763. Black Sabbath / Paranoid. 1970. 5/5

When it comes to reviewing an album such as Paranoid, an album that is one of, if not, the MOST influential albums of all time in the heavy metal music genre, it can be seen to be a lost cause. This album must have been dissected, discussed and detailed hundreds of thousands of times over the past four decades and more, in a positive fashion, in a negative reaction, and even in an ambivalent way. Nothing that I write here will be new. Anything I add will have been said before more times than one could imagine. And the opposite will have been just as furiously debated as well. In the end, all I can do is put down my thoughts and my rating regardless of its originality or circumstance, and add it to the sea that makes up the populous thoughts of this album.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Paranoid for me has always been that, as influential as it has been on the sound that became heavy metal, not all of this album could be categorised as heavy metal. "Planet Caravan" is the best example of this, utilising a much slower pace and gentle music, bongos in the background rather than Bill Ward's usual pounding drums, and Ozzy's very downplayed vocals. There's nothing metal about this track, and yet it is still very much a part of the Black Sabbath sound. The band may have built up its reputation as they progressed over the 1970's, but their influences still came from the 1960's, and the experimentation that bands such as The Beatles used in their music, and the way that bands such as The Yardbirds and The Who and Jethro Tull went about their music. The band themselves apparently had their doubts about putting this song on the album. In many ways, it emphasises the brilliance of the heavier songs on the album rather than detracting from them.

The songs on the album are strong, forthright and eternal. There are songs on this album that are known by people of all ages, no matter what type of music they enjoy and listen to themselves. "War Pigs" often has some sections of society up in arms and proclaiming the evil of the band for the final line of the song ("Satan laughing spreads his wings"), without listening to the song and realising it is preaching against the warmongers of the world rather than being a song about the devil. Ozzy's vocals are at heir best here, not overreaching themselves as they did do on other releases, but reaching highs and emoting through the different ranges required of the songs on display, especially impressive when all he has in support at times are Bill's hi-hats.
"Paranoid" was famously written as an afterthought, when a final song was required to fill out the album. Various quotes range from this taking anywhere between five minutes and two hours to flesh out, but given it produced the bands' only top ten single, it is still a remarkable achievement. Tony's riff is still one of the most renown of all time, with anyone who picks up a guitar being able to play it. Sometimes simple is more memorable. Though I like "Paranoid" it isn't one of my favourite Sabbath tracks. There are so many other brilliant tracks to choose from, but it is always a crowd favourite.
No punters, "Iron Man" is not about the famous Marvel Comics superhero, but rather Geezer Butler's anti-hero who sees the Apocalypse, and then creates it. Dominated by yet another brilliant Iommi riff, the lead break is also a star attraction, with some magnificent drumming from Bill Ward. At times it sounds like he has six arms such is the flurry of tom hitting going on, while Geezer's bass just rumbles underneath in perfect synchronisation. As much as I like "Electric Funeral", the lyrics and music plod along quite a bit during the verses, while Ozzy's vocals show no great inventiveness in the way they are sung, sticking closely to the melody lines as played by the guitar. The song's intensity is lifted by the bridge following this, which improves the song immediately.
"Hand of Doom" is almost three songs in itself, such are the silent breaks between different parts of the song. If you didn't know the song, you could be forgiven for thinking they were separate songs. Great song with powerful images, another hallmark of Geezer's lyrical contributions. The intriguingly titled "Rat Salad" is an instrumental dominated by the solo drum breaks by Bill, which was apparently inspired by the gigs the band played in Europe when they had to perform several slots every day, of which one would be entirely filled by a Ward drum solo. This then moves into "Fairies Wear Boots", which sounds like a hippy flower power song on acid that has been tuned down to get the maximum heavy grunt out of it. I love this song, always have, both musically and lyrically. It's still great fun to sing to.

It may not seem to be a perfect album, given the differences in some of the songs, and they way some of them have been approached. But this is an album on which "War Pigs", "Paranoid", "Iron Man", "Hand of Doom" and "Fairies Wear Boots" have become legendary, and most of these have heavily influenced the genre and so many bands, metal and otherwise. For me, from this "Mark I" era of Black Sabbath, I think there is a split hair between Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath as their finest album. Legendary or not, influential or not, this is one of my favourites, and one that everyone should listen to at least once in their lifetime.

Rating:  Running as fast as they can, Iron Man lives again!  5/5