TECHNICAL ECSTASY

Dull, dull, dull. The music isn't mind-blowingly awful, but there's nothing special about TECHNICAL ECSTASY with the possible exception of 'Dirty Women'. This album has not sat well through the course of time, and it just seems to get worse with every listen.

I bought TECHNICAL ECSTASY thinking that this lighter side of Black Sabbath would be more suitable for my tastes; for a while, I was right. However, over a year and a half later, the album falls into the category of 'suck-dom'. About half of the songs ('Rock n' Roll Doctor', 'She's Gone', 'It's Alright' and 'You Won't Change Me') are too slow tempo-wise, and others like 'Back Street Kids' got insanely cheesy over time. From where I stand, none of the songs that I just mentioned in this paragraph have any redeeming quality to them.

'Gypsy' and 'Dirty Women' stand out as songs I can still stomach without cringing or sleeping and I guess 'All Moving Parts' to a certain extent. Of course, that's not enough to justify its mediocrity. I'll give it two stars since I actually liked it initially; I was originally going to smack it with a one, but I feel nice today.

Last words: Check this out. The liner notes say one of the positive aspects of TECHNICAL ECSTASY is the 'sophisticated songwriting'. That line just makes me laugh. (If I offended anyone for that statement, I apologize).