Paranoid (album)
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| Paranoid | ||
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| Studio album by Black Sabbath | ||
| Released | September 18, 1970 (UK) January 7, 1971 (US) |
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| Recorded | Regent Sound, Island Studios | |
| Genre | Heavy metal | |
| Length | 40:08 | |
| Label | Vertigo (UK) Warner Brothers (US) |
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| Producer(s) | Rodger Bain | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Black Sabbath chronology | ||
| Black Sabbath (1970) |
Paranoid (1970) |
Master of Reality (1971) |
Paranoid is the breakthrough second album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970; it soon topped the British music charts. Widely regarded as one of the pioneering recordings in heavy metal, the album established some of the conventions of the genre. The album was originally titled "War Pig" but the record company changed it to "Paranoid" because of sensitivity about the Vietnam War.[1] However, the band's interpretation of a "War Pig" was still featured on the cover (the man with the spandex and tin foil sword). The song "Iron Man" also received #1 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
The title-track, which is now one of the band's signature songs, was added on the album at the last minute because the record company wanted an extra song for length reasons. The band went back to the studio, planning to quickly write a "filler" song, and ended up recording one of their classics.
Paranoid peaked at #12 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart (North America), and #1 in the UK album charts. The singles "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" peaked at #61 and #52, respectively, on the Pop singles chart. "Paranoid" as a single went to #4 in the UK. In 2003, the album was ranked number 130 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In 2006, the album was ranked number 6 on Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.[2]
[edit] Track listing
- "War Pigs/Luke's Wall" – 7:57
- "Paranoid" – 2:50
- "Planet Caravan" – 4:35
- "Iron Man" – 5:57
- "Electric Funeral" – 4:52
- "Hand of Doom" – 7:09
- "Rat Salad" – 2:30
- "Fairies Wear Boots/Jack the Stripper" – 6:16
All tracks by Butler/Iommi/Osbourne/Ward.
[edit] Credits
- Ozzy Osbourne – vocals
- Tony Iommi – guitar
- Geezer Butler – bass guitar
- Bill Ward – drums, vocals
- Keef – design, photography, cover design
- Tom (Colonel) Allom – engineer
- Tony Allom – engineer
- Brian Humphries – engineer
