Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy – 1976
That chukka-chukka guitar! The soaring Ozzy vocals! It can only be one thing: It’s the Blizzard of—what? Oh, this is still Sabbath? But why does it—? Ok. I’ll stop asking. This first song really sounds like, hey, waitaminnit..electric synth? What? And why does Ozzy sound like he’s fighting with Iommi for melody? What the fuck is this? They get close to what we’ve come to love on “You Won’t Change Me” but it’s half-hearted at best. This is a band that has run out of ideas and are bored with themselves and their music.
The album has some high points, relatively speaking. “It’s Alright” is a neat little anthem and “Dirty Women” takes the rock as symphonic opera to a new place. But all told, Technical Ecstasy is neither technically interesting nor ecstatic about anything.
It’s Technical Dullness.
Grade: D
ASide: It’s Alright
BlindSide: Dirty Women
