The prospect of reviewing new two new Rhino High Fidelity reissues featuring seminal recordings by hard-rockin’ proto-heavy metal pioneers Black Sabbath and Alice Cooper is both exciting and daunting. Both of these albums — Black Sabbath’s Paranoid (released in September 1970), and Alice Cooper’s Love It to Death (released in March 1971) — are iconic, and each bear their own legendary status among their fans. Like many classic rock recordings, each of them bears a very specific — and beloved — sonic time/place imprint that fans have become accustomed to over the years.
But are they of audiophile quality? Don’t get me wrong — both Paranoid and Love It to Death are great albums, and each rock madly in their own way. But, fidelity-wise, the respective original vinyl pressings of each of them that I’ve heard have generally sounded a bit on the sludgy side at times, especially when compared to other big productions of that era.
That sound template was a hybrid result of how those then-young bands played (usually loud!), how they were recorded (often live in the studio), and how much time they had to make their records (frequently quickly). These are some important concepts to keep in mind as we explore these two new reissues from Rhino’s wonderful ongoing High Fidelity audiophile boutique imprint, a curator of generally excellent audiophile-grade reissues that has seen to preserving the legendary archives of Warner Bros. and its many acquired labels.
Before we get into the album-by-album play-by-play, let’s first trace what we can about the underlying DNA that went into the making of these fine reissues, both of which came out on March 14, 2025. From official Rhino press materials, we learn: “To ensure an unmatched listening experience, Kevin Gray [of Cohearant Audio] expertly cuts lacquers and Optimal (in Germany) handles the 180-gram vinyl pressing. The attention to detail extends to the aesthetic experience, with glossy covers and ‘tip-on’ jackets reminiscent of vinyl’s golden age.” Both of these albums come housed in nice, goth-appropriate black, plastic-lined, audiophile-grade inner sleeves, and there is even an accompanying LP-size booklet with new essays and historic photos included in them.
A sizable — but ultimately limited — run of 5,000 individually numbered copies are typically made for what’s put out under the Rhino High Fidelity series umbrella. However, take note that we feel it is quite wise to act sooner than later if you are considering buying a particular Rhino Hi Fi series title. I have missed out on some of these titles early on myself, I must admit. At any rate, the SRP for each album is $39.98 respectively, and they both can be ordered directly from the Rhino High Fidelity section of Rhino’s Special Edition Shop .
[AP editor Mike Mettler adds: Mark is absolutely spot-on with his “act now!” suggestion. As of this posting, Paranoid is available only in an unnumbered edition — the numbered edition is sold out, but the unnumbered edition uses the same source materials, so not to worry — while Love It to Death remains available in its limited/numbered edition.]
The fact is, both Paranoid and Love It to Death are important and iconic albums to their respective fanbases, and for the hard rock and metal genres overall. Let’s get to the reviewing, then — Alice first, Sabbath next.
ALICE COOPER
LOVE IT TO DEATH
180g 1LP (Warner Records/Rhino)
MUSIC: 8
SOUND: 8
After two fine but under-the-radar albums, it was the band’s Bob Ezrin-produced third LP, March 1971’s Love It to Death, that put Detroit’s Alice Cooper on the rocket to rock & roll stardom. It set the stage for their ascent to hard, shock-rocking, Godfather-like status with subsequent hit Warner Bros. LPs like November 1971’s Killer, June 1972’s School’s Out, and February 1973’s Billion Dollar Babies. (Footnote 1)
Love It to Death has long since become a platinum seller, and it also makes it onto many all-time best-album lists to this day. In fact, its breakout hit single, “I’m Eighteen,” has gone on to generate 54 million streams (and counting) on one of those popular streaming services — but we prefer listening to it on vinyl, of course.
Of these two Rhino High Fidelity releases, I’ve been able to do a more direct comparison with Love It to Death because I happen to have an original U.S. first pressing — on Frank Zappa’s Straight Records label, with the thumb on the cover — in very good condition, and it’s something of a rarity of in its own right, actually.
I quite enjoyed my refresher listen to this new edition, which reminded me not only how good a record Love It to Death is, but also what a great producer Bob Ezrin was from the start. Here, Ezrin captured the hard-rocking sound of a group that was dancing on the fringes of late-1960s psychedelia, electric hard rock, and what would become better known as heavy metal. I really like this new version, and it sounds pretty great! The 180g black vinyl is well-centered, and dead-quiet. The packaging is exemplary, and I have no problems with its presentation.
But herein lies the rub — as great as the new Rhino High Fidelity edition of Love It to Death sounds, I was left wondering if it is actually, well, “right.” I wonder if perhaps some of the original mastering aesthetic was compromised in the pursuit of a crisper presentation. This is more of a point of discussion than a complaint, mind you, as I myself am a bit on the fence about this two-sided issue. Does this new version of Love It to Death sound the way the album should sound? Opening up and freeing the album of things like compression certainly makes for a higher-fidelity offering, but it also doesn’t feel quite the same as the original 1971 LP does — but, again, I am uncertain whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. If you love the music that comprises Love It to Death, you’ll no doubt want this new edition, but do go into this knowing it’s a little bit of a different listening experience.
What are those differences, you ask? Well, for starters, the high end isn’t as crisp on my original 1971 Straight LP, and Neal Smith’s drums are a bit more subdued overall. It’s all there, but you’d probably have to turn up the album much louder to get some of the same impact as on the new edition. The original Love It to Death sounded like many ’70s rock albums sounded, frankly — a bit reined in.
For example, when playing “I’m Eighteen” (Side 1, Track 2) on the new Rhino High Fidelity edition, Smith’s drums are much, much crisper sounding, and Cooper’s harmonica comes across brighter and more vividly. Glen Buxton and Michael Bruce’s guitars are also a bit more open. You can feel more of the studio presence during the verses, and Dennis Dunaway’s bass is much tighter. There is no question that it sounds pretty great — but, again, it sounds a bit different! Of course, we can always go back and listen to our original pressings, and I will probably hold onto mine as well as retain this new reissue for that very reason. It has been nice to be able to compare and contrast them — and, besides, it took me decades to find a clean OG copy anyway!
All in all, musically, I give Rhino High Fidelity’s new edition of Love It to Death a solid rating of 8 for its Music, because it is a really good hard-rock record of the period, and it marks the start of the success trajectory Alice Cooper would take over their next several albums (which got better and better as they went along). Soundwise, the Love It to Death reissue also ranks a solid 8, even though it is technically better sounding than my original 1971 Straight Records pressing — and thus, some of you might want to rank it a notch higher.
Footnote 1: Mark adds — I reviewed Rhino’s recent reissues of Alice Cooper’s Killer and School’s Out together in June 2023 while Mike Mettler covered Billion Dollar Babies in January 2024 .
ALICE COOPER
LOVE IT TO DEATH
180g 1LP (Warner Records/Rhino)
Side 1
1. Caught In A Dream
2. I’m Eighteen
3. Long Way To Go
4. Black Juju
Side 2
1. Is It My Body
2. Hallowed Be My Name
3. Second Coming
4. Ballad Of Dwight Fry
5. Sun Arise
BLACK SABBATH
PARANOID
180g 1LP (Warner Records/Rhino)
MUSIC: 9
SOUND: 8
Commonly listed in those “greatest albums of all time” roundups, Black Sabbath’s September 1970 masterpiece, Paranoid, has been certified as a 4x-platinum-seller. It remains the band’s most popular album, having reached the No. 1 spot on the UK albums chart back in the day. Even today, the title track has enjoyed 1.3 billion streams (and counting) on one of the most popular streaming services — making it one of the most-streamed rock songs ever, in fact — but we, of course, prefer hearing it on vinyl.
Full disclosure: Paranoid was harder for me to review than Love It to Death, in part because I’ve never been a deep Black Sabbath fanatic, and thus don’t have at my fingertips an original pressing to compare this new edition to. I do like the band just fine, and I remember listening to Paranoid when I was a kid when my brother’s friends brought over Sabbath’s first two LPs to spin. (His junior-high rock band used to cover a couple Sabbath tunes!) And certainly throughout college, many of my friends played Paranoid in the dorms and at parties and such — so I get it, and I know it. But please don’t scream at me for not owning a rare original Vertigo UK pressing, okay?
In fact, in preparing for this review, I referred back to the recent hi-res stereo mix from Rhino’s 2023 Quadio SACD edition of Paranoid as a starting reference point. Thus, this review is not quite an “apples to apples” comparison, per se, but I went ahead doing it this way because the SACD sounded better than the early-2000s 180g vinyl reissue I previously owned (which I have since purged from my collection).
With all that in mind, I’m happy to report that this new Rhino High Fidelity version of Paranoid certainly sounds better than the stereo version on the SACD! In general, the new Rhino High Fidelity LP sounds rounder and more three-dimensional than the stereo mix on the Quadio disc (which is a bit surprising, as the actual quad mix was pretty cool-sounding, as I remember it).
Tony Iommi’s guitars sound quite massive on the new Rhino High Fidelity edition of Paranoid when you turn up the volume on your amp, especially on iconic songs like “Iron Man” (Side 1, Track 4) and the title track (Side 1, Track 2).
The sense of separation on this new Rhino Hi FI release is very much improved over what I remember from my old vinyl edition (and the SACD, for that matter). It is kind of remarkable that original producer Rodger Bain was able to get as much definition on tape as he did, as the basic tracks for the album were apparently recorded live in the studio, with all the band members in the same room. From the liner notes, we learn some insights from engineer Tom Allom, who recorded this album in two days at Regent Sound and Island in London: “I think the guitar was the loudest thing I ever heard in my life. I think he [Iommi] had two 4 x 12s in that room at Regent. God, it was loud. Absolutely deafening, I’m surprised he could hear [Bill Ward’s] drums.” Inevitably, there would have likely been some bleedthrough of instruments across the microphones, which is probably contributing a fair amount to the somewhat dense sonic footprint here.
With all that in mind, as far as sound quality goes, I’m happy to give this new Rhino High Fidelity edition of Black Sabbath’s Paranoid a 9 for the Music, as it’s got so many iconic, classic tracks on it. And I am giving it an 8 for its relatively good Sound, all things considered, given how it was recorded very quickly in a relatively small studio under arguably less than ideal conditions. Overall, as this particular flavor of metal-leaning hard rock goes, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid sounds mighty, mighty fine on this new Rhino High Fidelity edition. (Footnote 2)
Footnote 2: Mettler adds — I happen to have too many LP pressings of Paranoid to count, but I can jump in at this point and say the Rhino Hi Fi edition is crisp, clean, and as powerful as you’d want, and expect. I’d rate it as a 9.5 for Music and an 8.5 for Sound, and might eventually go higher on the latter, the more I live with it. Now, if you like your Sabbath to sound muddy/muddier on wax, by all means, seek out one of those decades-earlier UK Vertigo pressings. But this 2025 edition beats Gray’s 2006 cut and the 2023 reissue, imo.
Incidentally, if you can’t get enough of listening to Black Sabbath’s Paranoid, check out my August 2022 Remaster Class assessment of its myriad of format options on our sister site, Sound & Vision.
BLACK SABBATH
PARANOID
180g 1LP (Warner Records/Rhino)
Side 1
1. War Pigs
2. Paranoid
3. Planet Caravan
4. Iron Man
Side 2
1. Electric Funeral
2. Hand Of Doom
3. Rat Salad
4. Fairies Wear Boots
Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for AudiophileReview.com, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V.
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