Black Sabbath: Paranoid Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

Black Sabbath: Paranoid Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 4, 2023

It's maybe just a little surprising for those who (as I do) enjoy perusing various "chart data" to realize that Black Sabbath only had one Top 20 single in its native UK, namely the title track from this hard charging album, a production that disproves that oft quoted "sophomore slump". This offers a pre-kitsch Ozzy Osbourne in fine form, along with some especially memorable guitar work from Tony Iommi. While this Quadio release sadly does not offer any of the bounteous bonus content that has graced some of the "super deluxe" CD reissues of the album, it does feature some of the widest imaging and discrete channelization of all the Quadio releases I've reviewed thus far.

The track list for this album is:

1. War Pigs
2. Paranoid
3. Planet Caravan
4. Iron Man
5. Electric Funeral
6. Hand of Doom
7. Rat Salad
8. Fairies Wear Boots

Black Sabbath: Paranoid Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

While there is video content here, like most hi-res audio Blu-rays, it's simply a menu, and because this release allows you to use the color buttons on your remote to choose which audio codec (red for DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0, yellow for DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0), you really don't even have to have your display on to enjoy this release. I've heard from several regular readers of my long running hi-res audio Blu-ray reviews that they'd actually prefer (repeated) screenshots of the menu rather than photos of the band, etc., on reviews, so you get seven screenshots of the menu here.

Black Sabbath: Paranoid Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Sabbath: Paranoid offers DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options, and I'm assuming anyone interested in this release is going to want to listen to the quadrophonic version, so the bulk of my comments will focus on that. This, along with Rhino's Quadio release of Charles Mingus: Mingus Moves, provides some of the showiest four channel separation in the recent glut of Quadio releases Rhino has offered. Rather interestingly, though, the imaging here tends to reverse the "normal" way of doing things at times, with Ozzy's voice emanating from the rear speakers and drums and at least some of the other rhythm instruments placed in the front channels. There are some almost startling moments of discrete channelization at times, including sudden bursts from Iommi's guitar, which can erupt from a single speaker. The album was mixed a bit too "wet" (i.e., lots of reverb) for my particular taste, but fidelity is fantastic throughout. There is some verbiage in the insert booklet that mimics similar information in other 4.0 audio Blu-rays about how to utilize bass management, but I'd say whatever choice your particular system offers, don't expect a surplus of low end emanating from the subwoofer (per design), which is not to suggest that there's any real lack in either the lower midrange or actual lowest frequencies.

Black Sabbath: Paranoid Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is no supplemental content offered.

Black Sabbath: Paranoid Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It may be kind of hard to remember who/what Ozzy was back in the day, but Paranoid offers a poke or two to the cerebral cortex in that regard. This album is also a real showcase for four channel audio, reproduced splendidly here. Recommended.