Paranoid (album)

"War Pigs (album)" redirects here. For other topics, see War pigs (disambiguation).

Paranoid
A blurred photograph of a man wearing a helmet and sash and brandishing a sword with the title of the album and artist written in the background
Studio album by
Black Sabbath
Released18 September 1970 (1970-09-18)
Recorded16–18 June 1970 [1]
Studio
  • Regent Sound, London
  • Island, London
GenreHeavy metal[2]
Length41:51
LabelVertigo
ProducerRodger Bain
Black Sabbath chronology
Black Sabbath
(1970) 		Paranoid
(1970) 		Master of Reality
(1971)
Singles from Paranoid
  1. "Paranoid"
    Released: 7 August 1970 (UK)
  2. "Iron Man"
    Released: October 1971 (US)[3]

Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released on 18 September 1970, by Vertigo Records in the United Kingdom and on 7 January 1971, by Warner Bros. Records in the United States. The album contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only Top 20 hit, reaching number 4 on the UK charts.

Paranoid is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time, often cited as a key influence for the development of the genre as well as one of its earliest albums.[4][5][6] Paranoid was ranked number one on Rolling Stone‘s list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" in 2017 and number 139 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” in 2020. Paranoid was the band's only album to top the UK Albums Chart until the release of 13 in 2013.

  1. ^ Popoff, Martin (2020). Sabotage (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-912782-31-4.
  2. ^ "50 Years Ago, Black Sabbath Found Its Sound And Took Metal Worldwide". npr.org. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (2020). Sabotage (2nd ed.). Wymer Publishing. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-1-912782-31-4.
  4. ^ "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 21 June 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  5. ^ Weekly, L. A. (31 January 2013). "The 20 Greatest Metal Albums in History: The Complete List". LA Weekly. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  6. ^ Loudwire Staff (8 September 2015). "The 50 Best Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved 14 February 2022.