Black Sabbath – Paranoid

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The Black Sabbath song and album Paranoid are considered to be part of the very foundation of heavy metal. It's unbelievable that I didn't get it as a kid, considering what a metalhead I turned out to be. I was still too young and emerging from my little mainstream radio cocoon, I guess. Much like the Alice Cooper song No More Mr. Nice Guy, it seemed like there was something there, but I just didn't quite get it yet. I could tell the fast, hard drivin beat and weird, far-out sounds were supposed to be cool, but it wasn't clickin for some reason. It would pretty soon, though. After all, these classic rock songs were on the coolest vinyl LP in my little world, Don Kirshner Presents Rock Power ! How did that even happen anyway? This song was recently released, and wasn't anywhere near being a classic rock radio legend yet, but it seems well beyond the scope of that album. Ol Don Kirshner must have known something. Many consider this Black Sabbath song to be one of the best songs of all time when it comes to heavy metal.

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one unable to recognize the foundation of heavy metal when I first heard it. A few years later, my friend gave me the Black Sabbath Paranoid vinyl LP because they thought it sucked. By then, I "got it,"  so I was all too happy to snatch it up. Awww…. my first metal album (of many)…. As I progressed as a musician, every single track was my favorite for awhile as I learned it. Come to think of it, this was probably the first album where I liked every song. Man, these guys really did turn music on it's ear!