Author Archives: Jedadiah Leland

Music Video of the Day: Chasing Light by Metallica (2023, directed by Kim Asendorf and Dina Chang)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Fair warning: this video features many flashing lights so viewer discretion is advised.

Chasing Light is one of the many music videos that Metallica released earlier this year in order to promote their 11th studio album, 72 Seasons.  In this video, Metallica performs in a huge room that is bathed in flashing white and yellow lights.  I like what I’ve heard of 72 Seasons.  The music goes hard and James Hetfield’s lyrics are intense and introspective.  This is the second album that Metallica has released on their own label and there’s a renewed sense of purpose to the music.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Chiquita by Aerosmith (1979, directed by Arnold Levine)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day comes to us from the time when Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were both truly living up to their reputation for being the Toxic Twins.  It can be easy to forget now that they are both rock luminaries and both have, more or less, cleaned up their acts as far as hard drugs are concerned but it’s something of a miracle that the two of them survived the 70s and the 80s.

Chiquita was recorded for Aerosmith’s 6th studio album, Night of the Ruts.  The recording of this album found Aerosmith on the verge of breaking up.  Joe Perry actually did leave the band halfway through recording, saying that he wanted to get back to what the band used to be about before it all became about making money for the record companies.  The album was panned when originally released but its critical reputation has improved over the years, with Steven Tyler calling it his favorite Aerosmith album.

The video was directed by Arnold Levine, who also directed videos for Cheap Trick and REO Speedwagon.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: London Calling by The Clash (1979, directed by Don Letts)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

“This is London calling…” were the opening words used by the BBC World’s Service’s station identification.  Those words especially became well-known during World War II, when the citizens of occupied Europe would listen to the officially-banned BBC in order to discover how the war was actually going.

In The Clash’s song, London is calling because it’s worried about what’s happening in both the UK and the rest of the world.  Along with mentioning police violence, the rise of drug use, and the risk of the Thames overflowing, the song also finds time to mention the recent nuclear accident at Three Mile Island on the other side of the pond.  At the time the song was written, it seemed that London was drowning in more ways that one.

The Clash managed to go for 23 years before finally allowing London Calling to be used in a commercial.  At the time, Joe Strummer said that, after 20 years, the members of the group deserved something for having recorded one of the most iconic punk songs and, as such, the song was used in a Jaguar commercial.  It has since gone on to be used in a British airways advertisement.

The video was directed by longtime Clash associate and Big Audio Dynamite co-founder, Don Letts.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Because The Night, covered by 10,000 Maniacs (1993, directed by Milton Lage)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day features Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs covering Patti Smith’s Because The Night on MTV Unplugged in 1993.  This is a good example of what MTV used to be, before it sold its musical soul and became the Rob Dyrdek channel.

Milton Lage, the director of the video, was also the director of Unplugged.  He’s also done music videos for James Taylor, 98 Degrees, Bonnie Raitt, and others.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Look Down by Lindsey Buckingham (1993, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Don’t Look Down was the first single off of Out of the Cradle, Lindsey Buckingham’s first solo album after leaving Fleetwood Mac for the first time.  Buckingham’s tour to support the release of Out of the Cradle was also his first tour as a solo artist.

The accompanying music video takes a documentary approach, with clips of Buckingham and his band on tour.  The main theme of the video seems to be that Lindsey was much happier touring with his own band and doing his own thing than having to deal with another round of drama with the members of Fleetwood Mac.  Who can blame him?

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: We Care A Lot by Faith No More (1988, directed by Bob Biggs and Jay Brown)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

We Care A Lot, written as a parody of benefit concerts like Live Aid, was the first Faith No More Song to have an accompanying music video and it is also the band’s second-most popular song, right after Epic.  What the bands cares a lot about depends on which version of the song that you hear as We Care A Lot is frequently re-written to keep the lyrics updated and topical.  Over the years, Faith No More has cared a lot about Madonna, Mr. T, the LAPD, the money that Live Aid made, Transformers, and the Garbage Pail Kids.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Colors by Ice-T (1988, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day is typical of the type of video that used to dominate MTV, the movie tie-in where clips of the artist performing were mixed with scenes from the film.  The video for Colors goes further than many other film-related music videos by not only showing scenes from the film but also by projecting them on the brick wall behind Ice-T.  The movie was a hit and, on MTV, so was the video.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Kiss by Tom Jones are Art of Noise (1988, directed by Martin Brierly and Stephen Lowe)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In 1988, long before Frank Sinatra started teaming up with pop artists and Tony Bennett had his brief moment of MTV popularity, Tom Jones and Art of Noise teamed up to cover Prince’s Kiss.  The song was an unexpected success in Europe and Asia, hitting number one in both New Zealand and Spain while entering the Top Ten in many other countries.  In the U.S., it peaked at #14 on the Billboard Top 100.

Of the two co-directors, Stephen Lowe also did videos for Duran Duran and Lisa Stansfield.  Martin Brierly has worked as cinematographer and a second unit director on several projects, including the third Alien film.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: It’s In The Way That You Use It by Eric Clapton (1986, directed by Oley Sassone)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Today’s music video of the day was written for Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money.  The video mixes clips of Clapton performing the song with scenes taken from the film.  This use to be a very popular format on MTV, back when MTV played videos and every movie was advertised with a music video.

Director Oley Sassone is perhaps best-known for directing the never released 1996 Fantastic Four for Roger Corman.

Enjoy!