BLACK SABBATH — Paranoid (review)

BLACK SABBATH — Paranoid album cover Album · 1970 · Heavy Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Pekka
This is THE classic metal album if there ever was one. I spent a long time struggling to find the proper opening lines for this review, but why pretend, that's at least very close to the truth. Parts of the album have been pretty much slaughtered to pieces by overplaying - mainly of course the title track and Iron Man, which contain some absolutely essential riffs for every beginner rock guitarist, true classics not only of heavy metal, but popular music in general - but when heard with fresh ears this still stands as one of the greatest heavy metal albums ever.

A problem I sometimes have with modern metal albums is that all the tracks seem to be carved more or less from the same stone. But with the eight tracks of this album Sabbath touches as many styles, the epic anti-war anthem War Pigs, short rocker Paranoid, light and eerie Planet Caravan, the majestic riff-fest Iron Man, the ominously crawling Electric Funeral, the quiet/loud exchanges of Hand of Doom, the quirky instrumental Rat Salad and the heavy psychedelic grooves of Fairies Wear Boots. Different from each other all of them, all quite flawlessly executed.

Black Sabbath had come out with an enormous bang just a few months previously, and with this album they managed to brilliantly overdo their debut. Essential listening for every friend of metal.
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