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CDJapan
 
 
Label:
  Universal (Japan) - http://www.universal-music.co.jp/
Serial:
  UIGY-9034
Title:
  Black Sabbath: Paranoid
Description:
  "Paranoid"

Black Sabbath
Track listing:
 
Genre:
  Pop/Rock
Content:
  Stereo
Media:
  Single Layer
Recording type:
 
Recording info:
 
Note:
  "SACD-SHM"

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Related titles: 5


 
Reviews: 8 show all

Review by analogue September 23, 2010 (11 of 13 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
This review will be short and sweet:

I remember this from the analogue days. What a great album.

The very darkest of classic rock albums. And it's on sacd.

This sacd, beautifully remastered puts all digital copies to shame. And thankfully tape hiss has been kept, not de-noised out, and this makes all the difference to the sonic quality and character of this sacd. The remastered cd was compressed and flat sounding due to the conscious elimination of the tape hiss. Along with any tape hiss is also vital musical information that must be kept. And this is why reverb and additional musical cues can be heard on this sacd but not on the cd.

This is one heavy and powerful album. You can feel the menace on War Pigs. All instruments are rendered very nicely. There is no compression on this sacd so the volume can be turned way up and the sound is very excellent.

For the first time in many years I can actually sense that there are musicians playing in unison to create a musical whole. Its not just sound.....it's music.

What a double pleasure we got here folks.
One is that a great title has been released on sacd and two the sound is extremely good.

Highly recommended............5+++++++++

I think that Universal Japan is onto something great here.

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Review by Goodwood September 7, 2010 (7 of 8 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
OK I have to declare an obssession with this album. It was the first new album I bought - in fact after the warped second hand mono Sgt Peppers it was the second album I owned. The spiral Vertigo album has been through all of my equipment changes and divine intervention saved it from being sold when I foolishly sold albums as a student to put them on cassette.

The guitar sound was nothing like anything before and I played it to death. I even smoothed out clicks by playing them out!

Fast forward to the CD and the Castle reissue was taken home to meet huge dissappointment. It sounded like a 10th generation bootleg with absolutely no top end. Subsequent reissues and remasters improved things but they never lived up to my expectations (some would say for obvious reasons.

The SACD was always going to bring improvements but I always wondered at what cost. Well I can report that not only does this release benefit from the extra bandwidth but that this is also a very even handed mastering. It really is a case of press play and just enjoy (if - and it's a big if, you enjoy this kind of music). Instrumental separation is great and to my ears the dynamics are much more like I feel we were intended the hear this album. On my system, and to my ears, and despite a detailed top end, the treble is never intrusive so I don't find myself making excuses for it like I do with some SACDs.

The only slightly uncomfortable aspect is a slightly over-blown bass on the title track but I only get this on speakers and I'm sure it's my system.

I am really very happy with this release and short of a total remix (which would come with other issues) I cannot see any reason to buy yet another version.

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Review by MacClaus October 24, 2012 (5 of 9 found this review helpful)
Performance:   Sonics:
I don't understand the rave reviews... The performance is stellar, the sound is lousy!

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