I'm not sure if this goes under best or worst, because I think it is both:

Lionel Richie- Hello

If you haven't seen it (it's fairly notorious), Richie is a teacher in a high school and is "infatuated", to put it mildly, with a blind student. Scary, nonsensical, but incredibly amusing at the same time.

I always liked the video for "Fell in love with a girl" by the White Stripes. They do the entire video with legos, which fits the song's quirky, random style.

There could almost be a topic only about music videos that are non-live (i.e. animated, 3-d, claymation...), but it might not generate enough interest to be worthwhile.

quote:

Originally posted by LordSmoogsbottomIII:
I always liked the video for "Fell in love with a girl" by the White Stripes. They do the entire video with legos, which fits the song's quirky, random style.

That's a good one. I like most of Michel Gondry's music videos, but that one might be his best. He also did an interesting Cibo Matto video with a split screen. Two women's storylines go forward until they collide in the middle of the song, and then they rewind the scenes back to the beginning, but with opposite women. I hope that makes sense. Unfortunately, the song was not very memorable, the name escapes me.

Soft Cells Tainted Love is a pretty good off the beaten path music video. Although thinking about it when Mtv made it's real stand in the 80's quite a few of the videos where slightly off. That reminds me, A Ha's Take on Me is a really cool video from that decade.

quote:

Easy! A video that got me hot as a teenager... and still gets me hot... is Billy Idol's "Cradle Of Love". That woman can play a tape at my house any time!!!!

I was gonna mention this one minus the gettin' hot part. It definately stirred emotions in 13 year olds across the country though. Especially when you have to turn on ESPN when you hear your mother lurking around the corner.

I haven't watched MTV in years but, one night, they had a Radiohead marathon on and I saw "Paranoid Android" for the first time. WTF!!! I consider that song one of the ten greatest ever recorded and I refuse to watch the video again.

I do remember the video for "More Than Words" being simple and very fitting for the song.

My vote for worst:

Notorious BIG - Hypnotize

Basically...four minutes of straight self-glorification. And special effects that drown out the song.

I almost forgot. I love pretty much every Bjork video except for the one for "Cocoon" from Vespertine. I really love the one for "Bachelorette".

Hey, I liked that Bjork "Cocoon" video! Yes, it is a little bit wierd, with the whole her being naked and painted white all over and digitally animated red strings coming out of her... Nevermind. Still a great song though!

Here's my latest favorite music video.
The New Pornographers: The Laws Have Changed

This music video turned my love for The New Pornographers into undying devotion for everything the New Pornographers have done and ever will do. I love this video.

Some of my favorites...:

Coldplay - The Scientist
Turin Brakes - Painkiller

Three videos immediately come to mind:

"No Surprises" - Radiohead
Basically it's just Thom Yorke drowning in a space helmet, but it's actually good.

"There Goes The Fear" - Doves
This is the first time I heard the Doves (or seen them, I guess), and it was on VH1, of all places. This animated short captures the mood of this song.

"Where's Your Head At" - Basement Jaxx
Creepy/funny video showing mutant monkeys, with human heads, chasing after the scientists that created them.

I like this one"
http://www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk/videos.htm

Let Forever Be - The Chemical Brothers
Frontier Psychiatry - The Avalanches

and it's already been mentioned but Bjorks The Bachelorette Video is straight brilliant!

quote:

Originally posted by LordSmoogsbottomIII:
One of the worst by far was the video for "The Outsider" by A Perfect Circle. It didnt have anything to do with the song and consisted of these girls called The Bikini Bandits running around like idiots. Very depressing considering the high quality of Tool music videos.

Interesting because i thought that video was superb. a terrific take on our cultures obsession with sex and violence and the blur between the two.

quote:

Interesting because i thought that video was superb. a terrific take on our cultures obsession with sex and violence and the blur between the two.

I still stand by what I said, but maybe there was some hidden deepness I missed.

On the 'Worst' list:

David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans

It tried to do this 'Culture of violence' thing about America and came off over the top, cliched, and pretty smug.

I rarely ever see a video, but from ancient history, Best: "Ashes to Ashes" by David Bowie.

The video for Glosoli by Sigur Ros makes the song so much better. Not even sure I'd like the song otherwise.

Sigur Ros - Glosoli

Has anyone mentioned the "Take On Me" video by A Ha? The drawn world/real world stuff is pretty cool. Some other good 80's videos are "Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats, and "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House.

I second the "Just" Radiohead video -- it's a great little existential short story in video form.

One of the worst I've seen is George Michael's recent comeback song.

Here's a crappy one:

"Waiting on a Friend" by the Rolling Stones. Great song, but I'm pretty confident they spent about 50 bucks on the video. The first half of the video is Mick standing on a stoop in NYC waiting for Keith to come by. Then Keith comes by and they walk to a bar and meet up with Ron Wood. Mick's doing the worst lip sync possible, and Keith looks like he's three sheets to the wind. Charlie and Bill didn't bother to show up.

One that's so bad it's hilarious:

Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages". Looks like something Spinal Tap would've made.

EDIT: Also pretty awesomely bad:

Journey's "Seperate Ways". Two words: Air Keyboards.

http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/36588/Staff_L...Awesome_Music_Videos

I don't know what to think.