Black Sabbath: Paranoid

Yes this is a traditional documentary with plenty of talking heads but the stories are interesting. Geezer Butler for instance talked about how he saw all these wrongs in the world and no one was talking about it so he included it in his lyrics. Rather than talk about peace and love which were the popular themes at the time he talked about war and death especially because he was opposed to Vietnam. Tony Iommi talked about how he came up with riffs for classic songs like Iron Man. Ozzy is almost indiscernible he’s mumbling so much. The doc also goes through each song on the album and has the engineer isolate the different players to highlight what they were doing which I thought was great. I didn’t have much expectations for this given the format but it proved to be pretty darn good.

The vast powers of hypocrisy were arrayed against them and Black Sabbath plowed through them

Black Sabbath, like all other bands of their genre were not well received by critics when they first emerged. One sociologist in this film said that critics during the late 1960's and early 1970's wanted musical artists who gave them hope. Obviously, Black Sabbath was not one of those bands. On their album, "Paranoid", they basically talk about certain problems through their songs, and leaves you, the listener, to draw your own conclusions. For example, 'War Pigs' as almost all of us know, discusses the effects of war on different countries. "Electric Funeral" talks about the dangers of nuclear weapons. "Hands of Doom" explains in detail, how individual soldiers have been affected by war as well as drug abuse. "Fairies Wear Boots" tells about a gang of skinheads physically and mentally abusing the band members as well as other hippies. "Iron Man" according to the band members is a science fiction tale of a man who time travels into the future and then trvels back to the present to discuss futuristic disasters which are likely to take place if we humans are not careful enough. Finally, there's "Paranoid", which talks about an individual experiencing mental problems, such as paranoia, schizophrenia, and depression.These songs as well as others are discussed thoroughly in this outstanding documentary. We hear the band members: Tony Iommi, Terence "Geezer" Butler, Bill Ward, and John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne as well as engineer Tom Allom, talk about how they play their instuments for each specific song as well as how they mix each of them in the control room. You also hear commentaries from artists like Henry Rollins, who discusses songs like "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" (in which he talks about ascending and descending bridges in the middle of it.) He as well as Ozzy Osbourne discusse the importance of a good and strong rhythem section is essential for a groudbreaking rock 'n' roll band; in this case, it's the drum playing of Bill Ward and the bass playing of Terence Butler.You hear about when the band first formed, they were a band called "Earth", and how they eventually named themselves "Black Sabbath" after investigating with aspects of the occult, not because they became devil worshippers. The band members discuss how their environment in their hometown, Birmingham, England, which was for the most part a slum) helped them develop their distinguished sound. They also talk about they took a trip to "The Star Club" in Hamburg, Germany, which previously, many famous groups and musicicans performed there such as "The Beatles", "Chuck Berry", "Jerry Lee Lewis", and "Ray Charles". However, when Black Sabbath performed there, only three people were in the audience. Then when they released their self-titled debut album, "Black Sabbath", more people started to take notice, even though as stated before, the critics were not satisfied with it. Then, when they release "Paranoid", they gain a bigger following and eventually take a tour in the United States. As we all see, this album sells well in both England and in America and establishes "Black Sabbath" as a landmark band.You hear interviews from a sociologist, journalists, and critics as to how the album "Paranoid" as well as the band itself changed the heavy metal genre forever as well as pave the way for many future bands to come.Finally, there's the bonus footage, where you hear about subjects like who the bands influences were, their first tour in the United States, how Tony Iommi developed cutting-edge guitar riffs in spite of getting two of his right-hand fingertips cut of by a machine in an accident at an industry, Bill Ward's phenomenal drum playing and more of his influences, and extended takes on some of the songs."Classic Albums" as we all know picks out certain albums in the rock 'n' roll genre who they feel have stood the test of time. "Paranoid" is absolutely one of them. The songs mentioned above still make sense in terms of discussing the dark side of reality. Ironically, these subjects can be turned into entertainment with the tool of music.

YOU CAN'T BITCH ABOUT MUCH AFTER YOU SEE TOMMY IOMMI'S GLUED ON FINGERS SHREDDING!!!

My dad had an eclectic taste in music and starting about the time I was 7 - and proved I wouldn't scratch his records - I got to listen to what I wanted. In 1972, at the age of 9, I heard The album Black Sabbath for the first time. It and Paranoid both called to be and still do today. I grew up with metal and, in my opinion, Sabbath are the godfathers.This was an awesome documentary. I always new that Ozzy just basically sang whatever came to mind initially and it was awesome hearing some of it.RIP Ronnie

As a HUGE fan of Sabbath AND the Classic Album series - I would be lying if I said this wasn't somewhat of a disappointment. Overall, it seemed more like a "VH-1 Behind the Music" segment, than an in-depth look at a "Classic Album".The first 10 - 20 minutes ran through everything true Sabbath fans already know, such as Tony's finger tips and Geezer's vision. There was entirely too much focus on the political climate of the time, with tons of footage from Vietnam and civil unrest of the late 60's - early 70's. While the era certainly had a bearing on the band's inspiration, the amount of time devoted to it simply robbed viewers of a comprehensive look into the production of an incredible album.Segments where the producer isolated the recordings to showcase instruments and parts seemed rushed and very short, almost as filler to break up each main segment. For instance, Rodger Bain commented on a particular track and said something to the effect of (I'm paraphrasing here) "This is my all time favorite vocal track from Ozzy. He sang this to perfection, so menacing and soulful". I just knew he would play the isolated vocal track. I mean - it seemed too obvious - but, nope - bam - right back to the VH-1 style presentation. When I found myself yelling at the TV - "Play the track!! let's hear it!!!!" I knew this was NOT what I was hoping for.REDEMPTION (of sorts)For those longing for more in-depth coverage of Geezer, Tony and Bill's incredible talents - rest assured - you will get your fix in the bonus segments. It's a shame the producers choose not to include this footage in the main feature. There's plenty of track isolation, demonstrations and live performances to satisfy. In fact, if it weren't for the bonus material - I would have given this review 1 star.

I discovered Sabbath's first album in the misc. bin at Tower records in 1970. Nobody had heard of them yet. But that album spoke to me like nothing before. This is a documentary interviewing them individually and demonstrating how skilled they are at playing their instruments. If you want to see them playing entire songs as a band then there are plenty of videos of that on the internet. I just loved this documentary about my favorite heavy metal band.

For those familiar with Black Sabbath, you know that Tony and Geezer don't nessesarily make the best interviewees. Their answers are often monotone, fairly bland, and only vaguely remembered. Maybe somebody gave them some coffee before this interview (Geezer in particular) because the pair actually seem alive! Bill Ward is Bill Ward, of course, and Ozzy can barely get his voice above a croaking whisper. However none of that matters because this blu-ray disc is not about the present, it's about the distant past, 40 years distant in fact: The landmark metal album of metal albums, Paranoid.Everybody reading this knows Paranoid from front to back and has probably bought it more than once. (If you don't know Paranoid, get the album!) Like all Classic Albums discs, this deconstructs classic tunes like the title track, "Iron Man", "Fairies Wear Boots", "Planet Caravan", and more. Engineer Tom Allom (best known for his production work with Judas Priest) is present to strip the master tapes down to their component pieces. Hearing Bill and Geezer play together without adornment is a revelation. If anyone comes out looking very underrated in the Sabbath saga, it is Bill and Geezer, who are psychicly locked-in and jamming. Iommi demonstrates some of the most famous riffs and solos in Sabbath history, while Ozzy explains how he wrote melodies. All this is within the context of the late 60's and early 70's, and what Sabbath stood for in those tumultuous times.Bonus features are generous like all Classic Albums discs. About 45 minutes of additional footage is available, discussing songs and topics that didn't make the cut of the main feature itself. None of it is filler, all of it is worth watching and probably would have made a completely un-boring extended feature anyway.My only complaint is the resolution is only 1080i. Minor complaint at that.As a companion piece, I highly recommend getting  Paranoid  in its 3 disc expanded edition. The reason being is, here you will hear demo version of songs with alternate lyrics. If you want all of these demos complete and uncut, you have to get the 3 disc version of Paranoid which includes them all (as well as the album's original Quad mix).4 stars. As mentioned, the Sabbath members can be pretty dry in interviews, but this is some of the best insightful Sabbath stuff out there! Paranoid

Con la línea de ALBUMS CLASSICS, que para todos aquellos que no lo sepan, hablan de los mejores álbumes de los grupos o cantantes, de como los hicieron, anécdotas, y en algunos casos videoclips, tomas en directo, etc. Para todos los fans de Black Sabbath, lo tienen que tener si o si.

Und auch hier haben wir wieder eine weitere Großtat der Classic Albums Reihe.Absolut sehenswert und es werden jede Menge Details über den Entstehungsprozess dieses fast perfekten Albums enthüllt.Für Sabbath Fans ein absolutes MUSS! Bleibt nur zu hoffen dass sich die Herren zusammen raufen können und nach DIOs Tot eventuell noch eine weitere Platte veröffentlichen.

Fantastico documental a un precio magnifico. escuchar como los sabbath te explican como grabaron este disco, ver a Iommi con su guitarra no tiene precio

Suite à la non réception de ma commande le vendeur m'a renvoyé un deuxième article sans poser le moindre problème. Commande bien reçue quelques jours plus tard et parfaitement emballé. DVD absolument neuf et français. Impeccable, super vendeur, je recommande à 100%.Concernant le DVD en lui-même, super docu d'un chef-d'oeuvre d'un des plus grands groupes de tous les temps. Dans la même collection le Dark Side of the Moon de Pink Floyd est excellent aussi.