Black Sabbath Paranoid Track By Track Thread

Excellent review.
Thanks for taking the time to finish the thread.

 

Here's a bit more background on the album (yes, I wrote this crap myself):

Recorded only four months after the debut and recorded and mixed in six days at Regent Sound Studio and Island Studio (now known as SARM West Studios) in London, England, Black Sabbath's second release, Paranoid, would be the album that truly broke the band worldwide and would become their best selling and best known album.

After the initial success of the debut, despite the critical drubbing in the press, there was enough positive reaction from the fan base for Vertigo to give the thumbs up for another album. Black Sabbath had been working on material while on the road, often jamming during sound checks, and had enough new material to cut another LP. Assembling the same production team as before in producer Rodger Bain and engineer Tom Allom, Black Sabbath returned to the recording studio to lay down the tracks for their second album. Working off the same set up as last time, the band recorded live but with the additional days given to the band for this recording, more overdubs and takes were allowed for Paranoid. Nevertheless, the power,tension, and spontaneity of the original record was retained, and Sabbath was able to improve upon their debut in terms of song structures and composition. However, no covers, this time, would be included on the 2nd album, that originally was slated to be called War Pigs, but was given the name Paranoid on an almost split decision by the label, hence the ridiculous cover with the solider with a pig nose. The album cover art had already been requisitioned by the label, and because of the quick decision to change the name of the album, there was no time to change it and the reason why the cover art makes no sense in correlation to the title of album. Production wise, Paranoid sounds good but the guitars are slightly muddier than on the debut and Ozzy's vocals are less distinct in terms of his timbre.

 

My first Sabbath album was Technical Ecstasy, purchased in a sale at WH Smiths along with Deep Purple's Burn in 1978--in my mind both great "late" albums by both artists (they felt kind of late in the scheme of things at the time anyway). Perhaps that is one reason why I've always regarded TE as on a par with all the other Sabbath albums. The other albums came thick and fast, particularly the first four. I played Paranoid so much back then it must have really struck a nerve with this particular angst-ridden teen.

 

My pleasure but I have passed the torch to Jason. Peace be with you friend and I hope you rejoin us soon.

 

@The Slug Man, @MikaelaArsenault

 

He has played it live like that sometimes, but on the original recording there's clearly more to the sound than that. The way Iommi shows it in the Classic Albums episode is he plays the low E note together with the E note on D-string, 2nd fret, and only bends the low E string.

 

You did a great job, thank you from me too! Maybe you could do another Sabbath album by album thread? There are some more to go... ;-)

 

How did I miss this thread? thanks @Paulette for tagging me.

I don't have a lot of time at the moment to write out detailed love letters to the songs on this album, but suffice it to say this album changed my life! I can still remember the day I bought the tape--Friday, March 6, 1987. I had been into metal for about 6 months, starting with Van Halen and Crue, then progressing to Iron Maiden, then Metallica. And one day on MTV, I saw a show called Closet Classics which had the 1970 Beat Club "video" for "Paranoid," and I was like, "THAT's Ozzy Osbourne!" I'd heard of Black Sabbath but had never heard of their music, and I kind of put two and two together.

My friend and I went to the local Camelot one Friday. He got Van Halen's Diver Down and I got Paranoid. I remember we listened to it and were blown away by War Pigs. With each song, I realize that the "old stuff" (I mean the album was older than ME!) was so much better than the "new stuff."

 

BTW the order I got the albums...

March 6, 1987--Paranoid
April 11, 1987--Master of Reality (I also got Iron Maiden's Killers!)
later in April (on spring break)--Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die*
early May 1987--Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
late May 1987--Black Sabbath and Vol. 4 (probably my favorite Ozzy-era Sabbath album)
then much later (it was hard to find in those pre-internet days):
fall 1987--Sabotage (I got Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door on the same day)

*=kind of weird I jumped ahead to those two albums before getting the other earlier ones. I'd heard "NEver Say Die" (the song) on the local radio's metal show and liked it. Plus it boils down to availability, etc.

 

Okay, so I'm going to carry the ball here for a bit. Hope that's a'ight with y'all.


ELECTRIC FUNERAL (Iommi, Butler, Ward, Osbourne) (4:52)

Starting off side two is the terrific (if not underrated) "Electric Funeral" with its brilliant, simplistic wah riff from that runs from E to to F# to G with Geezer doing a cool octave figure over it (he does this a lot in Sabbath tunes if you listen closely; especially the early albums). "Electric Funeral", of course, is about the horrors of nuclear war and its effects on population. It, along with "War Pigs", is one of the political (Iommi's term, btw) tunes on Paranoid and is a first for the band in this regard. So, you can look at Black Sabbath as the first proto-doom metal protest band, in some sense, I suppose.

After doing some verse/chorus figures, "Electric Funeral" gets cooking with Ward doing a 4/4 beat on his bass drum as he does some cool tom fills while Geezer rides on an E (1:50) and Tony does an descending riff. Iommi bursts into an a solo E to D to G figure with an accentuation on the G (2:17) (seriously, if this part doesn't get you banging your head then, well … I dunno). Then with Ozzy vocally mimicking the ascending figure, Iommi does some double tracked upper two note upper register figures ala Chuck Berry (2:25). Ozzy, doing his best Boris Karloff imitation, moans "electric funeral, electric funeral, electric funeral" during the descending vocal (2:50), the band goes back to the verse and then carries it until the song fades out.

"Electric Funeral" is a good example of one of the more "open" tunes on Paranoid which allows Ward and Butler to do some creative things in terms of rhythms. Ward is particularly effect here in terms of his use of tom rolls and cymbal work. He pretty much carries this tune, in my opinion. I really like Butler's lyrics here as well (first mention of the "electric eye" in rock music? Dunno).

 

Thanks for filling in, you're doing a fantastic job as always. EF is a great proto-metal song, with super-heavy riffing, fantastic teamwork of the band.

For some reason, the song didn't make its first known live appearance any earlier than 1978 - the earliest audience recording of the song that I am aware of is from 1978-05-17 Southport.

The earliest official live release of the song is on the "Never Say Die" video, filmed on 1978-06-19 in London:
Black Sabbath - Never Say Die

 

I always thought of the verse riff of Electric Funeral as a kind of a dark reversed version of Zeppelin's Heartbreaker.

Yeah, the lyrics are great. Very metal. Blunt statements about how everything's going to hell.

 

ok in stereo, exceptional in Quad.

 

Yeah I was watching a video Paulette put up here and Tony was on the 7th fret, had me scratching my head... I think he might of been bending/relieving the neck itself, getting the drone of the open E string along with the E on the 7th fret of the D string.

Would be a little difficult to play the E octave on the D string and bend behind the nut on the E at the same time. Definitely could be done, I'll have to check out the Classic Albums video, not that I play Iron man much these days.

 

Yeah, have a look at the Classic Albums video. I don't remember how exactly he's doing it there, but I remember I was surprised when I watched it the first time. That guy has truly had some great ideas.

 

Electric Funeral
Probably the darkest track on Paranoid, featuring main riff Wah guitar, double tracked at minimum and brilliantly captured on tape by Bain/Allom. The lyrics seem to be warning of nuclear destruction, yet alluding to the strings being pulled by supernatural forces. I'll interpret this as supporting the war machine likened to supporting evil supernatural forces, a continuation of the War Pigs theme. Electric funeral is one of the simpler Black Sabbath songs to play on guitar and also among the best. Ozzy's vocal mirrors the guitar riff as it should, but was there really any other way. The vocal tone fits perfect and Ozzy owns the pocket. This was a track I appreciated immediately on first listen back in 1980.

 

I really like those chords and how they change slightly, subtly like you say, the harmonic climate. Love this track!

 

Paranoid = My childhood friend.

 

Thank you for tagging me @Paulette. The only songs I know are Paranoid, Iron Man, and War Pigs. Those are all awesome songs by the way.

 

It seems as though it was a half ass attempt at a critique for entertainment purposes. Kind of like, oohhh, an opera singer criticizing metal heads. How cool is that? But it still rubs me the wrong way.
She gives glowing thoughts for Dickenson, and Dio, much more positive reviews for King Diamond and Halford. Ozzy got the worst of it.
I don't know why I love Ozzy's voice so much but I sure as hell want to listen to him over any of those guys.
I think I describe it best when I say that Ozzy "IS" the music, and like he says in The Writ, "The way I feel is the way I am." So there is so much emotion and it is so real and raw and beautiful.

Absolutely, she hears and likes what she has been trained to hear and like.
Regarding SBS. I think it would be a different slant if she had heard this or anything after, or even just more than one song.

A ruptured wail, yeah I think he meant it negatively. The word critic is used by some as a euphemism for ass hole.

 

Iron Man

I love the tone on Iommi's guitar. A guy on the internet said the riff sounds clunky, like a man made of iron would sound - which I thought was an interesting observation. It's definitely one of metal's iconic riffs.

The production may be dated, but in a good way - this has a heavy, doomy feel. Love Geezer's bass work. Add a cool guitar solo and outro, and you've got a metal classic.

As for the lyrics, I can see how they might be seen as hokey. They're very simple and childlike. But they also reflect Ozzy's bleak outlook on the world, where he's seeking happiness, but finds disappointment.

Electric Funeral

The main musical theme sounds derivative of Iron Man. I do like the crazy interlude around the middle, but otherwise this feels like an unfinished jam.

 

Can someone confirm about the volume inconsistency on War Pigs. The vinyl reissue gets conspicuously louder (like 2 decibels) toward the middle of the song. I’ve read that this flaw was in the master tape. I’ve also read that it’s a screw up on the reissues. My early US pressing doesn’t have it. Which is it?

 

Catching up after a day or so...Iron Man- Classic number, no doubt, but like some posted about the title cut, Iron Man is one Sabbath tune I can pass on listening to within the rotation of the record. The riff is instantly recognizable, Ozzy's vocal is superb, while the rhythm section of Butler and Ward puts in an equally prime and definitive performance. Because of it being played to death on classic rock radio as well as hearing it at various parties and bars over the years, I've grown to "outgrow" its impact, personally. Occasionally, I'll listen to it, but only just. However, as a Sabbath number it's easily an 8 out of 10 or A rating. I have to give credit where it's due.

Electric Funeral- LOVE this song from the first time I heard its distorted, wah-wah pedal infused riff. as well as the trudging rhythm adopted to its composition. The tempo change in the middle of the number lets Iommi layer some interesting parts which gives the song a bit of depth. Lyrically, the song addresses nuclear power as Ozzy, somewhat stoically, but with presence, delivers the vocals perfectly in tandem with the main rhythm. It might not be as classic as the last 4 numbers before it, but I love it just the same. 9 out of 10 or an A rating.

@Rose River Bear: I'm sorry to hear of personal matters which have called you away from the forums. Hoping that all will be well with you and yours.

 

In defence of the title-song.

I think the thing about “Paranoid” it was one of those stop-you-in-your-tracks pop-rock songs that made the radio in the early ‘70s. It contains an other-wordly quality, and within its few short minutes, something approaching pop-rock perfection—the nervous, staccato riff, the dawn-of-time melody, and above all, the voice from beyond: yearning, desperate, phantasmagoric. Uniquely Ozzy.

Before the jadedness set in, songs like this could transport you, and, when you’re in the mood, they still can—for a few brief moments.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I have been checking the thread a few minutes each day to try to get my mind off my issue. I hope to chime in here and there over the next week or so. I have learned to appreciate what taking each day as it comes means.