| Technical Ecstasy | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cover design by Hipgnosis | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 22 October 1976[1] | |||
| Recorded | June 1976 | |||
| Studio | Criteria, Miami[2] | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 40:35 | |||
| Label | Vertigo | |||
| Producer | Black Sabbath | |||
| Black Sabbath chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Technical Ecstasy | ||||
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Technical Ecstasy is the seventh studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath, produced by guitarist Tony Iommi and released in October 1976 by Vertigo Records. The album received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, peaking at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart[4] and number 51 on the US Billboard 200 Album chart,[5] later being certified Gold by the RIAA in 1997.[6]
An attempt by the band to experiment and explore other musical territory, Technical Ecstasy features more varied and complex songs than earlier records, with prominent keyboard parts and effects. One song, the pop ballad "It's Alright", is sung by drummer Bill Ward, becoming the band's first song not sung by frontman Ozzy Osbourne. The album has also been described as a response to punk rock, though this has been disputed.
- ^ "Record Mirror review" (PDF).
- ^ "Billboard's Top Album Picks". Billboard. 16 October 1976. p. 66.
Those precursors of science-fiction teen-oriented hard rock produced themselves at Miami's Criteria Studios...
- ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. ISBN 9780862415419.
- ^ "Artists". Official Charts.
- ^ "Technical Ecstasy: Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" at AllMusic. Retrieved 30 January 2009.
- ^ "American album certifications – Black Sabbath – Technical Ecstasy". Recording Industry Association of America.