Over the years, my opinion of Sabbath as a whole has
varied. As a kid raised on classic rock,
I liked Sabbath fine but never dug in much.
Then, I turned my back on Sabbath during my punker teen years. They
were way too slow for me, plus I started to find Ozzy a bit annoying. But, by the time I hit my 20s, I was back on
board. The newfound opinion, however,
was quite unpopular: Dio-era Sabbath was my preference. It does make sense considering one of my big
obsessions at the time was the more upbeat, show-off early metal acts such as
Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden.
The Dio lineup just fit the bill better.
Still, you would’ve thought I told people I shot somebody when I made
such a declaration.
Now, some 15 years later, I’ve decided to not have an
opinion of a crazy person (for once) and say that, yes, of course early Sabbath
is the best…fuckin’, duh! The first four
records (self-titled, Paranoid, Master Of Reality, Vol. 4) are all masterpieces.
The fifth album, Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath, starts off as strong as any of their records up to this point but
maybe isn’t as powerful as it should be overall. Sabotage,
their sixth, sort of follows the same path, opening with two of their heaviest
songs yet harbors such unlistenable synth-pop dogshit as “Am I Going Insane?
(Radio)” on side B.
…which brings us to unlucky (for Sabbath’s artistic
integrity anyways) number seven: Technical
Ecstasy, an album I can sum up with one line. That line?
“Hey, say what you want about Dio-era Sabbath, but at least they never
recorded that pile of shit.”
So, Technical
Ecstacy…my first encounter with this record came when acquiring a new tape
copy from a store in the mall liquidating their cassette inventory circa ‘03. Ozzy-Sabbath was back on my map, but I didn’t
know anything about what existed after Sabotage
from that era. I listened to that
tape probably two times before I gave it away and never looked back.
Years have passed and I’ve used that “worse than Dio”
line probably over a hundred times since the aforementioned cassette was
discarded. A lot of my strong musical
opinions receive backlash, but this one rarely did several years ago (however, I
do remember Robert Collins of Terminal Escape once calling me a “moron” while
listening to and discussing this record).
Recently, some friends have suggested I give it another listen. Is it possible I’ve had it all wrong? Have I just been a dismissive asshole this entire
time? Is it possible my tastes may have
simply changed enough to be able to accept whatever seemed so horrible about
this record?
…and, shit, outside of remembering some song Bill Ward
sang being especially weak, I realized I didn’t even have solid arguments to
give on my issues with this album. I
mean, can it be so bad? Even the eighth
and final album with Ozzy, Never Say Die,
is half-good (oddly enough, outside consensus veers towards my having a lenient
opinion on that record).
I listened to it again a couple weeks ago and was
inspired to write a song by song review of Technical
Ecstasy, originally released September 25, 1976. I am now going to listen to it for a second
time (in the past month…and in the past decade) and just let it all out. Enjoy, hate…I couldn’t care less. Just know I’m right, even if I am a moron.
“Back Street Kids”
As the first notes drop, I immediately start second-guessing
my old ways. The intro riff Tony Iommi’s
got on lockdown, the galloping beat virtually impossible to not at least slightly
bob your head to…how could I have been so foolish?! The vocals come in and, well, that
reverb-heavy production akin to what you would hear on Zeppelin recordings from
the same era is perhaps slightly silly…but still, this song fuckin’ rips! Also, the bridge is a wee bit
uncharacteristic for them, almost hinting at some Styx-like flavor. It works,
not complaining. Technical Ecstasy - 1,
Me - 0.
“You Won’t Change Me”
Oh shit, this intro is maybe even better! Slower, classic to Sabbath’s style, with
subtle synth. Then it gets going and
becomes this dark epic piece that resides in the eerie during the verse while more
driving in the chorus. And in this one,
Ozzy’s staying strong to being the person he is and/or wants to be, even if it
brings him despair. Actually, I guess
bassist Geezer Butler is the one harboring these feelings since he wrote the
lyrics but…you get the point. I feel it.
Two great songs to start and I’m left wondering: why do I
always gotta be such an asshole?! Just
always gotta be going around taking a shit on a good thing, like I take fucking
joy in ruining people’s fun or something.
There’s something deeply wrong with me and it needs to be
addressed. Fuck…well, anyways, what’s
next?
“It’s Alright”
Oooooooh yeah, that’s right. Ladies in gentlemen, I present to you one of
rock n roll’s biggest “da fuck?!” moments ever: this waste of tape called “It’s
Alright”. It’s the lone song drummer
Bill Ward wrote on the album, which he also sings…and, ouch! Like, there are songs in the past he’s
written and sang that were decent or somewhat boring at worst…but dude! This is not OK!
It starts off sounding like a third-rate “Let It Be”. Then, it pretty much continues to be a
third-rate “Let It Be”, so unnecessary.
Here, lemme break it down: The
piano? Dumb. The masturbatory Spanish guitar? Dumb.
Those sappy lyrics? Dumb. I hate to hate on Bill like this, but they
shouldn’t have let this happen (cocaine, amirite?!). This song is almost enough to strike the
first two from the record and I’m too bothered to remember what the score is.
“Gypsy”
Well, the intro is alright, but it reminds me too much of
Emerson, Lake, & Palmer’s “Karn Evil 9”.
I don’t even have a problem with ELP, but it comes off somewhat hokey. Then the song nearly gets pushed off the
cliff by the usage of tambourine (stinky cheese much?) but continues to hang
onto some listenability somehow.
But wait, what’s this?
A dramatic theatrical-sounding bridge that sounds like it belongs in a
sub-par Meat Loaf song? And it goes on
and on? Did you guys just become the
cocaine at this point?!
End of side A. I
have mixed feelings. Side
B, what you got for me?
“All Moving Parts (Stand Still)”
The intro to this one again has a good riff. I mean, no matter how far down any of this
stuff goes, Iommi’s still got something good to give. But um…what the fuck is going on now?! Funky?!
SABBATH IS TRYING TO GET FUCKING FUNKY?!
That’s just funked up (wacka wacka!).
Who’s that on bass, Flea? Did
Isaac Hayes lend y’all his organ player?
But, then that bridge comes in and dayumn! That’s some downright epic sleeze-rock
riffage garnished with a bit of technical heaviness on top of frequent snare
rolls. Slightly out of character for
Sabbath but at this point I think it’s pretty safe to say that’s a consistent
theme here. Then it goes back to the
Black Hot Sabbath Peppers. Can we just
turn the bridge section into a song?
Note: after listening, I read this song is about a
transgender person who becomes president and was Geezer’s way of poking at how
misogynistic America felt to him. I
don’t completely translate that from the lyrics (something I’m admittedly bad
at), but it seems kudos should be given for this fact if nothing else.
“Rock n Roll Doctor”
OK, so here’s the thing here…if this were a song by
someone like Foghat or REO Speedwagon (ie: bands that had their moments but
aren’t worthy of worship), I would probably tolerate it. But, considering this is Sabbath doing a song
that starts off sounding like a weak-ass combo of Mountain and Kiss with boogie
woogie piano heavy in the mix, I’m just gonna have to again feel totally weirded
out. Not even cowbell can save us. And that weak reverb-heavy vocal effect they
had going earlier? Well, it comes back
with a vengeance in the outro and has some serious extra mid-70s Robert Plant-ness
going on. Or maybe it sounds more like late
70’s Bad Company vocals. Either way:
stop it.
“She’s Gone”
You know, if you guys would have given me a legitimately
killer song to enjoy since the second track, I could maybe feel this one. I mean, if you put “Changes” in the same spot
on this record, I might not really acknowledge it so much. But, instead, that’s on Vol 4, my favorite Sabbath record, and works amazingly within the
release’s flow. Actually…no, “Changes”
is still way better than this, but I like the soft Ozzy ballads and this song does sound like something that would fit on earlier releases.
No matter, I prefer the Hall & Oates song of the same
title. Jussayin’.
“Dirty Women”
I have a theory that the best songs are oftentimes the
album closer. Is that true here? I would say no. This is not the best song on the album, but
definitely a top three.
“Dirty Women” begins strong and fairly heavy, feeling around
as it enters a seriously rockin’ zone, one almost forgotten thanks to the last
five songs I’ve had to sit through. And
we actually get to go there! No sidetracking
through funk, Paul McBullshit land, or any other curveballs that could’ve
occurred during the snorting – I mean – writing of these songs. This song really hits its stride, peaking
like a motherfucker near the dead center at that brief moment where the guitar
and organ duel it out. Sure, the stuff
about dirty women not messing around is a bit silly, but at this point I can
live with it. And maybe the song
could’ve ended about a minute earlier, but how dare I stop Iommi in solo? His playing has been the only consistently
good thing about this album, let him have his victory lap!
 |
| Even this rock n roll doctor couldn't save the record |
So, OK, maybe I’ve been a bit harsh on Technical Ecstasy over the years, but I
also can’t say I blame myself after FINALLY giving it another try. Final score: three legitimately solid songs,
one filler-ish song that I could maybe like but doesn’t feel like a must,
another song with a solid bridge, and everything else ranging from crappy to
downright atrocious.
However, here is the coolest thing about this LP: its
recording caused major problems for the Eagles when they recorded Hotel California. The story here is the two bands were in
studios adjacent to each other and, due to Sabbath’s ever-essential loud
nature, sound would bleed through the walls so much the Eagles would have to
stop recording when Sabbath were playing.
If only it could’ve caused enough frustration to have broken them
up. What a wonderful world it would be…
Anyways, I get it.
It was 1976, a confusing time to be Sabbath. Like, do you keep doing the same thing you’ve
been doing for six albums? Everything
was going in all kinds of directions: soft rock, disco, and, of course, the
ever-dreadful punk rock that kept me from them for a time myself. And, when you have a manager who just turned
ELO into a massive success on both sides of the ocean, and that guy seems to be
paying more attention to them…maybe you feel it’s time to go that way? I mean, you already helped invent metal, what
else could you do right?
Hindsight is 20/20.
There wasn’t a metal scene to turn your back on like there was not even
a decade later. The taboo didn’t
legitimately exist yet. That doesn’t
mean I have to excuse this record though.
Basically, if I see it in good shape in a record bin for
5 bucks or less, I’ll buy it. I kinda
doubt that’s gonna happen any time soon.
Until then, maybe I’ll go download those three songs I
like…illegally. That’s not a diss BTW, I
just only believe in buying physical music.
Shut up, don’t judge me…or do, whatever.
You likely already have.
