Black Sabbath Paranoid Track By Track Thread

Yeah, he had a way of cutting-through, yet was somehow other-wordly. His persona was at once devilish and innocent . . . almost naive. Great pathos in his voice, without ever over-emoting.

 

Take care Rose River. I have had a pretty bad two years--this forum got me listening to all kinds of music and proved a considerable comfort.

 

Ozzy had a way to become part of the song and never drew attention to himself like other vocalists did with BS. He always never tried to make the melody or to sing ornamentally in a way that he would try to draw attention way from the song as a whole.

 

Good point. His vocals were usually held a little bit back in the mix, unless some emphasis was needed. The vocals were treated as another instrument in the band. His unique sound spoke for itself.

 

"Iron Man" may have been beaten into the ground between all the airplay, covers and so on, but it amazes me to this day that any band pulled that off. No band has ever been able to play it like Sabbath nailed it on Paranoid. It's absolutely insane. The ensemble playing is just absolutely nuts and Bill Ward is arguably the greatest ever, IMO.

 

Even though they were slagged off by the critics at the time, enduring music has a way of coming back and biting you in the bum. When I was a kid, I was just overwhelmed by the sheer exhilaration of the music. Now I am so much older, and though I am no musician (but I read threads such as this), I hear some of the great technique I never heard before, particularly the jazziness of the early records, that really comes through, in hindsight.

 

I'm iconoclastic toward even my favorites personally, though occasionally I've gotten defensive about Lennon, with the massive McCartney and Harrison fan base here. Outside of King Diamond, I think all the singers you list have better technique than Ozzy, but don't sound better. That said I am a fan of Halford/Dio/Dickenson(in that order too).. I could go on in the flaws of each of those singers too including Ozzy. I love them but that's the iconoclast I am. Actually the review that included the phrase"ruptured wail" was not really negative but mixed. Traditionally a mixed review of Black Sabbath from a mainstream source was about as positive as it got.

Sorry to have brought up "ruptured wail" as apparently this has added gas to the fire. To me it describes the sound that may come from an otherworldly beast, like Godzilla or something. For me it doesn't come off derogatory in the context of discussing Black Sabbath, but I certainly get the opposing opinion.... My bad...........

I view an opera singer who is not a fan of Hard rock or metal to be completely disqualified as a critic of vocal performances in the genre. Sometimes improper technique sounds best, AKA throat singing. Most great rock singers throat sing and mix in proper technique, Lennon/Cocker/Plant/Ozzy/Cornell..etc

At this stage of the game, Ozzy needs no vindication...

 

He really sits in the pocket well....

 

While working yesterday I was playing a few tracks from this great album, and thought that even though Ozzy does sing off-key at various points in the catalogue, it's NOT all over it that he does! Certain tracks, we're not up to yet, struck me yesterday as having perfectly, or near-perfectly, rendered high-pitched, wailing vocals, and not always on easy melody lines. So on a good day, I think Ozzy Osbourne was a very good, tuneful and musical rock singer. Plus he had that character and vibrato-less sound all of his own.

 

I've never understood this expression. Does it mean that he sings right on tempo?

 

Think of it as playing together or in the groove. That’s essentially all it means.

 

HAND OF DOOM 1970 (Iommi, Butler, Ward, Osbourne) (7:14)

"Hand of Doom" starts out with kind of a jazzy bass line running off a C# to B figure that then moves down to a F# to G to G# thing that, frankly, sounds like something a beat poet could lay down some free style to. With Ward laying down some jazzy backbeats and Iommi mimicking the bass riff, Ozzy bellows out some lyrics about heroin use. The lyrics also touch (again) upon the Vietnam War (more politic stuff) and a person trying to escape the reality through drugs. (Again, I'm not a huge lyric guy, so I'll leave that up to others).

The song breaks from the slow progression with Iommi doing a brimming to the surface type of heavy riff with a C# to B to E deal with the band following along ala "Electric Funeral"'s bridge. With the band then in lockstep, Ozzy sings more of the verse and then the rhythm section continues with the lockstep groove while Iommi does a decidedly jazzy solo over it. "Hand of Doom" then returns to the beginning figure and repeats it and ends the way it starts: with the Geezer bass line. "Hand of Doom" is a great, understated tune that is so effective due to it transitioning from quiet parts to stunning, mind numbing heaviness without almost any warning. It's a startling, unsettling track due to its lyrical content and its snaky, off-key riff figure. It's also very long clocking in at over seven minutes.

 

Here's Black Sabbath doing "Hand of Doom" live on their last show ever (to date) in Birmingham on the "The End" tour.

 

And for some completely different, here's Danzig's shortened version of it from Blackacidevil (1996). Call me crazy, but I've always liked this cover. YMMV.

 

This thread has reminded me that i don't listen to this album enough. it ends up that you have so many albums the rotation is out of whack and you look at a disc and think, "yea i know that, i'm not in the mood" ... I must remember to erase that mindset....
Anyway. This is actually a favourite that I haven't listened to since I bought the quad disc. I love the dynamic in the first section with a leading bass breaking into the fully fledged thump. The middle section works nicely also.
Now time permitting I must give this album another spin.

 

I think Paranoid suffers the same fate as albums like Zeppelin's IV in that so much of it was played on the radio or were lives staples, we feel we've heard it enough. The thing to remember about the album is there are some great gems on the record that got virtually no attention at all radio wise. But, yeah, an album with "War Pigs", "Iron Man", "Paranoid", and "Fairies Wear Boots" is going to be an album where a lot do exactly like you say: "oh, I know that one, let's listen to something a bit more off the beaten path". I'm certainly guilty of it, too, but it doesn't make it any less of a landmark album. In fact, it reinforces how much of one it is.

If you notice, this thread hasn't gotten a ton of participation and that's probably because many think the same thing that you've expressed and I just wrote: "oh, that tired old thing? I don't need to discuss those tracks, there's ingrained in my brain". Maybe, but they're still missing out.

 

Hand of Doom is one of those "thorny" type of numbers as it references heroin addiction and is quite the anti-opiate message. Besides the evils of modern man, society, politics and war, "Hand of Doom" expresses the perils of addiction and it draws a parallel with politics and war as its subject at hand was a soldier discharged from the war. Even from the debut album, Sabbath's lyrical scheme, largely due to bassist Geezer Butler, is something I've always marveled about in tandem with the music presented. Ozzy offered some lyrics, but I remember reading Geezer claiming that Ozz was dyslexic, but sometimes he could sing lyrics off the cuff. My point is, Geezer doesn't get near enough recognition for his intellectual and creative lyrical writings. "Hand of Doom" is but one of several compositions that is proof enough of his talents and again, is one of the main reasons for their greatest success as a group.

Musically, "Doom" is adventurous, offering a few tempo changes from its main theme and instrumentally, continues to show off the ensemble's sound collective with a rich and prolific quality. Its vibe is consistent with the band's overall, menacing and dark nature and yet another number is notched in nicely within the general makings of the album. 7 Out of 10 or a B+ rating.

 

it's a bad habit to get into. sunday morning is the only time i get to sit down and listen to stuff properly and so often i spend 10-15 minutes just looking through stuff and finally picking something out ... and ignoring stuff i should have pulled out because i have had it so long, i see it every sunday, at one point it was heavy rotation and now there is a thing in my head that says, "nah, too many times" ... and yea zep iv is another ... so often i read people's best albums lists and think this is a wide spread problem lol

but on the issue at hand this is a brilliant sabbath album, and although i normally state master of reality as my favourite, paranoid may be getting the short shrift there

 

I think most of us with big collections suffer from the same condition: "too much music, not enough time". So, the time you have, you want to make it count. I understand completely.

 

Hand of Doom is some of the most ridiculous ensemble playing I’ve ever heard. And from my interest in jazz I’ve heard what I think is some of the very best.

When I listen to Geezer and Bill on this track I almost don’t even know what to say that could do this skill level justice. It is dizzying with shifts in tempo and stops and starts and shuffles and slams and stomps and swings. There simply was never another rhythm section that could do this. I personally tend to shy away from “ranking” musicians, but as a team, Sabbath by this stage were on another planet.

That a good chuck of the music press tried to dismiss this style of music as just loud noise requiring less skill than more universally accepted forms of songwriting is arguably one of he most uninformed, prejudiced and indefensible scams ever perpetrated on the young music buying public. That legions of people ignored this nonsense and that this album is nearly 50 years later ranked #1 on RYM for 1970 (Sabbath’s debut is #2...what a year for these guys!) is a testament to their perseverance and creativity. I will never tire of this record, because it is timeless.

 

I had to look up iconoclastic
Me, I'm exceedingly defensive of Ozzy and that's gotten me in trouble around here Not really in a bad way, I'm unreasonable sometimes.
So yeah, I suppose 'ruptured wail' is gas to a fire. But it does hold up a bit too. Otherworldly is a good word.

I think all the singers you list have better technique than Ozzy.
So, is that just in terms of how they use their vocal chords? Because his approach to everything else is exquisite, intense, so uniquely beautiful.
And, Ozz was 10 years or at least earlier, the foundation for so called metal.
Anyway, you're right, he needs no vindication. I just wanna gut throats, grrr.
Can you say rant?
That being said, Bruce is amazing. Pretty hot too.

 

I’m no huge Ozzy fan, but give me his vocals over King Diamond any day of the week. Mama mia.

What Ozzy did worked within the context of Sabbath perfectly. He’s also had a rather lucrative (under statement) solo career, so I’d say he’s done okay with his “ruptured wail”. He’s probably worth more than any of the guys he was compared to. So, in the end, he wins

 

I like the verses of Hand of Doom but the chorus and the middle bit are just a bit too plodding for me. It sounds heavy but also heavy-handed, but that's more due to the way the drums are recorded on the album, which as I've said, I'm not massively fond of. If this had been recorded for say Vol 4 then it would've been amazing. That said, I still like the song but not one of my favourites on the album.

 

Hard to disagree with you here, but I think the King was incredble with Mercyful Fate, especially on In The Begining. I feel he was a bit too overproduced on the studio material.

I do think Halford sounds better than Ozzy, but I prefer Ozzy's voice.

As for Danzig, he's borrowed from Sabbath quite a bit, such as with Her Black Wings when he lifted Zero The Hero. Too bad Iommi didn't use him on the solo album. At least we got Peter Steele on it!

 

It's all matters of taste in the end, but I find P a much better album, overplayed as it is, than MoR. I bought the latter right upon release and was completely excited by it (and in Canada we didn't even have the poster!). Today I find there are tired moments in it (lyrics-wise, music-wise). I still love a few songs on it, but they don't all wake up the dead... The previous album is just a chockfull of brilliant inspiration and great musicianship.