Paranoid

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. || 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.

The Beatles are widely considered to be the greatest band of all time, yet the Beatles did not write “Hand of Doom”. Curious.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is one of the greatest album ever recorded.

“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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Nope.

An obvious metal masterpiece. Dark, intense, slow, ambient. Everything that a good stoner metal album could be

10/15 Raw as all hell. Standout Tracks: Planet Caravan, Iron Man, Electric Funeral, Hand of Doom

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

Classic metal album, unexpected jazziness on some songs, others are well known

Perfection

This freakin rocked. I had heard more of the songs than I expected, fun ride all the way through

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

Possibly the best early heavy metal albums. 10/10

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.

Strong first half, weaker second half

Eines der besten Metal-Alben, auch wenn es aus den 70ern ist. Ein paar unverwechselbare Songs, gute Gittarren-Riffs. 5/5

Still sounds awesome today

I cannot objectively rate this album. It was one of the first secular albums I ever listened to after trading a playset of Magic cards (Craw Wurm, specifically) to borrow a friend’s CD copy of it so I could tape it. I thought it would be impossible for music to ever be faster or harder than Electric Funeral. My grandmother cried when she heard it. 5 stars.

This album is pretty much flawless - great musicianship, lyrics on point, clean but organic production and amazing songwriting. These songs are timeless and sound as fresh as ever. Sabbath just sound effortlessly cool on this one. This isn't my personal favorite of theirs but there's undeniable hits on this album and I can't find a reason not to label this record perfect, front to back.

I'm not a big heavy metal fan, but to me, Paranoid is the pinnacle of the genre. It's the best heavy metal album I've ever heard, and I’d bet it's one of the most influential too. The guitar riffs and instrumentals are phenomenal, and the vocals are both unique and powerful. This is the kind of album you’ll want to play on repeat. Favorite songs: Paranoid and War Pigs Least favorite: There isn’t a bad track on the album. Album artwork: A cool and memorable cover that fits the vibe perfectly.

Easy 5 star. Wall to wall bangers. An absolute classic!!

Sounds really fun to play live

Killer riffs. Every band member is embellishing, but never overplaying, and never coming out of sync. Ozzy’s voice is so unique and fits the music perfectly.

Duh.

A quintessential album from the pioneers of sludge and metal.

"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!

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™

I may be Paranoid, but not an Android. I. AM. IRON MAAAAAAAAAN Incredible work!

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

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"

Grandma Died On This Day. Allh Yar7em El Fey9a

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.

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

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.

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.

This album is great because it also contains the 1001 greatest guitar riffs you must listen to

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. ---- Буду ли я переслушивать этот альбом? ДА.

Such a great album. These guys were ahead of their time. You can see where so many future bands got their influences from.

ground breaking stunning album.

So fucking tight. Riffs for days. Can’t wait to drink a few rockshores and drift away to planet caravan.

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.

Legendary!

Classic

Amazing!

A monumental album, like this album essentially invented a genre. Pretty much all of Black Sabbath's massive hits are on this album. I can. totally see why so many would say this is one of the greatest of all time. While I definitely think this is an incredible album its just not something I think to listen to that often. Still though, this album kicks ass Favorite track: Paranoid 4.5/5

7/10. Car music. Long drive music

Wow I have been missing out, this is quite solid stuff. 4/5, I enjoy the instrumental songs as well

Right on!

War pigs is such a banger start to an album. The rest keeps up the energy

👍

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.

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.

Rockin album!

As good as it gets for Sabbath. Not my jam but a good album.

It's a miracle that Ozzy Osbourne is still alive

Epic 😎

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.

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

- better than seeing them live (saw them live in Wacken and they are just too old for this) - still old man metal, not mine

Great! Loved all the songs.

Very clean, its a classic and the father of metal music. Crazy how they peaked with their first two albums all in the same year after existing for only two.

My second favourite Sabbath album

Classic rock/metal.

Love this

🤘

One of the easiest 5-star reviews to give ever. This is the birth of heavy metal. Everything that could be said about this album has been said already, no reason for me to rehash it. All the tracks are excellent however one specifically deserves a mention - planet caravan. IMO supremely underrated. Love that track.

No debate, one of the seminal albums of all time

What a record. Year after hippy summer of love and then war pigs comes out. Outstanding record. The riffs are relentless and geezer butler is criminally underrated as a bass player.

IIIIII AMMMM IRON MAAAAAN

Noided

Paranoid is the only song I've heard before. I've been missing out apparently. I love 80s Ozzy but didn't go further back. But I still instantly knew the riff in Iron Man. This album sounds more 1985 than 1970. It's an easy 5 as the blueprint to every metal album of the 80s and 90s.

I love this album. I love that it's recorded like heavy jazz. I love that Tony was obviously influenced by CSN&Y in his solo for Planet Caravan. I love how many iconic songs are on this album. Such a great album and my first five star since starting this project!

Yeah man. It fucking rules.

One of the best. Glad it came up as it's been a while since I've listened to this in entirety.

Do I need to explain ?

This is a great album.

Creía que eran jevis y son jipis

1) War Pigs: Lyrics might be a bit too on the nose, but everything else about this one is perfect. 2) Paranoid: An undisputed all-time metal classic for a good reason. It's rare that a song sports this kind of relentless energy. 3) Planet Caravan: A strange fit for this album, but what a song! 4) Iron Man: I feel that this tracks reliance on that guitar riff is both its main strength and weakness. It's so dominant that everything else seems to take a backseat. 5) Electric Funeral: Frantic. Yet also, strangely gloating? Sarcastic? A credible soundscape for a nuclear apocalypse. 6) Hand of Doom: Heavy, uncompromising. The lead guitar playing a sweet escapist high over the bass' harsh reality. 7) Rat Salad: Short, purely instrumental. The drum solo sounds outright experimental, at least by this band's standards. Adds very little to the album, but I don't mind it. 8) Fairies Wear Boots: Fun lighthearted little song to close out the whole thing. Consistently strong from start to finish. Some of Black Sabbath's (and metal's) most defining hits, as well as some "hidden gems", all unified by the band's signature sound. Couldn't possibly ask for more than that.

5/5

Vocals lyrics and music come together to create an incredible sound. A vision. They present as wizards atop a mountain -casting dark spells, warnings, and wisdom from up high. The album has so much fuck yeah, and so little fat.

Easy 5 stars

Still one of the greatest albums of all time.

Love it

excellent - although not really full metal

Classic

Genre defining early heavy metal. The dark side of the psychedelic dream. Filled with bleak lyrics, great songs and a heavy vibe.

A classic. Here’s to Brum! :)

This is an actual masterpiece. The fact that Iron Man is probably the worst track on the album speaks volumes. I’m not a metalhead by any stretch, but the mix of Iommi’s riffs, Butler’s baselines and Osbourne’s spooky vocals is sublime. Hand of Doom and planet Caravan are standouts.

Seminal heavy metal album. Arguably the best ever in that genre, and one of the greatest of rock in general, too.

As a drummer, all I can say is BILL FUCKIN' WARD, man! Absolute monster who played just as big a role in paving the road for Sabbath's success as the other band members, while laying down some truly thunderous grooves/fills on this album in the process. And don't get me started on "Rat Salad" - even non-drummers can appreciate the gloriously schizophrenic mess that Bill left us with.