偏执狂 (1970)

Paranoid is the second studio album by the British heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It was released on 18 September 1970 in the United Kingdom by Vertigo Records, and on 7 January 1971 in the United States by Warner Bros. Records. The album contains several of the band's signature songs, including "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, which was the band's only top 20 hit, reaching number four on the UK Singles Chart. The title track reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot Hard Rock Songs for the first time 55 years after its release in July 2025.

After the success of their self titled debut album, the band returned to the studio quickly to record their follow-up. Like their first album, Paranoid was completed quickly, only needing two days in June to be recorded.

Paranoid is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time, often cited as a key influence for the development of the genre, as well as one of its earliest albums. It was ranked number one on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time" in 2017 and number 139 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2020. Paranoid was the band's only album to top the UK Albums Chart until the release of 13 in 2013.

Background

Released in February 1970, Black Sabbath's debut album proved to be a commercial success in the UK, and would become a commercial success in the United States as well, despite hostile critical reception to the album.

In an effort to capitalise on the recent UK chart success of their debut, Black Sabbath returned to the studio with producer Rodger Bain in June 1970, just four months after the album was released. Paranoid was recorded at Regent Sound Studios and Island Studios in London, England over 16–18 June.

Recording

The album's title track was written as an afterthought. As drummer Bill Ward explains: "We didn't have enough songs for the album, and Tony Iommi just played the guitar lick and that was it. It took twenty, twenty-five minutes from top to bottom." In the liner notes to the 1998 live album Reunion, bassist Geezer Butler recounts to Phil Alexander that they wrote the song "in five minutes, then I sat down and wrote the lyrics as quickly as I could. It was all done in about two hours." According to Alexander, "Paranoid" "crystallized the band's writing process, with Iommi initiating the ideas with his charred riffs, Ozzy Osbourne working on a melody, Geezer providing drive and the majority of the lyrics, and Bill Ward locking into a set of often pounding rhythms beneath Butler's bass rumble." The single was released in August 1970 and reached number four on the UK charts, remaining Black Sabbath's only top ten hit.