Black Sabbath's sophomore effort also gave the band as well as the fledgling genre its first commercial hit, as well as two anthems, Paranoid and Iron Man. One of the most important heavy metal albums of all time, Paranoid might not be the best of it's genre, but it still has classic songs in the form of War Pigs, Electric Funeral, Fairies Wear Boots, and Iron Man. Bill Ward also has a great showing in the instrumental, Rat Salad, where he has his nearly 50 second long drum solo.Įven though in the past 36 years many bands have come up with faster, heavier, darker, more technical, albums, Paranoid still stands strong next to the albums it influenced. Both bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward have an excellent performance, especially in the song Planet Caravan, where even though they aren't flashy, they hold up the mellow song with a simple, yet effective rhythm. Tony has a solid showing in each track, but specifically in War Pigs, Planet Caravan, Electric Funeral (gotta love that electric sounding riff) and Fairies Wear Boots. Guitarist Tony Iommi once again impresses with this release, as he churns out riff after riff after riff. His wails on a song like Paranoid or War Pigs make those even unfamiliar with the genre or song think of 'that controversial band'/Black Sabbath. His singing on is also a lot more memorable on the album. His voice fits the sludgy, electric sounding man riff and even though I don't count myself as a fan off the 'prince of darkness', I will admit, he sounds pretty cool on Electric Funeral. I also quite like his performance on Electric Funeral. His singing in songs such as Hand of Doom, Iron Man, War Pigs, and the title cut is a lot more tolerable than it was on past songs such as Wicked World. Though vocalist Ozzy Osbourne isn't the most talented singer around, I feel he improved on Paranoid. Though these two songs are well done, Paranoid's most memorable moments are definitely when they are thrashing up the set with their brand of heavy rock. Think Moby Dick by Led Zeppelin, and that's what you'll find here, only a minute and a half shorter. The other song, Rat Salad, mainly consists of a drum solo from Bill Ward, with Tony Iommi pitching in some riffs for the first half and the remaining 25 seconds of the song. The highlight of the song is quite easily the jazzy, two minute long guitar solo from Iommi, one of the most enjoyable solos on the album. Planet Caravan is quite relaxing, and a change from the destructive riffs found in previous Sabbath songs.

The former is an attempt at a psychedelic song, and though I'm no expert on this kind of music, the band does an excellent job with the song.

Black Sabbath also has a few new tricks up their sleeves in the form of Planet Caravan and Rat Salad. Gloomy riffs are still found on the album, Electric Funeral's main riff being an excellent example of this. Tracks such as War Pigs, Iron Man, Fairies Wear Boots, and Electric Funeral show off the band's more metal-esque sound. The band focused on the heavier, more metallic sound, similar to the ending of the song Black Sabbath, and the song N.I.B. Paranoid continued Black Sabbath's musical progression. Arguably their most popular release, Paranoid spawned the band's three most popular songs, the opener, War Pigs, the title track, and Iron Man. Paranoid was a hit, reaching #1 in the UK, and #12 in the US, where it was released a few months later (in 1971). The album was originally titled War Pigs, after the opening track, a title that was quickly changed because of a potential backlash due to the Vietnam War. In the UK, Sabbath released Paranoid at the end of 1970, the same year as their self-titled album. Lo and behold, Paranoid, the band's sophomore effort. The album was pretty successful for a debut album, and the band was eager to replicate that success. Black Sabbath swung open the iron doors of heavy metal with their debut album, Black Sabbath.

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