Your favourite music videos?

Being a film person, there are not a lot of videos done for much rock music that turn me on. Too many of them are just a vague idea of the band, and it is more about its flattery than it is about anything that could be considered artistic and a bit more of the work that the band did, or does.

That said, there were directors that used music way better for visuals, than most of this stuff. It's hard to not see how the Vangelis music was used by Hugh Hudson in "Chariots of Fire" and then Ridley Scott in "Blade Runner" that were not only stunning, it added to the music, and the film. Even in 1492, the Vangelis music was done really nice. Ridley Scott had Tangerine Dream in the American Version of "Legend", though I think that some other films were nice, but not great and they include "Miracle Mile", "Canyon Dreams", "Thief" and the one that has never been released with the full soundtrack, "Sorcerer", which was done in its entirety musically in the last series of concerts just before Edgar Froese passed away. It signaled the end of the "visual" Tangerine Dream, that became just a mechanical nothing.

But, perhaps, few of these have ever stood up as well as the glorious way that Werner Herzog made the material from Popol Vuh stand up ... 

All of these gave a GLORIOUS showing of the music, and unlike many of the videos listed here, they gave even more value to the work itself, than just a fun video. One could say these were very artistic moments, that presented the music even better than we usually see it. 

It gave a lot of music, the color and imagination that classical music has been hoping for since Mozart, when you first can have a great idea from the film "Amadeus", although it is difficult to not think of it as just a fun movie.

Another director that knew how to use music beautifully is Ken Russell, and it is so well done, even going back to one of his first, the film about Elgar ... which is not seen much, but is, really an incredible film. And his later adventures into music in film, is ... very crazy, but a lot of fun to watch, and better than most videos for rock bands!

Another director that was well known for his use of music, though it is often ignored, is Nicolas Roeg, who had the gumption to create "Memo From Turner" and helped identify the persona that became Mick Jagger for a long time, a very brash, strong, and well thought out lyricist knowing how to present his words, in a filmic sort of way that even MTV could not have the gumption to show it ... the film itself is/was a really big cult thing, and it is an excellent film, despite the fact that it is very difficult for any audience to identify with it, and to make sense of it ... but its images are insane and fantastic and Mick was not the only piece of music used in that film!

Hi,

In many ways the "ending" is even better since it is all improvised by Klaus Kinsky, who obviously had a good feel for the music and its feeling. He takes it all the way to the last note. Magnificent.

The story about a lot of these things is funnier. Florian Fricke and him were good friends, and a story goes that he would go to Florian's place and say I am making a film, but have no music, and Florian would guide him to a closet full of stuff and say ... pick one ... the following week, Werner would show up at Florian's house and say ... look ... I got a new film with the music! That suggests that Werner knew how to float with the music and make it stand up in many of his films. The opening of "Nosferatu" is also really neat, but we don't seem to like classical music as much! In many ways, it reminds me of the pictures of the sets for the Operas in Bayreuth almost 100 years ago ... they are "classics" in their design and realization in theater history of set design. Very modern, and so simple ... it gives a completely different feeling to a lot of the music played there, mostly Wagner as far as I know. These sets and their design, also make a lot of rock shows lighting look very stupid!

Not a video, because this one was made on film, by the Grand Master of film animation Norman McLaren, with use here of an optical printer. And I'm the proud owner of a copy of this film on 16mm (and McLaren's complete works on DVD, of course).

Norman McLaren - Pas de deux (1968):