It showcases an ambitious outfit still keen to push the envelope and prove themselves a force to be reckoned with. With distance, Black Sabbath’s seventh studio effort is worth a revisit. Shame too, the retro inner artwork of the band as androids is far more charming. The cover for ‘Sabotage’ may be rushed and funny, but ‘Technical Ecstasy’ falls alongside many of the studio’s painfully dated and just bizarre designs. While hiring iconic design house Hipgnosis was the done thing at the time Sabbath really got a bum deal with this atrocity. All this is beautifully packaged alongside a fun tour booklet of the era, a 40-page hardback book focused on the period, and a poster – sadly of the hideous artwork. The live album this time around is sadly the most sloppy, Osbourne not sounding quite the hellraiser he is on earlier sets, and no surprise considering he’d soon leave the group briefly then for good(ish). He additionally handles some unheard outtakes and alternative mixes that prove more engaging than the overkill featured on Vol. Steven Wilson’s fresh mix of the track – as included with this set – really lets Ozzy’s vocals cut through the cacophony of guitars as well as Iommi cut through his own cacophony of guitars.Īlongside a punchy-sounding remaster of the original LP, we get the aforementioned new stereo mix by prog lord Wilson. Luckily finale ‘Dirty Women’ ends things with a bang and is the most successful marriage of the band’s new technical ambitions and the ferocity of old. ‘Gypsy’ and ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Doctor’ though perfectly entertaining, see the group dabble with rock cliche just a little too closely. Though a complete head-scratcher on first listen, it’s a fine ballad that I’m shocked Oasis never nabbed for a B-side. ‘It’s Alright’ is the album’s biggest curveball, drummer Bill Ward taking over vocals for a little Beatles-styled magic. The opener ‘Back Street Kids’ is a typically volcanic starting number from the band, its lyrics trying to comprehend how these street rats from post-war Birmingham found themselves fully-fledged rock stars riding in limousines. The final product may be scattershot, but it’s certainly ambitious. While the rest of the band happily got pissed on the beach, Iommi wrestled with new guitar tones and hammered out synths sections with keyboardist Gerald Woodroffe.

In fact, it was on Iommi’s mustachioed shoulders that the producer’s cape fell. Hardly the horrific disaster some saw it, the album still sees Iommi tear it up as only he can. With this in mind, the eight tracks Sabbath laid down in Miami in June of 76 make for a fun rock record – road trip accompaniment dripping with 70s excess and a little Brummie grit. Instead, the quartet faced the rumblings of punk, the sedate charm of The Eagles, and the flamboyance of Elton John. ‘Metal’ as a term hadn’t quite cooled into the public consciousness, and the New wave of British and Heavy Metal was just off exploding. Recorded a mere six years from their genre spawning debut, there was no way of knowing that their brand of heavy ruckus was going to persevere. Putting yourself in the shoes of Sabbath, however, and ‘Technical Ecstasy’ can be seen in a much more forgiving light. Retrospectively it’s seen as some strange sin coming from the very band the forged heavy metal into being. Understandably fans at the time were confused and concerned. While ‘Sabotage’ saw Sabbath smooth down their metallic edges, their seventh effort had them embrace soppy synths and McCartney-Esque ballads for a complete nosedive at the commercial.

Black sabbath technical ecstasy