Black Sabbath Paranoid Track By Track Thread

I sent you a shout out on Wednesday, just so you know
You can't catch up? You can take over if you think maybe you can catch up.

 

I can catch up (I think). I just posted on “Iron Man”. I’ll post on “Electric Funeral” shortly.

 

War Pigs:

The opening track, "War Pigs", was originally slated be called "Walpurgis", but the tune was changed, lyrically and thematically, by Geezer Butler after being affected by images of the Vietnam War. Initially pieced together as a jam during warm ups and sound checks, "War Pigs" developed organically into what is now known as the iconic opener of the album Paranoid. Working off the horror theme, somewhat lifted from the title track from the first album, "War Pigs" starts off with a doom laden riff with the, now, famous British bomb siren going off in the background. The effect is very similar to the song "Black Sabbath" in that anyone that's ever heard that particular sound is filled with dread and fear due to its mournful, droning sound; it's obvious what it implies. With the image of people rushing to the bomb shelters that was the London "Tube", the listener is submerged into the horrors of war with Sabbath's tension filled, lumbering groove. Moving off an E to a G to D figure, with an adagio tempo, "War Pigs" is an elephantine, dirge swell that, sonically, resembles an army of tanks descending upon the field of battle. With bassist Geezer Butler doing some octave runs underneath guitarist Tony Iommi's massive riff, the band comes to a halt and drummer Bill Ward counts off the tune with his high hat. With a two note D to E riff, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne begins with a more high pitched vocal than anything off the first record. Everyone is pretty familiar with the lyrics on the tune, but the imagery is still profound in terms of what it seeks to convey.

After an opening segment of Ozzy laying down the first verse with the band doing a start/stop figure for accentuation, the band runs into the main riff and then transitions into a more jammy type riff off of an E with Osbourne singing more of the verse. The most interesting part of this is listening to bass player Geezer Butler do creative things around the main riff and Bill Ward's distinctive, jazzy time keeping. Iommi then runs a multi-tracked solo on both channels while Geezer and Ward keep things intense and, at the same time, swinging a bit below. The song then moves back into a E to D figure and Ozzy signs another verse after which you get the patented line, "oh, lord, yeah!" and the "War Pigs" have had their day, and are doomed to internal damnation. The song then transitions at 2:14 to"Luke's Wall" which is Iommi doing a a picking figure off the E riff with the band doing a tight accentuation from E to D and then the full band does a variation of the riff from E to D to C while Iommi solos over it. The final stanzas of the song are speed up to a quick and unexpected ending. Iommi states in his book, Iron Man, that this was Allom and Bain's idea and they had no idea where the impetus for it came from. Yet, it oddly it works.

 

Paranoid:

The second track "Paranoid" is Black Sabbath's most famous and well known track which, according to Iommi, was written in about five minutes as a filler tune because Bain believed the band needed one more track for the album's 42:07 running time. Based off a riff similar to Zeppelin's "Communication Breakdown", "Paranoid" runs from an E to D with a quick change from G to D to E. Everybody knows this riff and it's been played by countless garage bands over the years. It's a short, simple song with a lyric, that while somewhat esoteric in its content, is also relatable for almost anyone that cares of pay attention to the main theme. I think what makes this song so memorable (and popular) is its utterly simplicity, quite frankly. It strikes at the core base of human emotions; it's almost tribal in its pounding, rhythmic movement and, along with the accentuations, hits a chord with the listener. Is it rock n' roll genius? Absolutely, not! (or is it?) But the riff is an earworm and difficult to get out your head and that's always a good thing in terms of a song (unless you hate it).

 

Planet Caravan:

"Planet Caravan" the third track, is Sabbath doing their first real stab at psychedelia. With Ozzy singing through a Leslie speaker to give his vocal the tremolo effect you hear, Iommi plays a gentle, pulsing rhythm to accompanying it while Geezer Butler throbs underneath with his higher register bass lines. Iommi, to me, sounds very close to Carlos Santana on this track, stylistically. The guitar solo is a very soulful, jazzy performance and utterly unique to this record. Nowhere else on Paranoid will hear Iommi playing with this kind of unique, creative flair. He almost bounces along in the solo section with some incredibly tasteful playing. At 1:21 the piano enters with some subtle chords and it really caps off the quiet, trippy vibe of the song. "Planet Caravan" is, apparently, about two lovers drifting in space together (or at least that's what I can piece together), but I'm not a big lyrics guy so there you go' take that for what you will (lyric sheet not provided for this review!)

 

So you'll take over?

 

Yeah, if you want me to.

 

Yeah

 

Best wishes, Frank. I suck at dealing with stress as well. We’ll keep this going.

 

I’m thinking of starting a Masters of Reality thread after this one. But first things first. Tomorrow: “Electric Funeral”.

 

I heard ten seconds or so of Ozzy singing "Iron Man" in an Entertainment Tonight segment around 1984. I loved the song even though I had no idea what it was called or what Ozzy album it was on. A couple of months later, I finally heard the whole song on the the radio and the dj announced it as "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath. Several months later, I taped Paranoid from a friend (Hey, I was 13.) and "Iron Man" proved to be one of my favorite songs on the album. Overplay has burned me out on this song but the riff is iconic.

 

Good having Godshifter on board here, nicely recollecting how we felt the first time we heard these tunes and giving historical context. Paulette too bringing the perspective of a newer fan. It's not always easy for me to find that excitement deep down for well worn records that have impacted me so much. I largely defer. What I summon up is really a shadow of my former passion. From where I'm sitting, either Godshifter or Paulette are top choices to run this thread, and I considered offering to do so myself, but I don't think justice would of been served. Props to you.....

Iron Man
Along with War Pigs, the songs that made me a Black Sabbath fan. Very loosely based on the Marvel comics Iron man. I was a major Marvel comics fan as a young teen. At the time a purist who picked apart interpretations of anything Marvel. I was about at the end of my comic days in about 1980 when I first heard and made a reel to reel copy of the Paranoid album. At the time I wasn't even really sure if the song was at all inspired by the comic, due to differences.

To answer Paulette's question, the sound that comes in at the beginning after the Kick drum intro is the low E string of the guitar bent behind the nut. The guy in the clip ain't me....

 

I'm always interested in what sequence people get into Black Sabbath's albums...with me I started with the Paranoid 45 in early 1971 (at age 14) and my first BS album was Master of Reality-got it for Christmas in 1972. Around the summer of '73 I picked up the first album and Vol. 4, and then in early 74 I picked up Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Paranoid.
I love them all, my absolute faves are Master of Reality followed closely by Paranoid and the first self titled LP.

 

Thanks Jeff. I always thought it was one of those slide things but it just didn't sound quite like it. That is way cool.

 

Hand of doom is close to the best track but just behind War pigs

 

sheer brilliance

 

absolute classic

 

a nice change of pace giving the album a flow

 

Maybe @Paulette would be better. A fresh perspective instead of my tired ass ...



Great post, btw.

 

"Iron Man" made it to #2 on the charts of my local AM station in San Diego in 1972. It was the first Black Sabbath song I ever heard on the radio -actually I used to think that they were blacklisted because their songs never got played on AM or FM, at least where I was living in Southern California, until Iron Man got the big airplay. I mentioned earlier that I bought the Paranoid single in 1971, that was without hearing it before purchase. It just looked cool and I bought my copy with my allowance money. Just seeing that olive green Warner Brothers label it was on makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Alice Cooper's "Eighteen" was out at the same time and I saw a copy in the record store that day but didn't have the dough to buy two singles.

 

iron man is yet another classic.
this album has so many classic songs it is insane and the thing is that they are not just classics in my mind. i doubt there is a place in the western world where most of these songs aren't instantly recognised.

 

take it easy mate. if you're stressing about anything and it's getting the better of you try some 4-7-8 breathing. it sounds silly, but it is calming. see you soon and be well

 

No. I was doing it mostly cause I just didn't want it to die. Please continue doing it.
You're not a tired ass. You're a sweetie

 

EF tomorrow then. Thanks, and back at ya!

 

Yeah I rather enjoyed her Iron man introduction, but always like your attention to detail, such as the Leslie on the Planet Caravan vocal... It's these things that gets me to dig on my own mind and get googling to try and add a hopefully useful or entertaining tidbit. Details/Enthusiasm

Whatever gets the most verbiage from the both of you is my vote for thread host..