Black Sabbath "Paranoid"

Widely credited with helping usher in heavy metal, "Paranoid" was originally a filler for Black Sabbath's second album, but it became the band's first-ever single.

Indisputably one of the greatest guitarists in rock 'n roll, Tony Iommi's power fifths give the song a driving edge that goes from start to finish and are one of the most replicated sounds in the genre to this day.

Most of the words in bassist Geezer Butler's lyrics are monosyllabic, allowing Singer Ozzy Osbourne to give a haunting performance with doubled quick-hits and sharp cut offs -- especially at the end of lines, when Iommi's guitar plays in front of the cymbal crashes.

A song without a chorus, "Paranoid" occupies a strange place in the pantheon of music -- especially for its time. At first, few radio stations played it in the U.S. because its lyrics and the band's name were seen as Satanic or occult. Now, it's a metal classic and recognizable to non-metal fans.

Location: Michigan, USA

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