A truly great metal experience (Paranoid - Black Sabbath)

Member Name: Metallicafan

Product:	Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Date:	06/07/02 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: metal history

Disadvantages: none

Led Zeppelin introduced the world to metal. They were slower metal with blues influences, and Black Sabbath's first album also has blues in it. But "Paranoid" is just straight up heavy metal up your ass. This album just rocks, I can't imagine listening to it back in the day, it blows away a lot of what Led Zeppelin accomplished, even though it took many of the same tools that Led Zeppelin used. Ozzy Osbourne just has a beautiful voice, and the effects of Tony Iommi's guitar can be felt deep inside your soul. The record begins with questionably the best song on the album with "War Pigs". The lyrics in this song blow me away, even today, and I can't imagine what the people in the 70's were thinking. They probably accused these guys of being witches or something. "Paranoid" is not that great of a song, but I can sit through it. "Planet Caravan" is by far the worst song on the album, and I always skip it because it is slow and you can't even tell that it is Ozzy singing. "Iron Man" picks up where "War Pigs" left off and is just friggin awesome. A totally catchy little tune with some brilliant guitar work. "Electric Funeral" is so absolutely brilliant and definitely contends as one of the best songs on the album. "Hand of Doom" and "Rat Salad" are both awesome songs, and "Fairies Wear Boots" is really, really, good.

Overall, "Planet Caravan" and "Paranoid" bring this album down from a ten/ten, so I will give it a 9/10.

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