2009 digitally remastered and expanded deluxe double vinyl LP pressing of the classic sophomore album from the Heavy Metal kingpins led by Ozzy Osbourne. Originally released in 1970, Paranoid still stands as an important milestone in the history of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. This ultimate edition features a beautifully remastered version of the album on the first slab of wax plus an alternate version of the album including instrumental mixes, alternate recordings on the second slice of vinyl. Majestic Metal, indeed. Sanctuary.

2009-05-20 -- 5/5:: One more perfect album.
After so many years, some of the songs on this album seem really played out due to the fact that radio ruined them by playing them so much. Ah, such is the case with all music and how radio sees it, I guess. While I think the debut albums is a bit better, "Paranoid" still is almost perfect in my opinion. How a band can be this dark and heavy, yet still manage melody thourghout the music and vocals is beyond me. My favorite track off this album is not heavy at all, it's "Planet Caravan". The spaced out music and the echo-filled vocals are total bliss, making me want to drift off into dreamworld every time I hear it.

2009-05-18 -- 5/5:: An Awesome Classic
Paranoid by Black Sabbath, while not quite being the best the band had to offer was the album that struck hardest commercially and for a good reason too.

There are some great songs on here. The songs Iron Man, Paranoid, and War Pigs, which are the most popular on this album are great and all have catchy riffs and great vocals. The songs Hand of Doom, Electric Funeral, and Jack the Stripper are great too, but I feel like I can't listen to them as many times as the first three I mentioned. Rat Salad is not a standout track; it is an instrumental which is too short and doesn't vary enough from the rest of the album. My favorite song on this would have to be Planet Caravan; it is different from the other songs but will grow on you quickly to the point you like it more than the others.

Overall, this a great album and is a must for any hard rock or metal fans.

2009-02-22 -- 5/5:: Their classic
Black Sabbath started out when two bands split up and combined to become the Polka Tulk Blues Company. Around then, guitarist, Tony Iommi cut a couple of his fingertips off, and he melted bottle caps and put leather coverings on. The Polka Tulk Blues Company changed their name to Polka Tulk and soon later to Earth. However, they were booked when another band called Earth was expected. They then moved into a direction to scare people and became Black Sabbath.

This album was originally titled War Pigs, which is why the cover is what it is. However, the label wanted it to be called Paranoid, and the title song, "Paranoid" was originally intended as filler. There really isn't any filler on this album. Each track is great. "Planet Caravan" should be mentioned as an interesting highlight. It is not as heavy as the other tunes. However, that helps because eventually the heaviness stops being so heavy, so that was to create a contrast. Tommy Lee of Motley Crue also pointed out that you need to show an emotional side because otherwise your fake.

"War Pigs" is probably the big highlight of the album. However, "Iron Man" is probably the most well-known of all of the tunes on the album. I think that "Rat Salad" is a pretty awesome tune, with a great drum solo. "Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots" is a good ending tune, but "Electric Funeral" and "Hand of Doom" are also highlights. I love the instrumental passage in "Electric Funeral." I think that "Hand of Doom" also had a great structuring and buildup as well.

Now with modern technology and more knowledge on working with microphones, we're able to do stuff that is sound-wise heavier, but when it comes to arrangements and tunes, this is the real deal. It wasn't perfectly mixed, but it still sounds pretty good, and I think that it's still as heavy as the other stuff. I think that if you want the combination of the more classic metal style, and the more modern work on sound, I would recommend Master of Puppets by Metallica, but you still should get Paranoid, which is also a little bit more blues influenced that the other stuff, but it works really well.

2009-01-18 -- 5/5:: The most anthem spewing Metal release ever!
After there earth-shattering debut earlier that year in 1970,Sabbath follows basically the same sound,but produces an even larger number of classics than it's predecessor.

Probally the most influential Metal album of all time,this one set a standard that is still followed today in the Metal world.

There's a timelessness to this music,it;s sound the perfect melding of apocalyptic doom and youthful rebellion.
For many this is a soundtrack to teenage angst.

Sabbath will make better albums,in particular,there next four releases seemingly getting better and better,but there's something primal about this one taht makes many a seasoned Rocker and/or Metalhead return.

The Tracks are Legendary:

War Pigs-The ULTIMATE anti-war anthem,simple,yet powerful,may also be the greatest of all Sabbath songs as well as arguably being the classic Metal song.
The intro is a classic,with that slow build and the wail of an air raid siren predicting a forecast of Doom.
Iommi's solo is one of his simplest,yet best.

Paranoid-The Most beloved Metal anthem ever made.
This classic features one of the many greatest of Iommi's riffs and set a standard for speed in Metal.
Clearly inspired by earlier rock like Zeppelin's "Communication Breakdown",this is a masterpiece,which Ozzy still closes each show with.
Note:Sabbath's only number one hit(unbielevably) and was originally designed to just be filler(!) for the album.

Planet Caravan-Moody and etheral Sabbath tune that ranks among there most classic and underrated of songs.
There's a lovely quiet,bluesy feel to this song,with odd efefcts and bongos(?) that combine for a wonderfully,trippy experience.
Covered reverently by Pantera on the otherwise ultra-heavy,"Far Beyond Driven" album in 1995.

Iron Man-The most recognizeable Metal song of all time.
For many this is the introduction to Heavy Metal,and this riff(arguably the most famous beside "Smoke on the Water") being one of the first that many a young axeman learns on his guitar.
Story of monster that returns for vengeance set a precedent for many to follow(Monsters are a favorite lyrical subject of the Metal God,Rob Halford in particular).

Electric Funeral-Doom Metal classic with another great,simple riff that will eventually morph into "Sweet Leaf"(Play the riff backwards),this is one of Sabbath's most wicked tunes,featuring a very ripped off mid-break(like the vocal distortion uses to shout,"Electric Funeral!)and still a live set favorite.

Hand of Doom-The most underrated track on the album,this is also the moodiest and creepiest.
Telling a Horror story revolving around Drug addiction,this is the first of many such songs on the subject,but remains arguably,the best.
The Bass intro to this is classic Geezer Butler.

Rat Salad-Instrumental track that showcases Bill Ward's extraordinary drum skills,but is otherwise a sort of filler track.
Still it's short and a pleasant headbang,and was the inspiration for the name of a band.
They later went from "Rat Salad" to the name "Van Halen".

Faires wear Boots-Silly,but infectious tune,dosen't really go anywhere,but is saved by the humorous lyrics and vocals of Ozzy,who seems to be singing an autobiographical tale of booze and drugs.
Another live set favorite and ranked among the band's classics.

And there you have it.
Metal's most famous and beloved album by the genre's greatest practicioners.

If you don't own this,do yourself a favor and get yourself a copy....or better yet.
Buy the Black Box set and get the first eight albums of this essential band.

You won't regret it.

2009-01-17 -- 5/5:: The most influential metal album of all time. Its their best one too!.
Black Sabbath are usually seen as the founders of the metal genre. They had created a sort of metal prototype with their 1970 debut album, but their 1971 follow up Paranoid was were they created their definitive metal sound. Almost every song here is now a metal classic and is recognised by metal fans all over the globe. The album totally embraces the dark side of nature with themes like death, war, the dangers of drug addiction, nuclear annihilation, mental illness, ect.

Paranoid was not only Black Sabbath's most popular record (it was a number one smash in the U.K. and Paranoid and Iron Man both scraped the U.S. charts despite having on radio play what-so-ever), it also stands as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time. Paranoid refined Black Sabbath's signature sound with it's crushingly loud, minor-key dirges loosely based on heavy blues-rock and applied it to a newly consistent set of songs with utterly memorable riffs. Obviously Ozzy leads this from the front, booming his voice from the get-go with the fabulous opener War Pigs which is one of my favorite Sabbath songs of all time, galloping through sections swaggering through riffs, solos and police sirens. The song is Black Sabbath at their best with lyrics protesting the war in Vietnam, it truly is an epic song "Death and hatred to mankind, poisoning their brainwashed minds... OH LORD YEAAAAH!!!".

Oh yeah and lets not forget Hand of Doom which is up there with the best moments in the album, containing a great galloping rhythm and trademark Iommi riffing. Fairies Wear Boots is another underrated Sabbath song, and another that could have easily hit the mainstream popularity as others. Then there's the brilliant Planet Caravan which is a weird Sci/fi-ish song about interstellar space travel, this song is a departure from the other songs but is still quite powerful and is such a haunting and beautiful song, a mellow and spacey arrangement evoking the likes of Santana or a less playful Caravan with a percussion and Ozzy's weird and distorted vocal making this a perfect and very atmospheric song. Then you have Iron Man which sports one of the most immediately identifiable riffs in metal history, if you don't know this song then you've probably been living under a rock, Electric Funeral follows up and is quite dark and spooky and compliments Ozzy's dark vocal style with a churning bout of loud, distorted guitar with "electric funeral!" being exclaimed over and over during the noise coda, this is such an awesome song.

As would become the usual for Black Sabbath an instrumental is included, Rat Salad is a 'Moby Dick'esque track that starts off pretty good (until it dives into a weak sounding drum solo), but it's by far the weakest track on the album. The album then rounds off in spectacular fashion with Fairies Wear Boots a bluesy masterpiece that was the perfect choice to close Paranoid. This is just such an amazing album which is without a doubt one of the high points in the history of Black Sabbath and is up there with Led Zeppelin II as possibly the best rock album ever made; it's certainly one of the most important. With some totally outstanding vocals by the Prince of fu&*$#@ Darkenss himself Ozzy Ousbourne!, excellent guitar by the legend that is Tony Iommi! and mindblowing baselines by Geezer Butler, Paranoid is an essential album to those who love classic rock and metal. YOU NEED TO OWN THIS ALBUM!.