As the only Black Sabbath album to make my Top 100, Paranoid essentially serves as the original template for popular, dark heavy metal. Black Sabbath was more groundbreaking because it was the debut, but Paranoid produced at least seven canonized heavy metal classics that are just as meaningful, dark, and influential today as they were in 1970. If it’s so important to heavy metal and if I’ve declared Black Sabbath as a band that’s critically important to my music library, then why does Paranoid “only” peak at #81? Unfortunately, no matter how much I absorbed Black Sabbath’s music, it will always be historical rather than something I lived through. Sure, many of the songs on Paranoid and other Black Sabbath albums go straight to my heart and get me headbanging with fury. But my first exposure to Paranoid was through many of the overplayed songs on 94K Rock in the early 1990s. Like hearing Iron Maiden or Dio, Paranoid sounded old - like dinosaur metal. “War Pigs” always lumbered along with some sense of mystery and magic but eventually grew tiring on the umpteenth listen. I did always enjoy “Paranoid” and “Iron Man,” but more like how I enjoyed “Number of the Beast,” “Man on the Silver Mountain,” or “Dream On.” Great classic stuff, but dated and not of my generation. It was only until I began exploring rock history and the catalogs of important bands that I listened to Paranoid in its entirety. I found that I knew pretty much all of the songs and realized that 94K Rock must have slipped in songs like “Fairies Wear Boots” into their playlists more than I’d remembered. Listening to Paranoid’s songs all in a row turned it into a different experience. Suddenly, there was sustained mystery, a dark aura, highs and lows, and absolutely brutal riffs. I learned here that Black Sabbath took sudden, random left turns and seemed like they had complete ADD. Songs might take radical turns so that they sounded like different songs...and then go back to the original riff with no subtlety or warning. Most importantly, I sensed through all of the rough sound and amateur playing that a people’s band emerged that had tapped into a completely new area of music. Led Zeppelin may have already released two or three albums by this point, but they had a sexiness and majesty that made them seem like gods not of this Earth. On Paranoid, Black Sabbath sounds like a people’s band. Even in the late 1990s, I found that the songs on Paranoid struck a nerve. They were angry, intoxicating, heavy, and addictive, cutting through any blues or depression I felt. And better than any other Sabbath album, Paranoid remains the most focused with the best songs. I swear there is something otherworldly going on here, as the songs have a strange atmosphere that I can’t quite explain. They add up to one of the most influential albums in my life and one of the best heavy metal albums ever.
"War Pigs" begins with one of the most famous, gloomiest heavy metal riffs ever. The sirens add to the feeling of menace, and the spare verses are brilliant. I pause when Bill Ward plays those soft hi-hat notes, counting them as Ozzy sings over them with his howling, terrifying voice. Tony Iommi essentially creates modern dark heavy metal with his riffs, and the almost eight minutes allows the band to stretch out fully. Yet, they never sound progressive. Instead, the song builds power just through repetition of the same heavy riffs. As a counterpoint, we have the brief, catchy, famous single “Paranoid.” It’s one of the rare heavy metal classics that pretty much everyone knows and has heard a zillion times. I’ve grown tired of the song over the years, but every now and then it will catch me anew to impress me with its concise power. The band wrote it as a throwaway in less than 30 minutes - showing that they were peaking creatively at this time. For me, “Planet Caravan” shows how Black Sabbath was unlike any other hard rock or heavy metal band. Despite their heavy ferocity, they weren’t afraid to get soft and have a reflective moment. Of course, that probably meant most of their fans getting high to this song, but there is also a reassuring, peaceful feeling here - the other side of the brooding coin. I always found that songs like “Planet Caravan” expressed my sadness in the context of my anger. When the anger went away, this is how I felt - perhaps when going to sleep or sitting in my room in the dark. It’s lonely music for lonely outcasts, and just as essential to Paranoid as the heavier songs. Side one concludes with “Iron Man.” As much as I’ve heard this song over the years, I’m still stunned at its power. The riff is BRUTAL - kicking the ass of most metal bands even today. The song’s power comes from the band’s lack of subtlety. They don’t give a shit, at all, about class or credibility. They are simply playing loudly and kicking ass as hard as possible. Ward’s drumming is absolutely crushing, messy, and thundering. When I’ve drummed to this song, I’ve easily lost myself in some other world. The main riff is great enough, but when the song shifts into the overdrive tempo, things get insane. Just listen to Geezer Butler freaking out on the bass while supporting Iommi’s soloing. I am gone by this point as the band shifts back to some of the best heavy metal riffs ever created. The closing section is also awe-inspiring, with the entire band contributing 100% to this blessed noise. One of heavy metal’s - and rock music’s - most amazing moments.
Things calm down a bit on side two, but not much. In fact, it’s the same heaviness but weirder and more tortuous. "Electric Funeral" starts with a slow riff that feels like a cartoon monster chasing me down a dark alley. Ozzy and Iommi are in sync with the vocal and riff almost comically, but the lack of subtlety works. Black Sabbath often worked best when they kept the music this simple. Yet, they make a left turn, getting so frantic it sounds like they will almost lose control of the song...until they suddenly return to the original riff. “Hand of Doom” begins with a foreboding bass line from Geezer Butler while Ozzy keeps the verses relatively quiet. By contrast, the chorus is an onslaught and hints at future, darker heavy metal acts such as Judas Priest, Metallica, or Slayer. The almost separate song in the middle is brilliant, taking the song in a completely different direction. Iommi’s guitar tone is awesome and Ward propels the song along nicely. The lyrics are quite penetrating, talking about drug use with Vietnam veterans - a topic that many other artists wouldn’t touch until decades down the line. While it’s not my favorite song on Paranoid, “Hand of Doom” is probably the most pioneering and forward-looking. “Rat Salad” is the one non-classic on Paranoid, sort of like Black Sabbath’s version of “Moby Dick.” I remember once playing this for my friend Vinnie back in the late 1990s. As a burgeoning jazz drummer, he felt this song was a disgrace to all drummers and that it was a shame that something like this could become so famous while many other talented musicians suffer in obscurity. Sure, “Rat Salad” is not a dose of drumming genius. Yet, it has a ballsy, punk-like element to it. In other words, you don’t need to get technically trained in college to drum. Just fucking play, and mean it. “Rat Salad” actually ended up inspiring my own drumming when I’d practice in my parents’ basement or jam with my friend Adam. Paranoid closes out with the masterpiece “Fairies Wear Boots.” There is something mystical and magical in the way the song opens. Throughout its six minutes, we’re always guessing as to what the band will play. It’s like a crazed blues song, shifting moods and tempos quite randomly. The lyrics and vocals are inspired - at turns silly, menacing, and fantastical. The perfect closer to a masterpiece album. Other Black Sabbath albums have great moments and three others made it into the Top 200. But only Paranoid fires on all cylinders while helping pioneer the genre of heavy metal and remaining relevant 45 years later. I felt the power of these songs when I heard a brilliant cover band performing many of them at Bonnaroo in 2015. They still sounded fiery and relevant for a new generation of listeners. Perhaps Paranoid sounded amateurish when it came out, but these songs have become as eternal and important to me and generations of heavy metal fans as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, and John Lee Hooker became to early rock and rollers. This is music that will never die, and it will always bring out the eternal adolescent in me.