Technical Ecstasy - Song by Song

[Zzzptm]

Kick it off with "Back Street Kids", which I not only think of as the best track of the album, but a solid track in and of itself. Yes, the production is muddy and the drums don't come across as powerfully loud as on other Sabbath tracks, but it's still a tough little rocker of a tune and I love that simple chorus - Noooooooooooooooo body I know / will ever taaaaake / my rock and roll / away from me!

It sets my expectations high, which is not good news, given the songs to come... or am I being too hard and relying on the memories of my earlier listens? Have things changed?

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Back Street Kids is a solid, fast opener, a no nonsense rocker. Slight gripe is the keyboards are a little "in your face" intrusive on occasions... and the mix is horrid!

[Typhon]

I'll make it a hat trick.  Back Street Kids is a solid tune, and my favorite from TE.  I especially like the sound of the keyboard when making the transition in tempo.  I have always honored this song by the signature of my profile here at the Community.
"Nobody I know is going to take my rock and roll away from me."

[Charger]

Back Street Kids is among the best tracks of this very weak album. Sure it would do just fine without the keyboards but it's still a nice fast soft rocker. Far cry from the Heavy Metal style of Hole In The Sky but still.

I've always liked that Typhon's signature line as well. Best lyric on the album I'd say.

Also yes the mix is pretty damn far from perfect but honestly the entire album's mix is horrid...but then again a better mix wouldn't have saved this album alone either.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Moving on to You Won't Change Me, this is the best song on the album. It's got one of Ozzy's best vocal melodies. It doesn't crack my top 20, but it's still my favourite here.

[Charger]

The intro is nice and has a bit of doominess in it even but then when the keyboards hit before the verse the song takes a fast turn to worse. And the Popeye the sailor man lyric doesn't help.

The song I suppose is kind of Sabbath's version of a power ballad...and the truth is I hate power ballads so...

The positive side of the song is the guitar solo. It's got a nice twist to it. But then the middle section drags on again...they should have just let Tony go wild with the solo and leave out the vocal part entirely and it would have worked much better cause the second solo again is quite good.

But overall this is very much in the meh category....which is a shame cause the intro promises something good.

[Zzzptm]

It's been so long since I listened to the album, I forgot this song entirely. So I'm coming in fresh on it, almost.

You Won't Change Me... starts in a way that honestly sounds very much like Ozzy's early solo material. The middle part sounds like Ozzy singing for The Beatles, with that piano and all doing the descending scale like something from The White Album. Tony's solo is a real cracker, but that keyboard comes back and puts a drag on the energy from the "Beatles" section. And then that "Beatles" section repeats and it kinda feels like they're playing the song twice as Tony gives us a very similar-sounding cracker of a solo... and we end with the keyboards.

I'm with Charger, they should have made the middle part into the second half and let Tony just jam away until the end.

[Zzzptm]

FUN RECORDING STORY FACTOIDS:

Sabbath was recording TE in the same studio as the Eagles - who were recording Hotel California. While the Eagles complained about Sabbath being too loud, the Sabs had to scrape all the cocaine out of the mixing board...

[Typhon]

Mixed review for me with You Won't Change Me.  Not bad , but not great either.  I do think it contains some unique sounds, in a positive way.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Next we have It's Alright... I suppose it's alright 

(I've always been a little indifferent to it as it isn't very "Sabbath-y")

[Charger]

It's Alright is hands down the worst track of the album. A total cliche filled snooze fest.

Bill should have stick with the 

[Zzzptm]

You know, hitting on the Beatles-sounding part in the previous track, I hear it again in this one. It's like one of Paul McCartney's "granny songs" as Lennon called them. The guitar solo sounds like it came out of Supertzar, with the chorus/mellotron sounds and drum thump behind it.

As for the lyrics and delivery, it's very much in line with mid-70s soft rock. Maybe they were listening to Jimmy Buffet records while they were getting high out on Miami Beach? But honestly, this could be slipped in between "Dreams" and "Baker Street" and nobody really notice that there was a song by Black Sabbath in that mix, as opposed to having "Hole in the Sky" between those two.

Quiet songs like Planet Caravan and Solitude at least had a Sabbathy feel to them. This one is straight-up middle of the road mellow rock. They lost studio discipline and while Blow on a Jug was just a snippet at the end of Sabotage, imagine if it had been put on there in a full 2:34 in the middle of the album. Total WTF??? moment when it comes up. That's It's Alright. If it had been a snippet somewhere else, nice interlude. As a song on its own, WTF???

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Gypsy next. Love the drum intro... after that it doesn't work that well. The lyrics are little unwieldy which then makes the vocal melody a little forced. So generally a weak track with a great intro.

[Typhon]

It's Alright is exactly the type of stuff I don't listen to.  It was Bill Ward's song, and for some reason, the other band members liked it.  So it was put on the album.  This is the only true mistake I can find in the Great 8.

[Charger]

Gypsy is among the better songs on the album...granted that still doesn't make it a good song but atleast it's half way decent and has some rock edge to it.

The drum intro is good and I've always felt it was Bill Ward trying to channel Ian Paice a bit.

The one thing that brings this song down is (I can't believe I'm saying this) is the main riff...it's just all over the place. Very un-Iommi-like riffing. The pre-chorus riff is where things start to get better.

Ozzy's vocals are rather weak on this same goes for the melody.

The background piano is pretty darn annoying...it's like a 5 year old banging on the same keys constantly...also it's waaay too high on the mix.

Again Ozzy goes on and sings over Tony's solo which is also quite annoying. no need for that...again they should have just let Tony go crazy all alone till the end.

But the song does flow kind of nicely and like I said eventhough it's among the better songs on THIS album doesn't mean it's a good song...