Does Black Sabbath’s Paranoid Need To Be Reissued?
Universal Music out of the UK will be re-issuing Black Sabbath’s classic Paranoid in a deluxe 3 disc set. You have disc one, which is just the original 8 tracks of ground-breaking, classic metal. Disc two is the same thing, only in a quadraphonic (kind of like old-ass surround sound), and disc three will be the same tracks except Paranoid and Planet Caravan have alternate lyrics, but for some reason War Pigs doesn’t. The rest of the songs on disc three are “instrumental”, meaning they just didn’t lay down the vocal track.
Now don’t get me wrong here. I still love Black Sabbath and this album was my first Black Sabbath album. When I bought it the only track I really knew was Ironman. After I got it, that song was actually the least played. Sometime over the last 20 years I have lost my original, so I might buy this when it comes out, but most likely I’ll save myself some money and buy the conventional cd again. For a collector of everything Black Sabbath, this is a great idea. For everyone else it’s just a cash-in on the re-issue trend. I don’t need a quadraphonic version of Paranoid to enjoy it, nor do I need instrumental versions of it. The deluxe edition will be released in the UK on April 6th. Below is the tracklist to the new deluxe reissue.
“Paranoid” deluxe expanded edition track listing
Disc 1 (Original Album):
- War Pigs
- Paranoid
- Planet Caravan
- Iron Man
- Electric Funeral
- Hand Of Doom
- Rat Salad
- Fairies Wear Boots
Disc 2 (1974 Quadrophonic Mix):
- War Pigs
- Paranoid
- Planet Caravan
- Iron Man
- Electric Funeral
- Hand Of Doom
- Rat Salad
- Fairies Wear Boots
Disc 3 (Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks):
- War Pigs (instrumental)
- Paranoid (alternative lyrical version)
- Planet Caravan (alternative lyrical version)
- Iron Man (instrumental)
- Electric Funeral (instrumental)
- Hand Of Doom (instrumental)
- Rat Salad (instrumental)
- Fairies Wear Boots (instrumental)
Image: Amazon.com (Not the cover of the NEW reissue.
Are the instrumental versions demos or simply the final cuts with vocal tracks not yet laid? To me, there is a huge difference. If they are truly different takes it becomes much more desireable, and, in my opinion, worth the money.