Black Sabbath - Paranoid


Alright, ibuprofen administered. I've got my rum and coke. Let's see what the heartiest of minions got me. Oh, there's an envelope on top with "readme.txt" scribbled on it. Hilarious.

Welcome to the box. We each got you a little something we think you'll enjoy. Seeing as you tirelessly imagine our existence, even when you're grumpy, we thought it apropos to base our choices on our perceived functions in this interesting universe you've created for yourself. As for me, i gave Compy the following instructions: 

He doesn't have very many truly classic albums. Preferably rock/metal, but anything as long as it's a true classic. 

I'll be as surprised as you are by what he actually picked, but i have little doubt it will be thoroughly enjoyable. 

Sincerely,

Sandra 

A classic album from a classy lady. Yes, i suppose that is fitting. Well, here we go. 

Ooooh. The second Black Sabbath album, Paranoid. No argument here, it certainly is a classic album. There's tons of stories about it, but my favorite two are that the execs said "guys, your suggested title is ridiculous, but that song Paranoid is a real potential hit, so let's call the album Paranoid," and that they were really nervous about putting Planet Caravan on it, but famously had so little material that there wasn't much choice. Also, Ozzy didn't know what a Leslie speaker was, i think he called it "a refrigerator with a knob on" or something similarly ridiculous. Paranoid turned out to be a massive hit, and they all agreed to never do singles again just to keep the randos from annoying their actual fans at their shows. 

The other awesome thing is that this is basically a jam album. Iommi kept coming up with riff after riff, Geezer and Ward would just groove under it, Ozzy would come up with melodies and Geezer would write some wordy words. Literally making it up as they went along with only working class anger/depression to guide them. 

And the stories, my word the stories. War mongers are the real Satan. Date night in outer space. A time traveller to the future who gets so mad that no one will heed his warnings that he creates the armageddom he witnessed. Nuclear war as their response to the hippie flowers in your San Fransiscan hair. The Vietnam/heroin problem i'm sure i've mentioned somewhere before. A drum solo just because they had to chew up all those endless 45 minute sets at their early gigs. Cap the whole thing off with Ozzy's encounter with some skinheads, and this is the absolute heaviest thing imaginable for 1970, let alone here at the end of 2020. 

It is Heavy Metal. It's Doom. It's literally saying "look at the world, no really look at it, it's horrible. It sucks. We haaaaaate it." 

Just an amazing album, the concept being not really knowing or noticing the difference between paranoia and depression, but definitely feeling both when you look at the harsh realities of England and America's politico-economic systems. 

Is it even a record collection if you don't have a copy of Paranoid? I submit that it is not, and now i don't have to worry about it at all. Thanks, Sandra. You were right, Compy has pretty good taste. If the other 3 are half as good i'll be ecstatic.

Gladys' record

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 4 Seasons - The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette

Image
This might be my longest  album review ever. But i swear a couple times, so it's worth the read ;) How could i possibly mention Jefferson Airplane, The 4 Seasons, and Frank Zappa in the same context? Zappa said "this is rediculous" and a few years later The 4 Seasons said "you know what, Frank is right. This IS ridiculous." To which Jefferson Airplane said, "Oh. Ok. Got it." The real question is: which one is the most transgressive? Zappa said stop fighting, you look like idiots. Jefferson Airplane said i guess if love and community is a bad thing, then sure we're criminals and we'd be happy to move out into the fields and live peaceful lives without your garbage, let us go already. The 4 Seasons said hold my champagne for a moment. In 1969, The 4 Seasons released the single most ironic, acidic, extravagant, and downright befuddling album ever created, The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette. Zappa was accused of writing "shitty doo-w
Read more

Welcome to my blog, and my record collection.

This is a blog about my love of listening to albums. It started off as a nightly perusal of my dad's record collection (which sadly became mine) on my personal facebook page. Over the last two months it has become quite an enjoyable process of simply ranting about what i think is a real art form, the album. It needs a more permanent home. Some of my reviews are positive, some negative. They might not be what you expect from album reviews, but i hope you at least find them entertaining. For the most part i do very little research, and they tend to be train of thought reactions rather than calculated essays. If nothing else, know that i'm really listening to them and whether they are amazing or abysmal i want you to go listen to them too.  I'll start migrating the 60+ i've written so far over here in the next few days, and hopefully get to the point where i just start writing them here. I'd probably even take suggestions if you're just dying to know my tho
Read more

Pat Benatar - Seven The Hard Way

Image
I don't know about you, but i love Pat Benatar. Yes, that's also her debut album with the single most underrated song in the universe (My Clone Sleeps Alone) in the background, but that's just a generic non-self-titled debut album. We're jumping ahead to her 6th album, Seven The Hard Way, because that, ladies and gentle germs, is how you kalaidescope a concept. Not one, not two, not three, but 4 protien-packed layers to this metaphor. You don't really need to know the overly complicated rules of Craps to know that A) it's gambling, B) "the hard way" refers to rolling doubles, so good luck rolling two 3.5s, and C) you're going to lose, one way or another. It's a joke, but more importantly, it's Pat Benatar and the roll out is Sex As A Weapon, so the innuendo is not intended to be subtle. Wait wait wait, that's only 3, Bottle, where's 4? You're right, last but not least, side B opens with Seven Rooms of Gloom, a Holland-Dozier-Hol
Read more