Paranoid Android

by Radiohead

Paranoid Android cover art
  • Type: Single
  • Released: 26 May 1997
  • Label: Parlophone
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Length: 25:23
  • Community rating: 4.51/5 from 6 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

A multi-part suite inspired by the structure of 'Happiness Is a Warm Gun', this epic explicitly showcased Radiohead's departure from traditional verse-chorus formats. Fusing acoustic melancholy, jarring 7/8 time signatures, and Jonny Greenwood's violently erratic guitar solos, the track channels extreme technological and social paranoia. Its challenging structure defied commercial logic yet became one of the most defining rock anthems of the 1990s.

Genres

Descriptors: progressive, complex, alienation, suite, orchestral

Tracklist

  1. Paranoid Android (6:27)
  2. Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2) (4:22)
  3. Pearly (3:33)
  4. A Reminder (3:51)
  5. Melatonin (2:09)
  6. Let Down (4:59)

Credits

  • Radiohead - primary artist, producer [produced by], written-by
  • Nigel Godrich - producer [produced by]

More from Radiohead: full discography