If the 80s were the decade when music videos took off, the 90s turned them into an art form. Directors played with the form, took a few risks, and emerged with some of the most memorable artworks of the decade.
10. Praise You – Fatboy Slim
This iconic video, directed by Spike Jonze, features the director and his fictional Torrance Community Dance Group dancing to the song in front of bemused onlookers, who have no idea they’re in a music video.
9 Pretty Fly for a White Guy – The Offspring
The Offspring’s skewering of wannabes is brought to life in this riotous video directed by McG, in which our eponymous hero cruises round the hood failing to impress anyone.
8. Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
Britney landed as a fully fledged pop phenomenon with this video, with its risque schoolgirls and tight choreography helping shoot the song into orbit.
7. Freak on a Leash – Korn
This astonishing video from the nu-metal pioneers followed the passage of a bullet from animation through a variety of scenes before reaching the band – perfectly capturing their aesthetic.
6. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
When grunge hit the mainstream. The band tearing it up in front of an audience of rioting schoolkids – even the caretaker was rocking out.
5. Around the World – Daft Punk
This Michel Gondry directed masterpiece is a beautifully choreographed rendition of Daft Punk‘s itchy future disco sound made flesh. Hypnotic.
4. Closer – by Nine Inch Nails
Not for the faint hearted, this famous video saw NIN’s Trent Reznor exploring some of the darker aspects of sexuality, certainly caused quite a fuss at the time.
3. Smack My Bitch Up – Prodigy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkJjJxEKiMI
The Prodigy’s POV exploration of a messy night out in nineties Britain ticks all the seedy boxes, right up to the gender bending twist at the end.
2. My Name Is – Eminem
Eminem’s debut came with a suitably witty video, a blizzard of pop culture references intercut with scenes of the trailer-park lifestyle he came from, uproarious, incricate and hilarious.
1. Sabotage – The Beastie Boys
The daddy of them all. An amazing, Spike Jonze directed, cinematic effort in which the boys spoof every aspect of 70s cop shows. A deserved number 1.
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