Page 74 - 2022-08-01 Sound & Vision

1970 German Vertigo pressing
remaster class

BLACK SABBATH: PARANOID
We Sail Through Endless Skies

he key to the enduring appeal of Black Sabbath’s career-making second album,
September 1970’s Paranoid, doesn’t only reside within its fist-pumping, headbanging,
metal-genre-establishing bonafides. Actually, the secret sauce can be found via some-
thing you may not have even considered—Black Sabbath’s inherent sense of melody. And
where might that come from, you ask? Two words—The Beatles. 1996 Castle Communications CD
“I wanted to be in The Beatles,” Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne told me during our
in-person interview a decade ago. “They had great harmonies and great melodies, and I
always got a great feeling listening to them. The Beatles did give me the gi of melody, you
know. My other thing is, if a song still sounds as good now as it did when you first heard it,
it’s go a be good.” If that’s the case, then Paranoid is quite bloody good indeed. In fact, if you listen closely, you’ll
find Ozzy’s vocal approach to the verses on “Paranoid” is a direct descendent of the way Paul McCartney a acks
the verses on The Beatles’ “Get Back.” (Help me with my mind, Lore a. . .)

My first gatefold vinyl copy of Paranoid, a 1979 A 2016 4CD box set from Warner Bros./Rhino in a
Warner Bros. Winchester pressing, suffered from 6x8-inch rectangular format more common to Euro-
much ringwear, as the outer sleeve essentially fell pean boxes contains fine upgrades of a pair of well- 2009 Sanctuary Deluxe 2CD/1DVD
apart thanks mainly to my less-than-ideal LP shelving bootlegged 1970 live gigs from Montreux and Brus-
habits back in the day. Naturally, I would've loved to sels, showing how the performance bond between
have go en my hands on one of the earlier holy grail Ozzy, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and
Paranoid LPs, the 1970 German Vertigo pressing. drummer Bill Ward was only ge ing stronger. Note
Regardless, I’m quite happy with the 2006 Rhino/ that a 2019 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition
Warner Bros. 180-gram LP reissue mastered by Kevin 5LP box set from Warner Records/Rhino is a digital
Gray and pressed at RTI. Some cite it as being too transfer of the CD box’s contents, so be forewarned if
bright, but its wider range of dynamics works just fine that’s a deal-breaker.
for me. That said, there’s also a downmixed stereo version
I have, of course, obtained a variety of Paranoid of 1974’s quad mix on CD2 (and LP2). It is, what’s the
CD offerings. I got the Redbook 1987 Warner Bros. word—interesting. Sometimes, it’s just too quiet, 2016 Warner Bros./Rhino Deluxe 2CD
and 1996 Castle Communications CDs just to have especially when it comes to some of Ozzy’s vocals.
them, but I’ve listened to Sanctuary’s 2009 2CD/1DVD As a consummate surround advocate, I’d rather hear
Deluxe Edition, which includes instrumental and things go the other way into 5.1 or even Dolby Atmos
alternate versions of the core album’s tracks on Disc territory, if only to remedy the 2009 quad DVD snafu.
2. (Warner Bros./Rhino released a similar Deluxe At the very least, imagine “Planet Caravan” taking to
Expanded Edition in 2016, sans the DVD.) the height channels, or ge ing the full range of the
Ge ing the 1974 Paranoid quad mix on DVD was ebb and flow of volume and power in both “Iron Man”
of great interest to me, albeit garnering mixed results. and “Hand of Doom.” The best bet would be to have
For one thing, the DVD menu says it’s DTS 5.1, but it’s the original quad restored plus new 5.1 and Atmos
not. And there’s a major quality issue with the transfer mixes housed together in one release. Anyone for a
in terms of massive tape hiss and other egregious duly updated 55th anniversary box in 2025?
surface noise that should have never go en past QC, Regardless of any of these picked nits, the fact 2019 Super Deluxe Edition 5LP
but the promise of the original quad’s intent is there— remains: Paranoid is a stone-cold rock-era classic,
if you’re willing to get past the flaws and actually listen and a prototype for the ensuing decades of metal
to it. (See especially the swirling siren call of “War riffage that followed. Whether it be melodic, thrash, or
Pigs” and the free-jazz, space-jam psychedelia of gothic in how it unfurls, the future of mankind awaits
“Planet Caravan.”) within Paranoid’s deep grooves. O MIKE METTLER

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