Paranoid

Artist: Black Sabbath

Please wait, the system is processing.

Average Rating: (See all 6 reviews) Label: Warner Bros. Records (Record Lab Usually ships within 6-11 days (47 available) 1  War Pigs / Luke's Wall 2  Paranoid 3  Planet Caravan 4  Iron Man 5  Electric Funeral - (live) 6  Hand of Doom 7  Rat Salad 8  Jack The Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots Performer Notes Black Sabbath: Ozzy Osbourne (vocals); Tony Iommi (guitar); Geezer Butler (bass instrument); Bill Ward (drums). PARANOID proved to be Black Sabbath's most focused, consistent, and successful record. Leaving behind the amorphous, extended jams of their debut for focused songs and a more structured sound, Black Sabbath virtually wrote the book on heavy metal with the ominous, unforgettable riffs, thunderous rhythms, and dark themes on this release. There are some up-tempo rockers, the famous title track for one, but for the most part PARANOID oozes along like a bad dream, as on the slinky, creepy opener, "War Pigs," or the lumbering thud of "Iron Man" (which boasts one of the most indelible electric guitar riffs in rock history). The album's title is apt: PARANOID is filled with an edgy aggression and lyrics about war, insanity, death, and destruction. Ozzy Osbourne's flat, affectless voice merges perfectly with Tony Iommi's fuzzed-out, sledgehammer power chords and the bruising bass and drum lines to create an intense, freaky, horror-show universe. There are elements of blues-rock and psychedelia (the floating "Planet Caravan," in particular), but Black Sabbath basically invents here what would become one of the most popular genres of music in the latter 20th century and beyond. Even after the millions of heavy metal albums that have followed in its wake, PARANOID stands as an all-time classic. Professional Reviews Rolling Stone (12/11/03, p.126) - Ranked #130 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" Spin (p.89) - "Ozzy saw heavy rock as a way to emulate the horrors of a fallen world..." Q (12/99, p.170) - Included in Q Magazine's Best Gothic Albums Of All Time - "...[They] stamped their bombastic and doom-laden imprint on British rock forever..." Vibe (12/99, p.162) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Producer: Rodger Bain Format: CD (1 Disc); Stereo Country: USA Quantity Available: 47 UPC: 075992732727 Studio/Live: Studio Release Date: 25 October 1990

From the opening moments of "War Pigs," you know you're in for one hell of a ride with Paranoid - Ozzy Osbourne's vocals plastered on top of Tony Iommi's solid guitar work was a one-two punch. (I always thought Iommi was a better rhythm player, though - his leads on this one, except for the jazzy riffs on "Planet Caravan," are a tad simplistic.) Add the thundering bass of Geezer Butler and the frenzied drumming of Bill Ward, and you have a band that legends are made of.

I feel a little sorry for ronnie dio as hes been the vocalist for sabbath for so long but sabbath is still seen as ozy osbournes band, the reason of course for this is because of ground breaking albums like htis one, its just brilliant, with my 2 fav sabbath songs on it war pigs and paranoid, paranoid is a must have album for classic metal lovers

This is truly one of the greatest rock/metal albums of all time. Black Sabbath are the grandfathers of metal. Ozzy Osbourne's power vocals and awesome lyrics, combined with the grunt of Iommi, Butler and Ward appeals to many generations of metal fans. Featuring 'War Pigs', 'Ironman' and Ozzy's trademark 'Paranoid'. Brilliant.

I was never a massive fan of Osbourne's singing, but I have to admit this album is pretty cool.

When The Generals Talk by Midnight Oil, happily sits as a much removed cousin to War Pigs.

If you meet these Fairies In Boots would you be scared? Their Iron Man sure doesn't seem to be the one from the Avengers hanging out with Captain America.

Then you have the whacky bardic interlude again, with Planet Caravan.

Clever, but still the best thing is listening to the band whale away.

one of the best sabbath albums, the vocals coming out on top with this one. The good songs are war pigs, paranoid and iron man. Definately their most mainstream album, War pigs has an excellent guitar solo on it, any black sabbath fan should pick up this one. Probably their best album (vocal wise)

This is my least favourite Sabbath album (that I've got anyway), as it's radio friendly (compared to Master Of Reality which was released later in 1971). There are no bad songs on this though and a few tracks stand out, namely "Paranoid" and "Iron Man". This is their most well known album, but it is not their best.