Music Videos

[longtusk]

I reckon it depends. Sometimes it doesn't really have any impact on me, and sometimes it makes the song more enjoyable (remember the Gorrilaz?) but with some songs; like Korn's Thoughtless video; it just ruins it for me. Grrr. Cos I love that song, but the video is just a bit... well... retarded.

[Beatlechick90]

I don't watch MTV and I only watch MuchMusic occasionally so the question doesn't really apply to me. But some videos can really ruin a song, I've never seen a video that made a bad song better.
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[KeheiZero]

I'd say it depends. I can't really give my full concentration on a song if I'm watching the video, but I guess it gives artists a way of putting their songs across in other ways. All of these music channels that show videos can give a song a lot of publicity that things like radio and word of mouth can't provide in the same way.
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[fallenangel]

It really depends on the artist or genre. In general, I love music videos and have tons and tons of video DVDs (Motley Crue, Poison, Van Halen, TUFF, compilations, Bowie, etc.).

The thing is, music videos for about a decade were great all because of what was going on at the time. Hair metal lends itself perfectly to music videos because the bands are a show themselves. The show is nearly as important as the tunes, and in that case, music videos let people see that without them being able to make it to a concert. For example, most Poison videos are just the band performing, with little snippets of storyline. Without people having gone to a concert, a music video can show them the high engery, brightly colored performance that makes the band what it is.

The attitude and showmanship of the band increases the song so much. It's like a heavily polished concert without paying the $40.

On the other hand, music videos can also enhance the meaning of a song and make it much more powerful. The best example I can think of is probably one not seen by many here, but you can find it on Launch.com. It's Faster Pussycat's song/video "House of Pain". The song is about growing up without a father, and on its own, it's a nice ballad. But the video, done entirely in shades of blue, [i]shows[/i] you what it's like. A little boy watching his father slap his mother in the kitchen, waiting outside for his dad to come back while having flashbacks to all the things they used to do together. It's just a really well done video.

[b]However[/b], these days music videos suck because the music no longer supports them. Without getting into a huge rant about the changes in the staff and quality of MTV, current music just doesn't lend itself to the same quality of videos that the 80s and early 90s did (not just hair metal, pop and classic rock worked too). The artists don't look special anymore. They look like average people, and their performances are standard. There's nothing unique to see there. Very few songs have a meaning that is highlighted. If anything, they throw in a bunch of angsty images of people in black and roses and blood, etc.

They're just bad.
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[ruppy007]

I think they make songs better because now you have an image to go along with it so you don't have to imagine one.

[UltimaMewtwo]

It really depends.
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Member No. 5,524

[yukihime89]

I think it depends. I know that I can't stand to listen to some songs when they're played on the radio, but I enjoy watching the video. The reverse applies as well. The great thing about music videos is you can see your fave band performing their song, unless they're doing some thing with crappy acting. o_O

But the best music videos are the ones of a band performing on stage and the audience is going crazy and the guitarist and bassist are windmilling and high kicking or headbanging and jumping and the vocalist is going psycho and it's just energy and chaos rolled up into an awesome video.

[Drakedragon]

I think it depends coz it can sometimes make it better. In some cases it made it, if it's comedy, even funnier! I listen Jeff Foxworthy and the videos he makes always adds a dozen laughs to whatever song he made. In some cases it's made it worse. It sometimes makes the singer look like a maniac..not that, that's always a bad thing.

[xoprincessxo710]

i think it depends on the song

[black_raven_nevermore]

depends..orgy's "Stitches" vid rocked
ashanti's vid "only you" doesnt..ewwww her butt cheeks hangin out..gross..

[CyberkittyKG]

[quote]I think they make songs better because now you have an image to go along with it so you don't have to imagine one.[/quote]

What happened to using your own imagination?

But anyway, I think that for the most part, music videos are empty wastes of time. Mostly it's just advertising, just as the award ceremonies are just a way for the musicians to give themselves a pat on the back. And what really gets me angry is hip-hop videos; they're nothing but pieces of junk verging on the pornographic, where they depict women as nothing but sex objects (I know this is going to make me sound like a prudish feminist, but I'm not...I just don't like it when they show women as nothing but a pair of tits) and show off how much bling bling they have. And even if the video doesn't have women and cars, it's mostly empty special effects. I can give an example; when I used to watch the music video channel where I live (I don't waste my time with MTV), a Mariah Carey music video came on that was totally useless. All I remember is that one moment, she was sipping soda pop, and the next she was racing against another woman in futuristic cars. The plot made absolutely no sense, and it had no direction that I could see. Now, I'm not saying I don't like special effects... but this was just plain ridiculous.

But I'm not saying all music videos are bad. I can't name any good ones off the top of my head (it's been so long since I've regularly watched them), but I know I've seen some good ones before. It just seems that for the most part, music videos are nothing I'd waste my time on.

[L7]

It depends. If its a boring music video like The Game's and TI's new ones they suck ballz. They gotta actually be doing something besides grabbing your crotch and acting all gangster and saying "uh".

[Pyrodragon125]

We made music videos in Media class. Mine was horrible and I did the script the morning it was due. ^_^ They picked mine to do and I got a B on the entire thing. Bunch of idiots I'll tell ya.........
Anyway, it all depends on how good the actual video is.

[gcbaby]

id defently say it depends because there are some videos that suck@$$ and some that kick@$$. lyk "sometimes you cant make it on your own" by U2 wasnt all that good it killed the song. ummmm...."helena" by my chemical romance awesome song w/ an awesome video. So it all depends.