May 03 2021
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5
Easiest 5 stars I've ever given. Before even listening I know - but this is one of the first albums I became attached to as a kid. Every track is perfect. Other bands paved the way, but Sabbath actively invented heavy metal. I think it could also be argued the song "Electric Funeral" alone also spawned an entire sub-genre of 'sludge' bands and eventually made the term 'Sabbath Clone' its own descriptor as bands tried to re-create it.
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I've always loved the bass in this album, and obviously Iommi and Ozzy do great guitar/vocals - but on this listen, it was the first time I realized how truly incredible the drums are! Bill Ward always felt like a Sabbath afterthought to me, but listening more intently to the drums throughout, especially on the back half of the album, it's clear he's just as important a part of Sabbath's success. Perfect from top to bottom.
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Aug 25 2021
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5
“Paranoid” by Black Sabbath (1970)
When I listened to this as a teenager, my moral superiors were scandalized that I was sinfully indulging an embrace of the satanic. They were ignorant.
This is not evil proudly standing as evil. This is evil as a genre pointing to the good, in the classic, gothic sense. “War Pigs” excoriates the fomenters of mass destruction, likening them to workers of the dark arts (It is Satan, not God, who laughs at their vain appeals for mercy before divine judgment). “Paranoid” is the empathy-evoking lament of a man losing his mind. “Planet Caravan” is morally neutral pagan sci-fi. “Iron Man”, also sci-fi, is a morality tale about the deadly potential of technology turned against us. “Electric Funeral” is simply apocalypse. “Hand of Doom” and “Fairies Wear Boots” are poetic sermons warning against the use of drugs (Would that he had heeded his own message). What’s not to like? You uninformed cultural moralists need to get off your high horse.
While the prophetic voice in this message is rather too simplified, it’s not nearly as graphic as some portions of Sacred Scripture (slowly read Deuteronomy 28:47-57 before proceeding to The Lamentations of Jeremiah and the Revelation of St. John). Call me if you need counseling.
The aesthetic question here is whether the mood of the message properly harmonizes with the mood of the music. Boy, does it. It is dark. It is heavy. It is horror harnessed in sound.
Tony Iommi is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. If you want to play guitar like Iommi, all you have to do is cut off the ends of the first two fingers of your fretboard hand, and use homemade prosthetics and banjo strings in order to compensate. Simple. The pain of that horrible experience might just give you a sense of what a guitar can accomplish as a conveyor of human passion. Feedback and sustain on power chords (“War Pigs”, “Iron Man”) provide space and invite reflection, and exquisitely colorful lead riffs and solos amaze the listener. Jazz solo lines in the outro of “Planet Caravan” are exemplary for dynamic fluctuation and improvisation. Anybody can play the groove chords on “Iron Man”. But nobody can play them like Tony Iommi.
Ozzy Osbourne has precisely the right voice for conveying these lyrics and melodies. He has a strong, snarly voice, and pitch control is a secondary concern. He understands the power of the emphatic consonant.
Bill Ward’s heavy drums, with masterfully synchronized fills, provide fearsome rhythms and a fine solo break (in “Rat Salad”). And Geezer Butler’s virtuosity on electric bass set a standard for metal music, mastering the art of ‘pairing’ bass and electric rhythm without simple aping. Listen to how Butler’s pulsing bass vibrates the rattle wires of Ward’s snare drum on the intro to “Hand of Doom”. The engineers intentionally didn’t correct it. Masterful.
Listen to this album. Today. Remove your hat; you’re in the presence of rock nobility.
5/5
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Jul 01 2021
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5
Correct me if I'm wrong but this is one of the greatest album ever recorded.
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Oct 17 2024
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5
The Beatles are widely considered to be the greatest band of all time, yet the Beatles did not write “Hand of Doom”. Curious.
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Jun 23 2021
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5
Put me in a time machine and let me go back to 1970 and hear this for the first time and see others reactions. What a time that must have been. An absolute heavy metal and rock classic from start to finish.
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Sep 02 2021
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2
I don't expect anything I have to say is fresh, partly because this is well-trodden ground and partly because there's not much to talk about. That's not as negative as it sounds, just recognition that one of Sabbath's main virtues is recapitualating proof of concept that rock music can be chunked and stacked into songs like cheese cubes on a toothpick. I really like that bit of their music. They're very good at it. Riffs atops drum rolls atop looming bass atop screeching vocals. If they weren't, I wouldn't recognise so many of these (Kanye borrows the Iron Man riff for Hell of a Life, huh?) without ever having heard the album. My issues are (I warned you this wouldn't be original) that while all they want to do is rock (so far so good) they don't have much to rock around. A robin, a jailhouse, a clock--music is stuffed to the gunnels with things around which one can orbit. They've supposedly got weirdness, paranoia, satanism or whatever. But do they? Because despite their image, there's nothing especially evocative or atmospheric going on here. They could just as easily be singing about the best time to zest an orange (once it's hardened, I'm told, as that means the juice has moved from the innards to the outards) without causing much dissonance. Of course, ideas aren't a requirement in great music. I can listen to Franco Luamba or James Brown all day without giving too many shits about what they're saying. But that brings us to my other issue, which is that those guys have got rhythm, groove, funk and soul that's ass-bustingly transcendent, while Sabbath only have their cheese on a stick, and that can only get you so far.
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Apr 01 2021
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5
SHAAARRONNNN.
Three obvious big fat classic riffs in War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man but pretty sick how they can also pull off Planet Caravan in the middle of it all. I think Electric Funeral is my highlight though, can hear heaps of gizz and ORB.
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Aug 25 2021
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5
Probably the most influential metal album of them all, and arguably the greatest collection of metal songs on a single record.
War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron man and that’s just the opening three tracks. More focused and cohesive than its predecessor Toni Iommi’s ability to write a riff is unrivalled and Ozzy’s vocals are so simple but so incredibly effective, while the inimitable Bill Ward and Geezer Butler show why they are as under-appreciated as they are accomplished.
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Apr 13 2024
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5
This is easily both the best heavy metal album of all time and the most influential heavy metal album of all time. War Pigs, Paranoid, and Iron Man are obviously beyond legendary tracks, but tracks like Electric Funeral still absolutely rip and I’m still surprised by how they got away with putting a mellow track like Planet Caravan between Paranoid and Iron Man while still maintaining a coherent sound. The music and vocals are top fucking tier coupled with the genre defining sound and aesthetic that kicked off a whole generation of metal. Not to mention the ironclad tearing down of pro-war sentiments. This is truly one of the most perfect albums of all time for me. 4.8 stars
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Jan 29 2021
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5
War Pigs is a huge opening track and sets the tone for a genre defining album. Rifftastic Iommi with the unchained brilliance of Ozzie. A match made in metal heaven.
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Feb 20 2021
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5
So this was the first album I ever bought at 13. To say my mother was disappointed that I stopped binge-listening her Tom Jones and Sadler & Young albums to binge-listen Black Sabbath is an understatement. I first hear it when an older brother of a friend played it for us. So heavy, dark & riff-centric. For me, all hard rock that came after paled by comparison. I read a review of this album about 10 years ago and the guy said just ignore Ozzy (happily) and the heavy guitar and listen to nothing but the bass and drums and you will get a better idea of what a great band they were. I see this is the 7th highest ranked 1001 album so I will not resist.
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Jul 08 2024
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5
Black Sabbath's Paranoid is a landmark metal album, brimming with heavy riffs, gloomy atmospheres, and Ozzy Osbourne's iconic vocals. Songs like "Paranoid" and "War Pigs" are undeniable classics, while tracks like "Planet Caravan" showcase the band's versatility. Pioneering and influential, Paranoid remains a must-listen for any metal fan. 5 out of 5 stars
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Jan 17 2022
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5
An obvious metal masterpiece. Dark, intense, slow, ambient. Everything that a good stoner metal album could be
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Jan 04 2022
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5
More of a blues rock album than I expected. Some really great technique on display. The compositions are simple but effective, and the repetitiveness serves the themes of the album well. The instrumentalists are super together all the time, they play well with one another. Bill Ward especially kills it on this album.
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May 03 2021
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5
Quoting Rob’s mix-tape rules from the movie Hi Fidelity: “You gotta kick it off with a killer to take attention, and then you gotta kick it up a notch. But you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you gotta cool it down a notch. There are a lotta rules.” - even though ‘Paranoid’ is not a mix, it nails that form spot on - ‘War Pigs’ is the best song on the album, and then it gets better with ‘Paranoid’. ‘Planet Caravan’ is still a closet favorite which I love playing to the Metal uninformed - “This is Back Sabbath?”. It all works - galloping, locomotive bass and drums, ominous guitars and Ozzy. They convey the emotions of the disillusioned industrial youth that they are. Love the lyrics throughout. ‘War Pigs’ could have been written 3000 years ago. This album and their eponymous debut album were released within six months of each other, which still amazes me. These albums changed Rock music forever. Doesn’t get much better. 5+ stars
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Feb 08 2021
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5
Classic metal album, unexpected jazziness on some songs, others are well known
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Jan 08 2024
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2
I found myself not knowing when a song began and ended, a lot of the songs blended together, which isn't really for me. I like the genre of music and some of the songs are pretty iconic, however the blending is too much for me
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Jan 08 2024
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1
Nope.
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Oct 02 2024
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5
Perfection
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Sep 26 2024
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5
This freakin rocked. I had heard more of the songs than I expected, fun ride all the way through
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Jun 27 2024
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5
This album is perfect. Banger after banger after banger after banger. And those changes in the song are just godly. One of the best ever
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Oct 18 2021
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5
10/15
Raw as all hell.
Standout Tracks: Planet Caravan, Iron Man, Electric Funeral, Hand of Doom
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Oct 01 2020
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5
Possibly the best early heavy metal albums. 10/10
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Oct 08 2021
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4
How I wish I'd gone to that Black Sabbath concert on May 5, 1982. I guess it only took 40 years to realize that. I was scared away at the time. How was I to know with everyone freaking out at the time? Good grief, this review will be more obscene than the album is.
How can you not go, "Fuck yeah!" through this whole album? It's the "War Pigs" that are satanic! Fuck, yeah! What is this freaky, spacey, awesome sound in "Planet Caravan"? Fuck, yeah! Oh my God, that riff in "Iron Man" is so epic that we're going to play it and sing to it over and over for five and half minutes and never get tired of it. (When you look up "Riff" in Wikipedia, this is the riff that illustrates what a riff is. Fuck, yeah!) I went batshit when that voice that kind of sounds like Animal from the Muppets chanted "Electric Funeral! Electric Funeral" Fuck, yeah! When "Hand of Doom" slowly, creepily builds and builds to "Now you're gonna die!" Fuck, yeah! (Well, maybe not "yeah" except that it's definitely not glamorizing drug abuse, so, okay, fuck, yeah!) I will never get tired of the title "Rat Salad." Fuck, yeah. The album so far has dealt with war, depression, the end of the world (twice), and drug abuse, and ends with "Fairy with boots and dancing with a dwarf." Fuck. Yeah. (Granted it might have had to do with the "smokin' and trippin'" but as the album ends, "Yeah!")
I had to giggle a few times when the lyrics really struggled to fit the rhythm "Ca-an he-e see-e, or is he blind?" and then I laughed again when I realized it sounded like Jack Black was singing, but I felt like a goddamn badass pulling up to work with it blaring on my car stereo and now I finally get it all.
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Aug 20 2024
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3
Strong first half, weaker second half
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Nov 25 2024
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5
"War Pigs", Paranoid" and "Iron Man" in the first 4 tracks! I guess they threw "Planet Caravan" in there just so we wouldn't spontaneously combust from all the rocking. Outside of "Planet Caravan" I was surprised by how overall rocking they kept it going on all the songs. I really liked this one!
The drumming, the sound of the drumming, and the production on the drumming just sounds so unique and cool on this album. I really like the drumming and it is so distinctive. Rock on Sabbath!
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May 07 2024
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5
Super hårdt OG super catchy, lyder virkelig som et mission statement for hele genren. Jeg tror egentlig marginalt bedre jeg kan lide debuten, men den her fortjener stadig at joine Ágætis Byrjun på Claus-Rasmus-Sandra Five Star Hall of Fame™
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Jan 08 2024
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5
I may be Paranoid, but not an Android.
I. AM. IRON MAAAAAAAAAN
Incredible work!
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Jun 27 2023
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5
Out of all albums that I love this is one of the most pesimistic when it comes to lyrics.
Great, dynamic, atmospheric music with hypnotizing Ozzy's vocals make perfect match. Depressing lyrics make this whole experience hit different. One moment You want to jump to great riff, couple of seconds later you are dragged to the bottom with apocaliptic visions. One of my favourites. 6/5
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Mar 14 2022
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5
Anthony, Andrew, and I took some mushrooms and tripped hard to an early Sabbath concert where Ozzy still had youth in his face that he hadn't destroyed with drugs yet. Then we turned on a Tom Jones record, and watched a industrial crusher destroy a bunch of toys on YouTube. We laughed our heads off.
This record is still one of the most imitated, but never duplicated. Lightning stuck hard with this one. Favorite tracks: "Iron Man", "Faeries Wear Boots", "Electric Funeral"
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Feb 07 2022
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5
Grandma Died On This Day. Allh Yar7em El Fey9a
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Jan 25 2022
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5
Never considered myself a fan of metal but I can appreciate the genre because of albums such as this. Going through the lyrics of some of these songs shows them talking about generational topics (such as war pigs with them referencing, I’m assuming, Vietnam), to having an abstract story (Iron Man). Musically, everything from the guitars to the vocals made this album an absolute banger. The simple replay-ability of this album gives it a 5, no contest.
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Jan 25 2022
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5
5/5
While metal wasn’t invented by a single artist or band, Black Sabbath did bring together a blueprint that is referenced to this day. This album is fun to listen to and full of that dark energy you are looking for when listening to metal, without feeling obscene or “evil” just for the sake of sounding that way. The Heavy and distorted riffs and Ozzie’s iconic voice are of course great but listening to the drums and bass specifically show that they help support the band just as much as everything else. Of course the big three hits are amazing but the rest of the tracks are great listens as well. I enjoyed “Planet Caravans” slow paced spacey feeling (the traveling bongos are fun), “Electric Funeral” has intense imagery in the lyrics and really brings forward the bass and drums, and “Rat Salad” is a fun jam session and drum solo. I guess I’d say that “Fairies Wear Boots” is the weak point of the album for me but that’s not saying much as it isn’t a bad listen.
Fav Tracks: No point in choosing
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Jan 22 2022
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5
A stone cold classic. I actually like it BECAUSE the guitar relys more on tone than on histrionics. The first half is incredible from War Pigs through Iron Man its one classic after another. I especially the moody Planet Caravan. The second half can get a little heavy handed, but not enough to dim the status as an all time metal classic; 5 stars.
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Nov 15 2021
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5
What's to say about this album that hasn't already been said? A great trip from start to finish. I think when I was younger I wasn't a big fan of Planet Caravan but I love the trippy groove of that track now and it makes a good bridge from Paranoid to Iron Man.
On side two It feel like Electric Funeral pays an homage to early Pink Floyd with the vocal melody at the beginning.
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Sep 24 2021
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5
This album is great because it also contains the 1001 greatest guitar riffs you must listen to
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Sep 13 2021
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5
Ох, это же Блэк Сабат
Гитары звучат сочно. Слышно каждую ноту, плотно.
War Pigs - ох какой соляк!
У баса интересная партия тоже.
Теперь я понимаю, за что любят Томи Айоми. У него просто ахерительные рифы и вкусные соляки.
Paranoid - тут всё понятно
Planet Caravan - вау, вот это перкуссия! Раньше я слушал только кавер Пантеры на эту песню, оригинал вообще другой. Бас всё так же творит чудо, гитара потихоньку подыгрывает, дополняя атмосферу. Интересно звучат соло Томми (уже в трех песнях подряд), они звучат сухо, практически без эффектов. Слышно лишь короткую реверберацию. Но эта реверберация создает невероятную глубину в песне.
Iron Man - классика хэви метала) Опять же гитара звучит очень собранно и хрустяще. Есть непопадания, когда после паузы все немного играют мимо, но почему-то это не звучит как что-то прям очень плохое. Типа трушно, что-ли. Хм, концовка очень интересная, только сейчас обратил внимание на неё.
Electric Funeral - Оззи снова не парится и поёт в унисон с гитарой Томми) КАК ЖЕ ОФИГИТЕЛЬНО ЗВУЧАТ ЭТИ ГИТАРЫ! Во всех песнях!
Hand of Doom - барабаны очень панчевые, слышится каждая атака.
Rat Salad - похоже на импровизацию. Барабанное соло драйвовое.
Fairies Wear Boots - как всегда крутые рифы Томми Айоми. Интересно меняется ритм на протяжении всей песни. Хорошее закрытие альбома.
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Буду ли я переслушивать этот альбом? ДА.
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May 25 2021
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5
Such a great album. These guys were ahead of their time. You can see where so many future bands got their influences from.
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Mar 15 2021
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5
ground breaking stunning album.
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Feb 13 2021
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5
So fucking tight. Riffs for days. Can’t wait to drink a few rockshores and drift away to planet caravan.
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Feb 13 2021
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5
When I first met Luke in a crowded Bot garden. Sandwiched between Laura and Jenny and opposite himself, I accidentally made out I was a massive metal head by talking to him solely about Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. That man was no liar. 8 tracks of pure godly tunes.
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Dec 22 2020
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5
Legendary!
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Dec 29 2020
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5
Classic
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Oct 05 2020
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5
Amazing!
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Dec 04 2023
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4
It's Sabbath, and I'm a metal head. Having said that, it's not a brilliant album, and you can tell its the birth of metal as a genre. There are some excellent tracks, but it could use some refinement. It us still a good album, just not one of the very best.
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Nov 10 2021
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4
Staple thrash metal infused with riveting use of stylistic bar variations and impactful guitar riffs. Ozzy Osbourne's immediacy in his vocals create intangible catharsis for the record. Cohesive and a CHB, 'Paranoid' (album) is instantly recognizable to many listeners alike regardless of genre.
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Apr 06 2021
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4
Rockin album!
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Sep 24 2024
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3
It's a miracle that Ozzy Osbourne is still alive
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Aug 25 2024
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3
Epic 😎
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Jul 11 2024
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3
Short and sweet. The guitar sound >>> Ozzy’s vocals. Of course this album is on this list, no problem saying that even though they’re not my favorite band.
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Apr 15 2021
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3
Disappointing! War Pigs and Paranoid together made a tremendously strong, energetic start from out the outset, but all my enthusiasm was lost by the time Iron Man came on—at which point the album descended into lyrics that were edgy but shallow, and settled into that unfortunate aimless, rambly guitar/drum combo that seems to have dominated rock in the years prior. An easy five stars if the momentum had carried through, but as it stands, three is being generous.
Recommended season: Winter
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Oct 25 2023
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2
- better than seeing them live (saw them live in Wacken and they are just too old for this)
- still old man metal, not mine
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Feb 11 2025
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5
Fantastic album. War Pigs and Paranoid are some of the best songs ever written. This is metal I can understand and I think is pretty good.
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Feb 10 2025
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5
Easy 5 stars. Great album that still holds up. Brutality’s cover of Electric Funeral and Pantera’s cover of Planet Caravan are both worth a listen.
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Feb 10 2025
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5
Finally, a metal album. Praise be to Satan 🤘🏻🤘🏻. I have not listened to this album all the way through since my brother threw a party and my CD case went “missing” back in 99. Black Sabbath are the grand daddies of Metal, and I assume every 13 year old metal curious kid gets a copy of this at some point. So fucking good. Although admittedly pretty tame by today’s Metal standards, this thing still rocks. Everyone knows the hits, but I’m a sucker for Electric Funeral. This album was the soundtrack to many a Magic The Gathering game back in the day. I really should buy another copy.
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Feb 10 2025
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5
A classic for sure. Side A is perfect. 'War Pigs', 'Paranoid', AND 'Iron Man'?!?! What else needs to be said?
Black Sabbath must have blown people's minds in the 70's.
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Feb 09 2025
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5
Дает сил и желание что либо делать
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Feb 04 2025
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5
No need to talk, just listen.
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Feb 04 2025
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5
Basically one of the 19 best albums of all time according to me ... its sooo epic and ozzy is soo stupid which I love about this band
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Feb 04 2025
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5
Great album. 5
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Feb 04 2025
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5
I went straight to my record player to listen because it was already queued up. This is a masterpiece and I will fight anyone who disagrees.
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Feb 03 2025
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5
5 stars
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Feb 03 2025
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5
ominous lyrics with themes of war, nuclear annihilation, and addiction. one of the most important albums in the history of heavy metal.
highlights:
“war pigs”
“paranoid”
“electric funeral”
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Feb 01 2025
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5
easiest 5/5. in my top10 of all time.
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Feb 01 2025
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5
Was familiar with the big three on this album, but really enjoyed the entire thing. Awesome musicianship across the board, nice production that doesn’t muddy the heaviness of the rock. Perfect length where it’s not too bad to listen a second time, great album!
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Jan 29 2025
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5
Classic album, classic songs. Really fun to listen to
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Jan 03 2025
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5
This is the Black Sabbath album that belongs here.
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Jan 27 2025
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5
Is Black Sabbath underrated? They certainly were by me. Perhaps they just weren't fashionable when I was in high school, but their influence and talent for writing power cord riffs is perhaps un parallelled, and in evidence on 3 classics on this album; War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man.
Their sound is so heavy, I don't know if the term Heavy Metal was coined for them but it shuld have been. What appeals to me is their NON-RRELIANCE on guitar and vocal histrionics, the musicianship is in service of the song. Sure the lyrics sometimes are sophomoric but that's a minor quibble. I even enjoy the "quiet" songs which have a depth and gravitas that is rare in this genre. A nearly perfect Heavy Metal album. 5 stars
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Jan 27 2025
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5
This is crazy timing. A buddy asked me which I liked more, Paranoid or Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. I gotta go with SBS, but it’s damn close. This is a classic!
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Jan 26 2025
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5
Excellent, familiar. Energy
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Jan 25 2025
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5
I only just listened to this a few days ago after seeing Sabbaths farewell gig in Birmingham on the telly.
It sounds as dark, heavy and fantastic as it did 40 odd years ago when I first heard it.
Fabulous musicians who know how to play, I always thought Ozzy was the weakest link but I am so used to him now that it couldn’t be any one else!
I saw Ozzy live a couple of times but never managed to see Sabbath.
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Jan 20 2025
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5
It is actually insane this came out in 1970. I feel like they basically invented metal out of the blue. Listening to the album as a whole you can hear the influences of the 60s bleed through, but it's like they had this vision, twisted the music of the time to their wills, and invented something completely new. Still sounds amazing, too. Definitely a classic.
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Jan 20 2025
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5
Many bands would kill to have an album like Black Sabbath have atleast 5 like this in their catalog
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Jan 20 2025
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5
One of the best things I've listened to on this list so far.
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Jan 17 2025
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5
Riffs on riffs on riffs, over great drums. The lyrics are pretty corny these days, but I'm here for it.
The opening salvo of War Pigs and Paranoid is hard to beat, and the reprieve of Planet Caravan is welcome before Iron Man completes one of the strongest side 1s I've heard. I was fully expecting it to drift off a bit after that, but side 2 is strong too
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Jan 17 2025
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5
Minor key proto-metal blues rock. The foundation
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Jan 14 2025
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5
Peak
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Jan 14 2025
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5
Fucking hell, it's good
Widely understood
Children devil-warned
Whole new genre spawned
Tuning sounds amiss
Lyrics look like this
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Jan 14 2025
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5
5 star heavy album. What a statement. Geezer Butler created an entire ominous universe and use the most suited musicians to bring it to life. Punishing tracks that still manage to be catchy. Listening to this it isn’t a surprise this band spawned entire genres. 5s all around for songs, sound, band members, album cover. A goodun
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Jan 13 2025
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5
GREAT ALBUM
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Jan 13 2025
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5
The black sabbath album along with heaven and hell to listen to.
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Jan 13 2025
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5
When I was 15, a school friend taped Queen's Greatest Hits for me, and on the spare room at the end of the cassette he included War Pigs, Paranoid and Iron Man. I played that tape incessantly and fell in love with those Sabbath tracks. I used to buy records from this weird UK catalogue printed on cigarette paper with 6 pt font lists of new (not secondhand) overstocked or deleted records from warehouses around Europe. The records were cheap, but they took about 3 months to arrive in Australia via sea mail. About one in three records would turn out not to be available, but what did turn up were like Portuguese pressings at substantial discount. I am sure that is where I bought my German pressing of Paranoid, still one of my favourite albums.
Black Sabbath aren't great musicians, but they managed to turn their shortcomings into a whole new genre. You can hear them desperately trying to be Led Zeppelin, but it turns into their own thing through sheer hamfisted-ness. There are some classic tunes on here (War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron Man, Calm Caravan). But, as a fan of stoner rock and sludge metal, this is one of the seminal texts and all the tracks are worth a listen. The Rat Salad drum solo is a bit rubbish, but even that isn't too long, and everything else I find super fun, rockin' and charming in its own way. I mean, it's all as dumb as a box of hammers and Lester Bangs wasn't far off the mark when he described them as "unskilled laborers... just like Cream! But worse!" But I also agree with Charles Shaar Murray (review of Hammersmith Odeon show, NME, 1976) that the key to enjoying Sabbath is to listen to them REALLY LOUD!
I find Black Sabbath really fun; they rock hard and get me all worked up whenever I listen to them (especially if it is REALLY LOUD!!). I also refer to Henry Rollins' spoken word piece titled 'The Virtues of Black Sabbath' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ovATokHcqw) as uses Iron Man as an example of why Sabbath is awesome (short version; because rejection sucks and AAAARRRGH!)
Five stars, perfect. Wouldn't change a note! I even like the famously shit cover.
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Jan 12 2025
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5
I’ve never listened to this album as a whole and it’s phenomenal. Planet caravan took me for a ride . . .
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Jan 11 2025
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5
Un clasico
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Jan 09 2025
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5
Banger
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Jan 08 2025
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5
Heavy metal was never as fun as on this record. All killer no filler. Is one of those few albums in which each song gave birth to a whole sub-genre.
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Jan 08 2025
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5
Hand of Doom and especially Rat Salad are a bit weaker than the rest, but overall an absolute classic.
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Jan 07 2025
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5
What a romp. I love every song on this album!
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Jan 07 2025
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5
One of the all time metal greats, and definitely deserving of its status as a GOAT. This album is immensely top-heavy, but there's a whole lot of substance once you get past the first 4 or so songs. War Pigs, Iron Man, etc. have all been done to death, so I'll take a deep dive into the lesser known 4 songs on the album.
Electric Funeral is hands down the worst song on this album. Ozzy is a real let down with his vocals I adore every song on this album, except for this one. This song is genuinely a bit of a miss for me. It picks up nicely at the end, but the start of the song really wigs me out.
Hand of Doom is probably the most exciting song on the album. It is really similar to Paranoid, but I think it plays better on the ears.
Rat Salad is a nice solo, with some great drumming in between. It's a great song, but I think it would have gone really well placed further up the album to break up some of the similar sounding songs like near Iron Man. The drum fill definitely does drag on, and it does show when you compare streaming rates of this song to the others.
Fairies Wear Boots is another pretty good song, that seems to combine pieces of all the previous songs into one. I enjoyed this song, and it's a nice way to top off the album.
Genuinely an incredible album, and deserving of a 5. Well worth its spot in the top 10 of all time on this list.
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Jan 07 2025
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5
It feels kinda stupid to write something about a universally loved album that I don't really have any issues with. What the fuck do you want me to say 'ooohhh the melody is so rich' yeah we all know the album is cool
I guess my take away is start feeding the kids in the music industry today some live bats and see if we can activate the same kind of shit that caused these guys to drop Paranoid and their Self Titled Album in the same year
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Jan 07 2025
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5
That bat had it coming.
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Jan 07 2025
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5
10/10
Fav tracks - All -1
Least fav - panet caravan
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Jan 06 2025
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5
Hands down, one of the most significant albums created. From start to finish, I can listen to this entire album over and over. A true progenitor for so many flavors of rock and metal.
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Jan 06 2025
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5
One of the best opening tracks ever? Paired with one of the best closing tracks ever?
A regret I have in life is not really getting deep into Sabbath until much later in life. So many wasted years!
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Jan 02 2025
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5
I loved this album when I first heard it in the early 70s and it still sounds fresh today. Probably the best album Sabbath ever recorded IMHO. Pure heavy metal bliss!
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Jan 01 2025
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5
10
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Dec 30 2024
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5
With their first album Black Sabbath basically invented heavy metal. With their second album Black Sabbath perfected heavy metal. This very well may be the top of the mountain. It’s not even my favorite Sabbath album (Master Of Reality), but the timelessness is undeniable. I love how Planet Caravan is a brief reprieve from the super iconic moments on the first side that feels like you are listening underwater. Electric Funeral is my favorite kind of metal song with the slow tempo and chunky guitar riff. Rat Salad is the Sabbath equivalent to Moby Dick. Everything is great here.
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Dec 29 2024
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5
Amazing album from start to finish.
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Dec 28 2024
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5
If this truly is the beginning of metal it was all downhill from here. Metal ranks easily my least favorite genre, but in my opinion this is one of the greatest albums ever. War Pigs, Paranoid, Planet Caravan, Iron Man, and Faeries Wear Boots are all extraordinary
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Dec 25 2024
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5
Heilt king Kong. Kanskje beste så langt
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