PARANOID

I avoided this album when I first saw it due to the cover which did nothing for the album imo. I also didn't really enjoy the quickly written title track. Today I'm still not enamoured with the album cover although I've learned to enjoy the title track. I see this album as an advancement on the 1st album in that it pushed Sabbath firmly into the Metal camp - a camp which they became not only a cornerstone of but just about the whole dang foundation works of. The bands influence on modern metal music could never be overstated as this was the cement works that gave birth to the building that we know as Metal. The anti war epic, "War Pigs", is huge and is a very powerful statement regarding the topic. "Fairies wear Boots" is a fun, heavy, funny statement from the band about a druggy lifestyle. "Iron Man" has been rated by many on various shows that I've seen and books that I've read to be the number 1 metal track ever written with its instantly recognised main riff. "Rat Salad" is trippy and another fun piece. The title track "Paranoid" is a metal classic originally added to the album late as an almost throwaway track to lengthen the album a little.

I enjoyed the "Paranoid" album but my love affair with Sabbath was to start a little later down the line of Sabbath's discography. The most powerful track on the album to me is "War Pigs" and it remains one of my favorite tracks from the band. A solid three stars from me with an added star for the "War Pigs" track as well as "Fairies wear Boots" which was the favorite of a friend of mine who has now passed on unfortunately. Every time he visited at my place he insisted that I play the track for him which I gladly did. I remember one night clearly many years ago when said friend of mine and I were drunk and he insisted that I play the track for him on my electric guitar to which we both drunkenly, loudly sang the lyrics - I thought we sounded wonderful however my now ex wife, who had been sleeping (it was three in the morning) didn't agree and we were chased out of the house by a banshee who threw the guitar at us as we were hastily making a retreat from the front door. Thankfully the amplifier and speaker didn't follow.