technical

Technical Ecstasy
$7.98

Even though I generally haven't found Black Sabbath to be the kind of band which delivers 'killer' songs (they did on "Paranoid" though), their albums have always been interesting enough to warrant further exploration, especially since "Paranoid" onwards. This album is a bit of a departure from the vibe of their earlier albums. It's bassy, riffy, "feel good" hard rock, with heavy metal riffs and bluesy lead guitar solos. I'm giving this album around 7/10 purely as an album experience...it's not really an album for songs that make a big impression on your memory, like many of the songs on "Paranoid", or "Sweet leaf" off of their "Master of reality" follow up album.


Best song:


You won't change me - in my notes I put a tick next to songs I rate very highly, and dots for songs that aren't bad. It took around 3 listens, but 3rd time around I gave this song a dot. It starts off with an air-raid siren. It has a doom laden gothic rock riff. The vocals sound strained and electronic sounding. The lead guitar is bluesy and the solos are expressive and quite good. Track features a good chruch organ sounding melody too.


The next best song:


She's gone - features violin/strings. Has a nice, delicate, sharp sounding steel string accoustic guitar (sound puts in mind bands like Boston and Midnight Oil). Lyrics are mournful. Can perhaps be seen as a companion song to "Changes" off of "Vol.4".



The rest:


Back street kids - a modern sounding heavy metal song, with a pulsing riff and a slower, melodic solo bit (and vocal). Track has a nice change in vibe when the synth comes in.

It's alright - a light pop/rock kind of track. It's a positive sounding song...you could imagine it as being the theme to a sitcom or something! Piano and accoustic guitar feature, and there is vaguely "Carry that weight" vibe to proceedings. Short drum solo, Ozzy not on vocals here, I don't think.

Gypsy - has a Latin sounding intro, perhaps and funky drum beats. The riffing then makes the song upbeat. Lyrics aren't the best in this song...it sometimes has a Broadway musical kind of vibe to it. Has a bluesy, expressive guitar solo to it.

All moving parts (stand still) - has a groovy, dirty sounding riff to it. Bluesy lead guitar and a catchy vocal melody. Bassy, with power drumming.

Rock'n'roll doctor - sort of sounds mono at the start of the song. One of those "good time" kind of songs I alluded to before...a hard rock song with a party riff. Honky tonk piano and power drumming. Might even be cowbell percussion in this song too. Ozzy has phlegmy vocals on this track.

Dirty women - Ozzy caricatures his singing style on this song...screechy and throaty sounds come out of his mouth. Track has a weird synth sound, and there are long, extended, hypnotic elements to it. The outro has a guitar solo which I like...gets into a good groove.



Recommendations:




If you are new to Black Sabbath, I think that their first three albums are the most important...none of them really sound like eachother. Their debut has a certain folk rock vibe to it. "Paranoid" is the band producing 'hits' and it's their best album, I think. "Master of reality" is their third album and really set the template for the proto-typical Black Sabbath album. If you like that, keep going on up til "Sabotage", which is my second favourite album, behind "Paranoid". If you like "Technical ecstasy", you might like "Mob rules", which is Black Sabbath with Dio on vocals...their second album together...similar spirit to this album, I think.

Technical Analysis: The Complete Resource for Financial Market Technicians
$89.99
This is a very good book on technical analysis. The book is reminiscent of a college text. It is well written with goals for each chapter, lots of pertinent examples and questions and exercises at the end of chapters for reinforcement.

A must have for any student of technical analysis.

ALO Women's Technical Jacket,Slate/Grey,Medium
$125.00
FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
Size fits as expected
Sleeve length substantial (I'm 5'11")
Odd tapering (hips flare out too much)
Tapering is too high up for me
Stiff collar

COLOR: I got the gray, but it is more blue than gray. Certainly more blue than in the picture.

MATERIALS: I haven't gotten to use it enough to comment on durability. Zipper doesn't seem to be cheap, though. The outer fabric, itself, is nice, but it is more slick than most soft shells. Nice mico-fleece lining.

BOTTOM LINE:
This jacket was a great buy for the $30 Deal of the Day price. Not worth retail.

Technical Analysis of Stock Trends
$39.99
The book is a reprint of a much older book. Since the original book was written there have been a number of significant advances in computing power and software and this book is very much dated.