Paranoid
by Black Sabbath

Album
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Year: 1970
Release date: 1970-09-18
Overall rank: 50th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
86/100 (from 2,132 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Best album of 1970 (1st)
Award Top 20 albums of of the 1970s (16th)
Award Top 50 albums of all time (50th)

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Black Sabbath bestography

Paranoid is ranked as the best album by Black Sabbath.

Black Sabbath album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (50th)
Paranoid Lower ranked (249th) »
Black Sabbath

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Paranoid track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 87 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (930 - 692 votes)
War Pigs
Average Rating: 93 (692 votes)Comments: View 11
2.
Track pick (910 - 707 votes)
Paranoid
Average Rating: 91 (707 votes)Comments: View 7
3.
Planet Caravan
Average Rating: 86 (495 votes)Comments: View 8
4.
Track pick (910 - 652 votes)
Iron Man
Average Rating: 91 (652 votes)Comments: View 8
5.
Electric Funeral
Average Rating: 86 (480 votes)Comments: View 5
6.
Hand Of Doom
Average Rating: 85 (436 votes)Comments: View 7
7.
Rat Salad
Average Rating: 79 (411 votes)Comments: View 6
8.
Fairies Wear Boots
Average Rating: 86 (447 votes)Comments: View 6

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Paranoid rankings

Paranoid rankings summary
Overall rank: 50th | 1970s rank: 16th | 1970 rank: 1st  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)

Paranoid collection

Paranoid ratings

Average Rating: 
86/100 (from 2,132 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 2,132 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
100/100
 !		08/15/2026 21:32 areminder  Ratings distribution  93080/100
 
75/100
 !		08/13/2026 11:17 TitoVampir  Ratings distribution  19776/100
 
95/100
 !		07/30/2026 20:58 HoldenM  Ratings distribution  1,87684/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 86.2/100, a mean average of 85.0/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 86.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.2.


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Paranoid favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 623 members

Cheddar
evstratios
glebrus
Exist-en-ciel
Ilolahti
elcapnsunshine
FrancK
Iglou2981
Dumigor
DJFresh-Rock

Forum mentions

This album has been referenced 264 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 20 hours ago in Chart of the day (#5426): By Keatownrodriguez
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by Keatownrodriguez () 1. by (2016) 2. by (2006) 3. by (2019) 6. (2005) 7. (1994) 8. by (2018) 9. (2003) 10. by (2021) 11. by (1975) 12. by (2008) 15. by (2006) 16. by (2007) 17. by (2017) 18. by (2004) 19. by (2014) 20. by by by (2018) 23. by…”
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From BestEverAlbums 4 days ago in Chart of the day (#5423): By serpico
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by serpico () 1. (1966) 2. by (1967) 3. by (1967) 4. by (1975) 5. by (1977) 7. by (1985) 8. by (1986) 9. (1990) 10. by by (1965) 12. by (1967) 13. by (1969) 14. by (1969) 15. (1970) 16. by (1970) 17. by (1971) 18. by (1971) 19. by (1972) 20. by…”
View forum post →

From BestEverAlbums 5 days ago in Monthly overall chart movements
“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”
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View all forum mentions

Paranoid comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 141 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Rating:  
95/100
From 07/30/2026 20:58 | #315484
Rocks so hard. Sabbath is the truth. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Reply
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/25/2026 09:06 | #312796
Goodbye flower power, welcome doom! (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Reply
Rating:  
90/100
From 07/31/2025 16:59 | #310363
I can't get enough of Bill Wards drumming, the solo in rat salad is brimming with energy.
Rest In Peace Ozzy 🕊️✝️😈🔥 (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Reply
Rating:  
90/100
From 05/05/2025 18:09 | #308831
This is the 1st heavy metal album that caught my ear with lots of bass and hot guitar licks. Every song has great pace. War Pigs and Iron Man must be the most recognized songs from this band. Even my kids born in the late 90’s love this album and Master of Reality. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (2 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Reply
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/06/2024 16:11 | #303389
A solid 8/10 album for the casual listener. Tracks 1,2,4,5 are great, the rest are just OK. I can definitely see why metal heads would rate this even higher, though. (Edited)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of  1970
1. Paranoid by Black Sabbath
2. After The Gold Rush by Neil Young
3. All Things Must Pass by George Harrison
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel
5. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon
6. Bitches Brew by Miles Davis
7. Moondance by Van Morrison
8. Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. Led Zeppelin III by Led Zeppelin
10. Fun House by The Stooges