Search - Black Sabbath :: Paranoid

One Of the Greatest Albums Of All Time!

D. Haralson | Jackson, MS USA | 03/28/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is a reason why many people, fans and non-fans alike, put this album in their greatest albums of all time list. It is simply a complete masterpiece. The truth is that the first six albums by Black Sabbath are all 5 star quality without a single weak song on any of them. However, "Paranoid" stands out as the best of that group.



1. War Pigs-5/5. Another one of those "everybody knows this one" songs. Excellent lyrics about politicians who make war for profit. Not exactly an anti-war song. The music is superb and the vocals by Ozzy are haunting. Perfect.

2. Paranoid-5/5. This is the classic rock radio song. It gets played on every classic rock station across the nation at least once a day. Fast paced rocker with great lyrics and vocals.

3. Planet Caravan-5/5. Beautiful atmospheric song with bongo drums and acoustic guitar. The vocal effects make this song very haunting. It is a totally unique listening experience. Pantera's version is also great.

4. Iron Man-5/5. The song that cemented Iommi's reputation as the ultimate riff-master, and he hasn't been dethroned yet. One of the wildest and heaviest guitar riffs ever. Weird sci-fi lyrics with great vocals.

5. Electric Funeral-4/5. Another great song. Excellent heavy riff with some great gloom and doom lyrics. The only downfall to this is Ozzy's vocals. They aren't as perfect as they are on the rest of the songs. Still great, though.

6. Hand of Doom-5/5. Great bass line from Geezer. Slow and soft in the beginning that quickly turns heavy and sinister with another spectacular vocal performance from Ozzy.

7. Rat Salad-3/5. The one and only weak link on the album. An instrumental that isn't particularly great, but not too bad either. Thankfully, it's very short, so there is no real need to pass it.

8. Fairies Wear Boots-5/5. An earlier reviewer said this song was about neo-Nazis. I've never heard that before. My impression was that this was about an LSD trip that Geezer had, but I don't know that for sure. Whatever the case, the lyrics are weird, but the vocals are perfect and the music is quite trippy.



All in all, this is one of those few albums that actually comes close to complete perfection. No one with any appreciation of music, especially rock, should be without it."

Black Sabbath Remembered

Karl T. Nitz | Saginaw | 09/18/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Paranoid...is one of the first and one of the best Black Sabbath albums created. It was an original sound then, and still is to this day. Hard Rock doesn't come like this today. I enjoyed this cd just as well as the LP when it originally came out...A great piece of music...."