"Radioactive" is a song by American pop rock band Imagine Dragons. It is from their major-label debut EP Continued Silence and later on their album, Night Visions (2012). It was first sent to modern rock radio on October 29, 2012. "Radioactive" is an electronic rock and pop rock song with parts of dubstep. In a 2021 podcast interview called The Turning Point, Dan Reynolds said that he had seen that the lyrics were actually about him not giving up hope after losing faith in Mormonism.
The song got positive reviews from critics. They praised the production, lyrics, and vocals. Because of high usage on many commercials and trailers, the song became a sleeper hit. It got to number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the band's first top 10 single. It was also the third best selling song in the United States in 2013. It also held the record for most weeks spent on the Billboard Hot 100 at 87 weeks, a record for 7 years. The song has also reached number one in Sweden and in the top 20 in many countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It became Imagine Dragons' most successful single to date. It has since been certified Diamond by the RIAA. It is one of the best selling singles of all time.
"Radioactive" got two Grammy Awards nominations for Record of the Year and Best Rock Performance. It won the award for Best Rock Performance. This was Imagine Dragons' first time being nominated.
It has a music video that came out on December 10, 2012. As of December 2021, the music video has over 1.4 billion views on YouTube. It is the group's third most viewed video. It also has over 9 million likes.
Composition
"Radioactive" was written by Imagine Dragons and producer Alex Da Kid. It is one of the more electronic tracks on Night Visions. It is also one of the darkest on the album. The song is an electronic rock and alternative rock song with parts of dubstep. The song's lyrics have apocalyptic and revolutionist themes. Examples for these themes from the lyrics are: 'I'm waking up to ash and dust' and 'This is it, the apocalypse'. Though the band has publicly kept its secularity, NPR music critic Ann Powers has said that the song has strong "religious or spiritual imagery". This imagery has, however, been common throughout the history of rock music.
Speaking on the song, lead singer Dan Reynolds said: The song is written in the key of B dorian. This is a mode of A major in which B is used as the tonic note.
Critical reception
"Radioactive" was released to positive reviews. AbsolutePunk gave it a positive review, saying that the acoustic part of the song was "haunting". They also said the chorus was "hypnotizing". Dara Hickey of Unreality Shout also reviewed it positively. She said the song was the "darkest moment" on the album. She also said that, like all the other songs on the album, "Radioactive" was successful in creating a sound that "never fails to take off and send fists skyward". IGN said that the song was "strangely intense and abrasive". They said that "Radioactive" was "perhaps the greatest calling card of Imagine Dragons".
Crave Online said the song was an "opening throb", saying that the song "sexes up the dub-flirtation with a verse hingeing on the line 'this is it, the apocalypse' and a triumphant chorus, with more than a few shades of Hip-Hop in the production", and that the song was as "radio-ready as they come". Our Vinyl said that the "power of this song is outstanding with heavy drums and more of an electronic feel than the rest of the album and strong, impressive vocals from front-man Dan Reynolds which are reciprocated throughout the LP." Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone was critical of the song, saying it was "a dour moaner that sound[s] like Chris Martin trying to write an Eminem ballad about the end of the world."
In 2018, Billboard ranked the song number two and Louder Sound number one on their lists of the 10 greatest Imagine Dragons songs.
It is also on the soundtrack for NBA 2K14, the first NBA 2K game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Credits
From Night Visions liner notes.