Published on Jan 3, 2003
This is, without a doubt, one of the toughest albums ever to
review.
You see, I have strong feelings about
Technical Ecstasy, the 1976 release from Black Sabbath – and
those feelings straddle both sides of the fence. On one hand, this
is an album with which I have strong emotional ties, ever since
finding a copy in the discount bin at Rolling Stone Records in
Norridge nearly two decades ago. There still are songs on this
record which make me smile and want to bang my head uncontrollably.
And yet, the critic in me sees the fact that this release
symbolized a major changing of the guard for Tony Iommi and crew –
and in many ways, this doesn’t always seem like a Black Sabbath
record.
Fellow reviewer Roland Fratzl, in his write-up of this album
some time ago, praised Black Sabbath for taking a chance and not
constantly sticking with the doom-and-gloom style which had defined
the band to this point. After all, he said, at some point that
formula gets old. I don’t disagree with that line of thinking, nor
do I think it was a bad idea for the band – guitarist Iommi, singer
Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer/vocalist Bill Ward
– to tamper with things and give new ideas a try.
After all, it
does work in many instances. “Back Street Kids,” the opening
track, is one prime example, even up to the almost unintentional
ending of the song. Such a stylistic move had been hinted at one
album earlier, with “Am I Going Insane (Radio)” off of
Sabotage. “You Won’t Change Me” is an interesting approach,
capturing the spookiness of the music with a more subdued lyrical
pattern – a little unsettling at times, but not a bad effort.
“She’s Gone” – not the first ballad Sabbath had logged under their
belts – even suggests that this is a pattern that could work.
Ah, but then there are the mis-fires. “All Moving Parts (Stand
Still)” is most definitely one of them, a plodding dinosaur that
never seems to be able to get its weight up off the ground. Weak
lyrics, weak delivery from Osbourne, and a definitely weak rhythm
section doom this one from the get-go. And while “Rock & Roll
Doctor” occasionally has some musical flash, it’s hardly one of the
band’s best efforts.
Even the true experiment – having Ward sing on “It’s Alright” –
well, if you didn’t know it was a Black Sabbath song, you’d find it
to be quirky and somewhat enjoyable. But coming between the eerie
“You Won’t Change Me” and the back-to-basics “Gypsy,” this track
really sticks out like a sore thumb. Don’t get me wrong, the
performance is quite good – but the placement of this track is what
ultimately dooms it. Had the disc closed with it, I could
understand such a move.
And yet, for all the critical notes I could slag at this disc, I
can’t help but be drawn back to it now and again for repeated
listens. Where albums like
Paranoid and
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath could easily remain in my CD player
for months or years at a time,
Technical Ecstasy is one I get a taste for when I need to
clean out my musical pipes and go back to my younger days.
Compared to
Sabotage, this album holds its own pretty well, but compared
to some of the classic early Sabbath albums,
Technical Ecstasy is almost like the bastard child from the
Osbourne era of the band. It’s by no means a throwaway album, but
don’t expect demons to be oozing from the speakers with this
one.