ozzy osbourne is a strange motherfucker.**
however, i'm blessed by his druggie antics because if he, geezer butler, tony lommi, and bill ward weren't bat shit crazy then the world wouldn't have this gem of an album; i mean, it is useful for literally any life situation. need to vent? listen to "war pigs." need to cry? listen to "rat salad." need to kill a bitch? "iron man" has your back. there is nothing this album can't accomplish.
regarding this album accomplishing things, this was black sabbath's make or break album. their first one was relatively successful and allowed them to go on tour for a good bit, but their families still did not trust that they were going to do well in music- and frankly, neither did their fans. they wrote this eight-track album in an impressive six weeks while on tour and the majority of the songs were written in a bathroom while they were on some serious drugs...this is consequently obvious in those songs. Ironically, the three most impressive and notable songs on the album were an afterthought in the writing process. “war pigs”, “iron man”, and “paranoid” were written in about twenty-five minutes each only because they didn’t think they had enough songs on the album. each of these tracks later became the band’s most famous pieces and even topped the UK charts at some point.
the late-60s, early 70s music was a new wave of rock and the gradual beginnings of heavy metal. black sabbath was competing with bands like aerosmith, led zepplin, acdc, queen, etc., so in order for the band to do well in this time they needed to create their own unique sound. black sabbath did just that and more, later being dubbed as the inventors of heavy metal. their angsty tone, freaky lyrics, stringed together guitars, interesting backstory, and a drum that was forefront of the music turned the world from the who and sir paul’s “original metal piece”- “helter skelter”- into a surge of ozzy osbourne screaming at us about drugs, war, and satan.
another way this album really defined the heavy metal scene was the way they graced us with it’s presence. while, yes, the music is obviously metal af, the band intentionally included a wave of blues, jazz, and classical music. while one might not be able to initially hear it when listening to the songs, if you pay attention to the way the music combines together, it is smooth and articulate to a point where if there weren’t weird lyrics and an electric guitar this could easily be a bluesy-rock album. this flows into how the music at the time was mostly about love. the early 60’s was all about “flower power” and making the day full of sunshine- again this also has to do with the background of war and drugs. but black sabbath put a brand new twist on war and drugs by making the lyrics dark and showing what could be considered the true side of those two infamous things.
the album’s title track “paranoid” was the biggest filler on the album, yet is their only song to make the UK top 10. “paranoid” sets the stage for the entire album as it focuses on the difference between the paranoia one gets when they are doing drugs then followed by the depression it causes afterwards. the rest of the album follows this lead by taking different situations and hallucinations one can see when they are on drugs and mixing them with a trip out, happy piece, and then the depression that follows-and that the band was facing. Some of the “scenarios” caused by drugs include war- “war pigs”, “hand of doom”, and “jack the stripper.” a crazy man killing everyone thinking he’s a superhero- “iron man.”, satan taking over one’s mind- “planet caravan” and “electric funeral.” then finally a surplus of craziness with a tweak- out instrumental piece accompanying the, previously mentioned, paranoia and depression caused by drugs- “rat salad” and “paranoid”.
these songs being so deep and crazy in their meaning is what makes them a phenomenal song to toke out too. while my last album, meddle, by pink floyd was classically trippy in the way the instruments and synthesizers laced together, paranoid, is trippy in the facet of it’s lyrics. as previously mentioned, these songs describe the crazy shit you see when you’re high as a kite, thus it makes it an interesting piece to smoke to. actually listening to it-lyrics and all- on a normal day is freaky enough as it is but when you’re stoned af, it might just cause the largest existential crisis and-duly named-paranoia-case you’ll ever have.
**look at the damn title
i don't want to think about jack stripping
