Black Sabbath Paranoid Best Vinyl Pressing

I have the Kevin Gray Rhino reissue and I like the sound lot. Really only had my old CD to compare to as my older US LP is long gone. Only issue is that War Pigs has that weird volume issue in the middle (allegedly part of the master tape he was given, I believe?).

 

So out of the 500 million Sabbath fans out there (all reading this forum hourly) nobody has an opinion about the sound quality of the 1979 WB version of Paranoid?

 

All US Warners vinyl and CD copies so far were manufactured from the faulty transfer that Warners received. This means that during War Pigs (IMHO, the album's highlight), there are sudden volume fluctuations during the track, as well as a slightly unbalanced stereo stage, compared with the UK tape derived releases, which have no introduced volume fluctuations and the stereo stage is just right, with Ozzie dead centre.
The Black Box US mastering used the Warners tape and corrects the faults to some extent, whilst introducing others (such as compression).

 

This is what I listen to when I want to hear Paranoid. I love the Quad version. Lots of space.

 

Agreed. Sounds great (great pressing also).

 

I can almost guarantee that!!!

Good luck with it!!

 

Can someone tell me what is meant by the 'WWA' pressing? I've given up finding either a Vertigo swirl or spaceship at a sensible price.

 

WWA is another record label that Sabbath was on. The Sabbath albums on the WWA label generally used Vertigo stampers, so they sound great. They're pretty expensive these days too, however.

 

I have the Rhinos for the first four and an early eighties or late seventies NEMS for SBS.
I'm not an overly obsessed BS fan so I like the Rhinos while also agreeing with the consensus that they are flawed in that they are from not the best tape source.
The NEMS BSB is OK, not amazing or terrible.
I have owned 2 copies of U.S. Paranoid on green WB labels and they both had Artisan stamps and sound pretty sweet with excellent dynamics.
I would think One of these in early press form and nice condition would satisfy all but the finicky.

 

Well, couple of months late, but I have the WB catalog gatefold release BSK 3104, which according to discogs has it listed as both '78 and elsewhere '79.

The date is about right for when I bought it...78...79...it's kinda a smokey haze.

LP is flat, quiet, dynamic, and well balanced. War Pigs does have the volume issue, but aside from that, my copy is very crankable.

 

I have a late 70s re-issue that I found locally for a great price (otherwise I would have found an early pressing). After having it for several months, I have no desire to seek out anything else. It sounds quite fine on my system at (very) high volume levels. I'm sure there are better pressings, but it sounds far superior to my early-pressed CD. So I'm content.

http://www.discogs.com/Black-Sabbath-Paranoid/release/4911552

 

I read this after I posted. My impression of this issue mirrors yours.

 

It sounds fantastic if anyone was wondering. Completely shreds the crappy NEMS reissue and I am quite sure it beats the new Rhino reissues as well. I also picked up original NM copies of Sabotage, and Never Say Die as well, both cannot be beaten.

 

Thanks for the reply, yes I love my copy. The noise issue on War Pigs is a very minor thing in my mind. The dynamics are incredible! All Black Sabbath fans should really listen to them on vinyl if you never have, quite an incredible experience!

 

I've never heard a UK Vertigo or WWA, so I'd guess those are the best, however the 2016 deluxe vinyl edition of Paranoid makes a strong case for an affordable great-sounding pressing.

I have a clean US Artisan-stamped WB green label that I like, but of course it has the War Pigs volume problem, which bugs me. I've also had a late 70s Dutch NEMS pressing that sounded like it was several generations away from the master and it was pressed on noisy late 70s vinyl.

The 2016 easily beats the Dutch NEMS and it solves the War Pigs volume problem found on US copies since it uses the UK tapes. Overall, I'd say it's pretty close to my US WB green label Artisan and War Pigs sounds like it should.

I have clean US WB green label Artisan pressings for the 1st LP and Master of Reality that I don't feel the need to upgrade.

 

I know we're talking about Paranoid, but since you mentioned it, I just scored a very first press WB greenie of Master Of Reality. It even has the additional titles and the poster.

But it seems a bit compressed and mastered very dark. It might come alive at higher volume. Will have to check. For now I find it inferior to the UK and German copies I've heard. The Rhino reissue was way too bright for me so that's not even a contender.

 

Well, it is Sabbath, after all. This is the sound I grew up with and I think it fits the music. I don't doubt that clean UK or German pressings would beat it, but those are very expensive. My clean US copy was $8 with no poster.

 

German pressing of "Master Of Reality" sounds very different, compared to the UK Vertigo LP.

 

I think the original WB greenies tend to be bass heavy and maybe a bit compressed. Warner pressed these up so many times, but recent spins of both MoR and Vol. 4 on original US vinyl left me feeling the sound they were getting out of the recordings in the US was quite different than the UK. Not sure I'd say one is necessarily "better" just yet. Just different. And again I'm speaking only of the original Warner green LPs.

 

I had the same thoughts on the Rhino MOR - too bright for cranking. Good for low level listening for detail.

Depends on your listening habits and your system, I guess. Different strokes...

 

I actually prefer the US greenie of MOR to the UK WWA/Vertigo cut. For me, the darker sound of the US cut fits the heavy, sludgy nature of the music; the UK sounds too sterile in comparison.

 

I made this comment in another thread, but ... I have a gatefold outer sleeve, with large Vertigo swirl on side A and small swirl on side B. Deadwax information (where @ = upside down triangle):
Side A - 6360011 1Y//2@420 12 09C2 3
Side B - 6360011 2Y//2@420 12 8

Many of the characters after "420" are hard to read. So, apparently I have a U.K. second pressing? Thanking you in advance ...

 

I have french spaceship Vertigo from 1972 and it sounds fantastic! I have also NEMS Paranoid from seventies, but it don`t have same amount bass and that large sound. You can turn the volume really loud and it gets better all the time and no any kind distortion. I love it!

 

I have a copy of this version, vinyl is pretty close to NM. I don't have another vinyl version to compare to right now, though I'm considering getting the new 2LP reissue. Just listened to the whole thing, and all the songs sound good except Paranoid, which sounded muddy and bass heavy. My only comparison is what I'm used to hearing, which is a late 80's WB CD, but Paranoid sounded weird, it just stood out as sounding different from the other tracks on the album, which isn't something I normally get when listening to this album.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did pick up a copy of this, 1979 issue and I am quite impressed by it. Without question easily beat the new NEMS issue I have. I like the new Rhino reissues and can even listen to the NEMS but the copies I'll be reaching for first are the original or 70's pressings of all of these. I picked up a few of them for $14 or so including shipping in real nice shape. Long live Sabbath!