Number 58: Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Release: September 18th, 1970
Genre: Heavy Metal
Favorite Tracks: Iron Man, War Pigs, Hand of Doom
Where I heard it:
While not everybody has heard a song from Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne has been a household name across generations for his unbelievable antics and iconic slurred speech. I certainly knew who Ozzy was as a child thanks to old VH1 documentaries that chronicled the drug-fueled misadventures of his musical career. It's truly marvelous that Ozzy is still alive and kicking. I didn't start listening to heavier forms of music until middle school, but I do have a potent memory of hearing Black Sabbath's Iron Man for the first time when I was about seven years old. One of my older cousins would playfully sing the first couple verses, and I inquired into what he was singing about. We looked up the song on iTunes, and I distinctly remember how I felt when the opening chord played. This song wasn't the jaunty tune I had imagined it to be. This was something...scary. Evil. I was taken back by how music like this could even exist. Little did I know, I shared that exact sentiment at the time with tens of thousands of others who protested Paranoid's release back in 1970. Man, how the times change.
Has he lost his mind?
Can he see or is he blind?
Can he walk at all?
Or if he moves, will he fall?
Is he alive or dead?
Has he thoughts within his head?
We'll just pass him there
Why should we even care?
~ Iron Man
What to expect:
When Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward formed Black Sabbath, they had a vision to create a kind of music that starkly contrasted the flower power hippie movement that dominated the latter part of the 60s. Inspired by the 1963 horror film of the same name, the band wrote their first song Black Sabbath in 1970 as an attempt to make a musical equivalent to horror movies. The lyrics relied heavily on themes relating to witchcraft and the occult, which none of the members of the band practiced, but found interesting to write about nonetheless. These demonic subjects heavily resonated throughout the group's eponymous debut album, garnering Black Sabbath a pretty sinister cultural reputation. Only four months later, the band was back in the studio to record their next album. In contrast to their debut, Paranoid focuses less on concocting satanic motifs at the behest of the record company and shifts responsibility on the musicians to lay down riff after riff, most notably guitarist Tony Iommi. Throughout the three day recording process, Iommi churned out some of metal's most famous and recognizable hooks and solos, integrating musical triads for a truly diabolical sound. Ozzy showcases his vocal strengths with impressive range, utilizing recording technology to distort his voice in songs like Planet Caravan and the intro to Iron Man. His one-of-a-kind singing style helps emphasize the magical and mysterious songwriting of bassist Geezer Butler, who penned most of the lyrics on Paranoid. While mythological tales do exist on the album, Paranoid makes a bold decision to criticize current events by challenging the Vietnam War in its opening track War Pigs, initially set to be the name of the album before Paranoid was chosen last minute. Bill Ward's drumming is not often the center piece of Black Sabbath, but his forceful performance in War Pigs steals the spotlight (not to mention the solo in Rat Salad). For the first heavy metal album, it's hard to find a flaw within the formula that makes Paranoid such an enjoyable listen. The band's collaborative effort on the album shows in its sheer mastery of execution, influencing artists in rock and metal to this very day.
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that all to the poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'til their judgement day comes
~ War Pigs
Why it's my favorite:
It feels impossible to say anything that hasn't already been said about Paranoid. Many regard it as the greatest metal album of all time, and it's half a century old. To say Black Sabbath helped pioneer a genre would be an understatement. Albums like Paranoid completely altered the musical paradigm, inspiring legendary artists who may never have gotten involved in music if not for Black Sabbath. It blows my mind trying to imagine what hearing Black Sabbath would be like in 1970. Would I have instantly gravitated towards this new, avant-garde brand of noise? Or would I have sought out something more conventional and mainstream? Keep in mind, there was a point in time where people really believed Black Sabbath were the most evil form of music you could ever conceive. Those people would be rolling over in their graves if they could see the evolution of heavy metal over the last 50 years. The metal family tree has exploded in growth since 1970, with countless limbs and branches and twigs that dissect metal to the most specific of subgenres. But down there, all the way at the root, lies Black Sabbath. As I listen to Paranoid today, I can't help but appreciate its historical value to not only music, but social culture as well. There's a significance to every track that echoes through my brain, and it all started because of that damn pitch bend. Well played, Sabbath.
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