A cover of Black Sabbath's Paranoid to honor the recently departed Ozzy Osbourne, rest in peace!

I wasn't originally planning on recording this song, especially not for this album cycle, however Ozzy's passing inspired me to.

I've been playing this song for years. It's probably the first song I ever learned to play in full on guitar when I took up the instrument all those years ago. Basically any time I've been in a group of musicians and we're jamming we'll fuck around with this song. Seems like everyone knows it. My old band Megaton use to cover this song, and there is live footage of us performing it with the original lineup.

I was a bit paranoid about recording and releasing Paranoid. It's such a giant, well loved song and I typically shy away from doing the expected thing when it comes to music, but I knew this song very well on every instrument and I was able to get it tracked in an afternoon; twice even! Because my DAW crashed and I lost the first takes of the drums and Bass VI. I think it turned out better for it, I was more pissed off when I recorded it a second time.

General Malaise is a song from my upcoming album Just Another Day and it features a similar theme about depression, specifically tied to the workplace.

credits

released August 13, 2025

Steven Wayne Smith - Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Bass VI, Drums, Production, Songwriting on General Malaise

Paranoid written by Iommi, Butler, Osbourne, Ward

Photography and Props - David Dick