September 25, 1976 - Technical Ecstacy

Just 5 days since my last release, and a little over a year since "Sabotage", Black Sabbath are back with their seventh album "Technical Ecstacy" released on September 25, 1976. After all the tension and legal battles that were going on during the recording of their last album, Sabbath decided to record this one in Miami and relaxed with lots of beach time. They returned to a more experimental style on this album as it's not nearly as dark and heavy as their earlier albums. I'm not sure I like the sound of that, but these guys are all great musicians: let's see what direction they go in now!

The album begins with "Back Street Kids" as a fast, distorted guitar riff kicks it off and Tony Iommi's tone still sounds pretty heavy. Ozzy Osbourne sings along in his usual high voice and he sounds pretty good but the bass and drums are a bit underwhelming. Iommi plays some synths that sound OK but seems a bit odd for a Black Sabbath song as they move into a decent bridge section. After some more epic synths Iommi treats us to a guitar solo that is pretty cool but not his best. They settle back into the average main riff for one final verse. This would be a solid song by most bands' standards, but for these guys it leaves me wanting a little more. The next song is "You Won't Change Me" which begins with a very slow, nasty-sounding riff. This is the heavy stuff that I love and it's backed by some more synths. A cool keyboard riff segues into the main verse and once again the keyboards aren't bad, they sound pretty cool, but they also sound out of place when they replace such a heavy riff and sound very un-Sabbath-like. The verse is also led by a slow guitar riff but lacks the oomph that the opening had as Ozzy sings slowly along. Bill Ward's slow drum playing sounds pretty good as Iommi plays some decent guitar. He steps it up for the solo though as he plays some fantastic stuff! He's still got it! The keyboards bring it back to the main riff as they slowly jam out another verse and chorus. Iommi plays another solo that's not quite as good as the first one but still pretty solid and they bring it to a close. Track 3 is "It's Alright" which features Ward on lead vocals! He wrote this song and sings it himself as it's definitely weird to not have Ozzy's voice in the song. Piano leads the riff as Ward's voice isn't awful but it's certainly a light rock voice, almost Beatles-ish but trying to be the Beatles and not succeeding. This is Black Sabbath? It sounds like a completely different band than the one that made "Paranoid", nothing similar at all! Iommi plays a little guitar solo that as the name suggests, is just alright. He plays some really great acoustic guitar after the solo as he leads the way to the end of this light fluff song. These guys need a wake-up call if they thought that was album worthy; where is the fire? Where is the metal? Not on this song. The side wraps up with "Gypsy" and Ward starts it off with some nice drumming. I notice Geezer Butler's bass for the first time really as he plays some cool stuff while Iommi carries with a basic, but certainly more Sabbath guitar riff. With Ozzy back singing and a groovy segue into a solid chorus, this is more like it boys! This song sounds very epic compared to the rest of the album and Ozzy sounds really great. There's some pretty cool piano as well as Iommi is full of cool bits on this song. He plays some sweet guitar in the chorus as they continue to jam out until the side fades to an end. A few bright spots on this first side, but pretty disappointing overall.

Side two begins with "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" which opens with a pretty rockin' riff with some sweet bass by Butler. Iommi is playing some pretty good lead guitar as well as Ozzy sings lower than normal for him. Tony segues into a new part with a different cool guitar riff as Ozzy returns to his usual higher voice. Ward plays some solid drums throughout and after a short solo they're back to the main riff. After one last verse and chorus Iommi gives us one final solo as the song slowly fades to an end. I thought this song sounded more true to their roots, nicely done! Up next is "Rock 'N' Roll Doctor" which starts with some slow guitar but it sounds pretty good as they move into the main riff. They form a pretty basic rock riff and we hear some old time-y piano as well. This would sound cool in a Lynyrd Skynyrd song, but it just seems out of place and way too tame for Black Sabbath. Ozzy's singing is decent but the lyrics and song structure are very old rock and roll style. It seems that's what they were trying to achieve, so in that they did well, but I'm left shaking my head, wondering how Black Sabbath became your average rock and roll band? They are the fathers of heavy metal, but this is far from any sort of metal. Track 7 is "She's Gone" and the opening sounds like a movie score, very epic, as it leads into an acoustic guitar riff by Iommi. It's very quiet with just Tony playing but it sounds pretty epic. Ozzy joins in and his soft voice sounds solid as well. We hear what sounds like a cello and it sounds pretty cool I think. This is also very unlike your typical Black Sabbath, but in this one it doesn't sound like they've regressed, it sounds like they're experimenting. It really does sound like it's written for a movie as we hear more orchestral instruments. I think the orchestra sounds beautiful and while I'm not nominating this song for any accolades, it does sound pretty cool. The final track is "Dirty Women", the longest song on the record at just over 7 minutes. It starts right in the main riff, which sounds pretty solid as Ozzy sings along as usual. Iommi steps it up in a little bridge part, then it's back to the verse. There are keyboards in this song as well in the background that sound alright but Tony is in the spotlight as he plays his first solo. He reminds us how talented he is with some really great stuff and this is another song that actually seems to fit the bill. After his solo they move into the chorus finally and it's led by a nice heavy riff. Butler plays some nice bass as Iommi goes off for some more great guitar. This second guitar solo just keeps on going and going as it takes up the whole second half of the song almost! Iommi plays his best stuff on the album in this extended solo and words don't do justice to the amount of cool stuff he weaves together. This was definitely my favourite song on the record and a great way to close it out.

That is the end of "Technical Ecstasy" and overall I thought it was a decent album. Each side had one song that was very below par for them, something I've never seen from Black Sabbath. The other songs though not amazing, are pretty good still and the album isn't a total throw-away. Even the worst of their first six albums, which I thought was "Vol. 4", easily surpasses the quality of music on this new record. It seems these guys have forgotten to make the bone shattering metal of 5 years ago but I think they still have it in them and will hope for better next time.