Album · Released 18 September 1970
Paranoid
The riffs on Paranoid are famous enough to seem obvious, but Black Sabbath make them feel remarkably unsettled. Tony Iommi's guitar figures leave spaces that Geezer Butler and Bill Ward fill with movement. Ozzy Osbourne's plain, anxious voice gives that restless music a human centre. War Pigs is the best demonstration. The opening has enormous weight, yet the song keeps changing its balance. Ward's fills interrupt any comfortable march, while…
On GrooveGauge
ParanoidOur album review · 7 May 2026
9.6 