Paranoid is the breakthrough album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in January of 1971 (see 1971 in music); it soon topped the British music charts. Widely regarded as one of the pioneering recordings in heavy metal, the album established some of the conventions of the genre.
Paranoid peaked at #12 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart (North America). The singles "Paranoid" and "Iron Man" peaked at #61 and #52, respectively, on the Pop singles chart.
