Black Sabbath Technical Ecstasy CD

Black Sabbath: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Tony Iommi (guitar); Geezer Butler (bass); Bill Ward (drums, background vocals).
Additional personnel: Gerald Woodruffe (keyboards).
Recorded at Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida.
Black Sabbath was unraveling at an alarming rate around the time of their second to last album with original singer Ozzy Osbourne, 1976's Technical Ecstasy. The band was getting further and further from their original musical path, as they began experimenting with their trademark sludge-metal sound. While it was not as off-the-mark as their final album with Osbourne, 1978's Never Say Die, it was not on par with Sabbath's exceptional first five releases. The most popular song remains the album closer, "Dirty Women," which was revived during the band's highly successful reunion tour of the late '90s. Other standouts include the funky "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" and the raging opener, "Back Street Kids." The melodic "It's Alright" turns out to be the album's biggest surprise -- it's one of drummer Bill Ward's few lead vocal spots with the band (Guns N' Roses covered the unlikely track on their 1999 live set, Live Era 1987-1993). ~ Greg Prato
By the mid-'70s, a number of problems were threatening to break up the original line-up of Black Sabbath. The stress brought on by lengthy touring, drug use, and alcoholism had begun to dilute the band's original, influential heavy metal. Sabbath began to drift away from the straight-ahead power rock of such classic albums as PARANOID and SABBATH BLOODY SABBATH, as evidenced by its final two albums to feature singer Ozzy Osbourne, 1976's TECHNICAL ECSTASY and 1978's NEVER SAY DIE. However, TECHNICAL ECSTASY does contain some intriguing, overlooked tracks.
The best known song of the bunch is the album-closing rocker "Dirty Women," which explores the topic of prostitution, and was later featured on the original line-up's 1998 live album, REUNION. Drummer Bill Ward sings his one and only song with the band, "It's Alright," which is amongst Sabbath's most pop-friendly compositions ever. Also featured is the pacing album opener "Back Street Kids," the heavy blues and funk of "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)," and the somewhat predictable "Rock n' Roll Doctor." Osbourne would grow disillusioned with the band and would leave after the completion of TECHNICAL ECSTASY's subsequent tour, but would eventually return for one final album and road jaunt.