PARANOID

With the release of their second studio album Black Sabbath landed their most apprehensive collection of songs, expanding upon the success and stylistic pursuits of their debut album, released just a half-year earlier. And with the aptly titled 'Paranoid' we have a compositional sophistication and a sonic evolution, with the band striving for a more eclectic and a tad bit more accessible presentation - as the album giving us several of the Birmingham-based band's most essential and iconic songs, we also see them moving away (rather gently) from the murky, doomy tones of their self-titled debut album, and instead developing a clearer, more compelling and straightforward heavy metal sound (or at least, being immensely influential for the movement that would go on to inhibit this categorization), with Iommi's massive and lustrous riffs outlining somewhat of a "golden standard" for the genre and for many future acts.

With many of the songs appearing on the final album tracklist evolving from improvisational jams, the quality and the creativity of the material on Sabbath's second LP is beyond imagination - we have the band venturing into mellower, more psychedelic sounds here and there, as well as trying out some simpler, louder and more exciting things. The first side of the album might as well be deemed perfect, with the iconic anti-war stoner anthem 'War Pigs' opening the set, with the lyrics of Geezer Butler, this has become one of the quintessential Black Sabbath songs, followed by the title track, or the song whose commercial potential led to the renaming of the entire album. The third track on here is the spacey 'Planet Caravan' with its "universal", dream-like tones, while the menacing 'Iron Man' closing off side one, this one bolstering another jarring riff from Iommi, with the backstory and the lyrics of the song conceived by Butler once again (undoubtedly a fascinating musician and a strong creative engine for the band). The second side explores the doomier aesthetics of Sabbath and at times resembles the sound of the band's debut album, despite being much more aggressive and unhinged. 'Electric Funeral' is really strong and an absolutely excellent "banger", while the more complex piece 'Hand of Doom' introduces a few bluesy licks and a more controlled sound, once again dealing with the theme of war. The instrumental 'Rat Salad' is brilliant, and the closing number is 'Fairies Wear Boots' is heavy and expansive.

Listening to the excellent second studio album from Black Sabbath, one understands that the chemistry between the four members of the band is there, and the same goes to their unbridled creativity - this album feels really complete, driven and has since become one of the most influential works in rock music. It might possibly be the greatest heavy metal album of all time, although we are far from interested in such vacuous classifications!

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