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Topic: Music Videos Milestones

I have a youtube playlist called "Music Video Milestones" and I noticed recently that from 1995 to 1998 a lot of great music videos were produced. So I'll begin this thread with them (and one from 1991 for context).

Please post your favorite music videos if you think they belong in this group.

Discussion and tangents are encouraged in this thread smile


Radiohead - Just (1995)

Directed by: Jamie Thraves.
Love this video, the story and execution. My go-to example of great music videos.


Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy (1991)

Directed by: Baillie Walsh
Simple, elegant, beautiful... and that's just Shara Nelson. Love this video.
Trivia: The DP was John Mathieson, who went on to shoot Ridley Scott's Gladiator.


The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony (1997)

Directed by:  Walter A. Stern
Love this video. Inspired by Massive Attack's Unfinished Symphaty, it takes a simple idea and infuses it a feeling of uneasiness. I made a black and white version of it for myself for fun years ago. I sometimes played that version in parties and nobody ever remarked on the lack of color in it. I think it's a testament to how good this video is. You join his journey as he bangs up againgst the world. As the video ends it picks right up in the video for The Drugs Don't Work but that video quickly turns into a cookie cutter of a music video not worthy of this thread.

The Prodigy - Smack My Bitch Up (1997)

One of the all time great music video. Playing on stereotypes and expectations of the audience.


Björk - It's Oh So Quiet (1995)

Directed by Spike Jonze
Color my biased but this is one of those video's that I love. The verses are in slow motion but the chorus speeds up to normal speed. The progression from the small dirty bathroom to floating over the world into the sky in beautiful colours just blows my mind.


Björk - All Is Full Of Love 1998

Directed by: Chris Cunningham
Björk's robot video. Still a powerful video and holds surprisingly well up after all these years.
Trivia: It is on permanent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

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  • Teague
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Good to see Chris Cunningham on here already, but boy, you better have a Michel Gondry video comin' up quick or something is wrong with the system.  tongue

Teague Chrystie

I have a tendency to fix your typos.

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  • From: State of Idaho
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Not sure how milestone they are though I feel that they have some unique work:

Creed's "One Last Breath" featuring a tiger and Stapp falling down a cliff:

Disturb's Prayer video was an interesting controversial video due to its destruction of a city through the course of the song:

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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Teague wrote:

Good to see Chris Cunningham on here already, but boy, you better have a Michel Gondry video comin' up quick or something is wrong with the system.  tongue

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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Dire Straits - "Money For Nothing"

I loved it as a kid, it was the most impressive thing aired on Polish TV in the late 1980s (it must have been the first time I saw computer graphics). It was awarded "MTV Video Of The Year" in 1986.

Soundgarden - "Black Hole Sun"

Reminds me of David Lynch movies.

Last edited by MartyJ (2013-02-14 00:48:44)

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  • From: Iceland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Two great videos from Sigurrós

Viðrar Vel Til Loftárása (2001)
Translation: Good weather for airstrike

Directed by: Arni & Kinski
Beautiful video dealing with gender roles and homosexuality, acceptance and other heady stuff... was controversial with the anti-gay crowd but then again, people who's agenda is to be offended usually find a way to be offended.

From wikipedia:
"Viðrar vel til loftárása" spawned a cinematic and controversial music video. Set in 1950s Iceland, it features a football match between two teams of young boys. As one team scores a goal and celebrates, two young boys on the same team begin to kiss. The kiss is eventually broken up by the boys' fathers. All band members appear in cameo in the video: Jónsi is the soccer team coach, Orri is the scorekeeper, Georg is the referee, and Kjartan is one of the spectators. Moreover, the fetus design from the Ágætis byrjun album cover is shown on a bottle from which one of the boys drinks.

Hoppípolla (2005)
Translation: Jumping into puddles

Directed by:  Arni & Kinski
A music video that has always made me smile...

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  • Registered: 2010-11-12
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Not sure how "great" it is in the grand scheme of things, but I like the acting for the most part and really like the cinematography, the no-music interludes are a nice touch, and the song itself is spectacular. The opening is...weird.

Last edited by Abbie (2013-02-16 01:32:03)

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  • Trey
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Teague wrote:

Good to see Chris Cunningham on here already, but boy, you better have a Michel Gondry video comin' up quick or something is wrong with the system.  tongue

I remembered this one from a while back, and now that I look at it again, sure enough it's a Gondry.   

Welcome to roto hell...

And I've always remembered this video fondly, because in the early days of MTV - when most videos were just variations of a band performing a song - this was just so amusingly absurd.

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  • oTom
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Well. Thriller. Duh. It's *the* music video. You can't have a conversation about music video milestones without it.

And this is a huge milestone because I say so:

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  • From: Poland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Michael Jackson had many groundbreaking ones.

"Leave Me Alone"

"Black Or White"

"Speed Demon"

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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Well, if we're including ones from the 80s-

Last edited by Jimmy B (2013-02-14 18:10:43)

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  • From: Iceland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Does anybody remember Weapons of Choice?

Fatboy Slim - Weapons of Choice (2001)

Directed by: Spike Jonze
Christopher Walken, a trained dancer wanted to record some of his moves before age took it away. He had talked about this with Spike and when the Weapons of Choice video came up Spike took him up on it. Shot in the Marriott Hotel in L.A.
Christopher Walken What-A-Man!

Trivia:
- The "Weapon of Choice" video won six MTV awards in 2001.
- Walken was awarded one of MTV's "Moonmen" for Best Choreography.

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  • From: Scotland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Indeed, I was going to post it myself at one point smile

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  • From: State of Idaho
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

OK Go had an interesting video, which I believe was responsible for getting them far more known-as well as inspiring several parody videos:

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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Another video that may be outside the mainstream, but has a very interesting style is Switchfoot's "Stars." Its one thing to have it raining in your video but what they do is very original:

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  • From: State of Idaho
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Sorry for the double post but another video that takes a unique idea and tries it out:

God loves you!

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  • From: Poland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

The Beloved - "Sweet Harmony"

The most controversial music video of its time (although now the controversy seems a little quaint).

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  • Dave
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

SPOILER Show

happiness in slavery. nine inch nails

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  • From: Scotland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

First ever and one millionth music video to play on MTV, anyone? Featuring Hans Zimmer on keyboard.....

It was directed by Russell Mulcahy who went on to direct Highlander.

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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Marty J wrote:

The most controversial music video of its time (although now the controversy seems a little quaint).

It was? Shit, the 80s gave us these-

WARNING: Contains Boobs

WARNING: As does this-

I realise you can see boobs on the thumbnail above but it was the only uncut version I could find. I'm not just posting these for the nudity, I believe they were both landmarks in music video as they both pushed the boundaries of what you can show in them.....

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  • From: Iceland
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

Great videos guys.

Does anybody remember Rock DJ?

Robbie Williams - Rock DJ (2000)

Directed by: Vaughan Arnell

Not so much a fan of Robbie Williams he does have a bunch of cool videos under his belt. How do you interpret this video? Is it about ego? Is it about bearing one self in front of one's lover? Honesty?

Trivia:
- The video's ending (beginning with Williams taking off his skin) was cut by most music channels around Europe.
- "Rock DJ" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects.

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  • Eddie
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

The first time where I took notice of a music video director was.....


Lucas with the Lid Off by Lucas
Dir: Michel Gondry

Eddie Doty

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  • Eddie
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Re: Music Videos Milestones

I never felt like Mike Mills got the respect he deserved as a director.  He's had some indie movie's become modest hits, but damn, can that boy direct.  It's rare that you see a documentary completely work as a music video.


All I Need by Air
Dir: Mike Mills

Eddie Doty

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Re: Music Videos Milestones

AshDigital wrote:

Great videos guys.

Does anybody remember Rock DJ?

Robbie Williams - Rock DJ (2000)

Directed by: Vaughan Arnell

Not so much a fan of Robbie Williams he does have a bunch of cool videos under his belt. How do you interpret this video? Is it about ego? Is it about bearing one self in front of one's lover? Honesty?

Trivia:
- The video's ending (beginning with Williams taking off his skin) was cut by most music channels around Europe.
- "Rock DJ" won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Special Effects.

I loved that when I was younger, although I do take the more literal approach to it. He's simply just taking off more and more in attempt to impress.

As a Guns N' Roses fan, I'm bound to bring up their trilogy of videos based on a short story by the bands tour manager.

Guns N' Roses - Don't Cry

Guns N' Roses - November Rain

Guns N' Roses - Estranged

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