Anybody here like 'Technical Ecstasy'?

Decided to finally give this album a listen after initially being uninterested due to the backlash the album often seems to get but I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I don't think this is a bad Sabbath album at all! It really has some good music and the band sounds fine. Back Street Kids is a great opener, Dirty Women is an even better closer. You Won't Change Me is an excellent doomy track, and It's Alright is a pleasant ballad. Bill has quite a good voice. While I do prefer the 6 albums that came before it, overall I think Technical Ecstasy is a good album and I don't quite understand the backlash it's gotten over the years. If there's any reason, I think it would just be because the other 6 albums all seemed to be a step forward from the previous one and TE wasn't the same leap in quality as, say, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was to Volume 4.

Opinions?

 

It is just OK with me in the scheme of Sabbath. I still listen to it but I like most of the albums that came before it and some that came after more. I still enjoy it though.

 

It's my least favorite of the original Ozzy albums but there are some great songs on it. If there's any backlash, I think it's just that it's not "Paranoid." Some people never forgive you for making albums that aren't exact carbon copies of a particular of the big classic.

 

I dig it. It's a bit different from SBS & Sabotage, but it's got some great tracks on it. Forward progression, indeed. It's not my favorite Black Sabbath album, but it's quite far from my least favorite. (Although I'm not sure I actually have a least favorite Sabbath album! )

 

I like "You Won't Change Me". That's all.

 

Same here. I think Never Say Die, while no great album, is better than Technical Ecstasy, but it's still decent.

 

Yep. Love it.

 

Sabotage was the pinnacle. But the original lineup of Sabbath kept evolving and changing until the end of their 70's run. Now, Technical Ecstasy is certainly a step down (and so is Never Say Die) but it's just so admirable to me that when they ran out of gas they didn't try to retread old ground. In that light I really like to listen to TE and NSD.

Why they decided to keep changing while they were sinking instead of doing a remake of Paranoid or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is an interesting question.

 

The songs are a little better than Technical Ecstasy. A little. Having said that, neither are bad albums. Just compared to Volume 4 (for example) there's no comparison. If another band had recorded those albums they'd certainly be on the same level as any of the better second-tier 70s metal bands.

 

I've tried; but it screams burnout.

 

Some of Tony's best guitar solos are on found on TE but Geezer's bass sounds so tame it's sort of a turnoff.

 

it screams awesome record is what it screams

 

I love it. Tony rips the guitar. I like the last four Sabbath albums with Ozzy better than the first four.

 

With good reason.

 

Exactly. And that is why I detest "13" so much - carbon copy cannibalism of their first three albums. Shameless and unpleasant IMO.

 

I like a few tracks on it, but really the only two tracks that I think are near-perfect are "She's Gone" and "Dirty Women." All of the other tracks I have some problems with, and a couple are just plain bad. Iommi does play brilliantly though, shore 'nuff.

 

I like it, 'Dirty Women' is one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs.

 

Shameless maybe, but I still love it and play it often.

 

it's an ok album but if it really was "carbon copy cannibalism" of the self-titled, Paranoid and Master of Reality, it would be a whole better than it was.

 

If Technical Ecstasy is "awesome", how do you describe Sabbath albums that are actually good

 

every Sabbath record from the self-titled up to and including Mob Rules is great

 

And Born Again, for me.

 

From my perspective, having boarding the Sabbath sonic assault since Paranoid, TE was on the downward side for an angst oozing teenager looking for the next album to grind teeth, spittle flying, with eyes of flame while shredding on the air guitar.

Even today with the soft forgiving perspective looking 'back' at the whole of their catalog - meh....it is typically passed over when perusing my collection - kinda like passing over a 'chick' Chardonnay that is always stocked, but then grabbing the go-to heavy/rich syrah.

 

I debated including it, and on some days I'd consider it right up there with the other stuff.

 

I love it.

Fantastic album.

All the Ozzy and Dio albums are essential, imho.