasy' should at least bring you some pleasure. It took me a while to get used to this album. The first time I listened to it, I wrote it off as an abomination and left it to collect dust for a very long time. That would change, when I had listened to Black Sabbath's so-called classics to death. That would be all the albums released before this one, and then the likes of 'Heaven and Hell', 'Born Again' and 'Dehumanizer'.

So, after all, I gave 'Technical Ecstasy' a second chance, and I'm glad I did, because I found things I almost instantly appreciated after initially abandoning this misunderstood piece of work. The tracks that I instantly fell in love with were "You Won't Change Me" and "Dirty Women"; the former one opening up in a very doomy fashion, but then breaks into a somewhat bittersweet-sounding hard rock ballad that could be comparable to something that Deep Purple has done; mainly because of the good use of keys. "You Won't Change Me" is just a very good song, in my opinion. It is, however, bested by "Dirty Women". "Dirty Women" is a longer track that can be broken into three sections. The first one being the co-operation between the guitar and keys driving the song (with Ozzy's vocals on top, of course), then there's a fairly long section where Iommi plays a solo type with the continued backing of the keyboard before the song breaks into a more heavy and intense bit with Ozzy howling epically, and finally there's an almost sing-along type of outro. It's a great song; a Sabbath classic, in my honest opinion.

Like I said, initially, these two songs were the only two songs I instantly liked after giving 'Technical Ecstasy' a second chance, but fun rocker "Back Street Kids" soon followed, as well as the beautiful and sad "She's Gone"; a song with keys matching the importance and greatness they had on 'Sabotage'.

"It's Alright" is a ballad with drummer Bill Ward on vocals. It's not an amazing song by any stretch of imagination, but it's a pleasant listen; certainly not a typical Sabbath song, but I like it. This was a track that I didn't like at all to start with, but getting to know the band and its direction more greatly helped me appreciate it and eventually like it more.

The same can be said about 'Technical Ecstasy' as a whole. I shunned it to start with, because it was so not like the Black Sabbath I knew, but in the end, that's what Black Sabbath is and has always been all about. Experimenting with music. They never released the same album twice and this is just another one among them all. Another thing is that 'Technical Ecstasy' wasn't really meant to be a heavy/doom metal album in any way or shape. I really doubt that the band got together and planned exactly what their next album should sound like. And if you listen to the albums released before 'Technical Ecstasy' and notice where the band is going with their music, this album makes a lot of sense. It was meant to be a softer Sabbath. It was meant to be different.

That's a risk the band had taken on every record and executed perfectly. 'Technical Ecstasy' wasn't as impressive and successful like experimentation done on albums such as 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath' and 'Sabotage'. 1976 was a troublesome time for Black Sabbath and whether that had an impact on the quality on some of the tracks on here or not, is debatable. But it seems like Black Sabbath had taken their experimentation on some of the songs here too far, and thus they ended up sounding mediocre in comparison to the band's stronger offerings.

"Gypsy", "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" and "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" are all average songs. Sure, they have their moments like Iommi's impressive lead-guitar on "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)", but ultimately, these songs are just filler, and if they had been trimmed off the album and 'Technical Ecstasy' was an EP instead, it would be a very good one.

All in all, 'Technical Ecstasy' is as overlooked as it is misunderstood, so if you decide to listen to this album with the wrong mindset (that is, if you expect it to sound much like the albums released between 1970-1975), then you'll be disappointed. It took me a good while to learn to like this album, and once there, I found it to be an overall decent album. Flawed, but it certainly has good tunes, too, with the highlights being "You Won't Change Me" and "Dirty Women".

Wow. In spite of the poor acclaim and ambivalence I have seen aimed towards "Technical Ecstasy" and her equally unappealing sister "Never Say Die!", I was still a little shocked to hear the great Black Sabbath default on such mediocrity. Although I may have preferred "Paranoid" and "Sabotage" over the rest, there was no denying that the first six albums of this band were something to behold; it was if the band could do no wrong. As would be the case with a little band called Metallica almost three decades later with "St. Anger", the arguments and duress would lead to a decidedly sub-effort from the band. Sabbath have not completely festered here, but considering how great they were before this, there's no way to feel satisfied with this.

It's not often that fans are so united in their disappointment for a band and album. It seems like everyone plus their mothers, mailmen, and neighbourhood general practitioners can agree that "Technical Ecstasy" was a slip-up. In short, the band's style is once again robbed of its metal crunch. Unlike "Volume Four" however- which traded heaviness in exchange for sophistication- "Technical Ecstasy" comes up without any benefit, as were it an old lady whose handbag was stolen by a street vagabond. Sabbath's musical tightness pulls the album through, but at the end of the day, hearing the almighty Black Sabbath resort to generally bland rock music is a tough experience.

All disappoints aside, "Technical Ecstasy" is not necessarily a 'bad' album. In fact, it appears to be a victim of circumstance. Perhaps if listeners had not become used to Sabbath churning out record after record of inspired excellence, this album would not be looked down upon. Regardless, through the sea of mediocrity defined by songs like "Backstreet Kids" and "Rock N Roll Doctor", there are a handful of songs that distinguish themselves, for better or worse. "You Won't Change Me" is a great seven minute track with some great blues soloing from Iommi, and a piano progression reminiscent of The Beatles' "Abbey Road". "She's Gone" is nothing compared to some of the band's earlier ballads, but Ozzy Osbourne's passionate vocal performance and a lush string arrangement makes it stand out from the monotony.

On the other side of the spectrum, we have "It's Alright", sung by drummer Bill Ward. Frankly, it really isn't 'alright', in fact, it's arguably the worst track Sabbath had ever done up to this point. Disregarding Ward's tonedeaf voice, the ballad is saccharine enough to put a child off sugar for life. Considering that this is the band that once rocked our balls off with some of the most influential heavy metal ever made, it's a long ways to fall.

For the most part, "Technical Ecstasy" is fairly harmless. Besides "It's Alright", it's even listenable. The songwriting runs flat, but Black Sabbath retain enough of their progressive elements to give the listener a surprise, if only occasionally. Taken out of context, "Technical Ecstasy" is a run-of-the-mill, albeit inconsistent hard rock album. For those- like me- who are infatuated with the band's six album winning streak, it may be a good idea to save hurt feelings and skip right to "Heaven And Hell".

Technical Ecstasy is often considered the first really bad album in Black Sabbath's catalog. With all the legendary things that band did up to that point, it's worthy of reconsideration.

To understand it, you have to see how the band got to this point. They had released four consecutive mind-blowingly amazing albums in a span of three years: 1970's Black Sabbath and Paranoid, 1971's Master of Reality, and 1972's Black Sabbath Vol. 4. Every one of these albums is an amazing classic. To record even one album that good is reserved for the very best musicians around. To record two of them is extremely rare, and usually requires more than a couple months in between. To do four, in three years, is absolutely astounding.

So, it's easy to understand why they chose to go for more experimentation on the following year's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. And the experimentation paid off. Many would even put that album on par with the previous four. After that, they took more time off, waiting until 1975 to release Sabotage. That album continued the experimentation, and in many ways it was still paying off. But with both of these, they still maintained the core, heavy Sabbath sound.

By 1976, the band must have been exhausted from this insane touring and release schedule. They played around and experimented even further on Technical Ecstasy.

It starts with "Back Street Kids", which is essentially a far less interesting version of "Children of the Grave". The follow-up, "You Won't Change Me", is a criminally forgotten classic by the band. It's sort of psychedelic gothic doom metal replete with organ. In a sense, it's recent Cathedral, only three decades earlier.

Then it would appear the label put some other band's song on the album. "It's Alright" is a boring piano ballad with Bill Ward providing vocals. It is completely out of place on a Sabbath album, but here it is nonetheless.

"Gypsy" starts out as fairly standard Sabbath (in the more upbeat parts of that sound) before going into a story told by Osbourne in spoken word with ridiculous piano in the background. That part derails the song, making it hard to appreciate the rest of the song, which is actually quite good once Iommi takes center stage.

What should have been outtakes follow on the next couple tracks. "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" is driven by an unimaginative vocal melody from Osbourne, and "Rock 'N' Roll Doctor" sounds more like a Lynyrd Skynyrd reject than anything related to metal.

"She's Gone", featuring an understated acoustic riff and strings, is what "Changes" should have been, and actually isn't that bad. But after that comes "Dirty Women". Why they buried this classic tune at the end of the album I'll never understand. It has a killer heavy riff, great bassline, good use of organ, badass drumming, and a catchy vocal hook--everything you could possibly want.

The Verdict: Technical Ecstasy should never have been a proper studio album. Other than "Back Street Kids", "You Won't Change Me", and "Dirty Women", it comes off as a collection of rarities and B-sides. But it's easy to understand how they got to this point, and it should have been obvious the original lineup wouldn't last long after this point.

Originally written for http://fullmetalattorney.blogspot.com/

My opinion on this album has shifted many times since I first bought it about 10 years ago. I was dead set revolted by it when I first heard it, mostly because it bore almost no similarity to “Paranoid”, which was obviously my favorite album during my Sabbath newbie days. Since then I’ve become a bit older and wiser and can thus impart some wisdom to the younger Sabbath fans that are just now coming to know the second half of the Ozzy years.

There is a right way and a wrong way to view this album, and the wrong way is the way most people view it, which is as a metal album. Although a good deal more riff happy and up tempo, the closest thing this album could be compared to is with late 70s Pink Floyd with perhaps a dash of Styx. Naturally there are many in the Doom and Traditional metal scenes who utterly despise Arena Oriented Rock so they are advised to ignore this album. But for those of you who really like the forward looking idea (at this particular time) of merging heavy metal with progressive rock, this is where it got started and eventually paved the way to the likes of Dream Theater and Fates Warning doing it, this may be worth your time.

Naturally this is not a perfect example of the potential of this style, and better examples of experimenting with acoustic guitars and keyboards can be heard from early 80s acts like Sacred Blade and Queensryche should be sought out if you’re interested in the evolution of this style. “Rock N’ Roll Doctor” and “She’s Gone” in particular are blatant examples of going too much in a generic 70s rock direction and mimicking Zepplin a bit too much rather than evenly meshing such influences with Sabbath’s unique style. “It’s Alright” is a bit better, but ultimately sounds like a jazzed up Beatles ballad with a more active guitar presence. Bill Ward takes the vocal duties on this one and does an adequate job, which is more than I can say for Ozzy’s performance on “She’s Gone”.

The rest of the material on here is mostly solid save a few odd moments here and there. The two that best showcase Sabbath’s success at blending their already established sound with the latest influences they’ve incorporated are “You Won’t Change Me” and “Dirty Women”. They both have long drawn out sections with plenty of development, mostly in the style heard on “Sabotage”, and bring out some synthesizer work not heard on previous work. The opener “Back Street Kids” is basically “Paranoid” with a Rush style keyboard interlude that immediately invokes memories of 2112 every time I hear it. But the most auspicious moment on this album is the guitar solo section of “All Moving Parts” where we hear a near identical riff to the classic Heaven and Hell track “Wishing Well”.

Ultimately, this album is a pretty sizable step down in quality, but far from a throwaway. It has its place, but I’d argue that about 65% of it is not in any metal genre. As a rock album I could say that this is better than a good deal of the fluff put out in 1976, but in terms of everything else that Sabbath put out before this, I can’t recommend getting this before getting any of the other 6. It’s not a flop like its follow-up “Never Say Die”, but it’s not quite good enough to get at full price, so look for it second hand.

Technical Ecstacy," Black Sabbath's seventh studio album, is a very misunderstood and underappreciated album. Released at the height of the punk movement and just as disco was beginning it's ascent to popularity, the album was very much out-of-style and commercially was less successful than previous albums.

Sad, because there is much heaviness to enjoy here. Side one (of the cassette copy, at least; the CD starts with "Back Street Kids.") begins with "All Moving Parts(Stand Still), a futuristic, Orwellian-themed track and a fine example of the crushing heavy metal sound Sabbath is known for. Featuring some excellent bass playing from Geezer Butler and scorching lead guitar playing from Tony Iommi, the song is a fine example of the "technical" style found herein. "Rock and Roll Doctor" also lives up to it's name, a grooving, almost boogie-style number.

Next is "She's Gone," which, although a ballad, is the most depressing song ever written! And as such it fits perfectly with Sabbath's doom metal style. "Dirty Women" returns to the heavy direction, a tale of Osbourne's late-night search for female companionship. "Dirty Women" is another live favorite, featuring at the end of the song an amazing extended guitar solo from Tony. 'Back Street Kids" is another solid metal song about rebellion and the rock lifestyle. "You Won't Change Me" begins with one of Iommi's doomiest riffes ever before mellowing a bit, another fine number and a great vocal performance from Ozzy.

"It's Alright" is drummer Bill Ward's debut as lead vocalist, another ballad which may be atypical of Sabbath's style but is a fine song nonetheless. The album ends with "Gypsy," featuring Ward's best drum work on the album and Ozzy's account of a mysterious, fortune-teiing female.

Critics of this album need to listen to the music, rather than comparing it to whatever music was popular in the mainstream or focusing on deteriorating relationships within the band. "Technical Ecstacy" does not deserve its somewhat bad reputation, for it is a fine album featuring some great heavy metal songs. The album also displays a growing diversity and need to explore new musical styles while remaining in the context of what Black Sabbath is best appreciated for. Simply put, this album jams and I highly recommend it to any Sabbath/metal fan.

In the beginning, there was nothing.

And then there was Black Sabbath. Four humble Englishmen brought heavy metal out of the shapeless void (aka heavy blues and European folk) and into corporeal existence. Who then proceeded to expand and develop it with each successive album. This is why the first six Black Sabbath albums, despite a few characteristic blemishes, are basically above criticism: they were basically inventing the shit that we listen to today. But by the time their seventh album Technical Ecstasy was released, metal was out of its formative stages and its bands were beginning to release some truly amazing stuff (Judas Priest’s albums of the late 70’s). Compared to the albums that preceded it, Technical Ecstasy was not particularly impressive. With its mind-boggling cover (brought to life from the mind of Geezer Butler by Hipgnosis, the studio that would famously work with various progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd and Yes), its frequent keyboard reliance, and its subdued, predictable sound, the album seemed to be sounding the funeral knell for Sabbath, thus leading to its 30+ years of being consistently underrated. But it’s definitely underrated, because even with its crappier moments and different sound, it still has more than its fair share of Sab classics.

First of these is album opener “Back Street Kids.” With its upbeat riffs and perfect groove, it’s a wonder people don’t like this song. Ozzy’s voice still carries those distinct melodies and the band still operates as an effective heavy metal machine. Though they’ve stepped back from the ambitious epics of Sabotage into more comfortable territory (“All Moving Parts (Stand Still),” “Gypsy”), it’s still Black Sabbath as we’ve always known them. Ward, Butler, and Iommi perform excellently, even on filler like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Doctor,” a saloon-worthy number complete with honky-tonk piano.

But it’s not all straightforward rocking numbers. The mysticism of Sabbath past (“Spiral Architect,” “The Writ”) is not completely abandoned on Technical Ecstasy, as evidenced by “You Won’t Change Me,” and “She’s Gone.” The former utilizes keyboards to a more potent effect than on the album’s other tracks to create a much-needed darker tone, as much of the album tends to lean toward the major keys. The latter is the most pristine ballad the band would ever compose, easily ousting “Changes” and the slew of fluff from their later career. Consisting of only Ozzy’s voice and Tony’s incredibly sad-sounding guitar backed by a string arrangement, it is remarkably moving for a Sabbath piece. “Dirty Women” is the album’s closer and longest track and, despite not being as profound a piece as say “Megalomania,” is the closest that Technical Ecstasy comes to recalling the doom and gloom of their earliest material. The fact that it’s still pretty upbeat (however grimily so) just goes to show how different this album is from the material that precedes it.

Oh, there is also the little matter of “It’s Alright,” the Bill Ward composed ballad that he sung as well. A better title might have been “It’s Filler Alright,” as aside from a little Iommi guitar wizardry it’s worthless. And keep that man away from the microphone, ugh.

But aside from the handful of weak tracks, it’s a pretty good album that I enjoy listening to. It’s just not a particularly good Black Sabbath album and I believe that that is what keeps it low in peoples’ affection.

Meh. This album is just a meh. I can’t wholeheartedly decry it, because it has its moments, but on the whole it is a pretty boring listen. Take, for example, the leadoff track, “Back Street Kids.” The band is obviously going for a more pop-oriented approach, with the synths and the upbeat tempo. I don’t immediately discredit it for this, but the songwriting is pretty bad. The tune is flat and unemotional, and the lyrics are just really stupid. Black Sabbath never had the greatest lyrics, but this is just bad. The guitar solo in the end is all right I guess, but a lot of the time it just seems like he’s trying to play really fast, and the individual notes aren’t very thought out. There’s nothing about this song I really object to, but it’s not really too hot either.

“You Won’t Change Me” – Booooriiiing. Supposed to be one of their trademark bluesy, snail paced riffs, but it just doesn’t work. A horrible synthesizer riff drives much of the song, and the words again are ridiculous. I don’t know what happened between the last album and this, but it wasn’t good.

They let Bill Ward sing a song a few years back with “Solitude,” and it wasn’t that great. So, they gave him another shot. Well, “It’s Alright” is… alright. It definitely has a higher production value than the aforementioned, with the piano and strings. However, the song itself pretty much sucks. It’s a cheesy ballad, and I thought they learned their lesson after “Changes.” Cheesy ballads don’t work for Black Sabbath.

“Gypsy” is a little better. After the initial drum-driven verse, they lock into a nice little groove, something we haven’t heard yet on this record. The song is too drawn out, though, and it seems like they just added in extra sections to make it longer. Poor organization is the major problem here, as they have some decent musical ideas. This is, sadly, one of the album’s best songs.

“All Moving Parts (Stand Still)” – Okay, what the hell is with the disco thing? We already had to deal with “Am I Going Insane” on the previous album, which was borderline. At least that had the strength of its songwriting, and some powerful vocals. This song has neither. “Teacher’s burned the school / He’s had enough of sticking to the rules…” This is just ridiculously bad. Apart from its bad lyrics and bad disco beat, the song is listenable, although nothing special. We’re still waiting for that knockout song that will surprise us and fill us with joy.

“Rock and Roll Doctor” is horrendous. This is the worst attempt at a pop hit I think the band ever came with out. It’s supposed to be some sort of Southern rock bluesy boogie type of thing. And yes, it has cowbell. That’s not why it’s bad. It’s bad because Black Sabbath doesn’t do boogie rock. And never should.

“She’s Gone” is the low point of the album, which is quite a feat. It is so fucking lame. Talk about cheeeeeese. Ozzy, you are such a douche bag. And the rest of the band, how could you let him make this stupid-ass song? “Ooooh, my baby!” Yeah, shut the fuck up.

Okay, FINALLY. A DECENT SONG!! If the whole album were as good as “Dirty Women,” I would have a much different opinion of it. This song rocks, and I’m not afraid to admit it. It tells a story about Ozzy and how horny he is, and how he lusts for a hooker. It actually works better than it sounds! At about 1:54 the song goes from being pretty good, to damn fucking awesome. What a riff! It definitely has a more 80s sound than earlier Black Sabbath, but here they use it to their advantage, instead of being shitty. And when he goes “Oh, dirty women / They don’t mess around!” he actually has conviction in his voice (just like the old days!), and the guitar solo over the ending fadeout is the best on the album by far. I knew you had it in you, guys!

So if you are a hardcore Black Sabbath fan, you probably have this. If you are not, avoid this. If you don’t have this yet, but you lust for more Black Sabbath past the first 6 albums, get Heaven and Hell, but you might want this also. Get it at least for “Dirty Women,” you don’t have to listen to the rest of the album.

Before discussing the music, I would like to take a minute to talk about the album cover... that is some seriously fucked up shit right there. A chance meeting on an escalator between a robotic maidservant out of the Jetsons meeting with a smallish building-shaped entity. At this point, the robot proceeds to both shoot a laser at the poor building, as well as urinate some dark foul gunk out of the top of its head at it. Perhaps the robot is jealous that the building gets to ride the escalator, while it has to take the stairs immediately parallel to it.

The actual album... there is a LOT of 70s rock to be found here. Lots of keyboards, lots of random stuff that sounds not unlike Kansas or at times even Foreigner. There's Backstreet Kids, which is indeed an awkward attempt at speed metal, though it's kind of a fun song. But yes, the keyboard solo in the middle is a bit goofy. Then, You Won't Change Me is heavy as fuck, while also relying on the keyboards to carry the main theme, which should immediately be noted by the reader as being a departure from, say, Master of Reality.

The third song is kinda cute, though downright pathetic. It's not Black Sabbath, it's a piano ballad. But, it eats Changes alive, that I'll tell you right now. It's something I'd expect to hear on the adult contemporary station, and would be pretty nice if not for the "oooh oooh" parts in the middle. Home Sweet Home, this ain't.

Then, we have Gypsy, which I think is actually a decent song. The bridge section ("she took my hand...") is amazing, even if the main guitar riff sounds a whole lot like Blue Morning (Foreigner)! Again, this is 70s rock, and certainly not what we had been expecting on Sabotage, but still it's a nice song.

All Moving Parts... I can't tell you what this sounds like, but again 70s rock is something accurate. I swear, the vocal line is something out of a disco song! I forget which, but usually I'm pretty correct on these things, so just take my word on it. The main problem of the song is that I can't really make out what the guitar is doing underneath the verses - there is a definite bass riff, but otherwise... again, this is NOT Master of Reality.

The next two songs are complete fucking garbage. Rock 'n Roll Doctor starts off sounding like it'll be decent, though still kinda 70s-rock-ish, before going into a cheesy riff that sounds half Grand Funk Railroad, half Aerosmith, and all regression. Wasn't this what Black Sabbath PURPOSELY moved away from in the early 70s? Argh. Also, that dang cowbell, and that repeated chorus.

She's Gone is the second coming of Changes. Cunting death-avoid.

Then there's the last song, which indeed, as everyone has correctly pointed out, is a real fucking masterpiece of SABBATH-ness. I can't remember what that opening riff sounds like, but it's yet another 70s rock song, except distorted and warped into something morbidly heavy. Good job, Tony Iommi. A great song.

So what do we have here, overall? A decent album, really, but not something that you'd expect, given that this is Black Sabbath. You look at that damned album cover, and you could totally slap any 70s-rock band name on there instead of the generic lettered Black Sabbath, and the album content would make just as much, if not more sense.

That's a bad thing, folks. After the masterful Sabotage, this is really disappointing. Apologies to VileRancour for pretty much aping his review, except mine is not nearly as well-written. Sorry, folks. I'm just not inspired.

This is were Sabbath begins to take a step, albeit in the wrong direction. All in all, its not that bad, but its not really a metal album, it sounds more bluesy than anything and even has a few punk elements.

Back Street Kids is a probably the most punk-like song on the album both lyrically and musically. Pretty fast paced, but rather simplistic notes make this interesting to some, but pure garbage to the fans of the earlier doomier Sabbath. IMO it is still one of the better songs on the album.

You Won't Change Me is pretty nice. Sounds like it would fit really well on other albums like Sabotage or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. Once again, it is kind of punkish on the lyrics, but this one is played with more like traditional Sabbath.

It's Alright is my personal favorite song on the album. Although its sung by Bill Ward, its a rather emotional and well sang tune. Doesn't sound much like anything Sabbath has ever done, but then again, trying something new isn't always bad.

Gypsy is probably my least favorite track on Technical Ecstasy. Its rather repetitive and sounds kind of meaningless lyrically. Thank god for cd players, at least I'm able to skip this track. I've tried giving it more chances, but just can't get into it.

All Moving Parts would probably be my favorite heavy track. From the get go it lets you know that you are gone to get straight up balls out Black Sabbath doom and gloom. Fits rather nicely on this album, but would also fit on a wide array of their other albums.

One could probably tell by the name that Rock and Roll Doctor isn't much of anything special. For a synopsis of this, refer to the opinions of Gypsy. They are very much alike.

I have skipped the remaining tracks so many times that I don't even really remember how they go. If my memory serves me correctly they aren't much of anything worth listening to, hints why I tend to skip them. Reading the lyrics didn't refresh my memory, but I can at least concur that She's Gone and Dirty Women are lyrically poorly written, just like many songs on Technical Ecstasy. This album isn't a complete waste. There are a few rather nice songs on here, but you have to sort through a few that are mediocre.