Today I was musing about what I think is the latest, and arguably the greatest, music video of 2005. I am a music lover down to the bone, and rock 'n roll is my beat. From the time I was young, my mind was being filled with random facts and music-related ideas and such. Even though I did not grow up when rock 'n roll was introduced, and I sometimes wish I had (imagine the excitement of some of those records being released!), I have experienced somewhat of a similar progression of music.
I grew up listening mostly to Oldies, since that's all my dad ever has on the radio. When I got my first radio, I had to listen to Oldies on there, too. After a while, though, I reached a point where I knew all the songs on the radio, and had grown tired of listening to many of the same songs being played over and over again on the air. Of course, it was great, and I loved the music (and I still do), but I craved so much more than what radio was offering. At that point, I did not have tapes, CDs, or records of my own, and no way to afford them, so what did I do? I switched radio stations.
Next on my list was the classic rock stations. At the time, it was partly because I didn't know what else was out there, and also partly because due to parental factors. Classic rock was a way for me to listen to music new to me, but nothing that would be too offensive to my parents. Basically, I could easily get away with it. So it was that I was introduced with Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Boston, and the countless other bands in this esteemed category. To this day, classic rock remains some of my favorite music of all time (especially Pink Floyd).
Well, eventually I reached a point where I knew most of what was played on the classic rock stations, and again I my insatiable hunger for rock 'n roll flared up. I found solace with the hard rock station, which brought me more into the 80's, and some 90's and more recent music. Enter Metallica, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, and everything else from hair metal to grunge to alternative rock.
Later on, in high school, some friends got me into the punk rock scene, where I discovered a whole new idea of rock. Dropkick Murphys, Mad Caddies, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Flogging Molly, Rise Against, and so many other talented bands became a part of my life, expanding my idea of rock and again showing me just how diverse rock can be. So many of the new music I have heard has shown me that the best thing about rock is that it can vary so much, and that no one perception of it is correct.
Most recently, I have found the progressive rock/heavy metal era has not actually ended. It is very much alive, though not so much here in the US. There are so many bands out there, making rock 'n roll and doing a great job at it. One of my favorites is Dream Theater, who continue to rock after being together for 20 years.
After having continued through this phase of listening and learning about so many different kinds of rock music, I have found that there is not one that I prefer to another. I enjoy all variety of rock music, and as long as a band has the feel of some rock in their music, I enjoy it.
And so, now that I have gone off on my tangent and personal history, I return to the subject of this blog. I was saying that it is a music video that I saw that astounded me. Generally, my favorie videos are those that show the band playing the song. I like 'em simple, what can I say? A lot of times, I don't see the point of some of the weird themes and action sequences that get thrown into the videos. Occasionally there are some good ones, though.
The one that gets my vote for best video 2005 is... OK Go's "A Million Ways (To Be Cruel)." The video that is out was apparently not even supposed to be released. The band got together in one of their back yards and filmed themselves doing a whole synchronized dance in front of a camera. They set the camera on the tripod and just filmed the whole thing. The first time I watched this, I was in hysterics. It is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. The first few times you watch it, you have no idea what they're singing about, because you're paying too much attention to the dancing. I am still amazed that they took so much time to put it together, as after seeing it, it became clear that it was well thought out.
After seeing the video several times, I became more familiar with the song, and am now quite attached to it. And so, because I enjoyed this so much, I wanted to share with you this incredible video. To view it, please go to the website listed below (sorry I can't get the link working, I guess I need to break down and learn HTML--anyone know an easy or simple way of learning that, by the way?). When you go to the site, the video can be found in the middle of the page on the left (you might have to scroll down a bit). Ok, so here it is:
I hope you enjoy the video as much as I did.