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Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Seminal albums are tricky things to evaluate retrospectively. On one hand, the very definition of the word, “seminal,” suggests that the elements comprising such a record are timeless, with influences clearly visible through time. On the other hand, such albums are often products of their times, losing relevance – if not quality – as years wear on.
Black Sabbath’s massively influential “Paranoid” finds itself in both camps. The band’s second album built on the occult themes, textured sound and weapons-grade uranium instrumentation of the group’s 1969 self-titled debut, tapping into ‘60s malaise about the death and destruction of nuclear warfare and ‘60s enthusiasm for drug abuse.
The results speak for themselves: The influence of “Paranoid” is still readily noticeable in hard rock and heavy metal. Album-opener “War Pigs” has been covered by bands as diverse as Faith No More and Cake. Sabbath’s “Iron Man” seemed to be the primary impetus behind the formation of heavy rock giants like Metallica and Alice in Chains. The title track was deemed essential enough to the canon to be included as a playable track in the Harmonix “Rock Band” videogame.
The album’s sound has clearly aged well. The walloping guitar riffs, thundering bass and kinetic drum-work, along with Ozzy Osbourne’s anguished vocals, sound as fresh and foreboding today as they probably did in 1970. “Paranoid” holds guitarist Tony Iommi’s most iconic axe pyrotechnics; in terms of working adherents to his style, he might be the most influential guitar player in the rock world today. Meanwhile, drummer Bill Ward, always Sabbath’s secret weapon, shapes each track around his tight work, pairing an explosive, ever changing soundscape to every one of bassist Geezer Butler’s tuneful grooves.
Osbourne’s lyrics are the only questionable element of the album’s enduring appeal. Certainly most of the songs concern issues every bit as relevant now as they were three decades ago: war, mental illness, addiction, etc. However, “Paranoid” loses some of its impact when the songs stray too far into current events. Sabbath’s debut worked in the realm of the oblique to explore dark themes, creating a mystical, uneasy atmosphere that was timeless because the entire record seemed out of time itself. “Paranoid” grounds itself more in the corporeal world than its predecessor, at the expense of the universal quality of songwriting.
The presentation of real-world themes often strains credulity. Citing disillusionment over nukes and the Vietnam War as a reason to use heroin, as in “Hand of Doom,” might have seemed reasonable in the ‘60s but now it seems dated and pathetic. Similarly, the “visionary” imagery in “Planet Caravan” has aged about as well as the psychedelic instrumentation surrounding it.
Metal has always seemed like the natural cure for the music produced by hippies. And, thankfully, the psychedelia in “Paranoid” is surmounted at almost every point by Sabbath’s metal trappings. “Fairies Wear Boots,” the album’s closing number, is an effective eulogy for the decade’s misbegotten idealism. The song tells the story of a man who observes fantastical creatures walking home one night. Unfortunately, his doctor tells him they are products of his drug-addled mind, because “smoking and tripping is all that you do.” Sabbath was always great at exploring the darkness of fantastic ideas, and that excellence is truly on display throughout “Paranoid.” Chronologically and thematically, the album marks the end of the ‘60s mentality, indirectly and cruelly telling the decade’s disciples that it was all in their hedonistic heads: This is how it really is.
Reviewer: Adam Rowan
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Reviewer's Rating: 8.5
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Reader's Votes: 0
Added: 13-Jul-2009
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