A great documentary about a great album!It amazing to think that Black Sabbath released Paranoid 40 years ago. It is an album that has stood the test of time, and still sounds fresh today. Paranoid is one of those records that artists dream of making, because it is an album full of solid tunes. No fillers. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Paranoid, Eagle Rock Entertainment has recently released the Classic Albums special on Blu-Ray and DVD. The show originally aired on VH-1 Classic as part of their classic albums series, but this release comes with so much bonus footage, it warrants a view. The Classic Album series is a cool concept, because it gives you a behind the scenes look into how the magic was created. This show does a good job of gathering all of the original members of Black Sabbath as well as the producer Tom Allom for a total recount of what went down when they made the record.
Paranoid was a great watch. The Blu-Ray is full of great interviews with the band as well as a one on on with Iommi and his axe. The material with Iommi was probably my favorite, because it features him playing some or the fiercest riffs from the record. It is almost like a one on one lesson with the master. Another highlight, is hearing the original, improvised lyrics by a young Ozzy for the title track. Priceless. Paranoid explores the band's origins, before kicking into the making of one of their best albums ever. It is full of classic footage as well as new interviews done especially for this special. The clarity of the Blu-Ray is unmatched and gives you a sense of being in the room with the lads as they recount the making of the album. A solid watch from start to finish, with 42 minutes of extras.
Bottom Line: Classic Sabbath at its best. Find out how one of the greatest metal albums of all time was created. Even if you’re not the biggest Sabbath fan, this is a great watch because it is interesting to see how the band worked out the songs and recorded back in the day.
- Ragman is a sucker for a good documentary.