{"id":1742947,"date":"2026-01-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1742947"},"modified":"2026-01-25T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T21:00:00","slug":"geezer-butler-on-black-sabbaths-paranoid-album-cover-its-the-worst-cover-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1742947","title":{"rendered":"GEEZER BUTLER On BLACK SABBATH’s Paranoid Album Cover: “It’s The Worst Cover Ever”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Black Sabbath<\/strong> didn’t set out to change music forever \u2014 in fact, they barely thought they’d survive a few years. Speaking at last December’s Steel City Con<\/em>, bassist Geezer Butler<\/strong> looked back on the band’s earliest days and admitted that rock immortality was the last thing on their minds when Sabbath<\/strong> released their groundbreaking debut in 1970.<\/p>\n

“We thought we’d last about two or three years at the most when we put the first album out,” Butler<\/strong> told the audience (via Ultimate Guitar<\/em>). “Everybody completely slagged it in the press. They hated us, calling us Satanists and all this crap, because they didn’t really listen to the lyrics.”<\/p>\n

Any doubts about Sabbath<\/strong>‘s future were erased later in 1970 with the release of Paranoid<\/em>, the band’s second album and eventual breakthrough. It remains their only UK No. 1 album until 2013’s 13, and the title track \u2014 despite Iommi<\/strong> feeling it didn’t fully represent the band’s sound \u2014 became Sabbath<\/strong>‘s biggest hit, peaking at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.<\/p>\n

But while Paranoid<\/em> cemented Sabbath<\/strong>‘s legacy sonically, Butler<\/strong> has long had issues with its visuals. “We thought that was a terrible cover,” he said. “[It came from] my manager at the time, [whom] we quickly left. I still don’t know what the cover represents. Some guy dressed up with a sword. It is the worst cover ever.”<\/p>\n

According to Tony Iommi<\/strong>, the confusion around the Paranoid<\/em> artwork stems from a last-minute title change. Speaking in 2020, he explained that the album was originally meant to be called War Pigs<\/em>, with the cover designed to reflect that concept.<\/p>\n

“The album cover on ‘Paranoid’ has nothing to do with ‘Paranoid’ [the song],” Iommi<\/strong> said. “It was going to be called ‘War Pigs,’ so we had a bloke with the shield and a sword, which remotely made sense \u2014 more so than ‘Paranoid.'”<\/p>\n

However, the title was deemed too controversial at the time. “They banned that, you couldn’t use it as a title in them days,” Iommi<\/strong> added. “It was so awkward for us to move forward with things.”\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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