Black Sabbath - Paranoid poll

i'm voting "Hand of Doom" without hesitation.

title track easy 4 me

electric funeral

Fairies Wear Boots

jack/fairies for the opening riff, the solos, the groove of the fairies part. one of their greatest

War Pigs, followed closely by Planet Caravan, the title track, Fairies Wear Boots, and then Electric Funeral.

Totally "Planet Caravan."

If the debut was polled (has it been?), would the title track win, easy?

Maybe, but I'd vote for "The Wizard."

Planet Caravan or War Pigs, depending on my mood

In the end I chose War Pigs, but wish I could vote for the first three songs all together.

If the debut was polled (has it been?),

― Mark G, Thursday, November 17, 2011 8:52 AM (2 hours ago)

Yeah, B. O'Kay did that one last year.

the Black Sabbath poll

Hand of Doom

Not sure if I should vote Planet Caravan becauseit doesn't seem like it fits with the rest of the album and yet it is one of my favorite sabbath songs. Almost balearic.

LL otm: War Pigs/Paranoid/Planet Caravan is how you start an album

I went for 'Fairies Wear Boots'. Great riff.

voted for the song with the line' cause smokin and trippin is all that you do, yeahhhhhhhhh

^ truly one of the greatest endings to a quatrain in a rock song ever

wish I could vote for the first three songs all together.

― the MMMM cult (La Lechera), Thursday, November 17, 2011 12:11 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

f'real, first is sabbath at their most sabbathy, second is the best punk song by a metal band, third is otherworldly simplicity

this perf might tip my hand tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsNkREY0ya0

Hand of Doom. Though War Pigs is close.

This is pretty much entirely off topic, but does anyone else love "Air Dance"? I couldn't believe Black Sabbath made music like that... let alone on an album everyone told me wasn't worth my time.

never say die! rules, fuck 'everyone'

I've still never checked out Technical Ecstasy. Is it on that same level? I dunno why I haven't. I love the artwork and I know you can't ever trust consensus.

the surprise about getting the complete ozzy years box set last year was discovering that they don't really have any bad albums! they all rule.
anyway, for this poll, "war pigs". predictable choice maybe, but that song!

luke's wall

I've never been keen on 'Never Say Die'... 'Technical Ecstasy' has one or two good moments on it. 'Dirty Women' is one of my favourite-ever Sabbath songs, but I don't think they got the best out of it in the studio. The live versions of that track are far superior.

This is pretty much entirely off topic, but does anyone else love "Air Dance"? I couldn't believe Black Sabbath made music like that... let alone on an album everyone told me wasn't worth my time.

― afriendlypioneer, Friday, November 18, 2011 11:57 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yes, Air Dance rules. As does Never Say Die, which is pretty popular on these boards to tell you the truth.

Never Say Die the album I mean

Sometimes I think there should be a "Technical Ecstasy" vs. "Presence" poll and then I get on with my life.

Planet Caravan in a walk, for me.

Sometimes I think there should be a "Technical Ecstasy" vs. "Presence" poll and then I get on with my life.

― Darin, Friday, November 18, 2011 10:03 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

There's already been a thread about this, I think! I think more people favoured 'Presence'...

This dude's a fan of Technical Ecstasy - http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/151385-black-magic-15-essential-original-lineup-black-sabbath-songs/

results are in

correct results

i can't believe that "Iron Man" only got one vote

i always forget how iron man is also a time traveller

war pig toms

Its turn to turn 50 in a couple of days:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/sep/16/black-sabbath-paranoid-at-50-potent-anthems-of-working-class-strife

CLASSIC ALBUMS: BLACK SABBATH — PARANOID (2010)

the moment when geezer explains he was getting into the occult and then hears how this sounds and (panicking) blurts "not satan!"

they are so strikingly lucid and centred in this, explaining what they were about in 1970

maybe it's just easier with so much hindsight, or were they always like this in interview and the press was just so out of step with them that the lucidity didn't travel

(tho actually ozzy is the least on it in some ways here so maybe the problem was that as singer he also got to be the main mouthpiece back in the day)

When you catch him in the right mood, Ozzy is surprisingly intelligent and lucid and has some real insights to offer. People usually go into interviews with him expecting a shambling party oaf, though, so that's what he gives them. But I've seen him in quiet moments backstage and he's a really nice old guy.

maybe as it's a "making of" doc -- and ozzy's not really the primary riff creator or wordsmith? -- he kind of pulls back into a jokey goodball mode a bit in this context: in the end tony is a muso and can talk about that when necessary but geezer and bill are p sharp abt the politics of the times, and absolutely clear abt what they thought

obviously geezer was also reading up on the occult non-stop lol and plus he comes across as fairly shy?

geezer: "sometimes ozzy just says a single word, and i think that's good! and go away and write a whole song round it"

OTM on Bill Ward and Geezer Butler. On the other hand, Tony Iommi always seems kind of dull, like he doesn't have anything to say if it doesn't involve guitars and recording studios etc, he reminds me of Jeff Lynne!

They turned into a prog band FAST, didn't they?

There's a beautiful series of posts upthread rhapsodizing about the perfection of the opening trifecta. But why on earth did Iron Man get excluded? Is it not the most sublime riff-based song ever made?!

Off the top of my head, I can't come up with a more glorious display of Side A fireworks than this record. Solid State Survivor is up there, maybe

That little hi-hat flourish between the thirteenth and fourteenth beats of Bill Ward's drumbeat in the verses of War Pigs is fucking brilliant.