Published on Mar 5, 2001
Well, the year was 1976, and Black Sabbath were a bonafide
supergroup. That year, they released
Technical Ecstasy, the seventh studio album by the original
lineup of singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist
Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward. The album marked a major
change in musical direction for the group, a move that polarized
the opinion of fans.
This is a vastly underrated album in my opinion. It has been
unfairly neglected over the years; an obscure gem just waiting to
be discovered by a new generation, finally placing it in the
spotlight it truly deserves next to the first six Black Sabbath
albums, all of which are now considered to be indispensible
classics.
I can understand why a fan of early period Sabbath would be
disappointed in this record however. The trademark low, ultra
heavy, and sludgy evil guitar riffs from the first six releases are
nowhere to be found on this entire album, and none of the subject
matter in the lyrics deals with the dark, doom-and-gloom themes
that they were known for as well. But really, how long could they
possibly have continued in that vein before becoming an uninspired
self parody?
Technical Ecstasy leaves the simpler material of the early
years behind and replaces it with a very diverse, ambitious stab at
musical excellence, which it achives for the most part. One aspect
of the band has remained intact however, and that is that none of
the songs follow a predictable, standard format. Complex
unconventional structures and tempo changes occur frequently in
just about each song, making it a fascinating listen…you’re
always in suspense waiting to see how each song unfolds.
The production is thickly layered…there are so many different
things going on at the same time, making it far more experimental
and involved than being just another collection of straight forward
head banging riffs. That’s not to say that the album is a slick
collection of commercial pop rock, because it certainly is not. One
could see the album as having been a logical, more mature
progression of the band’s sound at the time.
In fact, the album almost feels somewhat like a rock opera, with
it’s never ending stew of arty, unique riffs, rhythm changes, and
extensive use of instruments that the band was not known for
employing in the past. Listen to the fast galloping “Back Street
Kids”, which opens the album…the guitars sound very strange on
this track, buzzing in an almost electronic sounding way. “You
Won’t Change Me” is a slower, more plodding song that recalls the
older Sabbath, but includes heavy use of keyboards and
synthesizers, which I think was quite uncommon in 1976, pre-dating
the New Wave explosion by several years.
The diversity continues with “It’s Alright”, a soft,
Beatle-esque piano ballad featuring the vocals of drummer Bill Ward
for the first time in the band’s history. “Gypsy” is yet another
fascinating multi-part song which would not have sounded out of
place on a brilliant effort like Queen’s
A Night At The Opera. “All Moving Parts Stand Still” moves
the band into a funkier, almost danceable territory!
Then, we come to what I personally believe is the worst song
every recorded by the original Black Sabbath lineup, and that’s
“Rock ‘N Roll Doctor”, which is an upbeat standard blues rock song,
something like Ted Nugent would do, but these guys sound completely
out of place doing that style of music. It’s just a terrible song,
and for some reason the production on it is much worse than any of
the other material on the album.
“She’s Gone” is a very depressing sounding soft acoustic ballad
with wonderful melodies and a beautiful string arrangement, but it
suffers a bit because of Osbourne’s vocals…it would have been
much better if he had sung the song in a lower register, the way he
sang “Solitude” on the
Masters Of Reality album.
The final song on
Technical Ecstasy is “Dirty Women”, a rip roaring rocker
with a whole bunch of major changes in it and just amazing guitar
riffs piling on top of one another. It’s probably the best song on
the album, but they should have cut about a minute and a half off
the ending, because it overstays its welcome a bit.
One thing that slightly bothered me however is that the lyrics
overall are inferior to the albums of the past, but this is a
relatively minor irritation when the music is so consistently
interesting.
Well, there you have it…another classic Black Sabbath album.
It might not be as powerful, dark, or angry as their “classic”
period, but it more than compensates for this. If you have an open
mind, chances are you’ll find a lot to enjoy here, but for many of
the band’s fans it may be a bit too artsy in its range of styles,
arrangements and experimentation, which I feel is actually the
album’s strength and showcases the true talent of the band which
had not been seen before.