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This is a logical followup to Black Sabbath's first U.S. release, and promises to be as big as the first. The album contains the group's single, "Paranoid," as well as "War Pigs," "Electric Funeral," "Rat Salad" and "Hand of Doom," among others. The group maintains their sound with a few slightly different twists. Their fans will remain faithful to them, without a doubt.
- Billboard, 1971.
Bonus Reviews!
They do take heavy to undreamt-of extremes, and I suppose I could enjoy them as camp, like a horror movie -- the title cut is definitely screamworthy. After all, their audience can't take that Lucifer bit seriously, right? Well, depends on what you mean by serious. Personally, I've always suspected that horror movies catharsized stuff I was too rational to care about in the first place. C
- Robert Christgau, Christgau's Record Guide, 1981.
Even careful disc mastering by Nimbus Records cannot entirely save these densely recorded tracks, now nearly twenty years old, from sonic fuzz and fog. Far from a barrage of sound, the band's live hallmark, the sound from CD lacks real impact, especially the drumming which is both flat and flatulent. The intentionally compressed "block-busting" sound of the title track and songs like "Iron Man" translate poorly to the new medium. Unless the reproduction medium runs into distorting overload there is little of the "head-banging" energy that made live Black Sabbath famous (notorious).
Castle Records should be thanked for providing added value to the U.K. version of the CD issue of Paranoid by including an 18-minute live version of the song "Wicked World" which will be a welcome addition for fans hell bent on collecting Sabbath on CD.
If you did not hear Paranoid the first time around, and have no wish to indulge in a little nostalgia, then you can probably forget this heavy metal classic.
Anyone searching for the classic cuts, including the best from Paranoid, should investigate Castle Records' The Collection. Greatest Hits contains only 10 tracks. Live Sabbath can be found on Live At Last though these performances cannot be fully endorsed.
- David Prakel, Rock 'n' Roll on Compact Disc, 1987.
Paranoid, released in the U.K. in September 1970 and held back from U.S. release until January 1971 to avoid cutting off sales of the still-selling debut LP, became Black Sabbath's best-selling album ever. "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" (the latter released as a single a full year after the album) became Black Sabbath's only U.S. singles chart entries, and the album became their only U.K. chart-topper. Although the album was deplored by critics at the time, the reasons for its success are easy to hear now. Subtle, it ain't (listen to the way Ozzy Osbourne sings note-for-note the same simple melodies Tony Iommi plays), but that's the point. In songs like "Paranoid" and "Iron Man," generations of teenagers heard their own insecurities writ large. * * * * *
- William Ruhlmann, The All-Music Guide to Rock, 1995.
Metal doesn't get more frightening than Paranoid, which features the title track and "Iron Man." * * * * 1/2
- Thor Christensen, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.
Spotlighting Tony Iommi's monster riffs and blistering solos, Geezer Butler, the king of bass lines, and vintage Ozzman at his Ozziest, this template for a thousand bands revealed heavy metal at its finest and its first hour. Iconic in the genre, these lads from Birmingham knew how to make noise before thrash and before grunge, creating a dark vision that's never been bested. * * * *
- Zagat Survey Music Guide - 1,000 Top Albums of All Time, 2003.
 Further reading on Super Seventies RockSite!: Album Review: Album Review: |
Paranoid was chosen as the 130th greatest album of all time by the editors of Rolling Stone magazine in Dec. 2003.
- Rolling Stone, 12/11/03.
Black Sabbath had already raised eyebrows in their native England with their self-titled debut: a seismic re-routing of the blues that, along with the first two Led Zeppelin classics, helped give birth to a new form of rock 'n' roll: heavy metal.
In terms of songwriting, the Birmingham quartet's second LP was a quantum leap. Leviathan protest number "War Pigs" is one of the all-time great intros, capturing the embittered mood of Western youth as the U.S. government fought its bloody campaign in Vietnam. All the Sabbath trademarks are here: Ozzy Osbourne's eerie, ominous wail; supple, tempo-shifting dynamics from drummer Bill Ward and bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler; and, most recognizably, the hulking presence of guitar hero and lord of the riff, Tony Iommi.
The iconic title track comes next, a proto-punk blast of alienation that remains Black Sabbath's signature anthem -- Ozzy and Iommi even performed it at Queen Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee celebrations in London in 2002. Ghostly ballad "Planet Caravan" displays an oft-overlooked tender side, while lumbering sci-fi drama "Iron Man" seems to anticipate the entire grunge movement. The final four tracks are less well known, but just as imposing. Heroin nightmare "Hand Of Doom" is especially apt, helping consolidate Sabbath's position as the darkest force in Seventies music.
Paranoid broke them in America, reaching No. 12 on the U.S. chart. Its songs have been covered by acts as diverse as Pantera and The Cardigans; its influence on the heavier end of the rock spectrum, from Nirvana to Queens Of The Stone Age, is incalculable.
- Manish Agarwal, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, 2005.
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