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Tony Iommi's hands rest relaxed on the guitar, Ozzy Osbourne approaches the microphone stand, staggering. The attack is lethal, a riff starts that is unmistakable in its simplicity and strength. Bass and drums join in, sharp and decisive. At the second twelfth, the voice, unique and unmistakable, makes its appearance: "Finished with my woman 'cause she couldn't help me with my mind...".
Paranoid, the single that gives the title to the entire second studio work of the Sabs, is all here. Or rather, every seed of what the Heavy scene would become from 1970 to today is here.
Yes indeed, because Ozzy and his bandmates, in that August 33 years ago in Birmingham, were writing the history of Rock music.
Want a crash course in this fascinating subject? Gently place the vinyl on your turntable and move the needle to the first groove. War Pigs, with its incredible intro (Luke's Wall), will cling to your skin, a sadly prophetic text, and vocal and instrumental lines that are nothing short of brilliant.
Now let's skip a couple of tracks and get to Iron Man. A cadenced, at times martial rhythm, powerful, precise. An anthem that has not lost its extraordinary appeal even after three decades of concerts around the globe. War Pigs, Paranoid, Iron Man: an encyclopedia from which no artist belonging to any fringe of the Heavy-Rock scene can deny having drawn.
It was December of 1997 when I saw the images of the Reunion Tour in which the band members gathered in Birmingham, their hometown.
Tony Iommi looked incredibly like my uncle Vito, Bill Ward reminded me of the old man who every morning goes to place his beautiful football pool slip at the tobacconist under the house. When Ozzy dragged himself to the mic and shouted with that unmistakable southern accent his "Are you ready to go wild for us tonight", followed by a "Let's go fucking crazy", I closed my eyes and enjoyed a couple of tons of immortal rock'n'roll. My stomach is still trembling. "I Love You All".
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Paranoid (02:49)
Finished with my woman
'Cause she couldn't help me with my mind
People think I'm insane
Because I am frowning all the time
All day long I think of things
But nothing seems to satisfy
Think I'll lose my mind
If I don't find something to pacify
Can you help me
Occupy my brain?
Oh yeah
I need someone to show me
The things in life that I can't find
I can't see the things that make true happiness
I must be blind
Make a joke and I will sigh
And you will laugh and I will cry
Happiness I cannot feel
And love to me is so unreal
And so as you hear these words
Telling you now of my state
I tell you to enjoy life
I wish I could but it's too late
03 Planet Caravan (04:25)
We sail through endless skies
Stars shine like eyes
The black night sighs
The moon in silver dreams
Falls down in beams
Light of the night
The Earth a purple blaze
Of sapphire haze
In orbit always
While down below the trees
Bathed in cool breeze
Silver starlight
Breaks dawn from night
And so we pass on by
The crimson eye
Of great god Mars
As we travel the universe
04 Iron Man (05:55)
Has he lost his mind
Can he see or is he blind
Can he walk at all
Or if he moves will he fall
Is he alive or dead
Has he thoughts within his head
We'll just pass him there
Why should we even care
He was turned to steel
In the great magnetic field
When he traveled time
For the future of mankind
Nobody wants him
He just stares at the world
Planning his vengeance
That he will soon unfurl
Now the time is here
For Iron Man to spread fear
Vengeance from the grave
Kills the people he once saved
Nobody wants him
They just turn their heads
Nobody helps him
Now he has his revenge
Heavy boots of lead
Fills his victims full of dread
Running as fast as they can
Iron Man lives again!
05 Electric Funeral (04:49)
Reflex in the sky
Warn you you're gonna die
Storm coming, you'd better hide
From the atomic tide
Flashes in the sky
Turns houses into sty
Turns people into clay
Radiation minds decay
Robot minds of robot slaves
Lead them to atomic graves
Plastic flowers, melting sun
Fading moon falls apart
Dying world of radiation,
Victims of mad frustration
Burning globe of obscene fire
Like electric funeral pyre
Buildings crashing down
To Earth's cracking ground
Rivers turn to wood
Ice melts into blood
Earth lies in debris
Clouds cry for the dead
Terrifying rain
Ease the burning pain
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
And so in the sky
Shines the electric eye
Supernatural king
Takes Earth under his wing
Heaven's golden chorus sings
Hell's angels flap their wings
Evil souls fall to Hell
Ever trapped in burning cells!
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Other reviews
By luca reed
Black Sabbath infused their music with a probably unconscious revolution that would alter the roots of the hard sound and reflect in all future heavy metal.
The lyrics actually combined the baroque-decadent fascination for English and non-English dark literature with the threatening sense of 'malevolent' everyday life of the present.
By Axlspark
"To highlight the greatness of this band among many successes and masterpieces, there is an album, certainly the greatest of Black Sabbath: 'Paranoid'."
"Giving 5 stars to this album seemed like an insult because the actual score it deserves is 10 with honors."
By kain3325
With 'Paranoid' Black Sabbath are at the peak of their creativity, pioneers of a genre that will see them on altars for many years.
The opening track is War Pigs, an incandescent riff by Iommy that turns into a pounding song punctuated by Ward’s snare drum and Osborne’s increasingly hypnotic voice.
By Battlegods
"Black Sabbath can be defined as the founders of doom, dark, and evil sounds which were later adopted in the metal of the eighties."
"The album is a beautiful lesson of true hard rock, still today!"
By Nesci
"'Paranoid' is the album of fame, the one that definitively consolidated Sabbath’s success."
"'War Pigs' is an immortal classic, with an unforgettable riff and a desperate cry against war shouted in Sabbath’s very particular style."
