Black Sabbath - Paranoid
In the wake of an era when musicians were exploring new psychadelic ideas to do with songwriting in the 60s, fueled by mind-expanding drugs whilst promoting the ideology of peace with the hippy culture becoming tied into music, much of America was a complacent nation torn by the war in Vietnam. A lot of people started taking cynical views towards state and the way the future was headed, the threat of nuclear war spurring the minds of many as a new age was entered. Horror movies and science fiction became a vehicle for exploring ideas regarding the apocalyptic technology of the new age, from zombies to superheroes born out of radiation the nuclear threat helped to popularise the genres.
The popularity of such themes spread all over the world and grew in Britain, to a an English town called Birmingham where a band was born. Black Sabbath were quite an influential force in the world of music. Starting off as a blues/hard rock group named the Polka Tulk Blues Company then settling on the moniker of Earth, the band started dwelling in occult ideas thematically when bassist Geezer Butler wrote a song entitled
Black Sabbath using the much famed tritone (a three note guitar interval that was banned from medieval churches for its evil sound). The band changed their name to the song title after confusion with another outfit called Earth shortly after and being inspired by a comment made by drummer Bill Ward on his confusion regarding why people would pay to see a horror movie if it scares them, the band were inspired to try something previously unthought of. Deciding to create music in the mold of a horror film (though not exclusively), heavy metal was born. Black Sabbath's first self-titled release was full of bluesy jams, sludgy doomlike guitar riffs dwelling in fuzzy distortion, and horror/fantasy themed songs about wizards, the apocalypse, and satan catching the attention of the media who labelled the band as the personification of evil.
Paranoid, the bands second album, is perhaps the most well known and commercially successful album by the band. Some hail it as a true masterpiece of early metal while some take a more cynical approach and deem it overrated. Opening up with
War Pigs, there is an instant immersion into the dark, grainy atmosphere this band is famous for creating. The intro of the song, known as
Luke's Wall, is the sound of pending war to music. Slow, moody and portentous, it rolls along with a thunderous doom in the hanging powerchords and rolling drums of the band alongside a chilling war siren. It then falls into a two chord riff giving way to a hi-hat being hit in pure silence, one of the most recognisable and thrilling moments in rock history for it's simplicity. The riff breaks the silence for just a perfect moment, then back to the hi-hat. Ozzy shouts the famous war cry lyrics and we have the beginning of one of the most anthemic and dark war protest songs there ever was. The song features some great riffs, complicated bass patterns and drum fills with a lengthy solo, my favourite moment of all being the lyrical climax of the final verse which sends chills up my spine like no other with the final two riffs bringing the song to close. It might be worth noting the origins of this song were not in denouncing the Vietnam war, the original version of
War Pigs was known as
Walpurgis and was about witchcraft with the first two lines being "Witches gather at black masses/Bodies burning in red ashes".
The next song is the most famous Black Sabbath song of all,
Paranoid. It certainly had the most popular appeal out of all the Sabbath material to make it into the charts, due almost exclusively to an iconic three chord riff that undoubtedly has annoyed the hell out of music shop attendants for years. Because of this many criticise this song as filler and dismiss it, as to most people this would be their introduction to the band and it doesn't give a good representation of what Black Sabbath is about. Personally i find the tight, simple riff working with the drums appealing, Ozzy's lyrics about being in a bad state after a relationship something i can feel expressed very bleakly and the solo one of my favourites of all time. After this comes
Planet Caravan, a unique and beautiful song with psychadelic lyrics sung softly, gentle guitar arpeggios and tabla being played. It is a strong change of pace from the previous two songs (and indeed the bands career up until this point), breaking up the album a little with the production creating a black and dreamy feel you could float away with. A gorgeous bluesy solo fades out, and a simple kickbeat sets the next track up as droning guitars wail. With the famous sample of "i... am... iron man!", that famous, slow, sludge infested signature riff follows and we have one of Sabbath's most popular songs,
Iron Man. This song takes a notable change of pace lyrically from the band, using a science fiction theme. Although there is argument over the ambiguity of certain elements in the words a general interpretation is that a man travels to the future, and sees a great disaster that has destroyed mankind. Upon returning he is turned to steel unable to move, and people mock him and his warnings. Feeling rejected, he plots revenge against mankind and ends up being the one who caused the disaster in the first place. After the moody, sludge filled part of the first section the song showcases some of the jam elements of the band from their first record that have been mostly missing on
Paranoid up until this point. Bill Ward plays those drums like a madman, Tony Iommi solos away and Geezer goes nuts on the bass.
Electric Funeral continues the science fiction theme of
Iron Man, an apocalyptic waa-soaked riff driving the theme of the world in the wake of nuclear war with a strong emphasis on the reality behind it. Ozzy's singing lends a very depressing and nihilistic feel to the song, his nasally brit accent may be a strong criticism towards the band by many but i feel here it is an asset. After this section some drum rolls build anticipation, climaxing with a faster riff part where the bluesy lead sends chills up my spine. It has perhaps the most simple construction of any Black Sabbath songs i can name but the atmosphere is certainly one of the most effective.
Hand of Doom gives me similar feelings about the end of the world approaching, the lone bass riff at the start an iconic Sabbath moment. With lyrics returning to the Vietnam war and escapism of people at the time from reality through drugs this is one of the greatest Sabbath songs there is for being reflective of the era they came from. It follows a similar structure to
Electric Funeral musically, with a slow section at the beginning, a faster section breaking this up and a return to the slower section. This is varied enough to get away with it though, with stronger emphasis on bass, and a solo where
Electric Funeral lacked both.
Rat Salad is the next track, an instrumental drum orgy which features some nice blues playing backing it up. This is another moment on the album where the band jams, bringing back the energy and feel of the first album and it is an excellent song despite being short.
Jack The Stripper/Faeries Wear Boots, is the final track on the album, and despite a song title that could turn anybody off it proves to be one of Sabbath's most fun songs to listen to. A chorus delay section at the beginning gives way to some stellar lead, and we have some bluesy jamming that shows the original influences of the band very nicely. Ozzy's lyrics about seeing faeries and dwarves while hallucinating on a drug trip are more of a fun throw-in, this song really about creating some good music. (Interesting trivia note, at 2:57 of this song during a solo Iommi recycles the same notes as being played at 5:27 of their self titled song
Black Sabbath. I never noticed this after years of listening until a short while back.)
All up
Paranoid is a solid album, a strong progression of the band in terms of songwriting. Many of the experimental jam elements of their first album, (demonstrated mainly in
The Wizard,
Wasp/Behind The Wall of Sleep/Basically/N.I.B.,
Wicked World, and
A Bit Of Finger/Sleeping Village/Warning) are present but the band concentrated on solidifying these elements into proper song structures. A lot of elements that have been influential to the metal genre are on display, the old-school production along with the lyricals themes and portentous music giving the album a dark and malevolent feel well before it's time. Many see it as overrated, but i feel that anything with a cult following is going to have that impact on people who connect to it on a subjective level. Looking at this album objectively and removing any kind of bias relating to my personal feelings about it or it's influence over the world of music is impossible, but all i can offer is that it is a solid album full of excellent songs.
