Paranoid is the second album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and contains some of their most famous work, including the songs "Iron Man," "War Pigs," and the title track "Paranoid." It was released in 1970 and It soon topped the British music charts. The album was originally titled "War Pigs" but it is said that the record company changed it to "Paranoid" because of sensitivity about the Vietnam War. The band's visual interpretation of a "War Pig" was still featured on the cover. The song "Iron Man" was voted number 1 on the TV music channel VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs.
The title-track, was written, mixed and added to the album last at Island studios which was an old church. The band sensed at the time, that the song was lighter, and a possible single.
Paranoid peaked at number 12 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart (North America), and number 1 in the UK album charts. The singles "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" peaked at number 61 and number 52, respectively, on the Pop singles chart. "Paranoid" as a single went to number 4 in the UK. In 2003, the album was ranked number 130 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In 2006, the album was ranked number 6 on Guitar World magazine's list of the greatest 100 guitar albums of all time.
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