![]() And we can marvel at how effective it could be at helping listeners do the same. (“Black Sabbath win struggle against black magic tag,” went the headline to a 1970 NME feature.) We can trace the origins of its eight songs not to some altar in the middle of the woods, but to the streets of Birmingham in the 1950s and 60s and see how the band’s signature sound was, in part, the unintended result of its need to circumnavigate physical and psychological pain. I just knew that it made me feel better.Īs we reach the 50th anniversary of Paranoid’s release this Friday, we have the benefit of looking at the album without the contextual noise of its original, occult-focused media narrative. I didn’t know that I was listening to the band that introduced this specific form of hard rock alchemy to the mainstream. I found it all over Paranoid, an album that stuck up for the downtrodden while spinning ominous hooks into delirious, rampaging jams. It seemed like all I had was my Walkman, which I would blast at top volume, searching for understanding. From the signature riffs and melodies to the lyrics which go beyond their time and age, Paranoid is truly the landmark in the history of heavy metal.I’ve never felt more alone than when I was walking those halls, my white dress shirt littered with streaks of black and red ink. Paranoid is without any doubt the best Black Sabbath albums ever, but more importantly one of the most important heavy metal albums of all time. Apart from these, most of the tracks were straight recordings with extremely tight instrumentals topped with Ozzy’s eerie and haunting vocals. The only times when notable effects were used were in “ Planet Caravan” and “ Iron Man” (I shivered upon hearing the twistedly distorted “I Am Iron Man!”). The guitar riffs in “War Pigs”, “Paranoid” and “Iron Man”, as well the melodies for the vocals, are now among the most easily identified riffs and melodies anywhere. Paranoid features some of the most iconic and recognizable riffs and melodies by Black Sabbath. “ Electric Funeral” was a haunting track warning about a disaster caused by nuclear weapons. Upon travelling back to the present, he was turned to steel by the magnetic field, rendered mute and unable to communicate about the apocalypse to anyone. “ Iron Man” was about a man who travels to the future and sees the apocalyptic destruction on mankind. “Paranoid” talked about the effects of drugs on the addict, making him confused between depression and paranoia. A perfect opening track that promised so much more coming further down the track list, this song is one of the most memorable songs about war, destruction and the real Satans among us. The song “ War Pigs” was originally called “ Walpurgis”, which was quickly turned down by their record company for being too Satanic. ![]() Geezer just wasn’t interested in your average ‘I love you’ pop song ”. No wonder we never got any chicks at our gigs. Ozzy Osbourne recalled in his autobiography “I Am Ozzy”: “ Geezer came up with these heavy duty lyrics about death and destruction. Paranoid focused on topics about war, drug abuse, death and destruction. It wasn’t just heavy metal, it was something else altogether, like the band members were tasked to deliver warnings of doom to the world. It was perfectly smooth, with a bit of eerie, a bit of doom, and a lot of dark. It was heavy metal, without any redundant rage or unnecessary distortion. It was probably thanks to this organized songwriting that Paranoid sounded so tight and flawless. Drummer Bill Ward would then top it off with a pounding beat to complement Butler’s thunderous bass. Vocalist Ozzy Osbourne then worked on the melody for the vocals, followed by bassist Geezer Butler who would write most of the lyrics. ![]() ![]() First off, the song writing process in Paranoid, especially for the title track, was much more systematic than in Black Sabbath: Guitarist Tony Iommi would start with one of his killer massive roaring riffs.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |