For the past few years, American Hit Radio has dedicated itself to airing albums that have had a strong influence and/or lasting impact on the development of what came afterward. Few albums can claim to be as influential as “Paranoid”.

Black Sabbath’s second album was immediately controversial, but it is impossible to deny that the direction of popular music changed forever in its wake. Until this point, few albums dealt so openly with the darker side of our personalities. Seemingly out of nowhere, Black Sabbath represented a hidden side of our counterculture and it resounded profoundly. Tracing its influence is almost as simple as compiling a list of every ‘heavy’ or ‘metal’ band that came afterward.

Featured songs include:

War Pigs

Paranoid

Planet Caravan

Iron Man

Electric Funeral

Hand of Doom

Rat Salad

Fairies Wear Boots

September 1970 - Billboard Charted #12