Black Sabbath swung open the iron doors of heavy metal with their debut album, Black Sabbath. The album was pretty successful for a debut album, and the band was eager to replicate that success. Lo and behold,
Paranoid, the band's sophomore effort. In the UK, Sabbath released Paranoid at the end of 1970, the same year as their self-titled album. The album was originally titled War Pigs, after the opening track, a title that was quickly changed because of a potential backlash due to the Vietnam War. Paranoid was a hit, reaching #1 in the UK, and #12 in the US, where it was released a few months later (in 1971). Arguably their most popular release, Paranoid spawned the band's three most popular songs, the opener, War Pigs, the title track, and Iron Man.
Paranoid continued Black Sabbath's musical progression. The band focused on the heavier, more metallic sound, similar to the ending of the song Black Sabbath, and the song N.I.B. Tracks such as
War Pigs,
Iron Man,
Fairies Wear Boots, and
Electric Funeral show off the band's more metal-esque sound. Gloomy riffs are still found on the album,
Electric Funeral's main riff being an excellent example of this. Black Sabbath also has a few new tricks up their sleeves in the form of
Planet Caravan and
Rat Salad. The former is an attempt at a psychedelic song, and though I'm no expert on this kind of music, the band does an excellent job with the song.
Planet Caravan is quite relaxing, and a change from the destructive riffs found in previous Sabbath songs. The highlight of the song is quite easily the jazzy, two minute long guitar solo from Iommi, one of the most enjoyable solos on the album. The other song,
Rat Salad, mainly consists of a drum solo from Bill Ward, with Tony Iommi pitching in some riffs for the first half and the remaining 25 seconds of the song. Think Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin, and that's what you'll find here, only a minute and a half shorter. Though these two songs are well done, Paranoid's most memorable moments are definitely when they are thrashing up the set with their brand of heavy rock.
Though vocalist Ozzy Osbourne isn't the most talented singer around, I feel he improved on Paranoid. His singing in songs such as
Hand of Doom,
Iron Man,
War Pigs, and the title cut is a lot more tolerable than it was on past songs such as Wicked World. I also quite like his performance on
Electric Funeral. His voice fits the sludgy, electric sounding man riff and even though I don't count myself as a fan off the "prince of darkness", I will admit, he sounds pretty cool on
Electric Funeral. His singing on is also a lot more memorable on the album. His wails on a song like
Paranoid or
War Pigs make those even unfamiliar with the genre or song think of "that controversial band"/Black Sabbath. Guitarist Tony Iommi once again impresses with this release, as he churns out riff after riff after riff. Tony has a solid showing in each track, but specifically in
War Pigs,
Planet Caravan,
Electric Funeral (gotta love that electric sounding riff) and
Fairies Wear Boots. Both bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward have an excellent performance, especially in the song
Planet Caravan, where even though they aren't flashy, they hold up the mellow song with a simple, yet effective rhythm. Bill Ward also has a great showing in the instrumental,
Rat Salad, where he has his nearly 50 second long drum solo.
Even though in the past 36 years many bands have come up with faster, heavier, darker, more technical, albums, Paranoid still stands strong next to the albums it influenced. One of the most important heavy metal albums of all time, Paranoid might not be the best of it's genre, but it still has classic songs in the form of
War Pigs,
Electric Funeral,
Fairies Wear Boots, and
Iron Man. Black Sabbath's sophomore effort also gave the band as well as the fledgling genre its first commercial hit, as well as two anthems,
Paranoid and
Iron Man. The two songs have since become the band's most well known songs, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of them. Paranoid is an excellent album that, again, any fan of hard rock or heavy metal may find enjoyable.
Recommended Tracks:
War Pigs
Electric Funeral
Fairies Wear Boots
Planet Caravan
