Wednesday, July 5, 2017

PRESS RELEASE: Paranoid Gets Analyzed! The Greatest Heavy Metal Album Explored in Depth

The Royal Publisher of Oz (www.theroyalpublisherofoz.com) has announced the availability of its new publication, Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics Vol 2: Songs of Protest & Apocalypse. The book is available on Createspace.com and Amazon.com.

Black Sabbath's multi-platinum selling Paranoid is one of the most successful and beloved hard rock albums. Rolling Stone magazine lists it as the "Greatest Metal Album of All Time," while Vibe magazine says it’s one of "100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century." Beyond its radio staples, “Paranoid,” “Iron Man” and “War Pigs,” Paranoid is “the blueprint for metal,” according to Judas Priest’s Rob Halford. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame writes that Black Sabbath "pursued such themes as war, social chaos, the supernatural, the afterlife, and the timeless conflict between good and evil." Yet, they note that Black Sabbath “remain one of the most misunderstood bands in rock history."

No longer! The second in a series of eight illustrated volumes written by Joe Bongiorno, Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics Vol 2: Songs of Protest & Apocalypse goes beneath the myths and stories to provide the definitive analysis of the band’s soul-searing messages and themes with an in-depth examination of every song found on their best-selling Paranoid.

Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics Vol 2: Songs of Protest & Apocalypse contains:

An exhaustive discussion of every lyric from their debut album Paranoid, including early versions of lyrics, such as "Walpurgis," and extra titles like "Jack the Stripper."

Over 200 powerful and haunting images from contemporary illustrators to arcane masters of old, as well as rarely seen band photos.

A revised libretto for every lyric that corrects the various mistakes that have been published over the years.

Parts 3 and 4 of the essay "Musical and Cultural Influences," exploring Black Sabbath's roots.

Edited by the creator of the "Philosophy and Popular Culture" series, William Irwin, who produced, Black Sabbath and Philosophy, and Rich Handley, creator of Hasslein Books, publisher of genre-based reference books.

For more information, see Createspace.com (use coupon code QFDHRUDB to save $5.00), or visit the Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics website (www.blacksabbathlyrics.net) and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/blacksabbathillustrated). 

ABOUT THE ROYAL PUBLISHER OF OZ

The Royal Publisher of Oz (www.theroyalpublisherofoz.com), founded in 2008 in Long Island, NY, began as a venue for publishing quality illustrated fantasy books written in L. Frank Baum's Oz universe. It was expanded to include illustrated non-fiction books in 2015, when it began work on the first in the eight-part series, Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics: Supernatural Horror in Music.  Upcoming titles include Vol 3: Prophets of Darkness & Light and Vol 4: The Land of Fairytales and Stories, with four additional volumes to follow.

Contact: joe@thewizardofoz.info

Black Sabbath: The Illustrated Lyrics site