PARANOID

This came out in 1970?? And it's not even their debut album! Black Sabbath and Paranoid were so ahead of their time it's crazy. Who at the time were exploring themes such as war, mental illness, drug abuse and sci-fi horror? Not many. For 1970, this album was very dark and very hard rock, nobody was playing guitar riffs like they were. Even if you're not the biggest Sabbath fan you have to respect them and what they did for an entire genre of music, Heavy Metal.

This is Black Sabbaths bestselling album, selling four million in the US alone. It's also their most recognized work and their most popular as well. It's debatable, but you'd be very fair in saying this is their best album. Every song is good, War Pigs (last minute and a half, crank it up, love it) and Jack the Stripper are great, Planet Caravan as well. All the songs fit together and flow well, a very complete album. The songs aren't complicated but the riffs and sound is just full of DOOM.

I'm still floored at how early this and their debut came out. I heard about parents burning their kids Kiss albums and crazy stuff like that in the 70s, I can only imagine bringing this home and playing it when it came out, what my parents would've thought, oh, how I wish.

If this weren't a progressive rock site, it would be five stars easily, but since this album isn't essential for a progressive collection, I'm going with four.