Stylus Magazine - Top 20 Music Videos Of All Time
they've reached their top 20 here.
one i hadn't seen: the replacements bastards of young.
top 20....
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Juvenile – “Get Ya Hustle On” -serious?? a decent Juvenile video but wow I can think of a million better videos.
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Pulp – “Bad Cover Version” - fun but I dunno, slight?
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Joy Divison – “Atmosphere” - yawwwnnnnn I don't care about context; Sledgehammer is still rewatchable.
overall it looks like they wanted to include a lot more rap than than they should have. 75% of the rap videos on the list are totally generic.
Every video on the list is from established artists, big directors or MTV one-hit-wonders. Would've been cool if they sought out some awesome videos that weren't very popular (like the Presets or sumpin).
Okay, time for the harsh criticism: Their list is sloppy and unstudied, but I don't think these online Top 100s are trying to be definitive. If they are, then they're quite mistaken.
For instance: rap videos. "Get Ya Hustle On" is ridiculously included. I think there were only three Hype vids in the whole entire set (Busta, 2Pac, Missy), while he's done most of the best work in that field. How is "Drop it Like it's Hot" better than its creative predecessor, the sharply styled and crisply shot Q-Tip "Vivrant Thang" (not that I would include that)?
I'm mystified by the inclusion of vids like tatu "All the Things She Said", BG "Bling Bling", Bowie & Crosby "Little Drummer Boy", The Killers "Mr. Brightside", at the exclusion of, say, U2 "One", Prodigy "Smack My Bitch Up", Craig Mack "Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)", Royskopp "Remind Me", Dire Straits "Money for Nothing", Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams", Annie Lennox "Why", Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody", the Police "Every Breath You Take", Herbie Hancock "Rockit", Art of Noise "Close (To the Edit)", The Cars "You Might Think", even David Bowie "Ashes to Ashes".
This list feels weighted towards American videos from the 90's and 00's.
Ultimately any list is flawed, that is clear. I think there should be several Top 100 lists: most influential/historic, most creative/best filmmaking, best animated, and then ones cut down by musical genre. Alas if there were only a MV Museum, besides MoMA. I went to the Museum of the Moving Image lately and there wasn't a mention of music videos anywhere but in the gift shop.
at MoMA: the Golden Oldies of Music Video
I think I actually enjoyed the list more because of its inclusion of hip-hop videos. It seems like hip-hop videos get overlooked quite often unless they resemble rock videos (think Outkast, Beastie Boys, Kanye), and get criticized pretty harshly for not conforming to the standards that rock critics usually use to assess the worth of a promo. If I had to create a top 100 list, I wouldn't be able to do it honestly without including Clipse's 'Grindin', Snoop's 'Drop It Like It's Hot', Ludacris's 'Southern Hospitality', or N.E.R.D's 'Rockstar', to name a few.
As if there can ever be a greatest list. Oh, those golden classic mid 90's indie vids. Listen to you idiots. Videos just aren't what they used to be, waah waah. Its only an opinion you dingbats. The sheep on here...
Kev, the level to which your life is empty and will remain empty astounds even me.
Yeah overall it was a really lame list. The Pitchfork list
that was put out last month was better because they didn't make the mistake of trying to create a definitive Top 100 videos of all time. They just included as many entertaining videos as they could. Also most of the commentaries were annoyingly pretentious and obsessed with placing all of the videos in a definitive social context.
Still they had some good obscure picks on here that I hadn't seen (Pulp "This is Hardcore", Kid 606 "Sometimes", Pet Shop Boys "Flamboyant", R.E.M. "Imitation of Life").
Uh, sorry, sir/ma'am. That's certainly not the most professional of responses I've given. I'm sure Stylus was doing it all in good fun - don't let us bloody sods ruin your day, Stylusians!
Yes, I love love love "This is Hardcore". Wonderfully obscure pick!
