Sunday, May 31, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #13

#13: "Everybody Hurts" - R.E.M.
Release Date: 1993
Director: Jake Scott
Fun Fact: The video was inspired by an Italian 1963 film called "8½"!
There's one thing that baffles me and that's how underappreciated this video is. It's a truly brilliant video. Yet it's not often, if ever, featured on any major listings across the music industry at all. It baffles me. It's a very famous video, a very famous song and while the song itself does get good attention for its fascinating self-help lyrics, this accompanying video doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

Basically there's a massive traffic jam and the video concentrates on all of these people stuck in their cars and it displays their thoughts and feelings in subtitles. There's people of all ages and backgrounds, all thinking about a variety of different topics; one is wondering why God isn't answering his prayers, another is mentally shouting at their dad to stop singing badly in the car.

At the end of the video, the band, who are in a car of their own, thinking the lyrics of the song, get out of the car and walk out. The words "so hold on, hold on", are actually not thought but are said out loud, and it inspires the entire crowd of people stuck in traffic to be strong about their problems and tackle them head on. This metaphorical of course; the leaving their traffic jams and walking away from their cars is the image that represents this.

I just love this video, it's truly a powerful song and they needed a video to relay the message as well as it could. And I totally think R.E.M. nailed that message head on with this video. I just wish other people agreed with me, and appreciated this video more. It would (and should) be featured on more of these "best music videos of all time" lists.
Note: This is the first and last video from the year 1993 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!



Click here to see #12 on the list or here for #14!

Saturday, May 30, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #14

#14: "Shut Me Up" - Mindless Self Indulgence
Release Date: 2006
Director: Jhonen Vasquez
Fun Fact: You may recognise the name Jhonen Vasquez; he's the creator of the classic cult animated cartoon series Invader Zim!
This is truly one of my favourite videos of all time. It's one of those videos, and songs, and bands as well, that just don't get the recognition they deserve. Mindless Self Induglence as a band get, for some reason, categorised into the "emo" genre but they're anything but. They're industrial, rap, techno, rap, punk and much more, and they also like to use video game sounds into their music too. If you've not heard them, give them a listen below.

As for the video, it's just insane. Amazingly bizarre but insane at the same time. Basically the story goes that this shop worker goes to see MSI live a few days prior, and then just goes completely insane in the shop. He kills loads of customers in the shop, in a variety of stupidly hilarious ways. It's a very funny video, dramatically over the top, and there are so many "moments" that I love in the video. Seriously, just watch the damn video! 


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #13 on the list or here for #15!

Friday, May 29, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #15

#15: "Freak on a Leash" - KoRn
Release Date: 1999
Director: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris
Fun Fact: The video won three music video awards, most importantly a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video in the year 2000!
Ah yes, the "bullet video". As overplayed as this video may be, you can't deny it's excellence. The video from start to finish looks so damn cool; the animations are drawn to perfection, and even to this day, that stray magical bullet looks so cool as it pierces everything in sight. It's just one of those videos really, unless you've seen it too often, that you become mesmerised watching; you just can't take your eyes off this bullet and the impact it makes on everything in sight.

This is a very short paragraph into this entry in my Top 100. Purely because the video speaks for itself as one of the best videos of all time, and of course, one of my personal favourites.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #14 on the list or here for #16!

Thursday, May 28, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #16

#16: "Telegram Sam" - Bauhaus
Release Date: 1980
Director: Mick Calvert
Fun Fact: This is not the only glam rock cover version Bauhaus have done, they also covered "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie!
It's funny looking back at some of these videos. Especially the ones that bring you right back to your childhood. As an adult you sometimes look back and think, why did I love this video so much? And why did it strike me so strongly as a kid?

With this video, you may not understand why it's so high in my list. The main reason is that image below. The image of Peter Murphy, being stuck between an extremely thin wall. It just... blew my mind when I was a kid. I was terrified. I don't even have claustrophobia and never have - but just this image of this man stuck between a tiny wall was just terrifying to me!

Looking back at it now I see a pretty damn awesome video, one of the true first "goth" videos. Bauhaus were one of the pioneers of goth rock and this is also one of my all time favourite cover versions. Bauhaus took T-Rex's "Telegram Sam", sped it up, punked it up, goth'ed it up, and spat it out again to make one of the most amazing cover versions you'll ever hear... in my opinion anyway! Give it a listen and watch the video, it may not be as good looking back on it now, but it's still a pretty cool video and it's awesome to see what "goth" truly should look like!
Note: This is the second and last video from the year 1980 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #15 on the list or here for #17!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #17

#17: "Everlong" - Foo Fighters
Release Date: 1997
Director: Michel Gondry
Fun Fact: This is legendary talk show host David Letterman's favourite song, he had heart surgery in the year 2000 and he cites it as a song that "helped him get through" his recovery. Last week on the last ever episode of the David Letterman Show, the band played the song at the end of the show!
This is also the third and final video directed by Michel Gondry on my list, the other two where tracks by the White Stripes - "Seven Nation Army" which got to #55 and "Fell in Love With a Girl" which got to #63!

Man, I love this video. I love the Foo Fighters. I said earlier when I introduced "White Limo" which got to #28, choosing three videos by this band is hard. I could honestly say possibly ten tracks by this band could have made my list if I never set the caps on.

"Everlong" is actually quite a dark video. Yet it has some hilarious moments. The whole "massive hand" thing is very bizarre but it's so funny and awesome. Don't lie, you wish you could increase the size of your hand by four times and slap the shit into people!! I wish I could anyway!

And the best part of the video for me, is when Dave Grohl gets the wooden nunchuck-like things, whips them about for about six seconds to look badass, then drops them and uses his massive hand anyway! It's just a hilarious part of the video... but as I said it's truly quite a dark video as well. A world within a world where evil huntsmen are after Dave Grohl's girlfriend (played by the great drummer Taylor Hawkins), and chasing them between the two worlds. Also Dave Grohl makes a heck of a good punk. I think that's it when it comes to my thoughts on this amazing video! Watch it again if you haven't seen it recently... or at all!


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #16 on the list or here for #18!

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #18

#18: "Underground" - David Bowie
Release Date: 1986
Director: Steve Barron
Fun Fact: The song is the main theme from the cult classic film "Labyrinth", and the video features loads of characters from the film!
When I talk about all the videos that remind me of my childhood... I can't say there's many stronger images than this video, when thinking back. This video used to give me nightmares... good nightmares looking back.

When I speak to many people around my age (mid twenties if you must know) they go on about how much they love the film Labyrinth. It may be a shocker to you but... I've never been a big fan of the film. I don't know why, it never resonated with me much as a kid, and I only really appreciate it now because my daughter loves it and my girlfriend does.

Which is quite funny actually when you think about the fact that I absolutely love this video. It's full to the brim of Labyrinth. It's every homage to Labyrinth needed. It's funny though, not many people who love that film have seen this video. It's kind of a hidden gem really, which is a shame because it's a damn amazing video. So I implore to you - watch this video if you love Labyrinth. You won't be disappointed.
Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1986 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #17 on the list or here for #19!

Monday, May 25, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #19

#19: "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
Release Date: 1975
Director: Bruce Gowers
Fun Fact: The reason why Queen decided to do this "promotional video", (which has been considered to be the video that started making it a regular thing now known as the "music video") is because Brian May thought the song would be difficult to mime on Top of the Pops!
I said at the start of this list that only two videos before the year 1979 have made the list. Earlier I posted "Life on Mars" by David Bowie, that got to #85. This is obviously the other one.

I don't really have to explain much about why this video is featured so high on my list. It's probably featured high on many peoples lists. It's featured amongst the best music videos of all time. Sure, it looks a little farfetched by todays standards, but this video is considered to be THE video that made music videos a "thing". Sure, other bands did promo videos before, that David Bowie video is one of the first, but this is the one that made it a great promotional tool. Only four years after this video was made, was music videos becoming a very strong force in music. Six years after this video, MTV was born.

The video is more memorable than it is fantastic. But, like many videos in this list, the song and video always bring me back to my childhood. And it's still fantastic, if not dated, watching it back fourty years later.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #18 on the list or here for #20!

Sunday, May 24, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #20

#20: "Prince Charming" - Adam and the Ants
Release Date: 1981
Director: Mike Mansfield and Adam Ant
Fun Fact: The lady playing the "Fairy Godmother" is none other than Diana Dors! She had put on weight at this point in her career and died three years later of cancer.
I never knew that the Fairy Godmother was the legendary Diana Dors! You learn something new everyday!

So yeah, this is another one of those "brings me back to my childhood" videos. It was also one of the first MASSIVE production videos ever made. I love this video, the reverse Cinderella, where Adam Ant plays a male version of the legendary character, who isn't invited to the ball, but then the Fairy Godmother takes him with the power of magic, and of course, he goes in stall to emphasise his handsomeness. What's most memorable and great about the video is, of course, the fantastic dance routine, and it truly is still great. I always forget the moves until I watch the video back again and then forget not long after! It's just one of the best videos of all time and I love it.
Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1981 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #19 on the list or here for #21!

Saturday, May 23, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #21

#21: "Starfuckers, Inc." - Nine Inch Nails
Release Date: 2000
Director: Robert Hales
Fun Fact: The song is a dig at image-obsessed vain celebrity musicians; Trent takes a stab at loads of artists in the song and in the video, the best example is when he throws balls at plates with musician plates on them. Some of these celebrities mocked include Marilyn Manson, Courtney Love of Hole, David Lee Roth, Michael Stipe of REM, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit!
The story behind this video and song is what makes this one of my favourite music videos of all time. Basically, Trent has issues with image-obsessed celebrities; he's quite old fashioned in the respect that if you're a musician your main priority should be about the music, and your status as a celebrity is not important. He has issues with a lot of people, and he decided to take his frustrations out on these people in one single song and music video. And what a music video it is.

Trent rides in a limousine with a sexy young lady who's face is hidden, before going to a circus. At the circus he takes part in some games, namely throwing balls at plates with the faces of these celebrity musicians, he also sees a rather obese lady sitting on a tank full of waste. She resembles Courtney Love. He throws the ball at the switch which makes her fall into the disgusting waste tank. At one point he's throwing music albums into a toilet, one you can clearly see is "Mechanical Animals" by Marilyn Manson. Trent Reznor's issues with Marilyn Manson go back a long way and they still don't see eye to eye now.

But the plot twist in the entire video is that Marilyn Manson is actually the "sexy young lady" in the limousine with Trent! It was a fantastic plot twist that no one sees coming! Trent and Manson briefly made amends in the year 2000, released this music video, did a short tour together... before falling out again. They've never seen eye to eye again since. But the fact that for one moment, these two amazing metal legends rekindled their friendship, to shit on all of these celebrities together, including themselves, creates one of the most magical music videos of all time. In my opinion of course. Seriously watch this video if you haven't seen it before, it's a brilliant "diss" video, if you want to use rap slang!
Note: This is the third and last video from the year 2000 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #20 on the list or here for #22!

Friday, May 22, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #22

#22: "Low Hangin' Fruit" - Tenacious D
Release Date: 2012
Director: Liam Lynch
Fun Fact: Liam Lynch also directed "Tribute" by the band, which got to #45 in my list, and the video for "POD", and, I believe, he directed his own music video, "United States of Whatever" which got to #49! He also directed their film, "Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny!"
This video only has 4 million views and I personally think that's an absolute tragedy. If you love Tenacious D and you haven't seen this video, seriously, watch it. Now. I mean it.

Anyways, assuming you have seen this video, and you have a crude sense of humour, you have to love this video, it's just hilarious. It's squirmingly funny mind; seeing two men in their fourties putting their fingers in fruit, licking it, and doing sexual references with them is just wrong in a certain way. Yet I absolutely love it.

The best thing about this video? Kyle Gass. Just watch KG throughout the video and look at his facial expressions and his moves, he completely OWNS this video. And of course, I absolutely love their dressing gowns. I totally want to own KG's bedwear, INCLUDING his cowboy hat. I just love this video, and it is, believe it or not, my favourite Tenacious D video.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #21 on the list or here for #23!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #23

#23: "Knights of Cydonia" - Muse
Release Date: 2006
Director: Joseph Kahn
Fun Fact: There's LOADS of references in the video to other movies, at least 16 movies in fact, including Star Wars, The Matrix, Planet of the Apes and many, MANY more!
Joseph Kahn also directed "Without Me" by Eminem, which got to #42 in my list, as well as many MANY videos. Check out this list for all the amazing videos he's done!

What to say about this video? It has so much going on in it, and it suits the song so perfectly. I heard this song before I saw the video, when I got the "Black Holes and Revelations" album, and I always imagined what the video would look like. You just know, listening to the song, that it's going to be a western inspired video, but because Muse love sci-fi and space and shit so much, you weren't quite sure how they'd include all of that into the video.

Well... you can't be disappointed. The amount of sci-fi in the video is insane considering it's a spaghetti western themed video. And it looks just so damn great, and the way they work the band into the video is fantastic too, being jukebox holograms from the future... if that make sense! I just love this video so much, it truly is one of my favourites of all time and it's definitely my favourite Muse video.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #22 on the list or here for #24!

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #24

#24: "Fight for Your Right" - Beastie Boys
Release Date: 1987
Director: Adam Dubin and Ric Menello
Fun Fact: Highly reputable music poll Triple J, who do many polls on the greatest song in music history, rated this the 38th best song of all time!
Here's a question for you. What do you prefer, video-wise, "Fight For Your Right" or "Sabotage"? I seem to be in the massive minority that not only prefers "Fight For Your Right", but MUCH prefer it. I do like "Sabotage" and it is quite a funny video, but it's never come close to being one of my favourite ever videos.

This on the other hand is, and always will be. I just love everything about this video, it's hilarious for a start, from start to finish. I love how bad the acting is at the start of the video, I love how one of the Beastie Boys start bashing a telephone at their head, I love the spontaneous snogging that two of the lads do with the same girl at the party, I love the pie fight, I love the moment when they talk about "your mom bustin'" into the room and it's a random large man, who gets pied, I love the shot at the end of the video with everyone shouting "PAAARTAY!" at the camera. Everything from start to finish in this video is just fecking great, funny, and clever. Watch the video again if you haven't seen it in a while!
Note: This is the second and last video from the year 1987 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #23 on the list or here for #25!

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #25

#25: "In Bloom" - Nirvana
Release Date: 1992
Director: Kevin Kerslake
Fun Fact: This was actually the second music video for "In Bloom"; the first was the band walking around Manhattan, but was replaced by this one when it was released as a single!
So ten entries ago at #35 I put in "Hey Ya!" by The Outkast, which is a tribute to The Ed Sullivan Show. That trick was used by Nirvana, here, eleven years earlier. The differences I suppose are the fact that The Outkast paid tribute, Nirvana, while paying tribute somewhat, more did a fantastic parody of this era of music, where Rock 'n' Roll bands played music in this way. And in fairness, the video is pretty damn funny. I absolutely love how all three band members look, and in particular, Kurt Cobain's facial expressions are priceless - he looks so gormless! Krist on the bass bops about once in a while as well and looks odd yet great.

"In Bloom" is just one of those videos really that once again, are terribly overplayed but if you look beyond the surface and watch the video properly, you'll truly appreciate how damn good it is, and, how damn funny it is also!
Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1992 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #24 on the list or here for #26!

Monday, May 18, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #26

#26: "Walk This Way" - Run D.M.C. and Aerosmith
Release Date: 1986
Director: Jon Small
Fun Fact: Hip hop was still a relatively underground genre at the time - this song was the first hip hop track to get into the Top 5 in America! It also got to no. 8 in the UK!
What a song. What a duet. What a music video. This is probably one of the most important songs in music history. My opinion of course but I do believe that. Why? As I said above, hip hop was a relatively underground genre at the time, you wouldn't believe it now because it's everywhere, but at the time pop and new wave was what was in the charts. This song not only brought hip hop into the mainstream, it also was one of the first, if not THE first major rap rock song. It helped Run DMC become mainstream successful hip hop artists, and it also gave Aerosmith another strong surge into a massive rock band. Without this collaboration, I'd say neither Run DMC or Aerosmith would be the legendary artists they are now considered to be today.

And the music video is just brilliant. It's so simple yet so clever, and you have to give great credit to everyone involved in it for doing their part. Steven Tyler does a great job of pissing off the Run DMC dudes, and they of course turn off their vocals, add their own and remix the original song. And of course, when you see them all on stage together for the first time, it looks initally quite uncomfortable, but in the end they mesh so well. I love the bit where the DMC boys dance around Steven Tyler, it looks so odd yet so awesome at the same time. This is just one of those songs, and music videos for that matter, that live long in the memory.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #25 on the list or here for #27!

Sunday, May 17, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #27

#27: "Buddy Holly" - Weezer
Release Date: 1994
Director: Spike Jonze
Fun Fact: The song had a huge rise in popularity when the Windows 95 Computer came out - it was featured in a folder named "Fun Stuff" on every release!
What's not to love about this video? Firstly I would like to say that Spike Jonze does a heck of a job making the old "Happy Days" footage work so perfectly with the more modern band footage of Weezer playing. You can barely tell the editing apart!

Weezer are just one of those bands really that barely get any criticism, they seem like such cool guys and they write really cool songs and have pretty damn good videos as well. I mean, who's idea was it to get all of this Happy Days footage? You genuinely feel like the band played in the Happy Days TV series back in the seventies. There were only two of the members from Happy Days actually on set - Al the owner of Arnold's, and Potsie, one of the guys who worked at the hardware store. Everyone else are either body doubles or actual cliips from the show.

This is just one of those videos that are always featured in some capacity in "Top Videos of All Time" lists, mainly because it looks so good and of course, the song itself is awesome as well.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #26 on the list or here for #28!

Saturday, May 16, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #28

#28: "White Limo" - Foo Fighters
Release Date: 2001
Director: Dave Grohl
Fun Fact: The end cutscene, when the limo crashes, is EXACTLY the same scene as the car crash scene at the end of the "Long Road to Ruin" video!
Man I love this video. I had to choose three videos by the Foo Fighters because of the cap I've set myself doing this list. And I'm telling you, choosing only three Foo Fighters videos is a hard task because I could probably name 10 videos by the band that would probably feature if I never capped it. They are the kings of the music video.

Choosing "White Limo" as one of my favourite Foo Fighters video may come as a surprise to you. If it does it's probably because you've not seen the video before. And if that is the case, sort that problem out right now and watch this damn video! It's just hilarious!

Basically it's a 1990's video, fully done with an old school video camera. It features Lemmy from Motorhead, who runs over Nate, who was listening to tunes on his walkman and riding on roller skates. Nate then gets picked up in Lemmy's white limo, and Nate calls the rest of the Foo Fighters to join him in the back of the white limo. Then all sorts of shenanigans occur. Just watch the video, it's just so so good!
Note: This is the fifth and last video from the year 2001 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #27 on the list or here for #29!

Friday, May 15, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #29

#29: "The Beautiful People" - Marilyn Manson
Release Date: 1996
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Fun Fact: The song's title comes from a 1967 book of the same name, written by Marilyn Bender, which talks about how a certain lifestyle in the sixties was all about the perception that beauty is completely entwined with fashion and politics!
This is the third and last Marilyn Manson video on the list. Naturally this suggests that that this is my favourite video by the band. I have mixed feelings about calling it that. But those are mainly because the song is quite overplayed and it's also Manson's most famous of songs.

But if you strip those two things away from the equation, what you have here is Manson's finest video. Why do I say that? Mainly because, if you were to put Marilyn Manson's entire career into one music video, this would be that one. It's creepy, it's scary, it's artistic, it's jam packed full of historical references and there's just so much going on in it. A lot of the lyrics and the scenes in the video suggest capitalism and fascism, two things that are a strong theme in Manson's lyrics in general. The man is obsessed with Hitler to a certain degree, and he does portray the worshipping of Hitler a lot in the video, even having the Nazi salute in here at some discrete points. It's just a damn good video, creepy as hell, but hey, that's what I love about the guy. It may be overplayed but it certainly has never, ever, been overrated.
Note: This is the fifth and last video from the year 1996 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #28 on the list or here for #30!

Thursday, May 14, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #30

#30: "Once in a Lifetime" - Talking Heads
Release Date: 1981
Director: David Byrne and Toni Basil
Fun Fact: Toni Basil, who directed the video, is most famous for her cheerleader theme "Mickey", which was released a year later!
This song always brings me back to my childhood yadda yadda...! It's hard to say that sentence in a different way each time!

But it's true. And it's just one of the most memorable videos ever really. The way David Byrne dances and moves in this video is just fantastic and he pulls out some shapes that are actually quite hard to do! Not that he's a quality dancer of course. But the message behind this video and the song as well is the idea that maybe not everything is as relevant as it seems. Getting that "car, house and wife" might not be that significant. At the start of each set of dance moves, the closer version of David Byrne gets less and less in synch with the ones in the background, showing you the importance, or lack of, of the routine. There's lots of clever things going on in this video, and of course, in the lyrics, and a lot of it is open to interpretation. Obviously what I've just said is opinion, see how you find it when you watch the video and listen to the lyrics again!


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #29 on the list or here for #31!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #31

#31: "Only" - Nine Inch Nails
Release Date: 2005
Director: David Fincher
Fun Fact: The video is nearly completely done only with CGI; the only things "real" in the video are a person's hand right at the beginning of the video, and the cars in the background!

This is one of my favourite tracks by favourite band, Nine Inch Nails. Naturally it means this is one of my favourite videos by them too. In fact, this is the first of three videos by the band, the "cap" I set as the maximum videos by one band or solo artist in this list (collaborations exempt of course).

I remember vividly how I felt about this video when I first saw it, because I was so excited when I heard it was going to be a single. It was my favourite track off the album, "With Teeth", and I loved the song and its lyrics. It talks about solipsism; the idea that only you exist and everyone else in life are merely there to serve as mindless beings to "support" you in your life and its decisions. My dad actually had solipsism, or at least I feel that he did, I haven't seen him in over 12 years thank god. But the song always sticks with me because it reminds me of this philosophy and how much it pissed me off that my dad felt this way about life.

Anyways, back to the video. Trent's lyrics in the song, about a man with solipsism, gets angrier and more aggressive until the song stops, and the video channels this energy through objects in this room. The laptop, the Pin Art, the Newton's cradle, the coffee, the apples, all the objects slowly but surely move as the song gets more aggressive. Trent's image is in the Pin Art, and as the song goes on he tries harder and harder to escape. It's just a fantastic video to an amazing song, and I've always loved it since the day I saw it and it's always going to be one of my favourite music videos of all time.
Note: This is the fifth and last video from the year 2005 in this list.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #30 on the list or here for #32!

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #32

#32: "Amish Paradise" - Weird Al Yankovic
Release Date: 1996
Director: Weird Al Yankovic
Fun Fact: The second last scene in the video is completely done backwards; Weird Al had to mime his own lyrics backwards to fit with the setting!
Man I love this video. And this parady for that matter. I've often on this website and on my Facebook talked about how I've always loved Weird Al and appreciated all the amazing effort he puts into his parodys and the music videos that accompany them. I was so happy when he finally got a #1 album last year, and was the first person to get a comedy album to the top of the American charts in around half a century. He was incredibly humble about the whole thing as well. The man is just untouchable in the art of parody. He really is.

And this video is one of his finest. The lyrics and song itself is just a piece of art of course; the way he stripped the original "Gangsters Paradise" by Coolio to make it a song about the Amish people was just incredible. But the video is also just brilliant. He copies certain scenes from the Coolio original to perfection sometimes, while making all the Amish references come out in full colour from his lyrics. It truly is just one of the funniest videos and one of the best parodies ever, and you really need to hear and watch this if you haven't before.


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #31 on the list or here for #33!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #33

#33: "All the Small Things" - Blink-182
Release Date: 2000
Director: Marcos Siega
Fun Fact: This was one of the last songs that the band worked on, for their album "Enema of the State"; they wanted a simple catchy pop-punk song for the album. It's since become arguably their biggest hit!
I have mixed feelings about putting this song so high on the list. In honesty it deserves its placement, if not maybe even higher. The reason why I have the mixed feelings is just due to the general overplayedness of this video. You turn on the rock music channels and you can barely get away from it, even 15 years later.

But when I justify why it's got to where it is on the list it's not hard. It was, and is, genuinely one of the funniest videos ever. I honestly don't think there's many better videos that accurately mock boybands as well. It's just hilarious, the "promo shots", the posing, the airplane, the white suits, the, erm, licking metal objects, dramatic toilet scenes, it's just brilliant. If I never saw this video for the next five years then saw it again, I'd laugh my ass off. That's why it's one of my favourite videos ever. If only they let it go unheard for a few years...


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #32 on the list or here for #34!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #34

#34: "Paranoid Android" - Radiohead
Release Date: 1997
Director: Magnus Carlsson
Fun Fact: The two kids in the video are actually the main characters in a TV show called "Robin", which the direct Magnus Carlsson created, and it was often on Channel 4 back in the day!
This video is incredibly bizarre and has some pretty funny moments as well, but in truth it's just a fantastic video that you can't help but watch from start to end. So much happens in this video, and it's all mental; the main character Robin was daydreaming the whole events of the video while listening to "Paranoid Android" on repeat for 12 hours!

There's so much to take in while watching the video, there's the fact that Robin and his best friend Benjamin visit a prostitute, get bullied in a bar, before Robin decides to climb up a lampost and reminisce (similar to how he's actually daydreaming the whole thing). A member of the European Union tries to get him off the lampost by stripping down into a spike thong and a mask? Yeah bizarre I know. He goes on a mini adventure with an angel in a helicopter and plays ping-pong tennis. I'll just shut up. It's just a damn good video that plays to the frenetic song that is, "Paranoid Android". Watch the video!

Be warned of the cartoon nudity in the video!


Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #33 on the list or here for #35!