Technical Ecstasy - Song by Song

[Charger]

Dirty Women is the only GOOD song on the album. And that is mainly because of the brilliant outro solo from Tony. But it is also the heaviest song on the album and the most Sabbath sounding one of the lot too. In fact the was the LAST really Sabbath sounding song until the Heaven And Hell album.

Lyrics are indeed the weak point of the song. But Ozzy's delivery is good and the melody is catchy and easy to sing along.

Although I'm not sure it deserved a live staple status though. It's not THAT good of a song...and it's a lengthy tune as well.

[Typhon]

Dirty Women is a strong closer to this album.  The entire band shines in this tune, especially Tony.

[KiloDeltaCharlie]

The inevitable ranking arrives:

1. You Won't Change Me
2. Dirty Women
3. Backstreet Kids

4. Gypsy
5. All Moving Parts (Stand Still)
6. Rock N Roll Doctor
7. It's Alright
8. She's Gone

I'm going to downgrade this album to #9 from #8 in the Ozzy Era, I think MOR is actually better than this one.

[Charger]

1. Dirty Women

2. Back Street Kids

3. All Moving Parts (Stand Still)
4. Gypsy
5. Rock 'n Roll Doctor
6. You Won't Change Me
7. She's Gone
8. It's Alright

Only Dirty Women is a good song...and Back Street Kids is alright the rest are...well...pretty forgettable rubbish in Black Sabbath's standards.

[Zzzptm]

Dirty Women - about 4 minutes into it, we switch from the AC/DC "THOSE DIRTY WOMEN..." lyric and aggro guitar riff to a descending scale melody, a la White Album-era Beatles by way of Eric Clapton. Bill Ward drives hard on the drums, but there's no mistaking the lads from Birmingham have Liverpool on their minds, musically speaking. It's a metaphor for the whole of the album - half Sabbath feeling very tired, half Beatles tribute. This unevenness repeats on Never Say Die, which is why both albums pale next to the earlier albums, especially Sabotage and SBS.

It seems like 1976 was a year of a lot of major old-school acts drifting around or getting into a rut or breaking up. Zeppelin did Presence, which left fans scratching heads, Deep Purple was phoning it in before calling it a day, Slade was on the fade, Bowie was getting waaaaaaaaay too strung out on cocaine, Grand Funk were steering towards obscurity... it was time to make way for newer acts, even if the players in them weren't all that new - Rush with 2112, Rainbow, Aerosmith, Queen, and that Eagles album recorded at the same time as Technical Ecstasy - well, Hotel California gets a ton more airplay and attention than the Sabbath album. Seems like it was easier to do mellow rock for a band all coked out...

[Typhon]

Inserting my final rating of the albums for completion's sake.

Technical Ecstasy - 8/10

[Charger]

Technical Ecstacy

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The decline is imminent