Technical Ecstasy was Black Sabbath’s seventh album, released in the second half of 1976. A commercial failure and generally considered to be the weakest album of the Ozzy Osbourne era, it nevertheless stands out for its iconic Hipgnosis cover.

Storm Thorgerson recalls:

"Technical Ecstasy was designed from the title and we did not listen to the music or even talk to the band, but then the title was evocative enough - suggesting something human but not human, or something technical but not technical. Opting for the latter, I imagined two technical beings (ie: robots) who might experience ecstasy - Instead of exchanging bodily fluids (not to be too crude) they exchange lubricating oil or light beams, something immediate like love at first sight, strangers passing in the night, say on an escalator, going in opposite directions and exchanging fluids in a brief moment of love. I thought image both graphic and romantic, I wonder what Black Sabbath thought?"

Tony Iommi and Storm were reunited thirty years later to sign this beautiful print which will grace the walls of Black Sabbath and Hipgnosis fans alike.

© Hypergallery 2007