Technical Ecstasy - Song by Song

[Zzzptm]

The intro to Gypsy got me hooked, up to about 1:50 into the song... and then the next part goes weird. Totally dissipates the energy from the intro and the whole thing gets a little too ABBA-ish for me with that piano and the lyrics. The solo is good, but I would have rather had a solo on top of the intro part.

Honestly, I'm still of a mind that matches what I had thought before - Back Street Kids is a proper Sabbath tune, the rest are a band without inspiration, going wherever. I know that around this time, the lawyers they hired to deal with the managers that were screwing them were now, in turn, starting to screw Black Sabbath, so it was a desolate legal situation for the band, having to make money in order to pay lawyers. So why not just go through the motions, sell some records and concert seats, and just be done with it?

[Typhon]

Well it seems I like Gypsy more than others do.  The opening 2 minutes is inspiring.  The middle section has a, for lack of a better term, gypsyish feel to it.  And I don't mind, what I believe is, the electronic keyboards.  In fact, they used keyboards in nearly every song on this album.  Iommi plays out the final section and Ozzy does not sing for the last 50 seconds.  Overall, one of the better songs on the album.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

^^^ Yes it starts really well. Its the last three minutes where it loses it's way for me.


All Moving Parts (Stand Still), is a song I've always had a soft spot for... but I'm not really sure why! It's ok, lyrically obscure, but I like line "Not tonight, well I might, oh alright yeah!" Yes, not the best or the worst on the album.

[Zzzptm]

All Moving Parts is an odd beast. The middle part and the gallop rhythm shortly after that are the best parts. The main verses, however, I just don't care for. It's like walking around without going anywhere, and the lyrics really aren't helping, either. Their hearts just aren't in this one.

[Typhon]

All Moving Parts (Stand Still) is another song I like on this album.  Yes, it is odd, but in a good way.  This song probably contains the largest tempo changes of anything found in the Great 8.  Pretty cool. 

[Charger]

All Moving Parts (Stand Still) is a bit of a mixed bag...like most of the album really.

The underlying soloing on the song is all pretty good but there's just way too much stuff going on. So many guitar tracks layered it's bit overwhelming. Plus the lyrics make no sense at all.

This is a song that might have worked much better had it been bit more simple. But as it is it's just like "hey lets throw all fruits in one bag and smash them up and see what kind of juice we get out..."

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Rock n Roll Doctor up next. It's a strange one completely out of keeping with the rest of their catalogue, you'd expect this sort of song with UFO or ELO etc!

To some extent I like it, but it is a little "throw-away", a little simplistic even.

[Charger]

Rock 'n Roll Doctor is kind of funky little rocker but indeed it's not very sabbath sounding one. And lyrically it's just silly...too silly.

The riff is so un-Iommi like it's pretty odd even. Oh and Bill...could I have some more cow bell please? Oh sure...here's some...and here's some more...oh and I'll throw some here too...and here.

This song borderlines annoying...without the silly piano bit in the middle and that goddamn cow bell...I don't know...

Ps.
Ian Gillan made this song sound much rockier during the Born Again Tour.

[Typhon]

Rock 'N' Roll Doctor is the only conventional rock song in the Great 8.  So what is wrong with that?  It was never suppose to be more than what it is.  It is a catchy tune, and I have fun with it.  Another one on the plus side, for me.   

[Zzzptm]

After 6 albums of progressively more intricate and doomy material, Rock 'n' Roll Doctor takes that intricate doomyness to heart only in the middle solo. The rest is pretty much a love letter to Slade and their typical happy-go-lucky sound. It's uncharacteristic for the band, but I nevertheless really enjoy this tune as is.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

Let's continue with She's Gone. It's alright I suppose but it's no Solitude.

[Charger]

She's Gone is another cliche fest. It's the kind of song that epitomises why I generally hate ballads. Boring, pointless, blah blah lyrics.

Bottom of the barrel along with Changes and Am I Going Insane....

[Typhon]

She's Gone is probably my least liked BFTO tune in the Great 8.  Although Ozzy does a good job on it, its just not my cup of tea.

[Zzzptm]

She's Gone - The lyrics are so basic for this song, just one metaphor in the whole of it. Moon-June rhyming here and there, but for a song like this to work, it needs a much sharper turn of the phrase in each verse. And a lot less, "Oooh my baby" in it, as well.

It gets me wondering, is Technical Ecstasy basically Black Sabbath's answer album to Sgt. Pepper? If so, that makes this track the "She's Leaving Home" of the album. A very emotional track, one that Paul wrote for the grannies.

But I will say that the melody is very lovely and works amazingly when played by an Armenian orchestra:

Drop the lyrics, and it's amazing.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

The album finishes with Dirty Women, my second favourite from the album.

Tony shines on the solo, and musically it is really good, I understand why it became a staple of the set list. However, the lyrics are weak and the subject matter is more AC/DC than Sabbath.