LogFAQs > #956864708

59. Radiohead Paranoid Android (1997)
from the album OK Computer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt8AfIeJOxw

Key lyrics:
When I am king
You will be first against the wall

Though not the most famous Radiohead track, Paranoid Android is easily the most definitive this is a song that explores nearly every inch of the bands sound. Like Bohemian Rhapsody and Happiness is a Warm Gun before it, Paranoid Android transitions between several distinct segments, all capturing a significant mood. While starting with the same spacey sound that defines much of OK Computer, it soon dives into a hard guitar rocker. The song then hits the brakes, Thom Yorke singing with several layers far above a downtempo beat.

The key to Paranoid Android is it lets these sequences play out for extended periods, and all three are just as engaging separately as they are together. The opening does more to establish an atmosphere than to play to traditional rock elements, though the riffs are nevertheless iconic. This is the segment that showcases Radiohead as the great experimenters of the 90s. While the middle sequence is more traditional, it is a perfect tension builder. The guitar part is unfathomably cool, first acting to support Thom Yorkes aggressive rambling before shooting even higher on its own. The transition into the next sequence is so vital, as if the guitar is pushing so hard that it gives out entirely.

Rock rhapsodies can live and die by their quietest segment; nothing is worse than getting into a groove and being spit out onto something that loses all energy. Paranoid Android is so successful because its slow finale takes on the atmosphere of a sweeping epic. Though sonically similar to some of their lighter songs, this sequence benefits by carrying over the earlier tension, resulting in an experience like sitting before a mad god. Tying everything together, the guitar rockets back in. Exemplifying the juxtaposition, the same sound that provided tension after the second section transforms into a cathartic release after the third.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/