This is rated higher than Technical Ecstasy? I hate this album, really.

This album for me gets worse and worse with every song. The title track is actually very decent, as is 'Johnny Blade' and 'A hard road', but as soon as 'Shock wave' starts playing you know that the band were lacking considerably in the originality department. This isn't quite their worst album, but it surely isn't an album to remember them by either.

Horribly album, IMO all band went nuts from drugs, and Ozzy most, let metlheads forgive me, but maybe it was better that Ozzy was fired? if all contunue like this, then I don t know, Dio, Gillan and Martin brung new ideas and sound into band and it 's better, I will analaize those albums in next fiev days , but this, well some harmonicas and blusy touches yes, but rest is cheesy and so boring

Written by musicalkaratekid on 16.02.2013 at 19:17

This album for me gets worse and worse with every song. The title track is actually very decent ... but as soon as 'Shock Wave' starts playing you know that the band were lacking considerably in the originality department.

Not so sure I'd call the title track original - it's good but pure Thin Lizzy. As for originality elsewhere, how many other late '70s metal bands were putting two-minute sax solos on their albums?

A questionable choice? Yes. But unoriginal?

Contains the track "Over to You". A song alone worth the purchase of the album in my opinion. It's basically a precursor to Pink Floyd's "The Wall"...

We've had all these fantastic songs warning us how NOT to treat our children, and yet...people still stick 'em into these evil, state-run entities to turn them into severly damaged, down-trodden souls...

I really like the track "Air Dance". I don't care if it's not doomy or heavy, it's a good song with good music. "Johnny Blade" is another good song but that's it for me on this album.

This album is extremely underrated, and the main reason why it is underrated is because old Sabbath fans have crap musical quotient. With all due respect for the first 6 albums, some of that material tends to get overrated by hipsters who get wet after doomy albums. The grave sin of this album, and the previous one is that Sabbath went deeper into prog territory, abandoning that doomy sound to quite a large extent, an unforgivable sin for doom-hipsters.

Great songs: Hard Road, Air Dance
Good songs: Johnny Blade, Never Say Die, Over To You, Shock Wave
Fillers: the rest

Hard Road is by and large the best song Sabbath has ever written.

DIE!

I have no problem listening to this one but in the end it always feels a bit too middle of the road... Air Dance is a fantastic song though

Its a good example how some people who follow bad reviews or comments, this is not a bad record, its is not their best at all, its just a band searching for new sounds at the end of the 70’s, this is an underrated record.

They had clearly abandoned their heavy metal sound by this point, and opted for a much more rock n roll, blues approach, which in a way sounds a little like early Status Quo's work imo. They lessened the progressive and experimental elements from their previous album, and simplified the songwriting on this one. Although they each performed on this album very well, their wasn't enough to remember it by.

Bill Ward was amazing on the drums, as per usual, and there are some real decent bass lines from Butler, and of course some top notch riffs by Iommi, Ozzy's vocals were decent enough too, but the songwriting on this one just lacked that something special, there's simply not enough stand out tracks for me on this one, aside from the title track which is very good, and quite rightly features on their greatest hit compliations.

Some new inspiration, and fresh vocals is what they needed imo, and Dio certainly came in and did that, i'm glad Ozzy left to go solo, because he needed to get back to his old true form.

This album is underrated. It not a masterpiece but a solid listen.

Nice try, but no cigar. I vaguely remembered this album being awful, but after listening to it after a long while I found things I really enjoyed more than I thought I would. The title song is the best one here, Air Dance comes second and maybe Johnny Blade also good, but I don't think there's anything especially bad here, the musicianship is still as great as ever. These songs just feel pretty half baked and were maybe rushed.