by Black Sabbath
1970, Warner Brothers/Vertigo

the sound: Almost unanimously viewed as the fathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath pioneered a crushing, powerful sound that was unlike anything else being performed at the time. Sabbath’s classic second album welded detuned guitars to loud, pounding drum beats and expanded the band’s lyrical content away from the occult themes of its debut. The album was originally slated to be titled “War Pigs,” but the label forced the band to rename it, fearing backlash from supporters of the Vietnam War. The cover art still reflects the band’s original concept, however, and a song by the same title opens the album, immediately setting the tone with its ponderous guitars, melodic bass, dark lyrical imagery and, of course, future reality TV star Ozzy Osbourne’s wailing vocals. The title track was supposedly written in just 25 minutes, but the double-tracked, chugging guitar riff has become a classic part of the band’s lengthy catalog. “Planet Caravan” shifts gears; its uncharacteristically clean, spacey guitars and heavily processed vocals show the influence that the psychedelic scene of the time had on the band. “Iron Man” rounds out the first side of the LP and virtually defines what heavy metal would become later in the ’70s. Monolithic guitars lay the foundation for bassist Geezer Butler’s sci-fi-tinged lyrics about alienation and rage—themes that would be echoed by countless other metal bands throughout the years. The song begins with Ozzy’s distorted vocals intoning “I am Iron Man.” Bill Ward’s plodding drums then enter and evoke the feel of a man walking in boots of lead. As the track progresses, the tempo picks up, signaling a shift in the song’s tone as the misunderstood Iron Man, who was turned to steel during a mission through time to save mankind from an unspecified threat, turns on those he had once attempted to protect. The true irony (if you will) of the song is that Iron Man ultimately needed to protect human kind from himself.

the background: “Paranoid” followed just six months after Sabbath’s eponymous debut, but it was leagues ahead of its predecessor in terms of musical and lyrical cohesion. Every song offered a classic blueprint for countless bands to follow. While the first record was largely made up of lengthy semi-improvised jams based around common blues-rock structures and a few cover tunes, “Paranoid” shows the band finding its own voice, becoming dense and heavy and, in doing so, defining the sound of heavy metal for decades to come. Part of the reason for the band’s unique heaviness was guitarist Tony Iommi’s habit of tuning his guitar down a half step. Iommi had lost the tips of his ring and middle fingers on his left hand in an industrial accident when he was a teenager. Rather than giving up the guitar, he covered the injured fingertips with plastic caps to protect them. To further reduce the stress on his hand, he started to tune his guitar lower, making the strings easier to fret. The bleak, industrial environment of the band’s hometown of Birmingham, England, also played a part in the Sabbath sound, much as Detroit did for The Stooges, which is perhaps the only other band that was similar to Sabbath at the time.

the significance: For a record that essentially created an entire genre of music, it’s hard to overstate the significance of “Paranoid.” Like all of Sabbath’s early material, the album was roundly panned by critics at the time. Despite having very little radio support, it managed to chart at number one in both the U.K. and the U.S. and eventually sold over 4 million copies. The track “Iron Man” even went on to inexplicably win a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2000, almost 30 years after its release. It has also been covered by very un-metal bands like The Cardigans, among others, and it is featured in the new Hollywood blockbuster of the same name. “Paranoid” broke from the blues-rock that was in fashion in the late ’60s and early ’70s, as heard in groups like Led Zeppelin. The album ushered in fellow Birmingham bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Setting lasting trends in music, lyrics and even fashion for musicians both popular and unknown, “Paranoid” is truly a groundbreaking masterpiece.