BILL WARD Looks Back On BLACK SABBATH's 'Paranoid': I Knew 'I Was Part Of A Great Band Making Great Music'

The 50th anniversary of "Paranoid", the second studio album by the legendary British heavy metal band BLACK SABBATH, is being celebrated with a 5-LP/4CD edition, released today (Friday, October 9),featuring the vinyl debut of two 1970 concerts.

To mark the "Paranoid: Super Deluxe Edition" release, SABBATH drummer Bill Ward took to his social media to write: "In 1969 and 1970 my musical experiences were exciting, adventurous, heady, and inspiring. Days full of risk and being vigorously alive, BLACK SABBATH was a hardworking road band, getting tighter with each gig. Deep in my heart and with the recording of 'Black Sabbath' accomplished, I felt emboldened and awkwardly able to step out and play newer songs like 'Hand of Doom', 'Iron Man', 'Electric Funeral', and 'War Pigs'. I knew those songs were different and I felt remarkably assured within myself that we were making music that upon first listening might not be popular. However, those thoughts were outweighed by the overwhelming feeling I was part of a great band making great music. I was twenty-two years old, and to know that about our band was not only satisfying, but at times overwhelming. I didn't know if we would have hit records, which we did, but I did know I was in a place of purity and euphoria about how we played and sounded. Night after night we pummeled and released our aggression and emotions onto our audiences. We were whole, we were as one, time was in front of us and in our favour. To be of those times is an honourable place to look back on, and my memory ignites with great experiences of that period, I wouldn't change a thing, except that bass drum sound on 'Iron Man' LO.L.

"Love to Tony, Geezer, and Ozzy, and all our fans, Rock forever and ever and ever, Bill Ward".

"Paranoid: Super Deluxe Edition" includes the original album, in addition to a rare 1974 Quad Mix of the album folded down to stereo, plus two concerts from 1970, from Montreux and Brussels, that are pressed on vinyl for the first time. The five-LP set comes with a hardbound book with extensive liner notes featuring interviews with all four band members, rare photos, and memorabilia, a poster, as well as a replica of the tour book sold during the "Paranoid" tour.

After the success of the band's self-titled debut in early 1970, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward returned that fall with "Paranoid". The record became the band's first album to top the U.K. charts and has sold more than four million copies in the U.S. alone. Today, songs like "War Pigs", "Planet Caravan", "Iron Man" and, of course, "Paranoid", continue to inspire a new generation of musicians around the world.

"Paranoid: Super Deluxe Edition" first two LPs feature the original album plus a Quadraphonic Mix of the album. Originally released on vinyl and 8-track cartridge in 1974, but subsequently long out of print, the Quad Mix has now been made available as a fold-down to stereo mix on vinyl for this set.

The collection's final three LPs mark the official vinyl debut of two 1970 live performances. The first was recorded on August 31 in Montreux, Switzerland shortly before the release of "Paranoid". It captures the band, already a tight musical unit, thundering through new songs like "Hand Of Doom" and "Iron Man" while mixing in "N.I.B." and "Behind The Wall Of Sleep" from their debut album. The second concert was recorded a few months later in Brussels during the band's performance for Belgian television. Unofficial versions of this classic show have circulated in the past, but they've never sounded this good.

"Paranoid: Super Deluxe Edition" track listing:

LP 1: Original Album

Side A

* War Pigs / Luke's Wall
* Paranoid
* Planet Caravan
* Iron Man

Side B

* Electric Funeral
* Hand Of Doom
* Rat Salad
* Jack The Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots

LP 2: Quadradisc Mix in Stereo (WS4 1887) 1974

Side C

* War Pigs / Luke's Wall
* Paranoid
* Planet Caravan
* Iron Man

Side D

* Electric Funeral
* Hand Of Doom
* Rat Salad
* Jack The Stripper / Fairies Wear Boots

LP 3: Live in Montreux 1970 (Part One)

Side E

* Intro
* Paranoid
* N.I.B.
* Behind The Wall Of Sleep

Side F

* Iron Man
* War Pigs

LP 4: Live in Montreux 1970 (Part Two)/Live in Brussels 1970 (Part One)

Side G

* Fairies Wear Boots
* Hand Of Doom

Side H

* Paranoid
* Hand Of Doom
* Rat Salad
* Iron Man

LP 5: Live in Brussels 1970 (Part Two)

Side J

* Black Sabbath
* N.I.B.

Side K

* Behind The Wall Of Sleep
* War Pigs
* Fairies Wear Boots