Black Sabbath: Paranoid

Black Sabbath: Paranoid

1970

Vertigo Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. War Pigs  2. Paranoid  3. Planet Caravan  4. Iron Man  5. Electric Funeral  6. Hand of Doom  7. Rat Salad  8. Fairies Wear Boots

This is one of those albums, similar to ACDC's "Back In Black" and Led Zeppelin's 1,2 & 4, that I've heard so many times, I never want to hear it again...I' know I loved it at one time, but it's been so overplayed by radio, television, and  my teenage self  that the thought of hearing "Iron Man" one more time makes me sick to my stomach...

 I used to own this on glorious vinyl growing up...I can still recall my young brain attempting to process that album cover...



What the hell was going on?! Who was that guy in the crash helmet and neon clothes (complete with LSD trails)?  Why was he so pissed off? The cover told us he was "Paranoid." Was it the LSD? And who gave him the sword?

Apparently, the record was supposed to be titled "War Pigs" and the guy on the cover was supposed to be a War Pig, I guess...The record title was later changed to "Paranoid" making the album cover nonsensical...A little disappointing I guess...but this disappointment was later relieved by the revelation that "Iron Man" was originally called "Iron Bloke." So balance is restored in the universe...

Anyway, I left my Black Sabbath records in Michigan when I moved to Arizona...Because I was so sick of it and I realized even then I hadn't listened to it in about 5 years and didn't see myself listening to it anytime soon... I honestly didn't buy another copy of it until about 2012, which means I hadn't listened to it in about 18 years! Whaaat?!?!

But one day I was looking at the back cover at Zia Records and realized I couldn't remember what "Hand of Doom" sounded like, so I figured enough time had passed...

Turns out I was wrong...I just couldn't get into "War Pigs", "Paranoid", "Planet Caravan", "Iron Man", and "Fairies Wear Boots" anymore! I had officially overdosed on "We Sold Our Souls For Rock N' Roll"! And there was no way back!



 So basically, this album has become the "Electric Funeral"/"Hand of Doom"/"Rat Salad" EP...But I really enjoy this EP!

"Electric Funeral" is such classic Black Sabbath I'm stumped why this one never gets any airplay...As usual, Ozzy's vocal follows the big, stoner wah-wah  riff exactly,  but he sounds undeniably awesome as he takes you through a guided tour of a nuclear holocaust...  And it took me about one second to remember what "Hand of Doom" was! A slow creeping number about drug abuse, that's the best song here...I love that chugging guitar riff in the "You're having a good time baby, but that won't last..." section. So heavy...Totally worth sitting through my 1 billionth listen of "Iron Man" to get to this...

I'm really kind of pissed off I can't enjoy this whole album anymore! I mean, it's a classic record that features Black Sabbath in their prime! How did I manage to get so damn sick of it?! Does this ever happen to you guys? Is there a pill for it? !!

Oh well, let's listen to "Hand of Doom"...Enjoy...