My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #1

Hey everyone, we're half way there. Thanks for keeping upto date with this list. It's been 50 days... here's to the next 50!

If you want to see a recap, or have missed the list so far, here's from #100 to #51...

• #100: "House of Fun" - Madness
• #99: "Cosmic Love" - Florence and the Machine
• #98: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
• #97: "Keine Lust" - Rammstein
• #96: "Bassline Junkie" - Dizzee Rascal
• #95: "The Salmon Dance" - The Chemical Brothers
• #94: "stevie" - Kasabian
• #93: "The Hardest Button to Button " - The White Stripes
• #92: "If I Had a Tail" - The Queens of the Stone Age
• #91: "Lullaby" - The Cure
• #90: "Dance" - Saul Williams
• #89: "Pork and Beans" - Weezer
• #88: "Pure Morning" - Placebo
• #87: "Rockstar" - Nickelback
• #86: "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
• #85: "Life on Mars" - David Bowie
• #84: "I'm on a Boat" - The Lonely Island
• #83: "Virtual Insanity" - Jamiroquai
• #82: "Just a Day" - Feeder
• #81: "Poison" - Alice Cooper
• #80: "There There" - Radiohead
• #79: "Dancing in the Street" - David Bowie and Mick Jagger
• #78: "Psychosis Safari" - The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
• #77: "Common People" - Pulp
• #76: "Forgot About Dre" - Dr Dre and Eminem
• #75: "Fat" - Weird Al Yankovic
• #74: "Links 2-3-4" - Rammstein
• #73: "Cars" - Gary Numan
• #72: "Dragula" - Rob Zombie
• #71: "Here it Goes Again" - OK Go
• #70: "Gangnam Style" - PSY
• #69: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" - Green Day
• #68: "Smack My Bitch Up" - The Prodigy
• #67: "Leave Before the Lights Come On" - Arctic Monkeys
• #66: "Scream" - Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson
• #65: "Clint Eastwood" - Gorillaz
• #64: "Sweating Bullets" - Megadeth
• #63: "Fell in Love With a Girl" - The White Stripes
• #62: "Sledgehammer" - Peter Gabriel
• #61: "I Want You So Hard (Boys Bad News)" - Eagles of Death Metal
• #60: "In the Air Tonight" - Phil Collins
• #59: "Twisted Transistor" - KoRn
• #58: "I Just Had Sex" - The Lonely Island
• #57: "Girls and Boys" - Good Charlotte
• #56: "Lonely Boy" - The Black Keys
• #55: "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
• #54: "Ashes to Ashes" - David Bowie
• #53: "My Band" - D12
• #52: "Coma White" - Marilyn Manson
• #51: Sic Transit Gloria… Glory Fades - Brand New
• #50: Firestarter - The Prodigy
• #49: United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch
• #48: Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins
• #47: Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm
• #46: Enter Sandman - Metallica
• #45: Tribute - Tenacious D
• #44: Bad - Michael Jackson
• #43: Bitter Sweet Symphony - The Verve
• #42: Without Me - Eminem
• #41: Man That You Fear - Marilyn Manson
• #40: Fat Lip/Pain for Pleasure - Sum 41
• #39: Stay - Shakespears Sister
• #38: Slam - Pendulum
• #37: Cradle of Love - Billy Idol
• #36: Jack Sparrow - The Lonely Island
• #35: Hey Ya! - The Outkast
• #34: Paranoid Android - Radiohead
• #33: All the Small Things - Blink 182
• #32: Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic
• #31: Only - Nine Inch Nails
• #30: Once in a Lifetime - Talking Heads
• #29: The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
• #28: White Limo - Foo Fighters
• #27: Buddy Holly - Weezer
• #26: Walk This Way - Aerosmith and Run DMC
• #25: In Bloom - Nirvana
• #24: Fight for Your Right - Beastie Boys
• #23: Knights of Cydonia - Muse
• #22: Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D
• #21: Starfuckers Inc. - Nine Inch Nails
• #20: Prince Charming - Adam and the Ants
• #19: Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
• #18: Underground - David Bowie
• #17: Everlong - Foo Fighters
• #16: Telegram Sam - Bauhaus
• #15: Freak on a Leash - KoRn
• #14: Shut Me Up - Mindless Self Indulgence
• #13: Everybody Hurts - R.E.M.
• #12: Hurt - Johnny Cash
• #11: I Want to Break Free - Queen
• #10: Closer - Nine Inch Nails
• #9: White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic
• #8: I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie and Trent Reznor
• #7: Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim
• #6: Thriller - Michael Jackson
• #5: Coffee and TV - Blur
• #4: Low - Foo Fighters
• #3: Rabbit in Your Headlights - UNKLE and Thom Yorke
• #2: Take on Me - A-ha

So my favourite music video of all time is...

#1: "Just" - Radiohead
Release Date: 1995
Director: Jamie Thraves
Fun Fact: To this day, no one knows what the secret message is in the video, Radiohead won't reveal anything!!

So it's all over now. Sorry if you're disappointed at all. Obviously I'm not. And I'm sure there are those who do agree that this is one of the best music videos of all time.

What can I say about this video? It's simple and incredibly effective. A man lies in the street for no reason at all and gets a lot of people concerned. Why is he lying on the floor? Why won't he say why? Why can't we touch him? That's the beauty of this video. It's using the power of psychology, the power of the unknown. We have no idea what the hidden message is in this video. Professionals have tried and failed to work it out. And twenty years later after this video comes out, the secret in the video is only known to Radiohead, presumably the director, and... that's about it? We'll never know.

If you haven't seen this video, please watch it. It's just such a simple yet crazy idea that riles me up big time. WHY IS HE ON THE FLOOR?! So yeah. This is my favourite music video of all time and I just love it. And hate it. But love it far more than hate it, for sure!
Note: This is the third and last video from the year 1995 in this list.

Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to go back to #100 on the list or here for #2!

So that's the end! Thanks so much for joining me in revealing my 100 favourite music videos of all time. It's been a long 101 days but I've enjoyed it. It's been a lot more well received than I ever imagined and it's made me think of doing a Top 100 list of different varieties more often. I may do one list per year. So stay tuned for the next one!

Before I love you and leave you I want to share some statistics, like I always do, that may interest you!

Multiple Music Directors
Akiva Schaffer - 4 videos (#36 Jack Sparrow - Lonely Island, #58 I Just Had Sex - Lonely Island, #61 I Want You So Hard - Eagles of Death Metal, #84 I'm on a Boat - Lonely Island)
Mark Romanek - 3 videos (#10 Closer - Nine Inch Nails, #12 Hurt - Johnny Cash, #66 Scream - Michael and Janet Jackson)
David Mallet - 3 videos (#11 I Want to Break Free - Queen, #54 Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie, #79 Dancing in the Street - David Bowie and Mick Jagger)
Michel Gondry - 3 videos (#17 Everlong - Foo Fighters, #63 Fell in Love With a Girl - White Stripes, #93 The Hardest Button to Button - White Stripes)
Liam Lynch - 3 videos (#22 Low Hangin' Fruit - Tenacious D, #45 Tribute - Tenacious D, #49 United States of Whatever - Liam Lynch [unconfirmed])
Samuel Bayer - 3 videos (#52 Coma White - Marilyn Manson, #69 Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day, #98 Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana)
Steve Barron - 2 videos (#2 Take on Me - A-ha, #18 Underground - David Bowie)
Jonathan Glazer - 2 videos (#3 Rabbit in Your Headlights - UNKLE, #83 Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai)
Spike Jonze - 2 videos (#7 Weapon of Choice - Fatboy Slim, #27 Buddy Holly - Weezer)
Dom and Nic - 2 videos (#8 I'm Afraid of Americans - David Bowie, #95 The Salmon Dance - The Chemical Brothers)
Weird Al Yankovic - 2 videos (#9 White and Nerdy - Weird Al Yankovic, #32 Amish Paradise - Weird Al Yankovic)
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris - 2 videos (#15 Freak on a Leash - KoRn, #48 Tonight, Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins)
Joseph Kahn - 2 videos (#23 Knights of Cydonia - Muse, #42 Without Me - Eminem)
David Fincher - 2 videos (#31 Only - Nine Inch Nails, #37 Cradle of Love - Billy Idol)
Marc Klasfield - 2 videos (#40 Fat Lip - Sum 41, #47 Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm)
Walter Stern - 2 videos (#43 Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve, #50 Firestarter - The Prodigy)
Wayne Isham - 2 videos (#46 Enter Sandman - Metallica, #64 Sweating Bullets - Megadeth)
Jay Levey - 2 videos (#75 Fat - Weird Al Yankovic, #81 Poison - Alice Cooper)

Multiple Music Artists
Radiohead - 3 videos (#1 Just, #34 Paranoid Android, #80 There, There)
David Bowie - 3 videos (#18 Underground, #54 Ashes to Ashes, #85 Life on Mars) [also #8 I'm Afraid of Americans with Trent Reznor, and #79 Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger]
Foo Fighters - 3 videos (#4 Low, #17 Everlong, #28 White Limo)
Michael Jackson - 3 videos (#6 Thriller, #44 Bad, #86 Smooth Criminal) [also #66 Scream with Janet Jackson)
Weird Al Yankovic - 3 videos (#9 White and Nerdy, #32 Amish Paradise, #75 Fat)
Nine Inch Nails - 3 videos (#10 Closer, #21 Starfuckers Inc, #31 Only) [also #8 I'm Afraid of Americans with David Bowie)
Marilyn Manson - 3 videos (#29 The Beautiful People, #41 Man That You Fear, #52 Coma White)
The Lonely Island - 3 videos (#36 Jack Sparrow, #58 I Just Had Sex, #84 I'm on a Boat)
The White Stripes - 3 videos (#55 Seven Nation Army, #63 Fell in Love With a Girl, #93 The Hardest Button to Button)
Queen - 2 videos (#11 I Want to Break Free - Queen, #19 Bohemian Rhapsody)
KoRn - 2 videos (#15 Freak on a Leash, #59 Twisted Transistor)
Tenacious D - 2 videos (#22 Low Hangin' Fruit, #45 Tribute)
Nirvana - 2 videos (#25 In Bloom, #98 Smells Like Teen Spirit)
The Prodigy - 2 videos (#50 Firestarter, #68 Smack My Bitch Up)
Rammstein - 2 videos (#74 Links 2-3-4, #97 Keine Lust)

I was going to do some charts but I haven't got Microsoft Excel anymore and the online one sucks when it comes to doing graphs. Ah well. That's all from me today and once again I thank you for joining me. Until next time, take care!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #6

#6 "Thriller" - Michael Jackson
Release Date: 1983
Director: John Landis
Fun Fact: The director John Landis, also directed An American Werewolf in London which was an obvious inspiration for the video!

Oh come on, you knew this video was going to be featured right?

And if you have a problem with that then that's quite sad. It's truly one of the best music videos, if not THE best music video ever created. That's me being unbiased. Me seeing this video might be the best doesn't mean it's my favourite. But it's still an incredible piece of work that I absolutely love.

I'd like to emphasise, that I don't think the song "Thriller" is that great. I usually "skip" the song when it come on my media player. I also don't think the shortened version of this video does it any justice. For me, you have to watch the 14 minute version. It's the only way.

And that fourteen minute version is beyond epic. I love the werewolf transformation at the beginning, and of course, I love how Michael Jackson eating popcorn has spawned an internet meme, and the zombies look absolutely fantastic. But of course, as you'd expect, the Thriller dance is just... truly magnificent. You end up watching all of it and you just can't take your eyes off it.

"Thriller", predictable or not, is one of my favourite music videos of all time.

Note: This is the first and last video from the year 1983 in this list.

Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #5 on the list or here for #7!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #10

#10: "Closer" - Nine Inch Nails
Release Date: 1994
Director: Mark Romanek
Fun Fact: The video is considered one of the most controversial of all time; reasons being it features nudity, lots of S&M imagery, a monkey on a crucifix, the diagram of a vagina, a severed pig's head spiked on some rotating machine amongst other things.

This is also the third and last video directed by Mark Romanek in this list - the other two were "Hurt" by Johnny Cash which got to #12, and the other was "Scream" by Michael and Janet Jackson which got to #66!

What can I say about "Closer"? It's my favourite music video by my favourite band. It's also one of those videos that you probably have to see "before you die", just because it's one of the most memorable videos ever. The art direction is flawless. The way Mark Romanek uses old film to make the video is excellent. It's one of the most controversial music videos of all time, even if I don't think it deserves that title. Regardless of your views on religion, animal cruelty and the use of nudity, you really should see this film. By the way, the monkey was in no way harmed during the making of this video, but a lot of the imagery and style of this video was painting an image of a 19th century mad scientist's lab, hence why there's so much fucked up shit going on in the video. Regardless, watch the video if you haven't seen it before, it's a fascinating video, hard to watch, I suppose, for some mind, and of course, I think the song is just incredible. But I'm going to say that because of how much I love this band!

Note: This is the second and last video from the year 1994 in this list.

Here is the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #9 on the list or here for #11!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #44

#44: "Bad" - Michael Jackson
Release Date: 1987
Director: Martin Scorsese
Fun Fact: In the full version of the video, the main person opposite Michael Jackson is a relatively undiscovered Wesley Snipes!

You can find the usual four minute version of this music video everywhere but there's an epic 18 minute version of it... if you've never seen it before! Below is the second half of that video.

I remember seeing the full version of this video when I was a kid, I've probably seen all of the full length Michael Jackson videos at some point or another. And I much prefer them to the shortened versions. There's a huge plot at the centre of the "Bad" video, where Michael Jackson plays a teenager named Daryl who is being challenged to see how "bad" he is. The main part of the music video is how Daryl proves how bad he is, hanging out with all of these gangsters and, erm, dancing really well with them. It's an underappreciated video really, because most people haven't seen the full version of the music video, which further explains why Michael Jackson is with all of these gangsters. Check it out!

Here's the (second part of the) video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #43 on the list or here for #45!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #47

#47: "Smooth Criminal" - Alien Ant Farm
Release Date: 2001
Director: Marc Klasfeld
Fun Fact: This song, "Smooth Criminal", is the only song on the list to be featured twice in this list! Michael Jackson's original hit #86 in the countdown.

This is one of the best cover version ever made. Period. Even if you don't particularly like this version, the impact it had was pretty damn impressive. Alien Ant Farm weren't that amazing, or at least, in my opinion they weren't. The fact that this song, and "Movies" are the only two songs that really got anywhere is a decent fact to back that opinion up. But, what Alien Ant Farm did with the Michael Jackson classic was damn impressive. Simple but impressive. Speed it up, give it some punky riffs, modernise it, and it sounds so damn good.

And the video is just hilarious. A true comedy tribute to the King of Pop, this song uses so many homages to Jackson's excellent music videos. From "Billy Jean" to "Thriller", and the hilarious scream that's a reference to the unedited "Black and White" video, it's just hella good.

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #46 on the list or here for #48!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #66

#66: "Scream" - Michael and Janet Jackson
Release Date: 1995
Director: Mark Romanek
Fun Fact: At $7 million, this video is STILL the most expensive music video of all time. I'd say it's a record that's unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

When I say that it's unlikely that the World Record this video has for the most expensive music video of all time will be broken I mean it. Why? If you look at this list here, only 14 of the 50 most expensive videos have been made in the last 10 years. Only two of those videos have cost $2 million or more, which is not even half the budget for this video!

If you haven't watched the video recently, watch it again. This video is 20 years old now, and it looks just as good now as it ever did when it came out. 20 years of longevity in terms of quality of production is impressive. You can truly see where the money went when it comes to the production value. Not to mention they were in very safe hands with legendary director Mark Romanek; trust me, you'll see him in this list again!

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #65 on the list or here for #67!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #75

#75: "Fat" - Weird Al Yankovic
Release Date: 1988
Director: Jay Levey
Fun Fact: This is the second and last video directed by Jay Levey on this list, the other one was "Poison" by Alice Cooper!

There's so many Weird Al videos to choose from to feature in my Top 100 but, as the rules I've set state in the first post in this list, I'm only choosing a maximum of three per artist (bar collaborations etc).

"Fat" was the best video by Weird Al in the Eighties. I don't mind telling you I've chosen one song from each decade (apart from this current one) for the Polka Parody Legend. This video is just hilarious from start to finish. I love the opening lines (my favourite being "ding dong man, ding dong, ding dong y'all"), I love the fat suits, I love the close-up of his face (that Michael Jackson also does in the original) and how it turns into Weird Al somehow floating mid-air handing onto the actual camera itself. I love the running across the parking lot, only for the cameraman to be too fast for the fat dudes to catch up (also, loving the shouting of "HO!", only for a garden hoe to be placed in Al's hand). It's just one of the best funny videos ever and I love putting it on once in a while, and it always seems fresh whenever I watch it infrequently.

Note: This is the second and last video from the year 1988 in this list.

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #74 on the list or here for #76!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #86

#86: "Smooth Criminal" - Michael Jackson
Release Date: 1988
Director: Colin Chilvers
Fun Fact: There are actually five versions of the music video, but the main one from the "Moonwalker" film is my favourite - even if it is 10 minutes long!

Man, I do miss Michael Jackson. There was no one like him and I don't think there ever will be anyone like him ever again either. He was just one of the coolest, smoothest dancers ever, and, considering the genre, one of the most accessable musicians ever when it comes to people liking his music regardless of their preferences genre wise.

Smooth Criminal was probably the first Michael Jackson music video I saw. It's the one I remember earliest seeing anyway. I saw the "Moonwalker" film at a young age as well, and just loved seeing this amazing dancer, looking as smooth as hell in his white suit and fedora. It's just a great music video and a great part of the film as well.

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to see #85 on the list or here for #87!

My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos: #100

How's it going? I hope you're all well. Welcome to My Top 100 Favourite Music Videos list. What do you expect to see in this list? Well... 100 music videos? In reverse order of preference? Exactly.

Over the next 100 days I'll be doing a post on this website revealing one by one all the videos. I'll also explain why I love the video, maybe get some trivia on the video if I have any, put up some screenshots and of course, show the link to the video.

There are only three rules on this and they are:

a) This is a biased list, which means this is my opinion. I'm not saying they are the greatest, but to me, naturally they are.
b) There is at least one video from 1979. The reason for this, is because by 1979, music videos started becoming a more frequent thing. There are a couple of entries from pre-1979, but there is at least one entri from 1979 to 2014.
c) There are no more than 3 entries for an artist on this list. And by that, I mean the same artist (eg The Beatles and Paul McCartney can be classified as seperate, same as Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, so in effect that could mean Paul McCartney/Michael Jackson individually could be featured more than three times. Not that they are but still.)

So without any further delay, here's #100!

#100: "House of Fun" - Madness
Release Date: 1982
Director: Dave Robinson
Fun Fact: The roller coaster ride is from the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and was built in 1932, and is the second tallest and second largest wooden roller coaster in the UK

This video always brings me back to my childhood. That's the simple reason for the inclusion of the video, not to mention it's a damn great video. The not-so subtle meaning behind the lyrics in "House of Fun" are emphasised when you see the young boy trying to buy condoms in the shop but it's the comedy that makes this video great. It's simply Madness, the band, being silly out and about making a fool of themselves. And don't deny it - you want a ride on that roller coaster too! Unless... of course... you don't like roller coasters...

Note: This is the first and last video from the year 1982 in this list.

Here's the video for your enjoyment!

Click here to go to #99 or skip the whole thing and go to #1 by clicking here!

Music Album Review: Alpocalypse by Weird Al Yankovic

It's disappointing that nearly half of "Alpocalypse" is rehashed material, but even so, it's a decent but underwhelming effort.

“Alpocalypse” is Weird Al Yankovic’s thirteenth album, and was released just over four months ago. That’s quite a statement, thirteen albums in twenty-eight years; Alfred has had a heck of a career. I wouldn’t say his career has been the greatest, or the easiest, or the most successful, but he’s a legend at the craft he performs and deserves the respect of every musician regardless of age or genre.

Just in case you’ve never heard of Weird Al Yankovic, and trust me, there are those who haven’t, Weird Al is now 52 years old. He is a parody artist, one of the first, and now probably the most famous worldwide. He takes a song that was popular and changes the lyrics for comedy value. He has had many ‘booms’ in his career, his first being the early eighties when he started off, back in 1984 he had a very famous parody called “Eat It”, a version of “Beat It” by Michael Jackson. “Eat It” took the music of “Beat It” and changed the lyrics, and made a song about someone who was fussy with his food “just eat it!”. It was with this track Weird Al started to find he was onto something with his songs. In 1988 he found more success with a second Michael Jackson track, this one was “Bad”, which he turned into “Fat”, a song naturally about a man being overweight. In 1992 another decent hit was “Smells Like Nirvana”, a parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and this song took the mickey out of the fact that Kurt Cobain’s famous vocals were hard to understand sometimes. Weird Al Yankovic found it difficult in the nineties when many of his songs barely got airplay, but of those tracks, the most famous was in 1996 when he parodied Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” and turned it into “Amish Paradise” a song celebrating the lifestyle of the Amish.

But it wasn’t really until 2006, five years ago, when Weird Al had finally got the major recognition he arguably deserves. He released “White and Nerdy” a parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’”. The original was about ‘riding dirty’; gangsters riding in cars with drugs, and Weird Al changed the lyrics dramatically into a song about white nerds who want to be cool and hang out with the cultured black population. It was a brilliant parody, no, a brilliant song, and was the platform Weird Al needed to finally start to get the recognition of the younger population. The album that came out with that hit, “Straight Outta Lynwood”, Weird Al’s twelfth effort, was a huge hit and was fantastic. I reviewed it around five years ago but that review has disappeared into the obscurities of the internet. I gave it ****1/4 stars and touch on its greatness in my Top 10 Albums of the Noughties here. 

So this is Weird Al’s thirteenth major effort and his first since the fantastic album that was “Straight Outta Lynwood”, released five years ago. So what has Weird Al got up his sleeve this time? Well, if I say that the material on this album is new I’d by lying. Yes, this is Weird Al’s first major album in five years but three years ago Weird Al released “Internet Leaks”, a five track EP, and five of the songs on this album are actually those songs. Keep in mind this album is twelve tracks long, that means nearly half the album is re-released material. Now, Weird Al hasn’t been criticised for this by many people but I personally wasn’t approving of this move. For the fans who bought “Internet Leaks”, the hardcore Weird Al fans, it probably feels like being a little ripped off I’m sure. The songs that were on Internet Leaks are "CNR", "Skipper Dan", "Craigslist", "Ringtone"  and "Whatever You Like".

The album starts with "Perform This Way" a parody of "Born This Way" by mega star of the moment Lady Gaga. Now this song has a story of its own; Weird Al approached Lady Gaga's management for permission to use her song, not that he has to, by law he can do parodys but out of respect he always asks the original artists. He bent over backwards for her management, something he doesn't do, he gave them ideas of what the song will be about, made all the proceedings to go to charity, and even, make the song for them to listen to before it was released. That also, was created on the spot as he was busy doing an Australian tour. The management rejected the idea, and it was a complete waste of Al's time. As a consolation he released it for nothing on Youtube. Lady Gaga was hounded about this on Twitter for the next 24 hours, and it turns out she had no idea about Weird Al trying to contact her, and that she was a fan and definitely approved his version of her song.

Now onto my review of the track itself. Well, I don't really think it's that good to be honest. It's okay, but it lacks the invention that other parody's Al has done in the past. I need to give credit where it's due, Weird Al didn't have much time to produce this track, but surely, after he got full and proper permission from Gaga herself, surely he should have reworked the song and made it sound richer, and more crisp? Based on how the song came about, you can feel that the song was rushed and not done as finely as it could have been. Another problem personally I have with this song is that it's aimed directly at Gaga and her lifestyle rather than a complete parody lyrically. Most of my favourite Weird Al tracks are where he takes the music from a song and changes the lyrics dramatically into a completely different topic, rather than talk about the artist. One of the reasons "White and Nerdy" was so good was that the song had nothing to do with gangsters driving fast and taking drugs. It was about white nerds doing nerdy things. It makes the song stand out on its own while being funny at the same time.

Track two is a style parody. Once again if you're not familiar with Weird Al's work, as well as do direct parodies to artist's tracks, Al also does style parody, where he takes an artist's general sound and makes a song in that style. He doesn't often release style parodies as singles but he usually has a few on each album. Track two is one of my favourite style parodies on any Weird Al album. It's called "CNR" and it's done in the style of The White Stripes, and it sounds fantastic. The guitars and the drums are great and sound just like the original band, and the lyrics are pretty damn good too. "CNR" tells the story of Charles Nelson Reilly, a real life actor and comedian, most famous for his work a game show called "Match Game". He died a few years ago, and Weird Al pays overdramatic homage to the guy, talking about his superhuman capabilities, in a very similar vein to the internet meme Chuck Norris Facts. It's a great song on its own and even funnier with all the silly 'facts' about CNR.

"TMZ" is the third track and like the website itself, it has loads of 'oh my god!' celebrity stories in its lyrics and just mocks the stupid obsession that many people have with celebrity status. The song it's parodying is "You Belong To Me" by Taylor Swift. Track four is "Skipper Dan" and is a style parody of alternative rock band Weezer. The lyrics are about a man who despite having a degree has to resort to working as a tour guide. These two songs are okay, they're a step below the quality from the previous album "Straight Outta Lynwood".

Next on the album is the polka. Again, if you're not too familiar with Yankovic's work in nearly every album there's a polka styled medley, that incorporates many famous songs all wrapped up in a polka track. They're fan favourites and are often always fun to listen to. In this track, appropriately called "Polka Face" mixes a lot of the more modern pop and RnB tracks like "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga, "Womanizer" by Britney Spears, "So What" by Pink, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry and "Tik Tok" by Kesha. Comparing this to the other polkas on the other albums, it's pretty good, not the best, but it's difficult to rate polkas as Weird Al has to work with what's popular today.

One of the best highlights of the album for me is "Craiglist", another style parody, this one paying homage to The Doors and even the original keyboard player from the original band plays in this track. "Craiglist" sounds fantastic, once again the music is close to perfection in comparison to the originals. The song itself is about the website Craiglist, which specialises in online advertising for pretty much anything and everything. The lyrics are great and it's just one of the best songs on the album.

I personally find the album gets better as it goes on, with further highlights being track eight "Ringtone", a style parody of Queen and talks about how annoying personal mobile ringtones are. While the quality of the Queen parody is not as good as the previous ones on The Doors and The White Stripes, the lyrics make up for that by being very funny. In terms of direct parodies my favourite is track nine, "Another Tattoo" which is a parody of "Nothin' On You" by B.o.B. and naturally talks about a guy getting many many tattoos. As I said previously, my favourite parodies tend to be the ones that change the lyrical subject completely, and this is a great example of that, the lyrics work so well with the beat and style of the original song.

Weird Al likes to have a song of great magnitude either near the end of the album or as the last track. He follows this trend by having "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me" as the final track. The song is not as long as similar songs on other albums, but is very similar in style to "Don't Download This Song", the final track from "Straight Outta Lynwood". In fact, it almost sounds exactly the same but the lyrics have changed. I don't know if it's just me that feels this way but because the songs sound so similar I can't help but feel that it's a bit lacklustre in effort by Yankovic.

All in all "Alpocalypse" is a decent but disappointing effort. "Straight Outta Lynwood" was such a great album and all the pieces in the jigsaw fit perfectly, where as this album feels disjointed. There are some very good tracks on here and some songs that are just below par. Having nearly half the album full of rehashed material was a bad move in my opinion and definitely has a direct impact on the quality of the album. If you like Weird Al Yankovic then I think you'll like this album overall, but if you're new to his work then I'd avoid starting your interest here, and get "Straight Outta Lynwood" instead, that album has great quality all over from start to finish where as this album lacks in certain areas.

Rating: ***3/4 stars

Stand out tracks: "CNR", "Craigslist", "Another Tattoo"

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My Top 10 Favourite Levels on Platformer Games

Hey everyone,


I got motivated to write this very quickly, it was just a thought bubble in my head last night that developed over the 24 hours that has gone. Don't worry, the Noughtie series is still very close to my head and probably around 85% ready, but I still have a few more articles I want to write before I do that. I just have so many things I want to do and not enough time to do it in! Anyway...


This is my personal favourite levels from some of the best platformers to grace our television screens. I'm sure you know what a platformer is, but just in case you didn't, a platformer game is a game that generally requires jumping from platform to platform. The most popular platformer is undoubtedly Mario, Nintendo set the seeds over and over again on how to make a perfect platformer. That being said, my favourite platformer of all time is Sonic, and if I were to be completely honest, at least 5 of the Top 10 in this would be from the Sonic series. But I've set a limit to one level per major series, some are just individual games anyway. Without further ado, here's #10...


#10 The Volcano's Base - Wario Land 3 (Game Boy Color)
This level starts off the Top 10 because it's great as it's the first time you can really use the roll function in the game to great effect. Wario has many powerups in the game but the basic roll is very effective too, if done properly as this level requires you to master. At first it's difficult, but you try and try again, and eventually you'll be able to roll and jump your way to many coins and hidden areas. It's also home to the first boss too, although he's quite easy.

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'.

#9 Magic Carpet Level - World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (Megadrive)
There are no names for the levels in this game but the first time you get yourself on the magic carpet in this game is a wonderful feeling. This game is full of imagination as well as great two player action, but this level stands out as my favourite.

#8 Cloud Spires - Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Playstation)
It's hard to pinpoint one level once again on any of the three original Spyro games, they're beautiful levels really, but my best effort is Cloud Spires in the third and best instalment. There's a lot to do in this level despite it being one of the first in the game, there's lots of clouds and angelic elements, it just looks wonderful and is a blast to play in too, with all the gliding opportunities.

#7 Street (Stage 3) - Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Megadrive)
I don't know why, but this game lacks the popularity it deserves, maybe it was the court cases, maybe it was the fact that gamers didn't like the idea of an MJ game, but it was great. The best level is definitely the Street level, with "Beat It" playing in the background. The third stage in particular, is fun to play, the highlight being the boss battle, when you have to take on a hoard of vicious dogs, with the ringleader white dog, and you can use MJ's special powers to make them all dance with you. Great stuff.

How did this game not get popular?!

#6 Tokyo (Stage 2) - The Revenge of Shinobi (Megadrive)
Maybe I've included too many Megadrive/Genesis games, but I truly believe it gave us the best platformers, this being one of the best. This level is just so much fun, taking on other ninjas, particularly the ones dressed like nuns, testing your mettle. The funky music in the background definitely helps, and the skyscrapers you have the opportunity to walk under or over. This is truly a brilliant level.

He worked very hard to get his 999 shurikens.

#5 Chapter 6 - LIMBO (XBox 360 Arcade)
LIMBO is just one very long level with no pauses, but if you load the game up you can start from certain "chapters". In chapter 6 of the game a moment really stands out for me and I thought it deserved inclusion, despite the game not being out very long. A large spider tries to get the better of you, but you dodge a huge rock and it knocks the spider out. All that remains is his body and one leg. But oh no, he's still alive! His one leg tries to get you one last time, but if you dodge that, he gets it stuck in the ground! Haha! Sucker! But oh dear, you're trapped! There's a platform to your right, but it's too far away and spikes are below. So what does our young hero do? He goes to the spider, now dead or just trapped, he yanks off his ENTIRE leg, spider juices flowing, leaving just the spider's main core, and he rolls this body into the pit of spikes, even more spider juices splatting everywhere, so you can climb on the body and over to the other platform! It's gross stuff, but hey, who said platformers are only for kids?

The spiders in LIMBO are really scary.

#4 Egypt - Quackshot (Megadrive)
Quackshot was a game that required you to travel over the world and getting items from one part can unlock sections of others. That's why when you see a scribbled note saying "1. Sun 2. Moon 3. Star" that you have for ages. You think "Wha?! What is this for?!" Then, when you get to Egypt, it all makes sense. You enter a tomb and all of a sudden the door shuts behind you, and the ceiling is closing down! You panic, and all of a sudden, you see three placards on the floor, appropriately they're the three shapes mentioned on your note! So you quickly step on them in order, and your life is saved. The rest of the level is great too, you have a mining cart ride amongst other things, but the sheer horror of failing to solve this puzzle haunted me for hours. Until I checked that note!

I can't find a screenshot of the level so an angry duck will have to do.

#3 Space Zone (Stage 2) - Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins (Game Boy)
I love this level so much. It's truly a magnificent feeling, going through space as Mario in your little space outfit... avoiding all the evil nasties... and all the horrible walls... getting as many coins as possible... sorry I reminisced too much! It's actually one of the hardest levels in the game, especially the end bit before the boss. The best thing about the level though, is the music, it's definitely my favourite song in the game, and it's exclusively used in this level too.

#2 Un-Bearable - Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (Playstation)
This is the level that inspired me to write this list. It's just the best Crash level ever. In Crash 1 and Crash 2, to have these levels that start with you going downwards - most levels make you go upwards. These levels tend to be you running away from a large spheric rock, dodging everything along the way. They're great levels. But just over half way through Crash 2, you have a humongous polar bear coming after you! It's a harder level too, with even more obstacles than before. However, that's not the end, oh no. The end, is this super-fast version of the bear! How am I meant to run away from that?! Well, the solution is, you hitch a ride on a baby polar bear cub and run off! It's just so much fun, so much mayhem and it's one of the best levels in gaming history.

Run little polar cub run!!

#1 Hydrocity Zone Act 2 - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Megadrive)
Here we are, my favourite level of all time. This level is just flawless. The first act was fun enough, but the second one, full on with a remix of the original song, is just full brim of loop de loops, above water, under water, running ON water, running through gushes of pressurised water. It barely stops. It's just truly a magnificent ride that you barely control, you mainly watch, and it just epitomises what was good about the old Sonic games. You really have to see it to believe it, it's the best platforming level of all time.

Sonic may look scared but trust me, he's having fun.

There you have it, it may be Megadrive/Genesis game happy, but as I said, I really believe the Megadrive had the best platformers. I was going to include the first level from Super Mario Bros, just for how memorable and popular it is, but I wanted to explore other games, besides a Mario game has been featured. Thanks for reading.

The Mercy Side: Gimmick and Shock Value in Music

I want to talk about something different today. I want to talk about shock value in music, and gimmicks. The most prominent term used in this field music wise is shock rock. Shock Rock is a bit of an ambiguity, some people use it as a genre label. It’s not. It’s using controversial elements, or visuals, in rock music. It’s not just used in rock music, it has, on a much rarer occasion, been used in pop music. There isn’t a coined term for it being used in pop music however.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering where I’m going with this. Well, I’m not going to tell you outright. I want you to just read on, if what I’ve been saying still interests you. I want to just talk about the history of this odd, well, label. I say label because as I said, it’s not a genre. It’s just a group of odds and sods thrown in from different genres.

Cue 1956. No, not Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel”. But another singer also made a song. His name was Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. His song, “I Put a Spell on You”. It’s now considered one of the most important rock and roll songs in our history. Unfortunately for poor Jay, Nina Simone took the song and throttled it into the charts and made it her own. Many artists have also covered it, but no one more emphatically than good ol’ Nina.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins was a complete badass. He did things no one had ever done before. He wore flashy outfits, leopard skin suits, leather, hats, he came out of coffins onstage, and he brought skulls and other voodoo related stuff on stage with him. He was a true pioneer of what is now considered “shock rock”. He was also a very good baby maker; some estimations say he has been responsible of around 55 children being born. Naughty bastard.

But how many of you know of him? I’ve known of him for a while, however I didn’t know a great deal. I knew, vaguely, he was responsible for such a cracker of a tune. I didn’t know anything else really, until recently. I want to get more from this artist, because, he just isn’t that popular. He deserves more recognition, he’s no where near as popular as someone else who is just as influential, namely Elvis Presley. Screamin’ Jay set the tone for so many artists, in his musical style, in his onstage persona. He was one fucked up dude, and unfortunately died around 10 years ago, and was a major drug user, but so are so many artists today, and in yesteryear. I’m not saying I condone that behaviour by the way.

 

So after “I Put a Spell on You”, he declined in popularity, in what wasn’t an extreme popularity in the first place. It’s not that his songs weren’t good, but that his act wasn’t getting any more attention. People were just more interested in Elvis Presley, and the boom of rock ‘n’ roll rather than some weird dude wearing weird stuff with smoke coming out of his pet skull. But some people did take note, and were influenced by this estranged man.

Cue 1964. A very young 16 year old man named Vincent Damon Furnier started a band. He couldn’t play any instruments. Neither could they. But they dressed themselves up as The Beatles and won a competition, regardless of their talentless and mimed display. This inspired Master Furnier to start a proper band. The called themselves The Spiders and played with a huge spiders web in the background. They changed their name to The Nazz afterwards, but there was already a band called Nazz. Four years after debuting as The Spiders, in 1968, they decided that they needed to work on their gimmick a bit more, come up with a better name and be more outrageous. They decided to name the band Alice Cooper, which would also be the name of the lead singer.

They toured with another band, a girlband, named GTO’s who dressed them up in makeup. They had the image, but they didn’t have the controversy. In September 1969, a chicken appeared on stage out of nowhere. Poor Alice , thinking chickens had wings and therefore could fly, threw it above the crowd. It plummeted into the first few rows and the crowd decided to tear the chicken to shreds. This made national press, across front pages. This publicity, and the moving to Detroit where people liked the sound of their music more, got them more popular.

In the early seventies their music got more popular, and their stage antics stood out more, around this time a lot of the bands were post rock ‘n’ roll/pre glam rock hippy bands, so, along with Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper was a unique gig. In ’72, out came School’s Out, which hit the UK charts at #1 and the album of the same name did fantastically well too. Alice Cooper was finally towards the top of the world, they released a few albums in succession which were commercial successes.

 

On stage in these years, the gimmick and shock rock shows were really starting to be full of fuel. Electric chairs, snakes, axes, toy babies with blood, and execution, dentists are all common themes that have been associated during this time. But the real cracker, was the decapitation of Alice Cooper, live on stage. Nothing had ever been done like that before, and none more successful since.

The tours and problems within the band took its toll in ’74 and they decided to take a hiatus. Alice Cooper performed as a solo act from this time onwards, but he has never really found any consistent success since then. He had a good re-emergence in ’89 with his hit “Poison”, but he has largely been seen has a cult act from the seventies, rather than a music legend, which is a shame, because, like Screamin’ Jay, Alice hasn’t received the consistent reception as a musician and a “shock rocker” as he should have been.

Cue 1971, a few years before Alice Cooper’s band was put on hiatus. A band was formed named Wicked Lester, who weren’t very popular. They released one album that was shelved, and two of it’s members decided it was a good idea to maybe start afresh with a new approach. They got a new drummer and a new guitarist, and decided to take a hard rock approach to their music. They decided to gimmick their band after comics, and gave all the band members names. They started wearing makeup and outfits, inspired by the surge of Alice Cooper. The makeup they used would be in relation to each character they pretended to be. Two years after Wicked Lester was originally formed, they changed their name to Kiss.

The stunts Kiss would do on stage was firebreathing, vomiting blood, playing a guitar on fire, emitted sparks on the drum kits, and many pyrotechnics. Kiss weren’t getting anywhere fast with their albums, but their live shows were eye catching and memorable. It was only until they released a double live album, two years after, in ’75,  that they got a lot of attention.

After the double album release they had a fantastic period between ’75 and ’78 where they released many platinum albums. Unfortunately in ’78, they went overboard, released four “solo” albums on the same day, and released an awful film where they were superheroes. Since then, they haven’t really been the same. They had a decent hit with the follow up album in ’79, but their album sales declined. Kiss’ live shows started off and still is the biggest attraction, as well as their image. Kiss’ cult following in it’s three year peak was unstoppable. But never were Kiss consistent, and never did they get another boom.

Cue 1989. Some young journalist in Florida had a respectable break when he started to interview bands of decent standing, the biggest being Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. This bloke ended up meeting another bloke started writing poems and lyrics, and decided, hey, let’s make a band!

So they did. Using Kiss’ approach to band making, they decided to have names for each member as well, only this time instead of names based on comic book characters, they mixed together good and evil, by having murderers names attached to famous females.

We had Olivia Newton Bundy, named after Olivia Newton John and Ted Bundy, the singer and serial killer, respectively. We also had Daisy Berkowitz, named after Daisy Duke, the character from Dukes of Hazard, and David Berkowitz, another serial killer. We had Madonna Wayne Gacy, named after pop singer Madonna, and again, serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Finally, two years later, we had Sara Lee Lucas, named after the food company Sara Lee, and Henry Lee Lucas, another serial killer.

The above formed The Spooky Kids, but that journalist we were talking about in the start? Well, he was the lead singer, he also had a name, one you’re more familiar with. He decided to call himself after Marilyn Monroe, and Charles Manson. Yes, he is Marilyn Manson.

Marilyn Manson went right off the bat and played gigs in their local area and got a quick cult following for their controversial shows. They had naked women on crosses on stage, a kid in a cage, animal parts, they wore women’s clothing, to go with their female names. They didn’t have money so instead of pyros they just set things on fire. Then in ’93, the man that Manson interviewed four years ago, Trent Reznor, picked up this band and gave them a record deal. Reznor helped their sound as a band, because without him, Manson was just a live gig, similar to Kiss, just on a smaller scale. He helped them release three albums between ’94 and ’98, with each getting more and more popular. Around this time Manson started experimenting with outfits, using more gothic style make up, also donning corsets rather than long white dresses. This change in image and improvement in music ability came to a major climax in ’96, when the release of metal anthem “The Beautiful People” got them worldwide fame.

The album that this metal anthem was released on, “Antichrist Superstar”, was full of anti-God related lyrics. Bands had used anti-religion in the past, but none anywhere near as successfully and controversially as Manson. Many church goers and churches would petition for their cities to ban Manson from gigging. The more anti-Manson Christianity became, the more anti-God Manson became, and the more publicity he got, the more popular he was.

After the release of his fourth album in 2000, Manson really dropped in popularity. His shows became stale; his music was becoming less popular. Falling out with Trent Reznor didn’t help, as he was the pioneer behind the music of the band. Manson had followed a similar road that his idols Kiss and Alice Cooper found, a boom period, then it blowing up in his face.

Which brings me to the main point in this article – Lady Gaga. What, you don’t understand why I’m mentioning her? Well look at the small profiles I mentioned above. Lady Gaga is in the same category, just singing a different genre. She is shock value, she’s not shock rock, she’s not a rock musician, but she is shock value. From Screamin’ Jay, to Alice Cooper, to Kiss, to Marilyn Manson, she is paving the way, using shock value and imagery to captivate millions of fans. She doesn’t mention any of these artists as her main inspiration, not one. But she is definitely inspired by ALL of these artists.

Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. He wore flashy outfits; he was one of the establishers of the flashy outfit stage persona. Alice Cooper, the pioneer of major stage stunts. Lady Gaga recently pretended to be shot on stage in a white dress, which slowly turned blood red where the “shot wound” was. Kiss was the epitome of pyrotechnics and flashy stage props. Marilyn Manson used controversy to get where he is today, Manson wore corsets and cut his chest open on stage, Lady Gaga decides she wants to wear raw meat. Also like Manson, she chose her name based on a famous song, Manson did the same just with people.

Lady Gaga mentions David Bowie, Queen, Michael Jackson and Madonna as her main inspirations. Fine. But unlike those four, these people have had boom periods, and then failed. These four, were consistent, were global icons, and will be remembered in history. The four I talk about in good detail  are merely going to become footnotes in comparison.

Now I want to set the record straight. I don’t like Lady Gaga’s music. It’s not my thing. But I do respect her. I think she has something that not many artists have today. She’s actually a very intelligent woman. She’s wrote lyrics for many artists in her genre, before people knew who the heck she was. Then she thought, “fuck it, I’m good enough to do this myself”. She can sing, she can play instruments, she is talented. What separates her from everyone, and I do mean everyone, in her genre is that she is using shock value in her music. She is creating shock pop, basically. No one since Madonna has been able to do it, and you know something, she could surpass Madonna, if she uses her talents well enough.

And that’s a big if. The likelihood is that she will actually follow the same route as the others, she is having a boom period, but then she will depend on shock value, and lose popularity. There’s shock value, then there’s consistency. You can only shock someone by doing something once, you do it over and over again people aren’t going to be shocked. The artists above did just that. They tried the same trick two or three times, they all had different amounts of success doing it, and then declined into mediocrity.

Gaga is playing her trick on a much larger scale also. The artists I mentioned weren’t playing to a pop audience, but to a rock audience. Especially since the seventies, the divide between a rock and pop audience is more than apparent. More people like pop music, it’s a simple divide as that. If she fucks up, she will fall down from grace much harder than everyone else. Madonna, and in some ways, Kylie Minogue, are the only artists that have really had good consistency, in some ways you may include Britney Spears in that list, maybe. So yes she could be the next Madonna.

The could be the next Madonna, or, she could be the next Darkness. Yes I said it, The Darkness. Remember those? They had a similar vein of form, yes they were a rock band, but they were playing pop tunes with rock instruments. They had a brilliant time touring and selling their first album, with their Kiss and Queen inspired sets. They were shot up to the stars, and thought they would do the same with their second album. Remember that? Not many people do, actually. What was the third single of that album? I don’t know, let me check Wikipedia… hang on… there it is! It was Girlfriend! What a track!

To conclude, I wanted to get this off my chest because it’s an intriguing situation. If you use a gimmick, or shock value in music, there’s only so much you can do with it. This is after all, music. Imagery, stunts, pyrotechnics, imagination, can only get you so far, if you’re not talented or diverse enough in the music business, you can get put down quickly. Madonna has shown she is diverse enough, she used controversy, she used sex, and she is now using her “MILF” status. But she is diverse enough as a musician, and talented enough to span a career across four decades. David Bowie changed his persona many times, but he also backed it up with the music, he is one of the most important musicians in history. But Manson, Hawkins and Cooper haven’t been anywhere near as successful because they weren’t diverse enough and depended on their shock rock personas.

Lady Gaga is releasing her second album next year. Will she be able to use her talents, as well as her shock value, to continue on? Will she follow The Darkness, or Madonna? We shall find out, won’t we!

 

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