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Black Sabbath : Paranoid 1Y1 / 2Y1 2nd Vertigo Press 1970

This second pressing plays to a very high standard with only minimal interference as detailed below.  There is a little interference on the opening section of 'Planet Caravan' but the remainder is very impressive.  'Hand Of Doom' is another track with a number of quiet sections and yet it plays with great clarity throughout.  The remaining tracks play with genuine quality and barely any intrusion.

As this is such an early pressing the cover is not laminated and it remains in excellent condition with only a little wear mainly on the bottom edges and corners.  The original Vertigo inner is in very good condition.

This second pressing has a large Vertigo swirl on the label and there is no break between 'Hand Of Doom' and 'Rat Salad' on S2 making it look as if there are three tracks on the side.  There is no Big Bear credit on the inside of the gatefold.

6360011 1Y//1▽420 1 2  6

6360011 2Y//1▽420 1 1  1 8

The audio on S1 is Mint(-) (T2 Ex+ / T3 opening section VG then Ex+ for remainder)

The audio on S2 is Near Mint- (T1 Mint- with a VG fade out / T3 Mint-)

The gatefold is a very strong Ex-

The Vertigo inner sleeve is VG+ 

The labels are Near Mint-

Visual description

The vinyl is in excellent condition and still has a strong glossy look with no actual scratches.  There are some faint hairlines with one on S2 that is a little more obvious but they are superficial as they have no impact on the audio.  There is no groove or surface wear and the Vertigo labels are very clean with only some spindle wear mainly around the centre.

Play grading

The lead in grooves do have a little interference and minor jump but this is before 'War Pigs' begins!  The intro then plays with that deep rich sound quality and no background.  The 'air-raid' section could not play any better and Ward's quiet percussive section is near perfect with only a couple of minor statics.  Osbourne's opening vocal has no intrusion and the following instrumental is just as strong.  The next 'high powered' vocal section is perfect and it continues to play with stunning clarity, depth and power.  There are no ticks, clicks, pops or static and the sonic quality is hugely impressive!  The mid instrumental can only be described 'as new' and the next quiet percussive piece has literally no background and the following vocal is equal to that.  The classic end section again plays so clearly and I am confident in grading this as Mint such is the quality.  What a start!

'Paranoid' plays with great quality from the get go.  Osbourne's vocal is very high in the mix throughout and whilst there are a small number of statics / ticks they are very quiet and very much in the background.  The clarity of sound is actually very strong and there is no 'muddiness' to the sound and no distortion either.  Let's say Ex+

'Planet Caravan' as we know is very susceptible to interference but the majority here plays extremely well.  The intro has some light ticks and a click and the opening two verses then play with only a small number of light ticks with only one that is a little more obvious.  The remaining vocal from The Earth, a purple blaze plays with sublime clarity and Iommi's delicate end section is similar with barely any background.  I will grade the opening section as VG but the rest has to grade as Ex+ at the very least.

The intro on 'Iron Man' is more or less perfect with one minor static only and Iommi's first riff is perfect as is the opening vocal.  From then on it plays with impeccable quality - there is no inner groove distortion and the clarity, depth and resonance of the audio is up there with the best I have heard.  The closing instrumental is outstanding!  Butler's deep bass adding so much to the sonic 'landscape'.  A Mint- conclusion to the side.

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The intro and opening vocal on 'Electric Funeral' play perfectly and it continues in the same way with zero intrusion.  Ward's intro into the mid instrumental is just as clean and I only noticed a couple of minor statics in the next section.  Osbourne's powerful vocal is so strong and clear and the remainder does not disappoint either.  The long fade out has a few statics / couple of static clicks at the end so I will grade that part as VG but the rest is easily Mint-

The quiet bass intro on 'Hand Of Doom' plays with exceptional clarity and Osbourne's opening vocal has no interference either.  The first 'louder' passage is flawless and next quieter section again has no intrusion.  This track much like Planet Caravan is often affected by static etc but this has to be one of the cleanest I have heard in a long time.  The high octane section is stunning - it has lost none of its original power and there is no interference, just a couple of very quiet statics.  Iommi's solo towards the end has not so much as a dust tick and the following quiet bass / percussive piece plays with remarkable clarity once more.  There is a small section of static prior to the fade out but that really is the only background across the entire track so I think Near Mint- is deserved here.

'Rat Salad' plays with superb audio through every instrumental section with no sign of any interference.  Ward's solo towards the end is a case in point, amazing clarity!  This is Mint all the way.

The entire intro on 'Fairies Wear Boots' plays with stunning quality and again you notice how important Ward and Butler were to the Sabbath sound, great work here!  Osbourne's opening vocal is just as impressive and the standard does not drop as it progresses.  For a final track the sonic quality is so strong and there is no inner groove distortion whatsoever.  The mid instrumental does have one click sound but that is the only intrusion across the entire track.  The final vocal and closing section plays with real quality and if not for that one click it would be Mint but I still think Near Mint- is a fair assessment of the audio.

The Gatefold & Vertigo Inner Sleeve

The non-laminated cover is in excellent shape with only minimal wear.  The majority of this wear is on the bottom edges which do have some rubbing and rest of it is very clean indeed.  The top edges have only a small amount of rubbing and the wide spine remains strong and clean with only a few edge creases and some wear on the bottom corner.  The opening edge has hardly any handling wear.  The front cover is in lovely condition with very minimal by the bottom edge and some of the usual edge creases next to the spine.  The back cover is very similar but with some faint imprinted writing scored onto it which you can only see when you hold the cover at a certain angle.  The inside of the gatefold is stunning with only a couple of minor spots, a very strong example overall.

The Vertigo inner has a few spots in one corner and one side split but is otherwise very clean and barely any creasing.

Play tested on my Rega P2 with AT-VM95EN Cart / Denon PMA-520AE Amp / B&W 684 Speakers

This record has been cleaned on my Pro-Ject VC-S machine

6360011 1Y//1▽420 1 2  6

6360011 2Y//1▽420 1 1  1 8

I grade according to "Record Collector" guidelines.

Any questions please feel free to ask

Please pay within 4 days of auction end

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Postage & Packaging

I will only send items items worldwide via tracked shipping.  This provides 'peace of mind' in case of loss or damage.  The shipping costs are shown below and combined shipping is always offered.  Any over-payment will always be refunded.

The Royal Mail only insure up to a value of £250 so if an item sells for more it may be wise to use a courier service (e.g. Parcelforce or DPD).  An extra insurance premium will be required but I will not know the exact amount until the final sale price is known.  Because of this I will sometimes have to estimate the cost and this will be shown in the listing.  Please wait for the invoice before making payment and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.  Many thanks.

All vinyls are packaged in strong over-sized custom made mailers with plenty of extra cardboard protection.  They are placed inside separate poly-lined inners outside the cover so as to avoid seam splits in transit and then placed inside a PVC sleeve to provide even more protection.  I pride myself on my high quality packaging as my feed confirms and if any customer has any specific requirements I am more than happy to help.

The mailers I use cost £1.00 each and I will use anything between 3-5 cardboard stiffeners which cost approx £0.18 each.  There is also the cost of the poly-lined inner and PVC sleeve to consider, it all adds up!  Not forgetting that eBay take 10% of the shipping fee also!!

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