I am not the most gifted writer in this forum (in fact, I may be the least gifted writer). However, since I own the record, I am willing to review it if there is sufficient interest. Please let me know if there is interest in this and allow me two days to put it together. I'll post it on Friday night (Pacific time).
For whatever reason, the drums on the BA title track are recorded with a much better, I would say, fidelity than the rest of the tracks. The sound is fuller and more "in your face", I was always kind of surprised and confused at the same time regarding this "switch".
Hey, that didn't stop me from creating a whole thread predicated on MY reviews, but I did it anyway. I think you should give it a go.
OK. I hope I don't break the flow here, but I have just two more to go to go and I will have completed my weigh ins on the Ozzy years. I do appreciate your willingness to let me back track a bit for these. For me, Technical Ecstasy was the first kink in the armor for Black Sabbath and it was quite a noticeable one. I suppose that one could argue that the studio location, Criteria Studios in sunny Miami, the recording home base of Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees and The Eagles, was just plain wrong for the type of vibe that the band needed to truly bring out the Sabbath sound. Which may or not be true. But I think that the main problem with TE was that Tony seemed to be the only one who came to Miami willing and ready to work. By his own rather diplomatic account in his book Iron Man, while Tony was still fleshing out the songs in England, the other lads were not making it to the rehearsal studio until after 2 pm in the afternoon and even after arriving, seemed more inclined to find excuses to head over to the local pub for a pint. In fairness, Tony includes himself as going there as well, but I find it hard to believe that Tony was there as often as the rest of the band. He has stated in more than one interview that as the main riff writer, it was not unusual for the rest of the band to get tired of waiting on him and to head out to the pub while he worked out ideas, often leaving him working by himself, a situation that he accepted but one that also brewed some understandable resentment at times. But this time, there was someone who seemed to be more than ready and willing to work with Tony while the rest of the band hit the pub. That would be Gerald Woodruffe , the keyboard player who had been hired to accompany them on the tour for Sabotage . Tony states in his book that Gerald was a big help to him in sorting out musical ideas during the writing process and often played chords for Tony to riff and solo over. Excuse me but…hmmm…wasn’t that Ozzy, Geezer and Bill’s job? Where were they while this was happening? Oh yeah. Right. At the pub. Woodruffe would later state that he actually should have received co-credit for some of the songs on Technical Ecstasy as some of the musical ideas contained within were actually his. So, perhaps it is not so surprising that so many of the songs on TE have prominent keyboard sections and in fact, seem to have a decidedly non-Sabbath mainstream rock element to them. Perhaps Woodruffe’s contributions helped dilute the “Sabbath sound “more than a bit. Chalk it up to the strain of dealing with the Meehan lawsuit or maybe even tour burn out, but it sounds to me like the non –Iommi members of Sabbath were not really in the right frame of mind to be doing this album. At least, it seems like the needed motivation was not there. Perhaps a trip back to and a residency back at SBS’s “haunted castle” might have been more in order to spark some mutual creativity. Once in Miami, this laissez faire attitude apparently continued, with the non-Iommi contingent of Black Sabbath starting off their day by doing up some happy toot and happily sunning themselves on the beach, then later in the day, drinks at the hotel bar while waiting for the call from Tony to come in and (yawn)…maybe try to lay down a track. Tony continues to be diplomatic about the situation in his book, but if one reads between the lines, it sounds like the band pretty much left the creation of the album to him, triggering his legendary work ethic to get the job done but at the same time perhaps brewing again, some understandable resentment on his part. Tony seemed to be doing a lot of the studio work on his own, without the needed support of his own band. Mr. Iommi has already established himself as an eminently talented musician who was more than willing to try to expand the musical boundaries of Black Sabbath to keep them relevant in a contemporary setting but at the same time, keep those intrinsic qualities that made them uniquely “Sabbath” intact. But in the case of Technical Ecstasy, for what ever reason, Tony’s studio experimentations, apparently without enough input from the rest of the band, and perhaps with a bit too much of a contribution from Woodruffe, produced an album that sounds more “mainstream” and generic than any Sabbath album that came before it, and was the first Sabbath project that retains at least a taste of that Sabbath magic on some tracks but fails to deliver it on others. Just give a listen to Back Street Kids. There is some “Sabbath” here but IMO it has an annoying polish and sheen to it that actually makes it a bit of a difficult listen … that is …if you are a log-time fan who has faithfully followed the band up to this point. A neophyte, listening to this album for the first time as a new Sabs fan might be a little more impressed with the obvious musical quality found within, but my retort to that would be “OK. But where’s the Sabbath? “ To add insult to injury, many of Geezer’s lyrical contributions here seem to have been rushed into the studio after being scribbled on a bar napkin. “I’m just a back street kid. Rock and Roll music is the only thing I really DIG”? Wha’? Is this the same Geezer who wrote War Pigs ? Or After Forever ? Take your pick. There are several great examples out there. We already know that he is far more capable of lyric writing than what we are seeing here. Sadly, there are other examples through this album of what seems to be a lack of lyrical inspiration on Geezer’s part: “So you wanna be a gypsy? Come on now. “ To quote Pete Hogwallop in the film Oh Brother Where Aren’t Thou? :…”That don’t make no sense!” And it truly don’t. You Won’t Change Me certainly tries to be a Sabbath song with an intro riff that at least sounds “Sabbath “ like but after that we get a most un Sabbath like organ riff and from there, the song just plods along at half speed looking for a reason to exist and never really finds one. There are a couple of flurries of Iommi solos that are certainly listenable enough but they are pretty much land locked by the rest of the song structure and unable to rouse any kind of sonic energy past their just being there . Bill makes his singing debut on It’s Alright , a song that he also wrote, which is all fine and good, but this song if about as far removed from the established Sabbath sound as one possibly get. If they were trying for a hit single, well OK…but how about a Black Sabbath single? Was Bill getting song writing tips from the Bee Gees here? And Rock and Roll Doctor is almost too easy a target. This one is so decidedly un-Sabbath that it could very easily fit in on a Foghat album. Nice cowbell. Nice song. Just not a Sabbath song. All Moving Starts Stand Still is another half speed plodder with yet another non Sabbath like middle section. She’s Gone sounds a bit tired but no matter because by now, so is the listener. The one redeeming track for me is Evil Women which at least attempts to be a Sabbath song. And it does seem to have succeeded just enough that it has been the only track from TE that the band has revisited live after the need to promote the album ended. I do think it is interesting that there are folks here who do like Technical Ecstasy, and I am totally cool with that. I am only giving my opinion here, for whatever it is worth. It is not my intent to disparage anyone who does like this album. In fact, if this were any other band doing the same material , it is possible that I could find more to enjoy here. But, I consider myself to be a long time fan of Sabbath as well as a true believer. And in all honesty, I must say that Technical Ecstasy to be one of those albums that I will never part with as it is the original, classic Black Sabbath lineup after all, but …it is also an album that I keep more as a completest than as a fan. More’s the pity.
Really? I was under the impression that he'd split Gillan up because he needed to rest his voice, but then went and joined Black Sabbath and that's what irked his ex-bandmates.
Sorry I have not been contributing to the fun. I lost my brother suddenly a couple of days ago. He was the influence why I started playing guitar long ago. He introduced me to Black Sabbath when the first album was released way back in 1970. I just don't have the heart to play at this point. I am hoping to jump back in soon. Maybe you guys won't mind if I post stuff late.
Oh, man, that's terrible. My condolences, friend Sure, feel free to post something when (or if) you feel like it.
Thanks for the kind thoughts. I will jump back in after a short while. I have never had as much fun with a thread as this one and plan to post Digital Bitch and Trashed soon.
You guys are great here. Usually I keep personal things like this to myself but I did not want you guys to think I bailed for no reason.
Thanks for the kind words from you and everyone else. Like I said, I usually do not post personal issues but in this case it was warranted.
Just listened to Born Again for the first time ever on Youtube, and I am really suprised by how much I enjoyed it (I wrote earlier that I bailed out after Heaven and Hell which I found professional but, ultimately, a tad sterile at the time, though I have grown to appreciate it for what it is). Born Again I find surprisingly melodic, just on one hearing, and the title song itself powerful and moving. No track I disliked. This compares with Mob Rules which literally, on trying to listen to it, made my eyes heavy, my brain fuzzy, barely into the album--I just couldn't stay awake.
