Black Sabbath's Classic Reaches New Peaks, More Than Half A Century Later

Forbes

31-03-2025

Paranoid earns new chart highs for Black Sabbath more than 50 years after its release, thanks to a ... More limited-edition vinyl reissue that boosts sales. Black Sabbath: Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne (Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage)
Decades after it first arrived, Paranoid is once again giving Black Sabbath a reason to celebrate. The classic album is back on the Billboard charts this week, and it isn't just quietly returning. A massive sales spike has propelled the legendary rock release to new peaks, and while it may not be the band's highest-rising title of all time, it's one of the group's longest-charting, and it clearly still matters to a large number of fans all around the world.
The biggest jump for Paranoid this week comes on the Vinyl Albums chart. The beloved set returns to No. 11 on that wax-focused ranking. That position now stands as its best showing ever on the roster, which focuses solely on the bestselling vinyl titles in the nation. It misses the top 10 by just one rung, but that's still an impressive accomplishment for a title that was first released back in 1970.
On the Top Album Sales chart — Billboard's list of the bestselling releases of any genre or format in the U.S. — Paranoid returns at No. 25. That's another new personal best for the favorite from the heavy metal pioneers.
Paranoid also reappears on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, which only ranks titles that fall under that specific genre umbrella. While the set doesn't manage to soar higher than ever before on that roster, it does tie its previous best. This time around, the set is back at No. 17.
Even if Paranoid hasn't reached new heights across every tally on which it appears, the title is becoming one of the longest-running wins in the band's discography. On the Top Album Sales chart, the LP has now spent 11 weeks on the ranking, making it Black Sabbath's third-longest-charting title.
Over on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, Paranoid earns its sixth stay, which is just enough to push it past The Ultimate Collection and stand in second place among the group's longest-running efforts on that list.
On the Vinyl Albums chart, the classic collection is now tied with 13 as the band's most persistent success story. Both of those titles have now racked up four appearances on that ranking.
According to Luminate, Paranoid sold a little more than 3,800 copies in the U.S. last week. That's a huge jump from the frame before, when only around 700 albums were sold. That represents a 453% week-over-week increase in pure purchases.
This week's gains weren't random. Paranoid was just reissued in a special black vinyl, which was only made available in limited quantities. Only a few thousand copies were offered for sale, but that was more than enough to send it back to the Billboard charts – and in impressive positions, as well.