1001 Albums Summary

1/1001 Back when I used to go to sunday service as a kid, the pastors warned us about this type of "evil, Satan-worshipping" music. With a name like Black Sabbath, they could be the poster child of this unholy genre, one that I never felt tempted to explore... until I entered my angsty, rebellious, and *troubled* teenage years, nearly 5 decades after Paranoid's release. It was my high school sweetheart who showed me all I needed was something harder, darker, stronger, to process all the emotional turmoil I was experiencing. Soon it was metal, rock, and their subgenres on repeat, every single day. While it's no longer a daily listen for me, I still revisit my playlists from time to time. I had no struggle in a listen through of this album. Initial thoughts were full of interest for the realization that Black Sabbath were the OG rock band, paving the way for the rest, and appreciation of the lyrics in War Pigs touching on sociopolitical issues. It piqued my interest to learn more about the 70s, and caused me to search up Iron Man (my favorite superhero) which led to learning that Iron Man was initially created during Vietnam as a pro-war character (and a weapons dealer), but Marvel would pivot away from political issues because of controversy. My favorite song from Paranoid is Planet Caravan. It's melodic, and not what you'd expect from a band named Black Sabbath. Ultimately I was surprised but not blown away by this album.