For my first pick, in the METAL Category, I take
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Side one
1. "War Pigs" – 7:57
2. "Paranoid" – 2:52
3. "Planet Caravan" – 4:32
4. "Iron Man" – 5:58
Side two
1. "Electric Funeral" – 4:52
2. "Hand of Doom" – 7:07
3. "Rat Salad" – 2:31
4. "Fairies Wear Boots" – 6:15
The sophomore album from these metal gods was an incredible display with several songs that can be considered metal anthems: War Pigs, Ironman and Fairies Wear Boots. Interesting tidbit about the song 'Paranoid'
Quote:
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As drummer Bill Ward explains: "We didn't have enough songs for the album, and Tony just played the [Paranoid] guitar lick and that was it. It took twenty, twenty-five minutes from top to bottom." The song was written with no intention of it being a successful hit for the band, only to be a filler on the album.
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I don't know why I had never read this before but in my research for this album I found out the following information about lead guitarist Tony Iommi.
Quote:
He played guitar left-handed. In an industrial accident at the age of 17 on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory, he lost the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right hand. Iommi considered abandoning music, but his boss (who knew of Iommi's "night job" as a pub band guitar player) encouraged him to reconsider by playing a record by jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, who earned wide acclaim despite limited use of his fretting hand following an injury.
After attempting to learn to play right-handed, Iommi strung his guitars with extra-light strings (using banjo strings, which were a lighter gauge than even the lightest guitar-strings of the time) and wore plastic covers over the two damaged fingers. He fashioned the latter himself, by melting plastic liquid-soap bottles into a ball and then using a soldering iron to make holes into this ball, putting his fingers in while the plastic was still soft enough to be shaped. He then trimmed and sanded away the excess plastic to leave himself with two thimbles, which he then covered with leather, to provide better grip on the strings. Subsequent tips have been custom-made.
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This is the reason behind the slower feel to the Sabbath songs. It is not as melodic as Maiden, doesn't have the epic solos of Metallica and doesn't rip your head off and s**t down your throat the way Slayer does. Sabbath, in my opinion, is pure metal. Heavy music that doesn't need to do any of the previously mention items to get your heart pumping and make you want to stand on your feet and throw up your horns.
I will add some youtube later, I am at work and unable to. I am really excited about the rest of this draft. Just the research for a band I am a huge fan of was a blast.