"Editorial abstract illustration evoking the emotional arc of a song titled "Machine Gun" by Portishead. Noticeable climb from quiet to loud. layered composition, overlapping color planes. Mood: heavy, intense, rebellious. Visual style: 2000s digital editorial aesthetic. Painterly, grainy film texture, muted palette with strategic accent colors. The composition should read left-to-right like a timeline — calm on one side, intensifying toward the other. Strictly no faces, no text, no logos, no literal objects, no band imagery. Pure color-field abstraction with emotional weight. 16:9 editorial format."
Balanced energy, right in the middle of 19,209 measured songs — measures out best for dinner.
95
BPM
Machine Gun by Portishead is 95 BPM — Andante (walking pace).
Half-time 48 BPM · Double-time 190 BPM · released 2008
Fan image for "Machine Gun"
An abstract illustration of what this song feels like. Each image is built from a prompt — the text description fed to the image generator. Listeners submit their own prompts, upvote the ones that fit best, and the top-voted prompt drives the next regeneration. After 100 image votes, we make a new picture.
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Song DNA
Notes: Sombre staccato beats create a relentless machine gun rattle effect, paired with high-pitched anguished vocals that build tension. A dystopian synth break adds abrupt electronic shifts amid the industrial percussion.
Misophonia Triggers
Recommended for: deep listening emotional release
Machine Gun is a dark trip-hop track featuring staccato beats mimicking gunfire, anguished high-pitched vocals by Beth Gibbons, and a dystopian synth breakdown.
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Hear it the way it was made
The right gear changes everything.
Moods: heavy, intense, rebellious
Traditions: trip-hop
Intense — what to expect
"Machine Gun" is in our intense band.
At least one of our five sensory dimensions crosses the threshold that means "this can be a lot." Most commonly: dynamic vocals or layered texture, or a dynamic range of 7/10. The full breakdown is below. If you arrived here looking for a calmer alternative, our use-case verdicts section flags songs with similar mood but lower intensity.
How this song sits on each sensory axis
A dynamic range of 7/10 means this song moves. Expect a real volume climb between quiet sections and the loudest part of the arrangement — enough that you may want to set the initial volume below where you'd normally land.
Sudden changes: present. This song uses surprise as a feature. For focus or background listening, it's likely to pull your attention away; for active listening, that's often the point.
Texture is layered — a full arrangement with clear separation between parts.
Predictability is medium — conventional structure overall, with one or two moments that deviate from what you'd expect.
Vocal style: dynamic vocals.
Where this sits in Portishead's catalog
We have 32 songs from Portishead in the library. Of those, 4 are rated Safe, 20 Moderate, and 8 Intense. This song's dynamic range of 7/10 sits above the artist average of 5.8, making it the #10 most dynamic track of theirs in our library.
Other tracks from Third
We have 11 songs from this album. Overall, the album leans moderate in sensory profile.
- Silence — intense DR 7
- Hunter — moderate DR 6
- Nylon Smile — moderate DR 6
- The Rip — safe DR 5
- Plastic — intense DR 8
- We Carry On — moderate DR 6
- Deep Water — safe DR 3
- Magic Doors — moderate DR 6
- Threads — intense DR 8
- Pedestal — moderate DR 7
2008 context
Released in 2008. We have 259 songs from that year in our library, averaging a dynamic range of 6.4/10. This track is about average than the year average. Explore more from the 2000s.
Explore by mood and tradition
Traditions
trip-hop · 115How fast is "Machine Gun"?
95 BPM — Medium (midtempo / pop ballad)
For running
Too slow for most running; good for warm-up walks or cool-down.
For workouts
Warm-up, cool-down, yoga, stretching.
For daily life
Morning coffee, deep work, commute wind-down.
Browse more songs at 95 BPM.
When "Machine Gun" works, and when it doesn't
Use-case verdicts computed from the song's tempo, dynamics, and sensory profile.
✗
Focus / studying
No — too dynamic or too many surprises. Save for active listening.
✗
Running / workout
No — 95 BPM is too slow for sustained cardio.
✗
Sleep / winding down
No — contains elements that will keep an awake nervous system engaged.
~
Driving / road trip
Maybe — the intensity / sudden changes are fine for solo highway driving but skip for city or rainy-weather driving.
✗
Cooking / dinner background
No — too active to function as background; will pull attention away from what you're doing.
✓
Emotional release / catharsis
Yes — this is a song for actively feeling what you came to feel, not for background.
Related reading
Editorial guides that cover this song's use cases, moods, or artist.
Every Portishead album ranked by how much dread it leaves in the room
Portishead made only three albums in fourteen years — and each one rearranges something in your chest. A sensory deep-dive into trip-hop's m…
I rated every Billie Eilish album by emotional intensity
From bedroom ASMR whispers to walls of distortion — a deep sensory dive into all three Billie Eilish studio albums and what each one actuall…
Why minor keys aren't actually sad — the music theory lie everyone repeats
The major-equals-happy minor-equals-sad rule falls apart in five minutes of real listening. What actually predicts a song's emotional weight…
Why this rating
We rate this song Intense. Our rule is deliberately conservative: any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, harsh texture, or a strained/screamed vocal is enough to trigger Intense on its own. Full scoring rubric: methodology.
This song in the Music Studio
60/100 intensity
See how “Machine Gun” sits against your own sensitivities, or use it as a waypoint in a calmer set.
Listen on
Spotify and YouTube links go direct to the track when we have the ID; otherwise they search for it. Embed this sensory profile on your site →
If this one is too much: sensory-overload protection
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Rating last reviewed: 2026-04-13. Reviewed by the Music I Want editorial team against the documented methodology.
Think this rating is wrong? Contact the editor — every message is read and ratings get revised.
By the numbers: how this song compares
Computed from this song’s place among the 19,209 songs we’ve measured.
Where it sits in 19,000 songs
On our 19k-song scale this lands in the middle band — more energetic than 77% of songs, calmer than the other 23%. Its intensity reading of 60/100 comes from a dynamic range of 7/10, layered texture, moderate shifts, and dynamic vocals. Relatively few songs occupy this exact corner of the spectrum.
What makes it unusual
What stands out most about this song is blazing intensity: more extreme on that axis than 77% of everything we've measured. At the far opposite end of the library sit the songs built on near-total stillness — steady volume, no surprises, a slow and unhurried pulse — the kind of track this one is the counterpoint to.
Feels almost identical to
No More Lies — Iron Maiden · 99%Following Eyes — Soccer Mommy · 99%GHOST! — Kid Cudi · 99%Wicked Games — The Weeknd · 99%
Closest matches by feel across all 19,209 measured songs — not by genre or artist, by how they actually move.
What it’s good for
Sleep0/10
Focus3/10
Workout4/10
Dinner6/10
Party / hype4/10
Scored from this song’s tempo, intensity, dynamics and texture — not crowd votes.
2008 in context
The 259 songs we’ve measured from 2008 average a dynamic range of 6.4/10. At 7/10, this track is right in line with its year.
Mixes smoothly with
Within a few BPM and close in feel — they flow without a jarring transition.
The fingerprint
Intensity60
Dynamics67
Tempo31
Surprise50
Density33
Predictability50
Vocal force75
Trigger load38
The 8-dimension measurement behind every rating on this page.
Frequently asked about "Machine Gun"
Quick answers pulled from the song's sensory analysis.
What is the BPM of "Machine Gun" by Portishead?
"Machine Gun" by Portishead has a tempo of 95 BPM (Andante (walking pace)). At half-time that is 48 BPM, and at double-time 190 BPM.
What is the sensory intensity of "Machine Gun" by Portishead?
"Machine Gun" by Portishead rates as Intense. Dynamic range 7/10, moderate sudden changes, layered texture, dynamic vocals vocal style. Any one of high dynamic range, present sudden changes, or harsh texture triggers the Intense rating.
How loud is "Machine Gun" — what is its dynamic range?
"Machine Gun" has a dynamic range of 7/10. Noticeable climb from quiet sections to loudest point. Set opening volume slightly lower than your preferred peak.
Does "Machine Gun" have sudden or surprising changes?
Yes. "Machine Gun" uses surprise as a compositional feature. Expect unsignaled transitions.
What is "Machine Gun" best for?
In our library "Machine Gun" is recommended for: deep listening, emotional release. These tags are assigned only where the song's sensory profile genuinely supports the use case.
When was "Machine Gun" released?
"Machine Gun" is from 2008, on the album "Third". It appears in our 2000s catalog.
What is the emotional mood of "Machine Gun"?
We tag "Machine Gun" as heavy, intense, rebellious. Moods are tonal descriptors based on how the song reads emotionally — separate from the sensory intensity axes.
What is the vocal style of "Machine Gun"?
The vocal style is dynamic vocals.
Is "Machine Gun" good for running?
Not really — at 95 BPM it's below most running cadences. Better for warm-up, cool-down, or walking. Recreational runners typically step at 140-175 BPM.
Is "Machine Gun" good for studying?
Only partially. The song's dynamic range (7/10) means there will be loud moments that break focus during deep work.
Can I use "Machine Gun" for sleep?
Not recommended for sleep. Too intense overall.
Should I listen to "Machine Gun"?
"Machine Gun" is Intense in our ratings — dramatic dynamics, possible sudden changes, or strong vocal or textural energy. Best with intention rather than ambient use. If you are sensory-sensitive, the alternatives section surfaces calmer songs in the same mood family.
Songs with the same DNA
layered texture, similar intensity — across any genre or era.
Safer alternatives with a similar feel
These songs share similar moods but with a gentler sensory profile.
What this song means to people
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Where to next?
You know how this one feels — now go find the next one.