
1970-09-18
Paranoid
Black Sabbath
By Maeve C.
Paranoid moves from the long, shifting attack of “War Pigs” to the compact title song and the suspended atmosphere of “Planet Caravan.” Tony Iommi’s guitar, Geezer Butler’s bass and Bill Ward’s drums give those changes a heavy but flexible foundation.
Ozzy Osbourne’s plain, urgent delivery keeps the stories close to the surface. “Iron Man” turns one of the record’s simplest guitar figures into a narrative hook that returns with increasing force.