“Beauty is everywhere a welcome guest”. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Hello, for my first music post on Ecency I decided to compile a list of some of the most beautiful rock videos ever made. I’ve always been a rock n’ roll fan, I think it’s the best music of the world that is after classical music, of course. Rock music is the music of freedom, there is something rebellious about it that needs freedom to express itself. Wherever there is no rock n’ roll there is no freedom, just look at places like North Korea, Cuba or Venezuela. Also, there is something about art that makes people more civilized and, therefore, free. And videos are just another tool, another artistic way of expression where rock n’ roll can reach their audience. So, whether you are a metal head, a hair metal or an alternative rock fan I’m sure there is something for you here.
Here is the list, enjoy:
20.Incubus - Drive (2000)
Artistic and simple at the same time, this video features a session of the band intercut with hand-drawing illustrations. The single was Incubus’ breakthrough hit and their most successful to this day. You cannot stop singing this ballad every time that pop up somewhere, its perfect for a road trip.
Watch the video here:
19.Oasis - Wonderwall (1995)
In the middle of the 1990s when all rock music was getting cynical appeared this track that you could sing at the top of your lungs. The video, shot in black and white, in London by director Nigel Dick (Don’t Look Back in Anger, also by Oasis, and Guns N’ Roses’ Patience) shows a very British artsy atmosphere. A clown with big shoes puts a record and Noel Gallagher starts playing the famous chords, the voice of Liam follows next. It is Oasis’ most famous song, a true rock n’ roll classic.
Watch the video here:
18.The Cure - Lovesong (1989)
The band playing inside a cave and a great use if the color blue that highlights the melancholic atmosphere of the video. Although the song was written by all the members of the band rumors say Robert Smith wrote it as a wedding present for his wife, can you imagine yourself getting married and receiving this song as gift? One of the best ballads by The Cure. It was the band’s first and last Top 10 US.
Watch the video here:
17.The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Soul to Squeeze (1993)
I have to admit I have a thing for black and white videos. This one was directed by Kevin Kerslake, a frequent collaborator for alternative rock bands in the 1990s who directed classics such as Nirvana’s Come as You Are and Intestate Love Song by Stone Temple Pilots. The RHCP, dressed in period clothing, play along with the members of a travelling circus attending their everyday chores; Anthony Kiedis with a head full of snakes like Medusa, the usual freaks and a person with the head in the form of a cone. The song was featured in a failed movie, back then in 1993.
Watch the video here:
16.Audioslave - Like a Stone (2002)
Shot in an old Spanish mansion in Silver Lake in Los Angeles where Jimi Hendrix once lived by Irish director Meiert Avis (don’t ask me how that name is that pronounced!) who previously directed such classics as U2’s With or Without You, Scorpions’ Send Me an Angel and the underrated Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Warrant. I love the use of the greens and blues in this one. This is one of the most powerful rock ballads of the 2000s. RIP Chris Cornell.
Watch the video here:
15.Metallica – The Unforgiven (1991)
A power ballad, although not in the usual sense, a song that “deals with the theme of the struggle of the individual against the efforts of those who would subjugate him”. The video was shot in black and white and was directed by Matt Mahurin (Alice in Chains’ No Excuses and Queensrÿche’s Silent Lucidity). A young boy is locked inside a cell and spends his entire life carving a window while holding his only possession: a key. The single reached Nº 1 in Finland.
Watch the video here:
14.Scorpions - Send Me an Angel (1991)
One of the best ballads by the masters of rock Ballads. Scorpions is the only rock band from continental Europe that has achieved massive international success. The cosmic and spiritual lyrics of this song will touch your heart. The video shows the band playing in what appears to be an American west desert. I let you sing it: “The wise man said just walk this way…
Watch the video here:
13.Whitesnake - Here I Go Again (1987)
David Coverdale’s then girlfriend and future wife Tawney Kitaen, who you saw as Tom Hanks’ girlfriend in Bachelor Party (1985),appears here dancing over a Jaguar that was actually Coverdale’s. Her sex appeal is incredible and the way she dances in her white dress made this video a true classic of the 1980s hair metal craze. A lot of young men back then most have had fantasies watching this and you can never get tired of watching it whether or not you are a metal fan.
Watch the video here:
12.Aerosmith - Crazy (1994)
This was Alicia Silverstone’s third and final video with the band after* Crying* and Amazing and this time she was accompanied by Steven Tyler’s daughter Liv. Two girls escaping a private school and road tripping through the United States in a Ford Mustang; they take advantage of a clerk in a gas station who lets them take whatever they want in the store, they enter in a strip contest and they go skinny dipping with a farm boy. The video also shows images Aerosmith performing live. This was for me the best song of the summer of 1994.
Watch the video here:
11.Tesla - Love Song (1989)
A video filmed in the band’s hometown of Sacramento, it captures the magic of a live rock concert at the end of the 1980s. Banners of "Tesla", and "Love Song" can be seen being held up in the audience and background throughout the video. From a commentary on YouTube: “We will never have times like this in this country ever again”. This one will make you want to cry.
Watch the video here:
10.Queen - Who Wants to Live Forever (1986)
A song that appears in one of the best fantasy movies ever made, that is Highlander (1986), and was written by Brian May in the back of a car after the band viewed a rough cut of the film; May also sings parts of the song. Its video is beautifully lighted and featured the full National Philharmonic Orchestra, forty choirboys and two thousand candles. It was directed by David Mallet (Billy Idol’s White Wedding and David Bowie’s Lets Dance). Although the song only reached # 24 in the UK it has become a cult classic.
Watch the video here:
9.Pink Floyd - High Hopes (1994)
With vocals form David Gilmore, this song addresses about innocence, the nostalgia by the lost youth and the disappointment of the maturity. Pink and yellow skies, flags flying in the air, people holding fires, a castle, images of Cambridge (where some members of the band grew up), bells, one of those boring British cars, people riding bicycles, a man disappointed with his life, white ballons, people dancing in circles, harlequins, “the grass was greener”… a beautiful life that is gone to never come back again. If you pause it at 3:21 you will see a group of people dressed in black pushing a giant white bust across an open field. This bust is a portrait of former Pink Floyd's singer Syd Barrett in his youth.
Watch the video here:
8.Lenny Kravitz - I Belong to You (1998)
Relaxing, soothing, calming and sexy. Shot in the Bahamas in 1998, where Lenny actually owns a property, it features Lenny riding a bike, walking in the streets, laughing and dancing with the locals, including children. I love the bass notes in this one. Just watch this video every time you feel down and a smile will paint on your face again.
Watch the video here:
7.The Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight (1996)
Released in 1996 after the videos of Bullet with butterfly wings and 1979, this was Smashing Pumpkins’ big triumph and what made them the biggest band of that year. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who later directed Little Miss Sunshine in 2006, it was inspired in George Méliès’ Le Voyage dans la Lune from 1902, it replicates some scenes from the movie and shows the band dressed in period costumes. It won the MTV best video of the year award and it is still considered one of the greatest music videos of all time.
Watch the video here:
6.Tom Petty - Free Falling (1989)
Ah, a sunny day in L.A., an all-American pretty blond girl, the beautiful colors, Tom Petty singing in a shopping mall. It’s one of those videos you never get tired of watching. The song is one of Petty's most famous tracks as well as his highest- and longest-charting. He didn't write it about any person in particular, but instead was inspired by what he saw on his frequent drives along Ventura Boulevard.I loved it when Tom Cruise sang it inside his car in Jerry Maguire (1996). Back then, in 1989, when The United States still looked like the United States of America!
Watch the video here:
5.Bon Jovi - Always (1994)
Featuring back then aspiring actress Keri Russell, before her work on Felicity and The Americans, and a very young Carla Gugino, a story of jealousy and betrayal is beautifully captured in this video where the lightning and the colors mix wonderfully. The song and the video were instants hits in 1994 and proved that Bon Jovi still had some aces under their sleeves and were later to become the only band of the 1980’s pop metal scene that survived the cynical 1990s. This was bassist Alec John Such's final single with the band before his departure in late 1994 in strange circumstances that have never been fully revealed.
Watch the video here:
4.Ozzy Osbourne - Under the Graveyard (2019)
The best rock video of the disappointing year of 2020 and one of Ozzy’s best videos of his entire career. It tells the story of a rock star whose only wish in life is to destroy himself to death with alcohol, drugs and a hedonistic style of life, until a guardian angel comes to do the job of saving him because no one else will. It was inspired by true events of Ozzy’s life and his relationship with wife Sharon and directed by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund (Madonna’s Ray of Light and U2’s Beautiful Day). The single features Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. A tour de force piece of music.
Watch the video here:
3.U2 - Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (1993)
“Green light, Seven Eleven, you stop in for a pack of cigarettes”… guitar, drums, bass follow this wonderful 1993 song, one of U2 best ballads ever. Shot in Berlin, in the autumn of 1993, in a beautiful black and white by German filmmaker Win Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club) and featuring extracts of the movie Faraway, So Close!, also directed by Wenders. A group of angels decide to visit Earth for a while and they choose Berlin as their city to stay. I love the part when the members of U2 teach a garage band to play the song; the female singer is lovely.
Watch the video here:
2.R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (1991)
This R.E.M.’s most famous track, the one that got them out of the bohemian, underground scene and made them international stars. The video is shot in bright yellow color, has a dreamlike atmosphere and religious imagery: a fallen angel and Saint Sebastian tied and killed by arrows. This video won the 1991 MTV best video of the year. A true classic beautifully shot by Indian director Tarsen Singh.
Watch the video here:
1.Guns N’ Roses - November Rain (1992)
Inspired by a short story named Without You by someone called Del James, and directed by Andrew Morahan (Don’t Cry, also by Guns N’ Roses and This Ain't a Love Song by Bon Jovi) this is the most beautiful rock video ever made and the ‘greatest music video of all time’ according to former president Donald Trump. It was the rock first video to ever reach the 1 billion views mark on YouTube and was the number 1 video of the summer of 1992 on MTV, back then when MTV was actually a music video TV channel and not piece of crap it is now. Arguably the best rock ballad in music history, its video contains a rock star in his prime, a striking beautiful Stephanie Seymour, friends, a white chapel, Slash playing one of the best guitar solos of his career, a live performance at The Ritz in New York City, a party, a bottle of red wine, a tragic death… I have been watching this video since 1992 and I never get tired of it, how can you get tired of such a beauty? I know you have watched this video before.
Watch it again here:
Bonus:
The Rockin' 1000 – Learn to Fly (2015)
Ok, not exactly a rock video in the sense of the word, I know; but it is so amazing to see how 1000 Italians travelled from all parts of the country just to play one song and that was the Foo Fighters’ Learn to Fly. The video went viral right there receiving 9 million views on its first day. I was one of the lucky ones that saw it on that very first day. It triggered an immediate response, in Italian, by Dave Grohl himself. If you haven’t seen it do it now, it will give you hope for humanity… not everything is lost in the 21th century.
Watch the video here:
So, what do you think? Do you agree with the list? What are your favorite most beautiful videos? Leave your thoughts and links in the comment section below. Please, don’t forget to like this post it helps me a lot to grow in this community. Thank you for stopping by.
Until next time.
Take care.
The reading man.