First up is the galloping rhythm of "Back Street Kids". Moving away from the occult, the band instead turns its attention to social issues. About a tough kid from the wrong side of the tracks, it could certainly be autobiographical for all members of the band, who all came from modest beginnings. Less doom and gloom than previous outings, the song still packs a lot of aggression in its relentless rhythm, provided by Bill Ward. Not a bad song, but somewhat cliche lyrics and a relatively boring bass-line from Geezer start to shows the sign of ennui that band were certainly feeling at this point in their career. "You Won't Change Me" is one of my favorite tracks on the album, I like the creepy organ running through the verse, very unsettling and moody. Geezer Butler is back on point for track 2, providing a very nice, if somewhat subtle bass-line. Ozzy sounds great, and delivers a great vocal, one of his strongest with Sabbath.
"It's Alright" is an interesting song. The first lead vocal sung by Bill Ward, it is very Beatles-esque. A soft piano is accompanied by Geezer's rolling bass, and a solid beat from Ward himself. Very out of place on a Sabbath album, but by no means a bad song. Iommi finally kicks in with a solo, and a very nice solo at that. But the song limps back into the verse section, even more calm and acoustic than before, somewhat anti-climatic, but an enjoyable song, very gentle and sweet from the masters of doom. Side 1 closes with "Gypsy". Opinion of the song is very divided among Sabbath fans, some consider it crap, and some consider it an interesting curiosity. A little too trite for me during the verses, it seems to aiming for the masses with its 1970s "cock rock" ambitions. I do love the break-down and solo/coda section of the song, as a classic and very heavy Iommi riff does eventually kick in. A decent song, but it takes a while to really kick in, a "grower" of a song for me.
"All Moving Parts (Stand Still)" is a very odd song, even for this album. Supposedly about a transsexual politician, the lyrics are certainly unconventional. Musically, I like the groove of the song, very funky. The band would move towards more funky songs on their next album, usually with good results. Bill Ward's drumming is great on the song, and he gave a very solid performance on this album, easily the stand-out aspect of the album. "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" is rather traditional rock for the band. It's as if all the layers of doom and heavy riffs have been peeled away at this point. The bar-band pianos give the song a more bluesy feel, coupled by a very blues-tinged riff. The lyrics are an "ode" of sorts to the various dealers that supply rock n rollers with their "medication", something that Ozzy and co. certainly had experience with. Not a terribly bad song, but very conventional and safe for Sabbath, the sound of a groundbreaking band taking a musical step backwards.
"She's Gone" is a great song in my opinion. Accompanied by somber strings and gentle acoustics, Ozzy sings of lost love. Very slow and very depressing, but a hauntingly gorgeous song for me, one of the best on this album. The album closes with the best song on the album (although I prefer the live version of this song from Reunion), Dirty Women. I love the verse riff for the song, but it sounds a little muffled here, being almost drown out by the organ. I could honestly do without the organ on the track, very out of place for Sabbath, too "Deep Purple-like" without the finesse of the late Jon Lord. I'm glad that the very distracting organ sound has been essentially removed from modern lives performances of the song. Very complicated, the song even features a "Santana-like" jazzbreak-down. After the break-down, a great riff comes in, with Ozzy delivering some very gruff vocals, sounding absolutely haggard. Great stuff, and very complicated musically speaking.
"Technical Ecstasy" is not a great album. It is at times very good, but the relative lack of heavy riffs(mostly no down-tuning here) and lyrics focused more on social problems slightly turn me off compared to earlier Sabbath albums. While I do listen to it once in a while, there are only a few songs that really keep me coming back.
Rating-7/10
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