Black Sabbath is Bill Ward (drums), Geezer Butler (Bass), Toni Iommi (Guitar), and some guy named John Michael Osbourne (Vocal).
Of course I jest, John Michael Osbourne, would go onto become the iconic Prince of Darkness, OZZY OSBOURNE, and if your a seasoned metalhead you might be wandering, "Dude why are you bringing up Sabbath, everybody knows about Sabbath?"
I bring up Sabbath for a few reasons; not all of my readers may be metalheads, a lot of people think they know Sabbath, but don't, and most importantly because they are one of the most influential bands of all time. To the point that Rob Zombie once said "Every metal band rips off Black Sabbath, they play the riff backwards, slower, or faster, but Black Sabbath did it all first."
----"Yeah yeah, come on man, get to the music."
OK, to the music, to the review! What we have here is Black Sabbath's Paranoid from 1970. Making his Black Sabbath's Sophmore effort. It would become their most commercially successful album.
The album kicks off with a short interlude called "Lukes Wall" which flows right into Geezer Butler's plodding, groovy bassline, and Iommi's Monstrous power chords. Then Ozzy opens brilliantly with "GENERALS GATHERED IN THEIR MASSES, JUST LIKE WITCHES AT BLACK MASSES." "War Pigs" was written, not so much as a protest of the Vietnam War, but more as an observation at a time where most music was focused on happier themes. Sabbath felt that someone needed to be mentioning the realities of the world.
Up next, Track 2 is the title track, and this was actually the last song written for the album. The band was near the end of recording, and needed to fill a few minutes of space. So they went and jammed, and Paranoid was born. Needless to say they liked it, and it became the single, a massive hit, and they named the album after it.
After the adrenaline rush that is "Paranoid", the listener is moved into the slow and trippy "Planet Caravan". This song is in SHARP contrast the rest of the album. It is slower, softer, and less distorted than the other songs. It's a prime example of a band stretching its wings. (YOU CAN EXPERIMENT ON A SONG, IT DOESN'T TAKE A WHOLE ALBUM... Talkin' to you Metallica).
Now imagine it is 1970, and you've never heard heavy metal before. Hopefully, "Planet Caravan" chilled you out, because Track 4 would be the scariest, heaviest, most apocalyptic riff you had ever heard. "Ironman" to this day is probably my all time favorite riff. I know that it is now a sports/pep rally standard, and I know riffs have since been played faster, and heavier and with more distortion, but nothing for me has ever topped Iommi's riff on this track.
The midway point is "Electric Funeral" which to be honest, just never caught on with me. I feel that it is the albums weak point. Mind you however, it isn't bad. It's just good and surrounded by GREATNESS.
Greatness like Track 6 "Hand of Doom." I don't think that I need to say a whole lot. The groove created at the start of this track with Geezer and Bill Ward speaks for itself. Lyrically the song is about Vietnam veterans returning home and not coping well with what they had seen.
"Rat Salad", Track 8 is an instrumental with bits that I believe would be jacked by Golden Earing for their one hit wander "Radar Love."
The Grand Finale is "Faeries Wear Boots." A fantastic song, which is not about driving past gay bars at night. (Which it sometimes confused for). It was actually written by Ozzy to express his disdain for Skinheads he had seen gathered around Birmingham (ENGLAND NOT ALABAMA, YOU REDNECKS).
And there we have PARANOID.
RATINGS:
GENRE: 10/10: It invented the genre, can't be more perfect than that.
MASS APPEAL: 8/10: By today's standards it is dated, and too slow for kids into extreme metal. People outside of metal may find it too heavy, however IRONMAN, WAR PIGS, and PARANOID are all staples on Classic Rock Radio. It's a classic album that I feel people serious about music, especially serious about metal should own.
VOCALS: 8/10: Ozzy may not have the most range, or strongest voice, however he posses an X-Factor, nobody else has ever sounded like Ozzy.
GUITAR: 9/10: Iommi plays simple, but perfect riffs. Everything the man does is amazing, and attainable no matter what your skill level is.
BASS: 7/10: Geezer is tearing it up on the bass, however limitations of recording equipment of that time hadn't caught up to handling bass frequency very well. So Geezer is a bit buried in the mix. A great player, but if your a bassist trying to learn these lines, you will need headphones or opt for a live recording.
Drums: 8/10: Bill Ward is awesome. He isn't Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy, or John Bonham, but he is nonethless fantastic and talented.
AND WITH THAT I CALL IT A DAY. SEE YOU NEXT TIME.
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