Favorite Music Videos

[Doubleshadow]

I rarely watch music videos usually. I often find them to be terribly uninteresting, uninspired, vapid, artless, crude, and downright boring. But, I have run into some music videos that I really like for various reasons. Here are my top five.

1. Light Up Ahead - Further Seems Forever
I found the unique animation and visual style to be striking, and the storytelling narrative in the images to be very moving. I felt and thought the song and the video complemented each other perfectly.

2. Angelicus - Delerium
Isabella Bayrakdarian is one of my favorite vocalists, and the way her performance meshes with the music makes it very haunting and lonely. The video captures the feeling with a surreality that is deeply touching, especially at the end. For me, knowing that Isabella is ethnically Armenian and therefore from a group of people with such a history and who have faced genocide before, adds an even greater degree of solemnity to the message in the video.

3. World on Fire - Sarah McLachlan
A simple, straight-forward video with a powerful message. It's the only video that, while others have gripped me emotionally, has nearly made me cry. I watch it whenever I need a reality check.

4. Love Me Good - Michael W. Smith
This video won me over when it opened up with him eating ramen! This my favorite song by him, and it helps that he's a local boy. The video is zany, off-the-wall goodness the reflects the bizarre approach to the lyrics. It's a lot of fun to watch and the joy in the song is really captured by the video.

5. In the Rain - Enya
The background graphics for this video are just beautiful. Very well conceived and executed, with an understated quality that is powerful and demonstrates great artistic integrity.

Honorable Mentions:

Mouth Like a Magazine - Showbread
A nostalgic favorite of mine. My friends who've seen them live tell me the video looks like one of their concerts, and the clothing and hairstyles of the band in black and red on the plain white background gave the video a direct, clean, finished feel.

The Spy Hunter - Project 86
This video wasn't a standout until the end, when it left my jaw on the floor. That is definitely a surprise, and made the video distinctly memorable.

[HiddenWoodchuck]

1. Light Up Ahead - Further Seems Forever
I found the unique animation and visual style to be striking, and the storytelling narrative in the images to be very moving. I felt and thought the song and the video complemented each other perfectly.

I love that band, the song and video.

I love so many different styles of music... it would be impossible to list all my favorites, but I find myself watching "classic Christian rock/metal" a lot. I just really like the older stuff... so, here are just a FEW examples of my favorites.

Circle of Dust - Telltale Crime
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n8b6njGuehg

Novella - Give Me Love
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hW_cMKAPF-I

Ransom - Lasting Love
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2qdeFYFed1o

Holy Soldier - Last Train
http://youtube.com/watch?v=07oXtObbiaY

Whitecross - You Will Find It There
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gpavVGtr5VU

Bride - Psychedelic Super Jesus
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qw0g4lXfC6A

Barren Cross- Imaginary Music
http://youtube.com/watch?v=kAWYP64ip3Y

Rez Band - Love Comes Down
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PzHr_cTXr88

[GhostontheNet]

I'll just copy and paste some my entries in the "Trance anyone?" thread here too. These videos are each divided by musical genre. I'll probably go ahead and edit this post to include entries in non-electronic music later. I know all these videos are a lot to chew on and that many of you are not familiar with these styles. I suggest anyone interested either watch movies one at a time based on what sounds interesting, or else if a particular genre in interesting to watch them in the order listed. I have a feeling Doubleshadow in particular will enjoy many of these videos in light of her gracious complements on the thread dedicated to my internet radio station.

Gothic Rock

Bauhaus - Bela Lugosi's Dead
The Awakening - Vampyre Girl
Alien Sex Fiend - Ignore The Machine
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Israel
The Cure - Lovesong
The Sisters Of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection
The Awakening - Stigma
Bitter Grace - Nothing Here
The Awakening - Mirror Tricks

Punk Rock

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
The Clash - London Calling
The Sex Pistols - Holidays In The Sun
Dead Kennedys - Holiday In Cambodia (Contains Profanity)
Dead Kennedys - MTV Get Off The Air (Contains Sexual Content, blame it on MTV)

Deathrock

Zombina & The Skeletones - Punk Rock Vampires: Destroy!
Eva O - Children Of The Light
All Gone Dead - NewSpeak (Room 101)
Tragic Black - Circuit 3 (Contains Profanity)
45 Grave - Violent World
Scarlet's Remains - Wholesale Murder
Headnoise - You Live Among The Dead
AFI - Silver And Cold
Faith & The Muse - Prodigal

Electro-Goth

Clan Of Xymox - Weak In My Knees
The Last Dance - Once Beautiful
In Strict Confidence - Promised Land
E Nomine - Mitternacht
L'âme Immortelle - In The Heart Of Europe

Industrial/EBM (Electro Body Music)

Front 242 - Rhythm Of Time
Front Line Assembly - Mindphaser
Front Line Assembly - Epitaph (Contains Violent Content)
Skinny Puppy - Testure (Contains Violent Content and Profanity)
Grendel - New Flesh (Ghost In The Shell AMV, Contains Violent Content)
And One - Military Fashion Show

Darkwave

Leper - Black Lacey Veil
Clan Of Xymox - Imagination
Lycia - Estrella
Bella Morte - On The Edge
Simple Shelter - Through The Fires
The Machine In The Garden - Control
Screaming For Emily - Deity
Simple Shelter - System Error

New Wave/Post-Punk

Siouxsie - Into A Swan
Joy Division - Isolation
The Police - Invisible Sun
Joy Division - Twenty Four Hours
U2 - New Years Day
Talking Heads - Once In A Lifetime
Public Image Ltd. - (This Is Not a) Love Song
She Wants Revenge - True Romance

Electro/Synthpop

The Human League - Don't You Want Me?
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
The Echoing Green - Yesterday's Taking Over
Freezepop - Less Talk More Rokk (Contains Profanity)
Joy Electric - Children Of The Lord

Noise/Power Noise

Skinny Puppy - Harsh Stone White
Skinny Puppy - VX Gas Attack (Contains Violent Content)
Terrorfakt - Damage (Contains Violent Content)

Futurepop

VNV Nation - Testament
Pride And Fall - Border
Apoptygma Berzerk - Until The End Of The World

Ambient

Brian Eno - Music For Airports
The Future Sound Of London - Lifeforms (Commercial Version)
The Future Sound of London - Cascade
Steve Roach - Live at Grace Cathedral
Biosphere - In Triple Time

Electronic World Fusion

Brian Eno & David Byrne - America Is Waiting
The Future Sound Of London - My Kingdom
Dead Can Dance - Yulunga (Spirit Dance)
Azam Ali - Endless Reverie
Dead Can Dance - The Host Of Seraphim

Ambient Pop/Enigmatic Pop

Enigma - Age of Loneliness
Delerium - After All
Delerium - Duende
Blue Stone - Worlds Apart
Delerium - Angelicus
Enigma - Return To Innocence

[GhostontheNet]

2. Angelicus - Delerium
Isabella Bayrakdarian is one of my favorite vocalists, and the way her performance meshes with the music makes it very haunting and lonely. The video captures the feeling with a surreality that is deeply touching, especially at the end. For me, knowing that Isabella is ethnically Armenian and therefore from a group of people with such a history and who have faced genocide before, adds an even greater degree of solemnity to the message in the video.

3. World on Fire - Sarah McLachlan....

I second the Angelicus video by Delerium, which I posted here myself. Its interesting you would come to be a fan of Delerium through some of the vocalists that have worked with the band. I was first introduced to Delerium when I learned that Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber supplied the electronics and masterminded the project. I knew Leeb and Fulber from their work on Front Line Assembly, an Industrial band that has spent the past 20 years making ingeneous electronic music designed to warn that the present system amounts to little more than a "cultured way of suicide". Throughout their career, they've tackled a number of controversial political issues including racism, economic exploitation, neocolonialism and globalization, political violence and oppression, nuclear and biological arms races, and environmentalism. Another part of Front Line Assembly I have always liked is that where most Industrial bands accept the old socialist line that if real change is to be made belief in God and the afterlife must be abolished, FLA has always emphasized the spiritual dimension of the struggles it describes and that heaven is real and one must prepare their soul to enter its glorious and righteous society. As a fan of Delerium, if you ever feel like checking out Leeb and Fulber's work with Front Line Assembly, I'd suggest you start with the following links.

Front Line Assembly - Civilization
Front Line Assembly - Epitaph
Front Line Assembly - Vanished (EP)
Front Line Assembly - Maniacal (EP)
Front Line Assembly - Everything Must Perish (EP)

[MomoAdachi]

I'm not a huge music video fan either, but here are some I've enjoyed, by some of my fave artists, although I suppose the content of some of these is kinda iffy for a Christian site:
Hilary Duff-Beat Of My Heart, Come Clean, Play With Fire
Janet Jackson-Escapade, Rhythm Nation, The Pleasure Principle, What Have You Done For Me Lately?
Madonna-Like A Virgin, Lucky Star, True Blue, Cherish, Material Girl
No Doubt/Gwen Stefani-Don't Speak, What You Waiting For?, Just A Girl

[EricTheFred]

I'm dating myself badly here, because this board has many members younger than these choices, but....

Enya - Orinoco Flow

Enya - Caribbean Blue

Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams
(I'm not sure quite why, I've just always thought of it as a perfect match of video to music.)

Yes - Leave It.

[rocklobster]

Sprinkles Phoenix Down!
Duran Duran made some strange ones. Check them out on youtube. I loved the ones they did for "Wild Boys", "Too Much Information", "Girls on Film" and "Hungry Like the Wolf".

[Danderson]

First off, just wanted to say I'm really not big on music vids because I feel like alot of them really don't capture the excitment or meaning of the song.......However, there are a few that I have found to exceptional to this:

Red - Already Over
Just the way they show the battle between us and what keeps us from God, especially on the last leg of the song, is really inspiring....

Relient K - Who I Am Hates Who I've Been
Just seeing the main character realise she controls time when she walks makes the song almost all the more meaningfull....

[Kkun]

I'm with rocklobster about Duran Duran. I was going to post "Hungry Like the Wolf" but seeing as he already got to it, I'll leave that one alone.

Also? "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. Best. Video. Ever.

I've also always enjoyed Blindside's "King of the Closet" and Refused's "New Noise." They are each cool in their own right, but what cracks me up is the similarity of the two: the costumes, the close camera angles. If you listen to their albums A Thought Crushed My Mind and The Shape of Punk to Come back to back, Blindside totally ripped Refused off in a lot of ways... but then again, so did a lot of bands.

[KagayakiWashi]

"Dare to be Stupid" - Weird Al Yankovic
I'm not a huge fan of music videos, but that's always been a fun one to watch.

[Warrior4Christ]

Two that come to mind are:

Weezer - Pork and Beans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI

Mutemath - Typical (it's amazing!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAtXKS9ZxvM

[Radical Dreamer]

Also? "The Safety Dance" by Men Without Hats. Best. Video. Ever.

100% Agree.

In addition to that...

Brand New -- The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aMJIc9USE2U

This video is so from my 9th/10th grade year at school. XD I love it, though.

Eisley -- Invasion
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z1zeQF07EK4

Epic song and the video fits it well.

Regina Spektor -- Us
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fczPlmz-Vug

I looove Regina Spektor's voice, and the artsy style of the video really matches her own style and makes it pop out.

Of Montreal -- Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VeIL7juFE0

This video is on CRACK. SO FUNNY/BIZARRE though.

Edison Glass -- Let Go
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OQlHym874nc

Mirroring the stop-motion style of "Us," but I love the song and the way the video plays out.

A-Ha -- Take On Me
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CUod3jGQt0U

Clllllassic. XD I love this video. XD

Thrice -- Stare At the Sun
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IDzl6ZQpSOo

I love the song and the meaning it has. Plus, epic video.

There are a lot more, but I can't even remember them all (or post all of them here XD). Enjoy though!

[Kkun]

100% Agree.

In addition to that...

Brand New -- The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aMJIc9USE2U

This video is so from my 9th/10th grade year at school. XD I love it, though.

OH MAN. I forgot about that one (which is weird because Brand New is all I've been listening to lately). Also, the video for Sic Transit Gloria - Glory Fades is awesome, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ecAyTL1psE

[Peanut]

In no particular order:

From yesterday-30 Seconds to Mars

The Kill-30 Seconds to Mars

Going in Blind-P.O.D.

The Islander-Nightwish

Operation Ground and Pound-Dragonforce

White and Nerdy-Weird Al

Ich Will-Rammstein

And, even though it's been mentioned before...

The Safety Dance-Men Without Hats

[the_wolfs_howl]

I tend to like music videos that have some kind of story, rather than the kind that are just the band performing. If I wanted that, I'd go to their concerts, right? In no particular order:

Coldplay - The Scientist

Nickelback - Savin' me

Nickelback - Too Bad

Nickelback - Someday

Hoobastank - The Reason

Linkin Park - In The End

Linkin Park - Crawling

Linkin Park - Pts of Athrty

Linkin Park - Numb

Linkin Park - What I've Done

Evanescence - Bring Me To Life

Creed - Bullets

John Rzeznik - I'm Still Here

P.O.D. - Boom

Puddle of Mudd - She Hates Me (Clean)

KJ-52 - KJ Five Two

KJ-52 - Life After Death

Eminem - When I'm Gone (Clean)