TECHNICAL ECSTASY

After quite a few materpieces...we get this. It's the same formula we've heard before, but so slugglish and poorly performed that it's almost unlistenable. Black Sabbath, now, were growing steadily into a decline, as drugs and alcohol derived most of the musical talent that used to be in the band. Awkward, boring and sloppy are the best ways to describe one hell of a bad album. Robots having sex, a little bit wierd?

1.Back Street Kids - At first signs, we are getting a gream album. Awesome and rocking album opener. The signature style is here, but there is some hard rocking energy that was not seen on this cut. Not great lyrics, as they are nothing really mystic or fantasy based as it's more about the life of a kid on the streets. Ozzy Osbourne gets a great vocal melody,as Geezer Butler and Bill Ward play with intensity. Tony Iommi's riffage throughout the track is excellent and the synth sounds are great. A classic Sabbath opener. (9/10)

2.You Won't Change Me - A turely symponic track, and a pretty good one at that. The only reason to mark this track down is because of the energy level. It's almost gone, but the music is still being played. Average lyrics to go with, but the instrumentation is so good, it just seems a bit too rehearsed for me. (8.5/10)

3.It's Alright - I am not going to hold back, this is possibly the worst track off the album....or any Sabbath album for that matter. The Bill Ward sung track is totally not Sabbath and is one of the many reasons for the Ozzy departure. Musically, the cut has piano and acoustic guitar. Not much else besides a steady beat and some terrible vocals and horribly hazy and drugged out lyrics. (2.5/10)

4.Gypsy - Not really much better than the track before it, I have never been fond of the opening drum solo the dominates the track. Disjointed guitar chords and some half-assed vocal melodies from Osbourne are the standard for the track. Some decent basslines throughout, as you can faintly hear Butler rocking to whatever the hell is left of the suckish track, but not enough to make the song better than nothing great. (4/10)

5.All Moving Parts (Stand Still) - One of the better tracks off the album, as some energy is left within this hollow thing called Black Sabbath. Musically, it's one of the best, but vocally, it's one of the weakest performances from Osbourne. Thank god the music is great, as the Iommi led track is heavy and rocking. Slightly progressive in the changes and the radiation verses, it's almost classic. (8/10)

6.Rock 'n' Roll Doctor - Another low cut at a try for a hit. Some non-existent energy and totally un-Sabbath music. Almost a Blues Metal track, but it fails in profficiency, as the track is a complete bore. Ozzy's vocals are actually very good, but with some terrible drumming and boring guitar parts augmented by heavy synths, it goes nowhere. (3.5/10)

7.She's Gone - Some great strings, but a very un-gothic topic for such a used to be Gothic type of band. Acoustic guitar dominates the track, along with the string section, but it dosen't save the lyrics from total cheese and some below average vocal melodies, as this is the weakest of the albums tracks in his voice. (5.5/10)

8.Dirty Women - The longest track on the album is actually very good, but, overall, it's too little too late. The music is pretty good, but lacking some drive and force, as it's almost subdued because of the lazy playing. Ozzy's vocals are fairly good, but the lyrics he is singing are some of the worst on the album, as they are too much female oriented, and a total lose for the great music. Heavy synth's and organs also play a big role, which adds a slightly more sophistocated sound. (8/10)

Some absolutly great tracks and some aboslutly horrible trakcs. There has never been such an inconsistent album is Sabbath history, even Volume 4 has much more consistancy and flow! A 2 stars for something turely average that only fans will actually appreciate, but some songs are considered for a progger and rocker.