Editing Black Sabbath (section)

===1969–1971: ''Black Sabbath'' and ''Paranoid''===
The band's first show as Black Sabbath took place on 30 August 1969 in [[Workington]], England.{{sfn|Iommi|2012}} They were signed to [[Philips Records]] in November 1969.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/black-sabbath/bio/ |title=Black Sabbath Biography &#124; The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum |publisher=Rockhall.com |access-date=4 July 2011 |archive-date=28 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628090320/http://rockhall.com/inductees/black-sabbath/bio/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> They recorded their first single, "[[Evil Woman (Crow song)|Evil Woman]]" (a cover of a song by the band [[Crow (band)|Crow]]), at [[Trident Studios]]. "Evil Woman" was released on 9 January 1970 through Philips subsidiary [[Fontana Records]]. Later releases were handled by Philips' newly formed progressive rock label, [[Vertigo Records]]. "Evil Woman" failed to chart.

The band were afforded two days of studio time in November 1969 to record their debut album with producer [[Rodger Bain]]. Iommi recalls recording live: "We thought, 'We have two days to do it, and one of the days is mixing.' So we played live. Ozzy was singing at the same time; we just put him in a separate booth and off we went. We never had a second run of most of the stuff".{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=38}}

On 11 November 1969 Black Sabbath recorded a four-song session for [[John Peel]]'s ''Top Gear'' radio show.<ref name=big>{{Cite web|url=https://bigtakeover.com/essays/black-sabbath-the-lost-acetates-and-early-recordings|title=Black Sabbath - The Lost Acetates and Early Recordings|website=Bigtakeover.com}}</ref> The four songs were "[[Black Sabbath (song)|Black Sabbath]]", "[[N.I.B.]]", "Behind the Wall of Sleep" and "Sleeping Village". Broadcast on 29 November 1969, this gave them their first exposure to a UK wide audience.{{sfn|Iommi|2012}}

[[File:Black Sabbath (1970).jpg|thumb|left|Black Sabbath at [[Piccadilly Circus]], London in 1970 (left to right: Iommi, Ward, Osbourne, Butler)]]
Their debut album ''[[Black Sabbath (album)|Black Sabbath]]'' was released on [[Friday the 13th]], February 1970, and reached number eight in the [[UK Albums Chart]]. Following its U.S. and Canadian release in May 1970 by [[Warner Bros. Records]], the album reached number 23 on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], where it remained for over a year.<ref name="billboard_200">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/black-sabbath-mn0000771438/awards|title=Black Sabbath – Awards|website=AllMusic|access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="rollingstonebiography">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/black-sabbath/biography|title=Black Sabbath – Biography|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=8 February 2013}}</ref> The album was given negative reviews by many critics. [[Lester Bangs]] dismissed it in a ''Rolling Stone'' review as "discordant jams with bass and guitar reeling like velocitised speedfreaks all over each other's musical perimeters, yet never quite finding synch".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Bangs|first=Lester|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/black-sabbath-19700917|title=Black Sabbath – Album Review|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=17 September 1970|access-date=8 February 2013|archive-date=25 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725071959/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/black-sabbath-19700917|url-status=dead}}</ref> It sold in substantial numbers despite being panned, giving the band their first mainstream exposure.<ref>Black Sabbath album, inside book details, re-release, compact disc version</ref> It has since been [[Music recording sales certification|certified Platinum]] in both U.S. by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]] (RIAA) and in the UK by [[British Phonographic Industry]] (BPI),<ref name="riaa"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bpi.co.uk/certified-awards.aspx |title=Certified Awards |publisher=British Phonographic Industry (BPI) |access-date=8 February 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315204844/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certified-awards.aspx |archive-date=15 March 2015}}</ref> and is now generally accepted as the first heavy metal album.<ref>{{cite book|last= Wagner|first= Jeff|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZwZcZ2X5ToC&pg=PA10|title= Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal|publisher= [[Bazillion Points Books]]|year= 2010|isbn= 978-0979616334| page=10}}</ref>

The band returned to the studio in June 1970, just four months after ''Black Sabbath'' was released. The new album was initially set to be named ''War Pigs'' after the song "[[War Pigs]]", which was critical of the [[Vietnam War]]; however, Warner changed the title of the album to ''[[Paranoid (album)|Paranoid]]''. The album's lead single, "[[Paranoid (Black Sabbath song)|Paranoid]]", was written in the studio at the last minute. Ward explains: "We didn't have enough songs for the album, and Tony just played the [Paranoid] guitar lick and that was it. It took twenty, twenty-five minutes from top to bottom."{{sfn|Rosen|1996|p=57}} The single was released in September 1970 and reached number four on the [[UK Singles Chart]], remaining Black Sabbath's only top 10 hit.<ref name="rollingstonebiography"/> The album followed in the UK in October 1970, where, pushed by the success of the "Paranoid" single, it reached number one on the [[UK Albums Chart]].

The U.S. release was held off until January 1971, as the ''Black Sabbath'' album was still on the chart at the time of ''Paranoid''{{'}}s UK release. The album reached No. 12 in the U.S. in March 1971,<ref name="billboard_200"/> and would go on to sell four million copies in the U.S.<ref name="riaa"/> with virtually no radio airplay.<ref name="rollingstonebiography"/> Like ''Black Sabbath'', the album was panned by rock critics of the era, but modern-day reviewers such as AllMusic's Steve Huey cite ''Paranoid'' as "one of the greatest and most influential heavy metal albums of all time", which "defined the sound and style of heavy metal more than any other record in rock history".<ref>{{cite web|last=Huey|first=Steve|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/paranoid-mw0000600570|title=Paranoid – Review|website=AllMusic|access-date=9 February 2013}}</ref> The album was ranked at number 131 on ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/black-sabbath-paranoid-20120524|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: (131) Black Sabbath – Paranoid|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=9 February 2013|date=31 May 2012|archive-date=26 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126184915/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/black-sabbath-paranoid-20120524|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''Paranoid''{{'}}s chart success allowed the band to tour the U.S. for the first time – their first U.S. show was at a club called Ungano's at 210 West 70th Street in New York City<ref name="osbourneautobiography">{{cite book |last=Osbourne |first=Ozzy |author-link=Ozzy Osbourne |title=I Am Ozzy |year=2011 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=978-0-446-56990-3}}</ref> – and spawned the release of the album's second single, "[[Iron Man (song)|Iron Man]]". Although the single failed to reach the top 40, it remains one of Black Sabbath's most popular songs, as well as the band's highest-charting U.S. single until 1998's "[[Psycho Man (Black Sabbath song)|Psycho Man]]".<ref name="billboard_200"/>