There is something that is just great about Green Day's video for "Redundant". First off we have a stationary shot. After the band members take there places we watch in the background and foreground people doing the same thing over and over. It could be hanging up a painting, undressing, a couple making out on the couch. It's all tough to take in. One of the focal points is a lady who walks out of the kitchen to pick up the paper on the floor. The only thing that breaks anyone's redundant stride is when Armstrong takes the newspaper and runs off at the end of the video which leaves the lady screaming. It's great stuff when you have to go back and watch a video a few times to pick up on things and that's what Green Day accomplished here. My favorite Green Day video of the 90's.
#29 UNKLE-Rabbit In Your Headlights 1998
We can't forget the guy in the parka in the tunnel if we're doing any sort of video countdown. Thom Yorke does guest vocals on UNKLE's "Rabbit In Your Headlights" and it is the perfect soundtrack. Some people may like to watch a guy who is uttering gibberish walking down a busy tunnel and is continuously getting hit and knocked over by cars who don't stop to see if he's alright. To me it's sad. And when he takes the parka off to reveal scars on his body, it's even sadder. This is this guy's walk through life...and he keeps getting knocked down. But his moment of serenity is when he stops, raises his arms, and a car that hits him self implodes as he stands strong. It's the money shot and the sweet justice you were hoping for throughout the video. And I'm about to go put my parka on...
#28 Nine Inch Nails-We're In This Together 1999
Nine Inch Nails had some great videos from the "Downward Spiral" with "Closer and "March Of The Pigs", but this video stands as my favorite and most memorable. Probably because it is the ultimate human rat race. Everyone is dressed the same and everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere we'll probably never know exactly, but that's beyond the point. The thrill is watching hundreds to thousands of people fill a subway station, run across a rail yard and pack into a train, and then run across a desert knocking each other down to get to that somewhere. When Trent Reznor goes down in a barrage of people sprinting, we think it's all over, but he awakes to find clothes scattered across the desert and not another soul in sight. Reznor's chorus, for a change, is very hopeful in "We're In This Together" and on an optimistic day, you can have a positive vibe of what the meaning of this video's ending is.
#27 Supergrass-Late In The Day 1997
This may seem kind of high in video countdowns but let me ask you "How many love/break up song videos were done on pogo sticks in the 90's?" This one. And not only is it pogo stick jumping delcicious, the guys from Supergrass are actually quite good at working a pogo stick (the only shot in question is where they pogo over a parked car.) Those mad skills have them working their skills in the rain, in a public bandstand in unison, and some mad moves by drummer Danny Goffey in the guitar solo. It's too bad this pogo adventure wasn't a huge hit in the states but it did get these guys a video nomination in Britain.
#26 Lauryn Hill-Everything Is Everything 1999 The overall mood is mysteriously great and a bit religious in Lauryn Hill's video for "Everything Is Everything". It's mysterious in the way Manhattan has been turned into a giant turntable and the city streets have become the vinyl as a needle makes its way through the streets as the song goes on. The religious overtone is the hand that comes down to scratch the vinyl could be compared with god's hand shaking things up or helping people who are in danger (like the scene of a beating going on that is diverted by the hand scratching the pavement to break up the fight). It's also part sci-fi watching the shadow of the needle's arm in the sky going across the city's landscape with people constantly looking up. An all around great video, still surprised this was really the last we've heard from Hill after all these years.
#25 R.E.M.-Everybody Hurts 1993
If you're ever stuck in traffic and you see the guys for R.E.M. appear sitting on the hoods of cars or walking the highway, the best thing to do is just get out of the car and walk. A gripping tale of a traffic jam full of mourners and people with everyday problems. There is something so liberating that words can't describe the feeling when they get out of their cars...and just walk. Throughout the video, the thoughts of the characters in the cars are put in simple text at the bottom of the screen (if I was one of the people in a car my thought would probably read "I could really go for a taco right now.") The best is the extra footage at the end with a reporter reporting the strange circumstance on the highway below. It had to be some sort of inspiration for a Shamalyn movie along the way. R.E.M. - Everybody Hurts Uploaded by WBRNewMedia. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.
#24 The Prodigy-Smack My Bitch Up 1997
The most hedonistic video of the decade belongs to the Prodigy for "Smack My Bitch Up". The video is shot in a first person perspective and follows around a person on a night of debauchery. The evening includes several shots of whiskey, a couple lines of coke, a heroin fix in a bathroom stall, vandalism at a club, a lot of inappropriate touching of females, the occasional vomiting, a strip club, a stripper going home and getting their ya ya's on, someone may have been hit by a car at some point, and an order of nachos. It is truly mind bending why MTV wouldn't show this. HA! In 1997, there was no internet, you had to stay up late, late to see the new video for Prodigy. And it was worth it. The twist in the end that our first person is a female may be a bit too much to believe, but if that's the case, all I could ever say was wow. That's pretty hardcore.
You can jump on over to Daily Motion to watch this one as I'm not going to embed it. And YouTube won't let you even check it out so here's Daily Motion's link: Prodigy-Smack My Bitch Up
#23 Red Hot Chili Peppers-Give It Away 1991
At first I was trying to figure why I put the Chili Peppers in the video countdown, but then after sitting and really watching "Give It Away" again, I had to shoot it way up the countdown. The reason it sticks in your head is that it is so visually pleasing. It gives you the memory that there is something really technically proficient about this video, but there really isn't. The band is dressed in acrylic paint, there is a lot of reverse cinematography that is used perfectly, a lot of split screen with a soft border to make you feel both sides of the screen are melting together, and some great zoom in and out motions to go with the beat of the song. All basic. But put together, truly remarkable. It helped these guys into multi-platinum territory for the rest of their careers. Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Give it Away Uploaded by hamster1992. - Classic TV and last night's shows, online.
#22-Snoop Dogg-Gin and Juice 1994 It may be because Snoop is sporting a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey with Gin and Juice 94 on it or because I like to have my mind on my money. Either way, it's probably one of my favorite west coast rap videos of the decade. Leave it to Snoop to throw a great looking house party after his parents leave (It's like Home Alone...and Snoop is Macaulay Culkin, sort of). The Dixie cups looking for a little Gin and Juice at the drive in and the Dr. Dre cameo to save the day are highlights. In the end the parents come home and chase everyone out of the house party...but we don't know for sure if they caught the d-o-double-g with the young ladies we last saw him go into the bedroom with. A fun party video. Snoop was on point here.
#21 Lo Fidelity Allstars w/Pigeonhead-Battle Flag 1998
If we learned anything from the video for "Battle Flag", it's if you have a problem that needs to be taken care of...call the Lo Fidelity Allstars who are offering great rates right now on kidnapping and extortion. A tale of a wealthy businessman who has skeletons in his closet and is too arrogant to care for his own family and has a kinky affair with a prostitute may seem a bit of a tired tale. But put it to the soundtrack of a song like "Battle Flag" and raise the sinister level to a ten. We can only assume in the end as we see him get driven off by the band into a tunnel that his hours or minutes are numbered (especially with the images of the car burning right beforehand). I guess we can possibly add murder to the Allstars repertoire as well. One of the greatest one hit wonder songs of the nineties, with a great video to compliment it.
The overall mood is mysteriously great and a bit religious in Lauryn Hill's video for "Everything Is Everything". It's mysterious in the way Manhattan has been turned into a giant turntable and the city streets have become the vinyl as a needle makes its way through the streets as the song goes on. The religious overtone is the hand that comes down to scratch the vinyl could be compared with god's hand shaking things up or helping people who are in danger (like the scene of a beating going on that is diverted by the hand scratching the pavement to break up the fight). It's also part sci-fi watching the shadow of the needle's arm in the sky going across the city's landscape with people constantly looking up. An all around great video, still surprised this was really the last we've heard from Hill after all these years.
It may be because Snoop is sporting a Pittsburgh Penguins jersey with Gin and Juice 94 on it or because I like to have my mind on my money. Either way, it's probably one of my favorite west coast rap videos of the decade. Leave it to Snoop to throw a great looking house party after his parents leave (It's like Home Alone...and Snoop is Macaulay Culkin, sort of). The Dixie cups looking for a little Gin and Juice at the drive in and the Dr. Dre cameo to save the day are highlights. In the end the parents come home and chase everyone out of the house party...but we don't know for sure if they caught the d-o-double-g with the young ladies we last saw him go into the bedroom with. A fun party video. Snoop was on point here.
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