Now, with Beyoncs Lemonade and other blockbuster album-length videos on the rise, we might just be on the verge of a new music-video golden age.Its a great time to be a fan, and its never been easier to cue up videos for your favorite party songs, workout songs or dance songs from the comfort of your computer or phone (and theres nothing to stop you from hitting that replay button over and over).For our money, these videos comprise the pinnacle of the art formthe best music videos out thereso far at least.Burnishing its pedigree with loving allusions to seminal horror filmsRomeros Night of the Living Dead, Hitchcocks Vertigo and director John Landiss own then-recent hit An American Werewolf in London, Jacksons 13-minute musical chiller opus melds creepy authenticity with campy fun to an astonishingly successful degree.
How successful A behind-the-scenes home-video release of it sold over 9 million copies, and its currently the only music video preserved in the Library of Congress National Film Registry. Only a pop star of MJs cunning and talent could have pulled it off. By planting Trent Reznor into a David Lynch steampunk SM dungeon and letting things get weirder from there, Romanek gave birth to indelible creations including: a paralytic, levitating Reznor; a crucified monkey; a machine-powered heart blowing smoke to the songs beat. Much of this didnt sit well with the censorsmultiple frames were replaced with scene missing title cards to soften the video for regular broadcast. Its shadowy back-road setting recalls scenes from the Coen brothers Blood Simple and Fargo, and like those films, striking violence lies just around the corner from congeniality. ![]() In the film, Kanye strikes up a bizarre romance with a phoenix that crashes to earth as an enormous flaming meteorite, featuring images of circus fireworks, a giant bust of Michael Jackson, interpretive ballet dancers backing an extravagant ballroom dinner party and more. Its awe-inspiring, its high-drama, its gorgeous, and most of all, it has a poignant sense of heart thats as extravagant and ostentatious as the artista prime manifestation of what makes him so captivating. In fact, Sednaoui claims they almost abandoned doing a video at all, until he had a flash of inspiration during a cab ride. Fast forward to Bjrk, singing only the way Bjrk can, on the back of a flatbed truck moving through Manhattan. The song was her first to chart in the U.S., the video fell into heavy rotation on MTV and an international star was born. For those keeping track, it contains 32 identical Ludwig drum kits, 32 amplifiers, 16 microphone stands and one Beck cameo. Director Samuel Bayer captured the groups gritty, grimy aesthetic by setting the action at a punk pep rally, complete with tatted cheerleaders sporting the anarchy symbol. Kurt Cobains irrepressible artistry shines through toounhappy with Bayers initial cut, he re-edited the video to include the unforgettable final close-up of his shaky Joker-smile, and it was on his orders that filming ended with a full-on mosh pit. Directed by hip-hop music video titan Hype Williams and featuring cameos from SWV, Lil Kim, Total, Da Brat and Puff Daddy, the video was the first in a long line of superb Missy visuals, and a proclamation that the rising Virginia native was a force to be reckoned with. Johnson and featuring the stop-motion and Claymation talents of Aardman Animations Nick Park (who went on to create the famous Wallace and Gromit and Shaun the Sheep programs), this playful vid required Gabriel to lie under a sheet of glass for 16 hours. Considering it went on to collect a record nine awards at the 1987 MTV Music Video Awards and still stands as one of the most-played videos in the stations history, wed say it was time well spent. The video for the breakout hit features a single mesmerizing continuous take of the members nailing precisely choreographed moves on six treadmills. ![]()
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