Technical Ecstasy

Black Sabbath

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B000002KGG
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (87 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,866 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good album with a few weak songs, July 24, 1999

By A Customer

One of the most underrated Sabbath albums as the band moves more into blues. The Guitar Solo on "You cant change me" is Tony Iommi at his best. "Its alright" shows Bill Ward at vocals and makes you wonder why they didnt use him ounce Ozzy left the band. The album is weakened though by a few week songs such as "Rock n Roll doctor" and all moving part stand still.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MK I Sabbath's often disrespected gem, January 5, 2006

By	Stephanie Sandlin (Spokane, Wa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Technical Ecstasy.

This album is the recipient of many potshots by fans of the earlier records. I think many Sabbath fans who rough this record up are unfair to it. The "big" reason as I see it is:

Its a depature and an attempt to artistically branch out. Some Sabbath fans don't like change. The lumbering doom laden chords are what many Sabbath fans want album upon album. For this record it changes. The darkness is replaced by more straight ahead classic rock attitudes (Rock N Roll Doctor, Back Street Kids). I for one, find this record probably thier best in terms of artist growth. I appreciate the older records, but this one sticks with me on some level.

I find "She's Gone" to be probably Ozzy's most brillant vocal performance of the 70s. I didn't think he could sing like that. Conveying sadness, morose and lonliness isn't Ozzy's tradmark. Its great. Again, not usual Sabbath fodder, but great nonetheless.

Other greats here Back Street Kids, Dirty Women, All Moving Parts Stand Still and You Won't Change Me.

Only the Bill Ward vocal on "It's Alright" loses steam.

The album flows superbly and for what it is its fantastic. Black Sabbath branching out, trying new things while keeping the material top notch. It would've been interesting to see this direction maintained. Sadly, Never Say Die the MK I swansong suffers from mix problems and just isn't on par with this record.

In the end, open minded Sabbath fans will find this one a departure. Not a bad departure, but a departure nonetheless. All artists have to expand and grow - This is Sabbath doing exactly that.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Black Sabbath at their experimental&creative apex, May 12, 2005

By	Teletran One (The Arc) - See all my reviews

This is one of the finest CD's ever, and definatly one of the bands most underrated albums. It gets tiring to hear people ripping on this, comparing it to earlier Sabbath albums, well, this wasn't meant to be a MASTER OF REALITY or SABBATH,BLOODY SABBATH part 2, it wasnt made to be a doom&gloom fest. Techical Ecstasy is the band moving in a new direction, testing the water experimentaly. The whole point of this album was too experiment,not repeat what had already been done, i don't think it is fair to call it a bad album just because it is differant from the rest. It has always been one of the more enjoyable CDs i had, when ever i would tire of hearing pounding,shreading heavy metal (even if you love it, it will still wear on your mind after awhile), i would throw this album on. BACKSTREET KIDS is a fast paced rocker that starts the album off to great effect, YOU WONT CHANGE ME is a slow, heavy and doomey song with lots of syth work courtesy of Jerald "Jezz" Woodruff. ITS ALRIGHT is something totaly unexpected out of sabbath, its Bill Ward singing along with a piano going, sounds something like what Paul Mcartney would do and is probably the most hated BS song of all time, but i like it. ALL MOVING PARTS and GYPSY are average songs that works well for the album. ROCK N ROLL DOCTOR is catchy, even if it does boast some insipid lyrics, while SHES GONE is a very moody and depressing piece. The album ends with the best Sabbath song ever written IMHO, DIRTY WOMEN. The main riff is effing amazing, and the song gets even better when it goes into the bridge. This is the kind of song that is often neglected, but is non the less a classic. The title is right, this is pure ecstasy, musically that is! It's got one of the weirdest covers as well, not surprising that the same copanie who made it also does Pink Floyds cover arts as well.

TE is one of thier better albums i thought, it is not the heaviest or has any of their hits, but if you enjoy it, so the "F" what? it is the FUNNEST Black Sabbath album!