Which Era Had The Best Music Videos?

[Peterican]

Here's my rankings:























Vulnicura easily has the worst music videos, imo. considering the subject matter, i feel it appropriately comes in last.

[wontonbaby]

I think the Vulnicura videos so far are ok, I wouldn't put them last.

Volta's videos I think were the worst, there's Wanderlust but I thought all the others were pretty terrible, including Earth Intruders.

I wouldn't like to pick one best era, but it would be from one of the first three albums, which is understandable considering the importance of music videos back then.

[Erik]

! They're fun, colourful, and memorable.

[odduck]

Gotta go with for both quality and quantity. and had some amazing highs, but not as many great videos overall. had some good stuff too, but I'd rate it fourth.

[motheroceania]

[ultramarine]

The videos from this era are the most appealing to my aesthetic sensibilities. Erotic avant-garde at its best, if you wish. I prefer non-narrative videos to begin with, and the fact that these were the respective directors' first attempts at shooting music videos makes them all the more significant.

1. Pagan Poetry
2. Cocoon
3. Hidden Place


1. Hunter
2. All Is Full of Love
3. Jóga
4. Bachelorette
5. Alarm Call


1. Army of Me
2. It's Oh So Quiet
3. Possibly Maybe
4. Isobel
5. Hyperballad
6. I Miss You


1. Big Time Sensuality
2. Human Behaviour
3. Venus as a Boy
4. Violently Happy
5. Play Dead


1. Oceania
2. Who Is It
3. Triumph of a Heart


1. Stonemilker
2. Family (if we were to count it)
3. Black Lake
4. Lionsong


1. Declare Independence
2. Wanderlust
3. Earth Intruders
*** (at the bottom of the universe)
4. Innocence
5. The Dull Flame of Desire


1. Mutual Core
2. Crystalline
3. Virus (does this even count?)
4. Moon
5. Hollow

[mandrake]

Uh, oh, diffult (as always, when this question comes up every couple of years ).
No real ranking, just some remarks.

It was already mentioned, that MVs don't have the importance as promo tool they once had in the 80s and 90s. Has to do with the decline of MTV but more importantly with the decline of music industry as a whole since the 2000s.

So the budgets for MVs shrank accordingly and dramatically. You can say, that the vids since Medully don't really have high production value anymore (with the possible exception of the Huang directed vids for and :album12: ). More importantly however, they feel more like "goodwill from the artist" than serious attempts for promotion. That doesn't mean they are meaningless, I think vids like 'Wanderlust' or 'Black Lake' are as personally important to her as any of the old ones (if not more so).

This all said, let's focus on the first four albums. I think every vid there is spot on in some way, it's just expressed so differently.

- Debut: every vid has a fresh feeling like the album itself, some stuff is cute (HB), some is maybe corny (Violently Happy), BTS is cool and avant-garde. It's telling, when the most polished vid (Play Dead) is also the most conventional.

- Post: every vid is different again, but even more vibrant and playful and innovative (like the album itself). The surrealist imagery Gondry invents for AoM and Isobel is just striking, in fact AoM has the most memorable "illogical dream logic" I've ever seen. Jonze's IOSQ but also 'I Miss You' both show Björk's love for playful sillyness and theatrics, Sednaoui's 'Possibly Maybe' is a remarkable exercise in thoughtful melancholia, which accompanies the song perfectly.

- Homogenic: the vids are proud and beautiful and theatrical (like the album itself). You can sense, there must have been bigger budgets for than for any other album, they all have high production value. But the imagery is actually more reduced than before, focusing at times solely on Björk (Hunter, AIFOL, Alarm Call) or leaving her completely out (Joga). Only Bachelorette returns to the bigger scene, a smart and witty parody of the 'rags-to-riches' mythology which often accompanies pop stars (and perhaps a foreshadow of things to come?).

- Vespertine: The vids are beautiful, poignant and (partially) explicit (just like the album itself). They are even more stripped down (from a narrative point of view) than for Homogenic, but the intensity of e.g. Pagan Poetry feels nearly 'stingy' (well, it is, in some literal way).
The Vespertine vids were partially banned or heavily censored and not wildly seen. You can already see the effects of the reduced importance of MVs we talked about above, but not only from the airplay they got, but also from the reduced production. Some of it must have been deliberate, I think.

Cool addition: Jonze's 'It's in our hands' for GH.

[Apex]

1:
2:
3:

Triumph of a Heart is my all time fav.

[MrLabeless]

Hard choices. always had good videos. She threw herself into every project (and still does) with vigour, collaborating with the directors to get her vision across of what she felt the music represented. They have always been high quality. I don't think the production has dropped, just evolved. You don't need to spend a lot of money to make something interesting to watch or listen to, people just need to not be lazy and throw away money, but to come up with better ideas that cost less. Most of the time you can make something beautiful from the simplest idea, which doesn't cost much, and we see more of that now. Hollywood seems to be favouring that approach more, because it means they make more money by spending less in the first place, and they realised low budget doesn't mean crap, but means fresh ideas and an original direction. Anyway, to get to the point-the debut vids were ok, but post onwards I love them. is always amazing to watch as much as listen to. Just look at DITD people.

[An Echo, A Stain]

Oceania/Who is It/Triumph of a Heart !!
I voted for Medúlla!

(I pretend like the Where is the Line video didn't happen)

[Dálur]

Post without a doubt. I find myself STILL watching them.

[MartinSlovakia]

I cannot wait for the whole Family video... It was screened on festival, so it is definitely ready, but no idea when it will be released... And Björk said that she would like to make some more videos for Vulnicura, so I cannot vote right now. But I would go probably with Post or Homogenic era.

[Dot]

Gotta go with for both quality and quantity. and had some amazing highs, but not as many great videos overall. had some good stuff too, but I'd rate it fourth.

Exactly this.