DVD Review: Black Sabbath: Classic Albums – “Paranoid”
by Warren Curry
6/28/2010
Arguably, no single album has influenced the heavy metal genre as much as Black Sabbath’s second full length record, “Paranoid.” Released in 1970, “Paranoid” would go on to sell millions of copies worldwide and ushered a loud, dark sound into the vernacular of popular music. The ominous opening notes to the band’s most well known song, “Iron Man,” are basically the aural equivalent of a horror movie.
And now “Paranoid” is the subject of Eagle Rock Entertainment’s Classic Albums series, which documents the making of the record and features present day interviews with the band members, others who worked on the album and music critics and historians. There were a number of bands who played aggressive rock music prior to Sabbath, but the quartet from Birmingham, England introduced a brutal, bottom heavy approach to the sound that had the effect of a bulldozer methodically rampaging through a crowded city. I can’t think of another rock band that sounds as forceful as Black Sabbath — and to think “Paranoid” was released 40 years ago.
Directed by Matthew Longfellow, this documentary, like the band it captures, is very straightforward in style and structure. Thankfully, all the musicians who created this landmark record are still with us and each shares their memories of that period of the band’s history in individual interviews. Guitar player Tony Iommi picks up his guitar and plays a few of the songs for us, but the moments I find more compelling are when we go into the studio with the album’s recording engineer, Tom Allom. He plays the album’s original four track master tapes, often isolating a single track to allow a closer perspective on that individual instrument’s role in the sound. He also gives us a chance to hear some of Ozzy Osbourne’s guide vocal track, where he works out a song’s basic melody while singing lyrics that didn’t make the final cut. Longfellow doesn’t rely heavily on archival footage, though a decent amount is used.
Ozzy, of course, mumbles in his own inimitable way (which can be both amusing and sad), but the other members are all quite articulate and provide a clear sense of what the band set out to accomplish. Musician, writer, actor, etc. Henry Rollins makes an insightful point that while Sabbath is primarily known for Osbourne’s vocals and Iommi’s grim guitar tone, the versatile rhythm section, comprised of bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward, are every bit as important, as they lay the rock solid foundation on which the band’s songs are built. Many of the interviewees agree that a chief reason the album has easily stood the test of time is because the no-frills recording basically captures the band playing live. “Paranoid” is an excellent example of the whole equaling more than the sum of its individual parts.
The press, predictably, shunned the album when it was released — partly for Butler’s somewhat gloomy lyrics, which focused on bleak topics such as nuclear war — but over the years critics have grown to embrace it. Contrarily, music fans were on board from the start, and appreciation for the band still hovers near an all time high (witness the current “stoner rock” subgenre, a musical style that essentially owes its entire existence to Sabbath). As the name of this documentary series indicates, “Paranoid” is indeed a classic album, and this 55-minute film is an intriguing, entertaining look at its creation and legacy.
DVD Comments:
The bonus features amount to a little over 40 minutes of outtakes. The real treat is to witness Butler and Ward, in the present day, play their individual parts, much like Iommi does in the main program. I assume this material had to be cut for length reasons, but it’s content that greatly enriches the overall viewing experience.
While I haven’t seen any other titles in the Classic Albums series, I feel safe assuming that a narrative formula exists, which alternates talking heads interviews and archival footage, as is the case here, and it works fine. The Dolby 2.0 stereo track is clean and loud. The program is subtitled in seven languages, and it might be a wise idea for English speakers to utilize the English subtitles to ensure catching all of Ozzy’s comments.
Serious Black Sabbath fans will want to save a space for this DVD next to their well-worn copy of “Paranoid.” Excuse me while I go get mine…
contact: wcurry718@yahoo.com
BLACK SABBATH: CLASSIC ALBUMS – “PARANOID” (2010)
Not Rated, 97 minutes (all content)
(Available on DVD June 29, 2010 from Eagle Rock Entertainment)
DVD Features:
16:9 Screen Format
English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese
Bonus Material:
- Extended Interviews