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Upon its release in September 1970, Black Sabbath's sophomore album Paranoid helped make clear the transition from "hard rock" to "heavy metal" and remains one of the most essential albums of the metal canon. On November 11, Rhino will revisit Paranoid in a 4-CD Super Deluxe box set edition.
Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward followed up their self-titled debut album of early 1970 with Paranoid, recording it in London in June. Whereas Black Sabbath placed impressively at No. 8 on the U.K. chart and No. 23 in the U.S., its successor fared even better. Featuring such landmark tracks as "Iron Man," "War Pigs" and the U.K. Top 5 title track, the album made it all the way to the zenith of the U.K. chart and No. 12 stateside. It sold more than four million copies in the United States alone, and has since been certified 4x platinum.
"Paranoid is important because it's the blueprint for metal. It led the world into a new sound and scene," writes Judas Priest's Rob Halford in the liner notes to the new collection. The Super Deluxe Edition boasts the 2012 remastered version of the original album, plus the alternate 1974 mix of the album originally issued in quadraphonic but here folded down to standard 2.0 stereo. (This mix was released in surround on DVD by Sanctuary/UMC as part of the 2009 Deluxe Edition.) The remaining two discs each feature a concert from 1970 making its official CD debut. (None of the bonus outtakes and alternates from the recently-reissued Deluxe Edition of Paranoid are included here.)
The first concert was recorded on August 31 in Montreux, Switzerland shortly before the release of Paranoid, while the second show was captured later in the year in Brussels during a television performance for the public broadcaster RTBF. This oft-bootlegged show has been sourced directly from the RTBF master tapes resulting in the best sound quality to date. The set is packaged with a hardbound book containing liner notes (featuring new interviews with all four band members, rare photos, and memorabilia), a poster, and a replica of the tour book sold during the original Paranoid tour. Of course, Osbourne, Iommi and Butler are still on the road today as Black Sabbath with their final tour, dubbed "The End" and scheduled to wrap up next year in the band's hometown of Birmingham, England.
The Super Deluxe Edition of Paranoid arrives from Warner Bros./Rhino on November 11, and can be pre-ordered at the links below!
Black Sabbath, Paranoid: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner Bros. WS 1887, 1970 - reissued Warner Bros./Rhino, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1: The Original Album (2012 Remaster)/CD 2 (Stereo Fold-Down of 1974 Quad Mix)
- War Pigs/Luke's Wall
- Paranoid
- Planet Caravan
- Iron Man
- Electric Funeral
- Hand of Doom
- Rat Salad
- Jack the Ripper/Fairies Wear Boots
CD 3: Live in Montreux 1970
- Intro
- Paranoid
- N.I.B.
- Behind the Wall of Sleep
- Iron Man
- War Pigs
- Fairies Wear Boots
- Hand of Doom
CD 4: Live in Brussels 1970
- Paranoid
- Hand of Doom
- Rat Salad
- Iron Man
- Black Sabbath
- N.I.B.
- Behind the Wall of Sleep
- War Pigs
- Fairies Wear Boots
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Really, what's the point of folding down a Quad mix instead of doing a DVD version of it?
I just bought my Superdeluxe edition and it is fantastic! The two live discs are awesome but I think there is a defect with the Quad Disc. I was playing it this morning and War Pigs ends almost 90 seconds early and jumps into Paranoid. I was wondering if anyone who bought the set has the same problem?