From Loudersound.
Black Sabbath’s performance of Paranoid at Jazz Bilzen festival in August 1970 is a sweet snapshot of metal history.
Black Sabbath’s Paranoid is indisputably one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time, but it wasn’t always an instantly recognisable rock anthem. When Sabbath played the Jazz Bilzen festival in Belgium on August 21, 1970, their signature song had yet to break into the UK charts, or trouble European radio airwaves, so it’s easy to imagine how confusing it was for an audience of stoned hippies gathered to see the likes of Cat Stevens, The Kinks and Dizzie Gillespie, to hear Ozzy Osbourne wailing about insanity, depression and suicidal thoughts over *that Tony Iommi riff.
Actually, you don’t have to imagine, because there’s priceless footage of Sabbath’s performance on the band’s official YouTube channel. It’s a wonderful snapshot of heavy metal history.
Famously, Sabbath knocked out Paranoid in 30 minutes purely to add another three minutes of music to their second album. Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler initially didn’t want to jam on Tony Iommi’s ‘throwaway’ riff at all because they considered it a Led Zeppelin rip-off.
“Ozzy and I thought it was too close to Communication Breakdown by Led Zeppelin,” Butler recalled. “We always loved Zeppelin in them days, sitting round on the floor smoking dope and listening to that first album. So when Tony came up with the riff to Paranoid me and Ozzy spotted it immediately and went, ‘Naw, we can’t do that!’ In fact we ended up having quite a big argument about it. Guess who was wrong?”
“I remember going home and I said to my then-wife, ’I think we’ve written a single’,” Ozzy recalled. “She said, ‘But you don’t write singles.’ I said, ‘I know, but this has been driving me nuts on the train all the way back’.”
Paranoid reached number 4 on the UK singles chart on August 29, 1970. Its parent album, Paranoid, became Sabbath’s only number 1 album of the decade one month later.
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- Black Sabbath - Paranoid - Dutch - vinyl LP - £25.00, $32.75, €28.75 (New Item) (arrived 11-Apr-2025 16:21)on April 12, 2025 at 6:31 am
BLACK SABBATH Paranoid (1976 Dutch NEMS issue of the 1970 8-track LP, housed in a matte gatefold picture sleeve with 'Printed & made by Almere Printing bv, Holland' print on the inside right panel. The sleeve shows some notable edgewear and a small bump to the opening side whilst the vinyl is clean & grades EX/EX- with just faint paper scuffs not affecting play NEL6003) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Black Sabbath - Paranoid EP - Clear Vinyl - UK - 12" vinyl - £95.00, $124.45, €109.25 (New Item) (arrived 07-Apr-2025 12:36)on April 12, 2025 at 6:31 am
BLACK SABBATH Paranoid (1982 UK limited edition 4-track 33rpm 12" EP pressed on Clear Vinyl, also including War Pigs, Iron Man and Fairies Wear Boots. The glossy picture sleeve displays some general wear, mainly to the edges and the vinyl looks barely played 12NEX01)
- Black Sabbath - Mob Rules - 1st - Misprinted Label - EX - French - vinyl LP - £50.00, $65.50, €57.50 (New Item) (arrived 02-Apr-2025 16:00)on April 12, 2025 at 6:31 am
BLACK SABBATH Mob Rules (1981 first French pressed edition 9-track vinyl LP with TWO mis-spellings on the Side One black & silver 'spaceship' labels ['Bulter' instead of Butler and Track 5 is listed as 'Mob Brules' rather than Mob Rules'], later corrected & repressed - Their tenth studio album, the second to feature Ronnie James Dio on vocals and the first with Vinny Appice on drums. The picture sleeve does have some shelfwear evident to the edges but the vinyl remain in EX condition)
- Black Sabbath - Live Evil - VG - UK - 2-LP vinyl set - £20.00, $26.20, €23.00 (New Item) (arrived 03-Apr-2025 13:59)on April 12, 2025 at 6:31 am
BLACK SABBATH Live Evil (1983 UK orange label 14-track double LP, featuring the band fronted by Ronnie James Dio thundering through a set that includes Neon Knights, War Pigs, Iron Man & more. The gatefold picture sleeve is Very Good with somepaper marks over time yet both vinyl discs still look barely ever played, remaining in Excellent condition SAB10)
- Black Sabbath - Live Evil: Super Deluxe Edition - UK - vinyl box set - £99.99, $130.99, €114.99 (Back In Stock) (arrived 03-Apr-2025 16:00)on April 12, 2025 at 6:31 am
BLACK SABBATH Live Evil: Super Deluxe Edition (2023 UK/EU Super Deluxe 40th Anniversary Edition FOUR VINYL LP Box Set comprising newly remastered and remixed versions of their 1983 first official live album which features live recordings from their performances in Seattle, Dallas and San Antonio on 23rd-24th April and 12th-13th May 1982. Complete with bonus extras including a 1982 Mob Rules Tour replica concert book, a 40-page book with photos, artwork & liner notes plus a 1982 Mob Rules Tour replica colour poster, all four discs are housed within two gatefold picture sleeves and a 13" x 13" x 1.5" two-piece picture box. The outer box shows just a little scuffing to the back and edges, however the contents are in Near Mint condition with the vinyl are Near Mint with no obvious signs of play)
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