“Q” Is For Queen

Tags

2015, a-z challege, band, music, queen, rock, save me, theme, video

I couldn’t really have an A-Z list of music videos without mentioning Queen. The band practically invented the concept way back in 1975 with the video for Bohemian Rhapsody. However, it is not that video I have chosen today. Instead I have picked one from a later album and the track is called Save Me. It comes from the album The Game which was released in 1979 and for me really started the whole ball rolling in terms of their commercial success in the charts. Yes they had had one or two hits, but I think this album marked the start of their constant role in the make up of the UK music chart.

Save Me is a really good song and the video is a really nice blend of live action and animation. However, it is the way that the animated segments of the shoot merge back into the live shots as you will see from the video below. I find the whole thing quite moving in fact and the final shot when Freddie is reaching for the dove appears quite poignant in the whole Queen story.

Queen of course did many great music videos. The Miracle used mini members of Queen, I want To Break Free featured the band dressed in drag, and of course who can forget Radio Ga-Ga with the whole crowd clapping in unison, but I have always preferred the earlier side of Queen’s music and Save Me is one of the heights for me in terms of music and vision.

What is your favourite Queen video? There are so many to choose from, comment below with your opinions =)

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“P” Is For Placebo

Tags

2-15, a-z challenge, brian molko, music, placebo, pure morning, smurfin the web, suicide, video

Placebo aren’t a band I have particularly liked in the past, yeah ok, they have done some decent tracks here and there, but I wouldn’t call myself a fan. They did do a great cover of Bony M’s Daddy Cool, but it’s not that I am talking about today. In terms of their music videos, I think their best has to be Pure Morning. Another mini film, it tells the story of someone standing atop a building’s ledge and the mayhem that is going on below with the emergency services and the media.

The song is powerful enough, but it’s that point when he walks off the edge of the building and begins to walk down it that really grabs you. Just like that moment in Neneh Cherry’s Woman that I described earlier in my challenge, it is something which you don’t quite expect to happen and it makes the hairs stand on end. that is the mark of a good video for me.

As for the song itself, lead singer of Placebo, Brian Molko has stated that he now hates the song and its lyrics and they haven’t performed it live since 2007. See what you think of my choice, does it move you? Leave your thoughts below =)

“O” Is For OK Go

Tags

2015, a-z challenge, april, fun, grammy, her it goes again, music, ok go, smurfin the web, treadmill, video

Alright, so after my half ass post yesterday, I am back on track with today’s video. Here It Goes Again by Chicago band OK Go is a Grammy award-winning video from 2007 and is possibly one of my favourite videos of all time. I think it’s deserving of being in my list just because of its originality. Its fun to watch, the song is good and the idea was so simple.

Apparently it took 17 takes to get this right. The video is one continuous shot so you can imagine how frustrating it must have been to get almost to the end of the shoot and one of the band screwing it up…arrgh! Directed and choreographed by Trish Sie who has worked on some movies such as Step Up: All In, she had already worked with the band on a previous song by the band, A Million Ways, and I think she upped her game here.

The timing of the moves on the running machines is just so well done I think much credit has to be given to the band members for actually making it work. It’s all very well having a good idea, but if it cannot be executed well, then its a waste of time, OK Go did a great job and have gone on to make some really great and complicated videos, its kinda their trademark now and long may it continue. If you haven’t checked out the band, you should, they are a good listen.

“N” Is For Nickelback

Tags

2015, a-z challenge, blogging, burn it to the ground, cheat, dark horse, gig, live, music, nickelback, rock, video

I know, I know. Nickelback? For some reason they seem to be the most hated band on the planet by pop fans and rock fans alike. I haven’t liked everything they have done, but in 2009 they teamed up with legendary music producer John “Mutt” Lange. he has produced bands like Def Leppard, The Cars and Bryan Adams. You can tell, he has a distinctive style, but Nickelback’s album Dark Horse was a massive success and the first track Burn It To The Ground was a great single off it.

It is a fantastic rock track. It punches and kicks and it is in my opinion what a rock song should sound like. Play it loud. Now I have to confess that the video isn’t really all that in terms of its content, it is more or less just them playing on stage at a live gig. I don’t care lol. It kicks ass whatever way you look at it, and that’s why I’ve included it here.

So really there isn’t much more to say here, I suppose this is a bit of a cheat post, but let’s hear you suggestions, can you think of a great “L” band video? Post them here and I’ll comment on your tracks =)

“L” Is For Linkin’ Park

Tags

2015, a-z challenge, animated, anime, april, breaking the habit, linkin park, manga, meteora, music, rotoscope, smurfin the web, song, video

“L” takes me to American rap rockers Linkin Park. From their second album Meteora is the track “Breaking The Habit“. This was a very successful period in the band’s career, but the video is right up my street. I have always loved the Manga style of animation, and this is a great example of a short film that fits the song well here.

Directed by Kazuto Nakazawa, who has done work on movies such as Kill Bill and Animatrix, we see a story told backwards Japanese style. The story is interwoven with footage of the band performing the track, and everything has been rotoscoped to give it that scribbled look, while maintaining the anime style. At the start of the video, we do not know who it is that has fallen to their death, but as the video progresses, there are many little messages given and we discover at the end that it is in fact the lead singer of the band, Chester Bennington that has fallen.

I just think it’s a very powerful video animated in a great way for maximum effect. What do you reckon? Is this worthy of a place in your top video list? Comment below.

“K” Is For Kasabian

Tags

a-z challenge, K, kasabian, music, rock, rotoscope, video

I am not actually much of a Kasabian fan, but I was torn between two videos here for my “K” post. In the end I plumped for Shoot The Runner, although the video for the song “Empire” is also excellent so check it out. Shoot The Runner reached number 17 in the UK music chart, so wasn’t a massive success, but I really like the sound of the song, it harks back to a 70s style rock track, perhaps something that Deep Purple might have done.

Now, I am visiting our old friend “Rotoscoping” again here, as this is how the video was animated, but its interesting to see it done in this way rather than the black and white rough sketch style that we have already seen in this A-Z challenge. I am quite a fan of this kind of art aswell, so it gives me a good viewing experience as well as the song being decent. The same style of animation was used in the Queens Of The Stone Age video for the song “Go With The Flow“.

If you have a preference between the two songs I listed here at the top of the post, let me know, was I right to go for what I did, or is the video for Empire better?

“I” Is For Iron Maiden

Tags

a-z, april, can i play with madness, iron maiden, music, video

British rockers Iron Maiden were an acquired taste of mine, however, this song was always one of my favourites. Heavy metal has always been a passion of mine, and in the early 80s it was big business in the UK. Iron Maiden were trail-blazers in commercial metal music and I love many of their songs, but it is the video that accompanies the song “Can I Play with Madness” that really sticks in my mind.

Another thing that makes this video important to myself is that is one of the last times we saw the great comedian and Python, Graham Chapman in front of a camera before his untimely death in 1989. He plays an art teacher who finds himself lost in caves after falling down a hole during a school trip.

Any heavy metal  fans here? Do you have agree with my suggestion for “I” or can you give me a better video? Comment below with your thoughts.

“E” Is For The Eagles

Tags

a-z challenge, e, guitars, hotel california, live performance, music, the eagles, video

There can only be one song that makes it onto the list that is so good that it will probably remain a song that I will never be able to play properly on the guitar. Hotel California is a song that I include on my list of “perfect songs”. There is simply nothing negative that you can say about the song, the lyrics are deep and meaningful and can be interpreted in many ways, the band was brilliant and the music in incredible.

I have loved this song ever since I was a little kid and although we aren’t discussing a flashy video here, I think this performance of the song is brilliant. It was recorded live in 1977 and I think as live performances go, this is well up there in terms of how good this band must have been to see at the height of their success. This was a time of the dream lineup – Henley, Frey, Felder, Meisner and Walsh. The rows and breakups are well documented, but for me, this performance epitomizes everything that was great about The Eagles and its a shame that it can’t be again.

Do you have any memories of hearing this song for the first time?, or indeed at any time? Can you think of a better performance of this track? Let me know in the comments, I look forward to reading them.

“D” Is For Dire Straits

Tags

a-z challenge, animation, black and white, brothers in arms, dire straits, goosebumps, grammy, music, smurfin the web, video

Dire Straits were a band that I grew up with. My dad listened to them all the time, in the car and at home. I still listen to them today and certain songs will always have a place in my life. None moreso that the title track of their most successful album, “Brothers In Arms“. The song has been covered a few times, but none will ever be as good as the original written by the great Mark Knopfler.

Using some of the same techniques as in A-Ha’s “Take On Me”, this offering combines the animated aspect and grainy live black and white footage. The song is about the futility of war and in the video, World War One is depicted, but also some modern aspects of warfare and weaponry. What I like about this video is how seamless the editing between live action and animation are, they really do a great job on it and its very stirring.

Noisy animation, but sublime all the same

Another use of the song was in an episode of The West Wing called “Two Cathedrals” If there are any fans of the show reading this, then I hope you will agree with me when I say that it is some of the best best television that has ever been made. The storyline and the song just work so well together and you be forgiven if you thought that it was the official video for the song, I have linked this so that you can see it, I never get tired of watching it, this really does give me goosebumps.

The video won a Grammy for Best Music Video way back in 1987 and I think it deserves every accolade it got. A true masterpiece.

“A” Is For A-Ha

Tags

a, a-ha, a-zchallenge, april, cartoon animation, music, norway, rotoscope, smurfin the web, take on me, video

And so, here we are once more with another A-Z Challenge. It’s hard to believe that a whole year has passed since the last one. So much has changed in my life, but as ever I am here again to give you my A-Z which I revealed on the 23rd of March as Some Of My Favourite Music Videos.

I think we should get straight on with A, which is for the Norwegian band A-Ha.

1985 was a phenomenal year for A-Ha, their debut album Hunting High And Low was a massive global success and spawned 2 international hits, The Sun Always Shines On TV and Take On Me. It is the latter of these that I have picked for today’s post as the video was simply a stunning piece of work by director Steve Barron and animated by Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger.

I love the way the live action and the pencil drawn sequences fit together so seamlessly, particularly as the camera rotates around the frame that lead singer Morten Harket stands behind. As for the song itself, it has stood the test of time and still sounds great today, but there is no doubt in my mind that it was the video that made the song such a great success, and the exposure the band received from the video being played on MTV (when it actually played music videos) made them a big hit around the world until their eventual retirement in 2011 with their final single Butterfly, Butterfly, which by some sort of nice nostalgic design was also directed by Steve Barron.

Enjoy my choice for “A” and please leave your comments and memories of this song and video in the box below =)