The All-TIME 100 Albums: Paranoid by Black Sabbath

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The All-TIME 100 Albums

67 of 101

By Josh Tyrangiel Published: November 13, 2006

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ALBUM: Paranoid

YEAR RELEASED: 1971 LABEL: Warner Brothers ARTIST: Black Sabbath

TIME 100 ALBUMS PODCASTS

PODCAST: Welcome to the All-TIME 100 Albums - the musical compilations of the last half-century that need no introduction. That said, listen in below as music critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light introduce the list and talk about the top albums of the 1950s and '60s.

PODCAST: We know. Twenty-nine of the 100 greatest albums of all time come in the 1970s, and Pink Floyd isn't there. Play this podcast to learn why we picked the titles we did, and if you have something to say, tell us about it using the talkback link below.

PODCAST: Maybe it's a Sign O' The Times that you're listening to critics' audio recordings about great music, but this podcast about how we chose the best albums of the 1980s really is a Thriller. Give it a listen below.

PODCAST: Here's music even the younger set will know by heart. Listen to selected clips from the 1990s through present day as music critic Josh Tyrangiel discusses his picks.

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Thanks to This is Spinal Tap and The Osbournes, it is now impossible to think of this band as anything other than a bunch of hysterical wankers. At the time of Paranoid's release, though, the world was convinced that these working class chums from Birmingham, England (originally called the Polka Tulk Blues Band) were either satanists or an incredible facsimile. Some of that owed to Ozzy Osbourne's declaration that he had sat through The Exorcist a gazillion times (bat-biting would come later); most was due to the dark thunder of Tony Iommi's guitar playing, Geezer Butler's massive bass riffs and apocalyptic songs like "War Pigs.Luke's Wall" and "Iron Man," which are no less great for being totally incomprehensible. For better or worse, Paranoid is the birthplace of heavy metal. Mark it with a headstone.