Well, i decided in a haze that music videos can also be incredibly cinematic, and as thus can be considered cinema, so despite having previously kept this blog to movies and the occasional miniseries, i decided to review the greatest music videos of all time. Click the song titles for videos!
- Alejandro: Beautiful and haunting this is one of the best music videos i have ever seen, the video samples the haunting violin solo and is over seven minutes long, directed by Steven Klein the video is inspired by old photography, and is very saturated, being almost entirely in black and white with very little color and mainly only reds, the film contains some great dancing and is a fantastic homage to Madonna and vintage Steven Klein photography.
- Thriller: One of the greatest music video of all time, creepy dancing and iconic fashion make this a fantastic music video. The video has become the blueprint for the modern music video, and is still as modern as ever. The video is an homage to 1970's sci-fi monster movies, and is a mini-movie with a plot and dialogue, and the special effects are great, and manage to be a little cheesy, without being too ridiculous.
- Girl Gone Wild: A pitifully underrated Madonna video, she references past moments in her career, playing many of the persona's she has taken on over the years, and the black and white imagery is a playful homage to her career. The video features men in stilettos, tilting rooms and smoke effects, and uses fast editing which mimics the pulsating beats of the fast dance number. The video also features Madonna looking the best she has in years!
- S&M: Controversial and in fact banned by MTV this video is fun and flirty, and features Rihanna as her provocative hyper sexual best, colorful the video uses camera pans and wipes, makes smart use of racking shots and uses fast cuts effectively. The video is a fashion homage to bondage fashion of the 1980's of the type favored by Grace Jones, however it gives it a fun twist by being flirty and colorful.
- Telephone: Again a mini-movie this time Gaga continues on the story of the paparazzi video. The 10 minute video contains gaga in prison, waiting for a call from Beyoncé. As always Gaga gives us complete over the top fashion, fantastic dancing and dazzling color. The video is an homage to Bonny and Clyde, and to Tarantino, with Gaga and Beyoncé going on a murderous rampage in the Pussy Wagon, and killing all the customers in a diner, before dancing a bit and escaping the cops before, perhaps getting caught....to be continued.
- Ride: Perhaps a slightly controversial choice, however Ride is a stunningly beautiful music video, with a haunting monologue at the beginning. The video is beautifully understated, and feels natural and unstaged, and shows Lana in the arms of various men, as is described in the song. The video is cinematographically distinct, and i wouldn't be surprised if it was shot on film. The shots have a beautiful romantic look, and overall the video is simply heartbreaking.
- Vogue: Always a classic, this video was one of the first music videos to really show them as an art, and is still as modern today as it was twenty years ago. This film bought vogueing into mainstream consciousness. The black and white video references old movies, and vintage fashion from the thirties, and was directed by David Fincher, acclaimed director of Fight Club, and uses art deco architecture, to create one of the most stunningly beautiful videos of all time.
- Toxic: A video featuring Spears at her fun, flirtatious best, the video features Spears with three different hair colors, and a plot featuring Spears as a James Bond type spy, moonlighting as a hostess on an airplane, the video is one pf Spears best, and although it has sadly been forgotten since its release, it hasn't aged a day, and is still as current as ever.
- Invisible Light: a little known video by the Scissor Sisters, the video features none of the bands members, and is a surrealist art film, with thriller and horror elements, in which the song acts as almost a backing track. The video uses muted tones, and slow pans, and features a woman having a series of nightmares inspired by 1950's films, and using colors inspired by Dali paintings, this is a beautiful music video, which stands out from this list.
- BAD ROMANCE: In my mind this is the absolute greatest video of all time, Bad Romance uses a fantastic plot, inspired by the singles Russian industrial music sound, the video features Gaga as a sex slave, being auctioned off, as a doll in a bath house with huge enhanced blue eyes. The video was the first of the modern age to really redefine music videos as an art, and was nominated for a record 13 VMA's, the video is stylish, unpretentious and sleek, and was the first music video event in history, leading artists to tease the release of videos, which had been previously just been released with the song. The video features some of the best fashion featured in a music video since Vogue, and is a stunning tribute to the talents of Alexander McQueen as a designer, and to the music video for thriller, which is referenced in the choreography. Provocative artistic and daring, this truly is Gaga at her very best, and the results are timeless and classic.
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