Paranoid (LP)

‘Paranoid’ is the second studio album by English rock band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, it was the band’s first LP to top the UK Albums Chart. It is often regarded as one of the most quintessential and influential albums in heavy metal history. ‘Paranoid’ contains several of the band's signature songs, including ‘Iron Man’, ‘War Pigs’ and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 in the UK charts. Black Sabbath returned to the studio with producer Roger Bain in June 1970, just four months after their debut album was released. ‘Paranoid’ crystallized the band's writing process, with Iommi initiating the ideas with his charred riffs, Ozzy (Osbourne) working on a melody, Geezer providing drive and the majority of the lyrics, and Bill Ward locking into a set of often pounding rhythms beneath Butler's bass rumble. Most of the songs on ‘Paranoid’ evolved during onstage improvisational jams. ‘Paranoid's’ chart success allowed the band to tour the US for the first time in October 1970, which spawned the release of the album's second single “Iron Man”. As of 2014, ‘Paranoid’ is Black Sabbath's best-selling album, having sold 1.6 million copies in the US since the beginning of the SoundScan era. ‘Paranoid’ reached No. 12 in the US in March 1971 with virtually no radio airplay. Ben Mitchell of Blender called it “the greatest metal album of all time”. According to Rolling Stone‍‍?'?‍s Joe Levy, “Sabbath ruled for bummed-out kids in the Seventies” and “nearly every heavy-metal and extreme rock band of the last three decades”, including Metallica, Nirvana and Slipknot, “owes a debt of worship” to Iommi's “crushing” guitar riffs, Ward and Butler's “Visigoth rhythm section” and Osbourne's “agonized bray” on tracks such as “Paranoid”, “Iron Man” and “War Pigs”. The album is ranked at No. 131 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In the decades succeeding its initial distribution, ‘Paranoid’ has been regarded by many as Black Sabbath's best album, and by some the best heavy metal album of all time. In 1989, Kerrang! magazine listed the album at No. 39 among the “100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time”. In 1994, ‘Paranoid’ was ranked number three in Colin Larkin's Top 50 Heavy Metal Albums. According to Larkin, “Pretenders have often grasped at their crown, but Paranoid shows that Black Sabbath remain the quintessential metal band.” In 1999, Q magazine included it in their list of The Best Gothic Albums of All Time, writing that, “[Black Sabbath] stamped their bombastic and doom-laden imprint on British rock forever.” In 1999, Vibe (12/99, p. 162) included it on their list of 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century. In 2006, the album was ranked number 6 on Guitar World magazine's list of The Greatest 100 Guitar Albums of All Time. 180gm vinyl includes a copy of the album on CD.