Legacy
"Paranoid" is consistently ranked as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. It is typically associated with both Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath due to its popularity. After Osbourne left the band in 1979 to pursue a solo career, he continued to perform this track, normally at the end of the set. Various different live versions have been recorded with Osbourne. This is due to the changes in band line-up since the original Blizzard of Ozz in 1980. Popular live versions featuring various guitarists including Randy Rhoads, Brad Gillis, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde were all recorded and later released.
It was ranked No. 34 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. In March 2005, Q magazine placed it at number 11 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. Rolling Stone ranked it number 250 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and called the song, "a two-minute blast of protopunk".
The original Black Sabbath recording has been used numerous times in various films and television shows including Sid & Nancy, Dazed and Confused, The Stoned Age, Any Given Sunday, Almost Famous, and We Are Marshall. The song was used in the Sega Mega Drive game Rock n' Roll Racing in 1993.
In Finland, "Paranoid" has the same status as Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" in the United States as a song the audience finds great humour to request during a concert. So regardless of the band or the style of music they're playing "Soittakaa Paranoid!" ("Play Paranoid!") can usually be heard at least once during any gig.
Read more about this topic: Paranoid (song)
Famous quotes containing the word legacy:
“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)