... Paranoid - do I have to tell you? I suppose they picked this one to release as a single as it's the right length and the most 'poppy'.
3. Planet Caravan - slow, wistful, melancholic, eerie, haunting, spacey, ethereal, poetic. A polished, shivers-down-the-spine track featuring understated ... Read review
Though most of Black Sabbath's classic material from thisalbum ("War Pigs", "Iron Man", ... more
"Fairies Wear Boots" and the title track) can also be found on the collectionWe Sold Our Soul for Rock&Roll,Paranoidis essential for the completist. One of the best albums from one of the bands to define heavy metal, this album is chock-full of the best stuff from Sabbath's Osbourne years. (Where else will you be able to hear "Rat Salad?") The music isn't exactly complex, but it doesn't need to be; its importance lies in its evocative power, with which any teenager will be able to identify. --Genevieve Williams
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Though most of Black Sabbath's classic material from this album ("War Pigs," "Iron Man," ... more
"Fairies Wear Boots," and the title track) can also be found on the collectionWe Sold Our Soul for Rock&Roll,Paranoidis essential for the completist. One of the best albums from one of the bands to define heavy metal, this album is chock-full of the best stuff from Sabbath's Osbourne years. (Where else will you be able to hear "Rat Salad?") The music isn't exactly complex, but it doesn't need to be; its importance lies in its evocative power, with which any teenager will be able to identify.--Genevieve Williams
Postage & Packaging:£1.21 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Iconic, pioneering, and just plain good Disadvantages: Drum solo
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2. Paranoid - do I have to tell you? I suppose they picked this one to release as a single as it's the right length and the most 'poppy'.
3. Planet Caravan - slow, wistful, melancholic, eerie, haunting, spacey, ethereal, poetic. A polished, shivers-down-the-spine track featuring understated jazzy guitar, proving that they can turn the volume down and still produce something distinctive and good.
4. Iron Man ... ...Might be taken seriously by teenage boys of all ages.
5. Electric Funeral - Starts as pure grunge, speeds up, then goes grungy again. A short track with apocalyptic lyrics.
6. Hand of Doom - Slow, sinister, again with a fast bit in the middle. This appears to be an ANTI-drugs song. Did Ozzy heed his own warnings? (Well, he is still alive...)
7. Rat Salad - instrumental. A bit jazzy. The one with the drum ... more
What, no reviews for this iconic album? Shame on you, Ciaoers! So it falls upon me to rectify this unacceptable situation.
I must point out that I put 'not applicable' for comparison with their other work as...<hangs head in shame>...I don't know any other Sabbath albums well enough.
Oh, the memories this album evokes. Actually, I can't remember any. I must have been too out of it at the time.
Ozzy Osbourne (such a pretty boy then, as the photo on the inside of the gatefold cover shows) and Co did rock and themselves a huge favour when they released this pioneering album.
The music is mostly predictably dark and doomy, but the more up-tempo headbanging tracks raise the spirits (so have some crucifixes handy!). There is serious stuff, funny stuff (not sure how intentional that is) and a lot of very grungy stuff.
Sabbath fundamentalists and Ozzy himself will probably hate me for saying this, but The Oz has a rather weedy voice <ducks to avoid missiles>. HOWEVER, this is still an excellent album. OK? Am I forgiven?
There are some perfect tracks for air-guitarheads, guitar airheads, etc. to perform to. In fact you could play along to the easier bits with a proper guitar.
Best track: Fairies Wear Boots
TRACKS
1. War Pigs - an anti-war song, the subject matter as topical as ever, particularly where it refers to politicians...Well crafted, powerful sound.
2. Paranoid - do I have to tell you? I suppose they picked this one to release as a single as it's the right length and the most 'poppy'.
3. Planet Caravan - slow, wistful, melancholic, eerie, haunting, spacey, ethereal, poetic. A polished, shivers-down-the-spine track featuring understated jazzy guitar, proving that they can turn the volume down and still produce something distinctive and good.
4. Iron Man - grungy, daft, sci-fi stuff, straight from Marvel comic. Might be taken seriously by teenage boys of all ages.
5. Electric Funeral - Starts as pure grunge, speeds up, then goes grungy again. A short track with apocalyptic lyrics.
6. Hand of Doom - Slow, sinister, again with a fast bit in the middle. This appears to be an ANTI-drugs song. Did Ozzy heed his own warnings? (Well, he is still alive...)
7. Rat Salad - instrumental. A bit jazzy. The one with the drum solo, and mercifully short. I mean, I'm not completely against drum solos, but please, Bill and others - think of your listeners and give us a bit of continuity of rhythm to bang heads and tap feet to, so that we don't lose our way and look silly and get embarrassed. I recommend going to get a drink or something during this track. Or check your post, emails, whatever, but make sure you get back in time for...
8. Fairies wear Boots - or do they? The doc reckons that fairy boots are the druggie's equivalent of pink elephants. But who cares - this is a brilliant track. It's quite long, has several tempo and style changes, is slick, tuneful, funny and a real singalongaSabbath treat. It has this 53-year-old woman's head nodding away vigorously, and I'm not dropping off, honest! Well done, boys, for saving the best till last.
From an atmospheric initial build up, a nice clean guitar riff starts to pull you along expectantly, leading to the urgent R&B-flavoured vocal section which to me has shades of Them. Each section promises more, and none disappoints - except the last one cos it's the end! So play it again...
Advantages: Great Album Disadvantages: Wrong Front Cover
Paranoid is BlackSabbaths second it was originally meant to be called Warpigs hence the pig witha sword on the front cover. The album follows in the same format as the first album. War Pigs is another production like BlackSabbath (the song)with great guitar work and a message.
Paranoid was thrown in by the band at the last minute it is a short (by Sabbaths comparison) rock piece and was their first successful single, it is great when you pump up the volume and has some great riffs. Planet Caravan was recently covered by Panterra off of Far Beyond Driven and has Ozzies voice distorted. Iron man is yet another classic and was voted the best live song it canbe heard in its live glory on the Reunion album. Electric Funeral is a great guitar piece. Faries Wear Boots had everyone wondering how can you categorise the Band as this is one ...
Advantages: A loud, hard sounding rock album from the godfathers of heavy metal Disadvantages: Slightly dated
In 1970, 4 men formed the band that would become the inspiration for countless other bands in years to come. Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommii (guitar), Terry "Geezer" Butler (bass) and Bill "Nibby" Ward (Drums) started a sound that would, and still does, rock the world. Around the time when BlackSabbath was formed, the popular music of the time was still all "flower power" and "peace" and BlackSabbath decided to sing and play about the other side of life. They managed to create a full and loud sound without a 2nd guitarist and began to write songs with a doom and gloom sound to them (although despite what some believe, more BlackSabbath songs were written to the problems associated with drugs and politics than devil worshipping).
They released the album paranoid, only thier second Album, and it has since become one of the best ...
Advantages: Music, read Disadvantages: none at all.
reading these words and listening to this song. And even though there is always a dark undertone to the music, it sounds more like it's a battle vehicle to carry the noble words rather than in anyway Satanic. This was originally going to be the title track of the record but Warner Bros their US label didn't want to offend the American people at the time of Vietnam, an act that makes me want to rip Bugs Bunny's head off and stick it up his own bottom. (Oh that'll be the music kicking in, those neurotic mothers were right after all!)
2- ParanoidParanoid is the title track and the 'big hit' that really launched BlackSabbath into timeless fame. It starts with a scratched and damaged sounding evil guitar and within seconds the drum and bass kick in with one of the most pounding, adrenaline-inducing rhythms ever hatched out of a vulture ...
Product Information for "Paranoid - Black Sabbath" »
Product details
Title
Paranoid
Performer
Black Sabbath
Genre
Heavy Metal
Release Date
24/05/2004
Recomended Retail Price
8.99 GBP
Original Release Year
1970
Label / Distributor
Sanctuary / Universal Music
Pieces in Set
1
Studio / Live
Studio
Stereo
Stereo
Format
Performer
EAN
5050749203229
Catalogue Number
SMRCD 032
Additional notes
Album Notes
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.
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Listed on Ciao since
14/12/2005
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