Category Archives: music video

Music Video of the Day: Wake Up Dead by Megadeth (1987, directed by Penelope Spheeris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In this video, Megadeth performs behind a wire fence while their fans attempt to get to the band.  It doesn’t have much to do about the song, which is about a man sneaking back into his house after cheating on his girlfriend.  But it probably is a fair representation of what it was like to be in a popular thrash metal band in the 80s.

Directing this video was Penelope Spheeris, who has previously celebrated metal in the documentary, The Decline of Wester Civilization Part II.  Spheeris would later direct the film for which she is best remembered, Wayne’s World.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Superstitious by Europe (1988, directed by Nick Morris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Superstitious was the first single to be released from Europe’s fourth studio album, Out of this World.  Out of this World was released in 1990.  One album later, Europe would go on a temporary hiatus as grunge and then generic pop replaced Europe’s style of metal as MTV’s favorite style of music.  The band reunited in 2003 and has since released six more albums.  Europe rocks!

This video for Superstitious was filmed in Long Island, New York.  The video was directed by Nick Morris, who was a very busy video director in the 80s and the 90s.  He also did the video for Europe’s best-known song, The Final Countdown.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone by Cinderella (1988, directed by Nick Morris)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Watch out!  Cinderella’s in a sensitive mood.

Best known for being discovered and initially promoted by Bon Jovi, Cinderella had their biggest hit with Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone.  This song made it up to number 12 on the charts in 1986, proving that there was a market of listeners who were eager for overly sensitive hair metal.

The video was shot at Mono Lake, a California lake that is well-known for the large amount of salt that has accumulated in the water.  (It has to be known for something, I guess.)  This video was directed by Nick Morris, who also directed the video for Europe’s The Final Countdown.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: You Think You’re Tough by Ratt (1983, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Before Tawny Kitaen became famous for appearing in Whitesnake videos, she dated Robbin Crosby, the lead guitarist of Ratt.  Those are Kitaen’s legs on the cover of Ratt’s first self-titled album.  Decorating those amazing legs with high heels and rats results in a classic 80s music image.

The video below is for one of the songs from that album, You Think You’re Tough.  You Think You’re Tough was Ratt’s first single and was released with a cover version of Rufus Thomas’s Walking The Dog.  The video keeps things simple, highlighting the band’s musicianship and saying, “These guys can really play!”

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Atlas, Rise! by Metallica (2013, directed by Clark Eddy)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In Atlas, Rise!, Metallica sings about having the weight of the world on your shoulders and refusing to let it hold you down.  No matter how much Atlas has to carry, he will always rise and so will Metallica.

The video keeps things simple, focusing on the band’s skill.  The video was directed by Clark Eddy, who has also directed videos for Sublime, Crash Test Dummies, and Kid Rock.  Most of Eddy’s credits, though, are as an editor.  As an editor, he has worked on videos for Dua Lipa, Rihanna, Destiny’s Child, Iggy Pop, and Pitbull.  That is quite a collection.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: The Wicker Man by Iron Maiden (2012, directed by ????)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In the year 2000, Iron Maiden proved that they still had it with a song based on the movie The Wicker Man.  The song became one of their late career hits, earning the band another Grammy nomination.  This was the first song that the band rehearsed after the return of Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith.  Dickinson later said the song was an attempt to capture the feeling of being on stage and watching the audience chant along to what you’re singing.

This video features the band performing the song live in 2012, in Santiago, Chile.  An earlier video, which was released at the same time as the song and which was directed by Dean Karr, featured the band performing the song on a stage while a fire raged behind them.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Seasons In The Abyss by Slayer (1990, directed by Di Puglia Gerard)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Yes, that is Slayer rocking out at the base of the Sphinx.

For their very first music video, Slayer traveled to Egypt.  At the time the video was shot, Iraq had just invaded Kuwait and the world was on the verge of war.  Despite all of the tension in the region, the members of Slayer said that they were warmly received by both the citizens of Egypt and the American soldiers who were preparing for Operation Desert Storm.  The Egyptian government was so eager to show that it wasn’t anti-American that it allowed Slayer access that the band might not have otherwise been given.  At the same time, back in the United States, the Satanic moral panic was still in force and Slayer was being accused of leading its fans into lives of sin and decadence.  Slayer was promoting diplomacy while Tipper Gore was still playing records backwards.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Everything Counts by Depeche Mode (1983, directed by Clive Richardson)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

The video for this fan favorite was shot around what was then West Berlin.  (This was before the wall came down.)  Clive Richardson had also directed the video for Just Can’t Get Enough and the band turned to him, after previously working with Julian Temple, because they felt that Richardson could visually toughen up their image and help the band move away from the more self-consciously artsy style that Julian Temple had attempted to go with.  The end result was a video that quickly went into regular rotation on MTV and a song that proved to be one of Depeche Mode’s most enduring hits.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: What We’re All About by Sum 41 (2002, directed by Marc Klasfeld)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

In this song from the soundtrack of the 2002 Spider-Man film, Sum 41 plays upside down, in the best tradition of Spider-Man fans everywhere.  Along with keeping an eye out for clips from the film, also watch out for Slayer’s Kerry King, who shows up to remind everyone what rock is all about.  As someone who grew up with an MTV that played music, I miss the music videos that always used to be released to promote movies.  I always enjoyed the mix of performance footage with the most kinetic scenes from the movie.

This music video was directed by Marc Klasfeld, who has directed music videos for literally everyone.  Don’t even think about becoming a rock star if you can’t get Marc Klasfeld to direct at least one music video for you.

Enjoy!