I think this album came out in 1970, heavy rock had only recently appeared with likes of Cream & Led Zep, and then Black Sabbath arrived with their eponymous debut album, which I think is pretty good.However, 'Paranoid' is a really, really great metal album.Not surprisingly, it's mostly just classic metal tracks such as 'Iron Man', 'War Pigs', 'Hand of Doom', 'Electric Funeral' etc., & there's also the instrumental jam 'Rat Salad' which is great fun.Probably the most unexpected cut is 'Planet Caravan' which I think is brilliant in every respect - the music, the guitar, the vocals - all conjure up great imagery & make for quite a haunting song especially amidst the rest.That's not to say the heavier tracks aren't good, in fact they're great, the band are having a blast creating the heaviest, baddest most doom-laden sound around at the time - listening to these makes you realise that all metal bands since owe a lot to this band, and most of it to this album.
