Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy (1976)

September 15, 2021

Its mad to think how far Sabbath had come, or better to say maybe, how much Sabbath had changed, over the course of the seventies. This isn’t a terrible record, but if you compare it to the bands earlier Ozzy-fronted output, there is a lot left lacking. As a side note, it contains the song “Dirty Women”, which has a wicked riff, and this album has a whole bunch of keyboard stuff on it too. I’m unsure if Geoff Nicholls was on this thing, but he is the unsung fifth member of Sabbath, and definitely needs more credit when it comes to the band’s legacy.

Technical Ecstasy came towards the end of the 70s album run (even if in reality, the decade was just over half way through), arguably the 70s is the decade in which Sabbath were in their absolute prime (don’t throw bricks at me, Dio fans). Unfortunately, Tek-Ek as I like to call it, came towards the arse end of a very all-consuming number of years for Sabbath, and the momentum was starting to drop. I mean, what on earth is that art?

This album isn’t as bad as the final Ozzy-fronted record, Never Say Die, and I must admit that there is something endearing about Technical Ecstasy. But as I said above, whilst not being bad, for the most part, this is a painfully mediocre offering from one of the world’s greatest bands.