TCCDM Pulls One Out..."Technical Ecstasy" - Black Sabbath (1976)

"Technical Ecstasy" - Black Sabbath (1976)

My expectations when dropping the needle on "Technical Ecstasy" were tapered at best.  Maybe that's why I came away from the spin enjoying my experience more than expected.  But then again, maybe I just enjoyed it…period.  True, there was little of the doomy craftwork I've come to expect from Black Sabbath on this square.  But the drumming and bassing is still hauling ass.  Tony Iommi is still delightfully riffing and running.  Ozzy's vocals are better than I was led to believe.  The album doesn't ring with as much of the ominous vibes from previous efforts, but there's more to like than not. 

The band makes up for the lesser darkness with some ambitious moxie.  The album rocks, for sure, but has an unusually melodic spin with surprising keyboards peeking its head out in different places.  For a Sabbath offering that surely sounded out of step in 1976…"Technical Ecstasy" has aged very well.  Even bonus, the album cover is far and away an improvement over the putrid "Paranoid" and "Sabotage" covers.  The square contains eight songs, six of which I wanted to hear again.  My short epistles are not trying to convince anyone.  Still, another listen with fresh ears never hurt anybody, right?  Anyway, this completes the early Ozzy-led Sabbath albums I needed for my collection.

"Technical Ecstasy" - Black Sabbath (back)

Favorites include:
"Back Street Kids"
"You Won't Change Me"
"Gypsy"
"Dirty Women"

This copy is a first Warner Bros. pressing with the Burbank label and shield.  The runouts are all etched except for the 0, which is stamped.  The album also has a custom-printed inner sleeve with mechanical designs and lyrics.  The vinyl plays a solid VG+.   However, I thought the mix was too trebly for a Sabbath album and could have used an extra goose on the bottom.  The white border on the front cover is a little dirty, but no splits or crumbles, and the corners look pretty nice.  

(custom lyric sleeve front & back)

Warner Bros. Records label

Cat #
BS 2969
SIDE A  DEADWAX
BS-1-2969  JW1 #2  0
SIDE B  DEADWAX
BS-2-2969  JW1 #3  0

"You Won't Change Me" - Black Sabbath / "Technical Ecstasy"1976)

TRACKS:
A1  "Back Street Kids" 3:46
A2  "You Won't Change Me" 6:34
A3  "It's Alright" 3:58
A4  "Gypsy" 5:10
B1  "All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" 4:59
B2  "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" 3:25
B3  "She's Gone" 4:51
B4  "Dirty Women" 7:15

PERSONNEL:
Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
Tony Iommi - guitars
Geezer Butler - bass
Bill Ward - drums, vocals (A3)
ADDITIONAL:
Gerald "Jezz" Woodroffe – keyboards (credited as "Gerald Woodruffe")

Good stuff.

Casey Chambers
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Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm always banging on to anyone who'll allow me that there's another classic 70's Sabbath album to be had if you do a little digging. It's just obcured by unfortunate filler and spread between Technical Ecstasy & Never Say Die instead of being a standalone LP.
If the band & label had distilled the best of these 2 albums into a compilation LP they could have deleted both the original LPs from their back catalogue without much complaint from fans. Such a move might just have returned the original line up's musical legacy to spotless condition.
July 14, 2024 at 10:25 PM
Casey said…
Right? The two albums together, while losing the chaff, would be killer.
July 16, 2024 at 2:18 PM
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