‘Vous Avez Dit Bizarre’ N°311 – Vintage 90s Music Videos

1 . The Sugarcubes – Hit

The Sugarcubes’ “Hit” emerges as an offbeat gem that encapsulates the 1991 zeitgeist while edging toward something undeniably danceable.

With Björk’s urgent, often mystical vocal delivery leading the charge, the song wraps punk energy and funk grooves in electronic textures, nodding toward the growing rave and house influences of the early ’90s.

Produced by Paul Fox, the track eschews the rawer edges of the band’s earlier work, favoring a slicker, meticulously layered sound.

Despite its more polished production, “Hit” doesn’t shy away from chaos; record scratches and frenetic rhythms tug at the song’s foundations, creating a push-pull dynamic that keeps you locked in.

The lyrics toe the line between poetic abstraction and visceral immediacy, amplified further by the contrast in Björk’s emotive voice and Einar Örn Benediktsson’s brash interjections.

The accompanying video—directed by Óskar Jónasson—leans into the bizarre, featuring doll-like aesthetics that tap into the surreal without crossing into outright kitsch.

On the charts, “Hit” performed better than any of the band’s previous tracks, climbing to No. 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks and landing at No. 17 in the UK Singles Chart, cementing its place in their brief yet impactful discography.

Retrospectively, the track stands as a peculiar farewell, foreshadowing Björk’s solo trajectory while marking the end of The Sugarcubes’ collaborative experiments.

Featured on the 1992 album “Stick Around for Joy”.

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2 . Massive Attack – Protection

“Protection” from Massive Attack’s sophomore album, released in 1994, stretches across nearly eight minutes of smoke-filled ambiance, a signature trip-hop gem wrapped in an understated yet potent emotional core.

Tracey Thorn’s vocals bring a stark vulnerability, her delivery tinged with quiet conviction, while the minimalist production creates a sonic void that seems to echo the song’s central theme of offering shelter.

The track leans into meticulously arranged space rather than overcomplicating itself with bustling instrumentation, a move that underscores its intimate narrative without ever teetering into melodrama.

Nellee Hooper’s production ensures each element—the hushed beats, the occasional sample from James Brown’s “The Payback,” and Thorn’s restrained urgency—fits together like pieces of a puzzle locked in suspended animation.

The Michel Gondry-directed video offers a visual counterpoint, using split-screen tricks that feel imaginative but never detract from the song’s introspective weight.

Chart-wise, it hummed along respectably at No. 14 in the UK, though its influence far outpaces its commercial performance, serving as a quiet benchmark in the trip-hop genre’s evolution.

What makes “Protection” linger is its tension—the push-and-pull between the directness of Thorn’s lyrics and the subtlety of the arrangement, leaving listeners with more questions than answers.

It isn’t an anthem, nor does it seek to overwhelm; instead, it asks you to lean in closer, inviting reflection rather than demanding attention, a rare quality still resonant decades later.

Featured on the 1994 album “Protection“.

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3 . Goldie – Temper Temper

“Temper Temper,” from Goldie’s ambitious 1998 album *Saturnz Return*, channels raw, pulsating energy into a hybrid of rock, industrial, and drum and bass that feels both chaotic and meticulously constructed.

The track is bolstered by Noel Gallagher’s seething guitar riffs, slicing through Goldie’s unrelenting vocal ferocity like a knife, while the underlying drum and bass beats add a chaotic rhythm that feels as if it’s constantly on the verge of collapse—but never quite does.

Released under the FFRR label and guided by the deft engineering of Mark Hobbs, the song peaked at #13 on the UK Singles Chart, capturing attention both for its genre-defying sound and its abrasive music video, which visualized rage and destruction as Goldie and Gallagher smashed their way through scenes of unbridled aggression.

Though at first glance it seems Goldie might be veering off course from his drum and bass roots, the track instead underscores his versatility as an artist unafraid to push boundaries and integrate seemingly disparate influences into his work.

The production juxtaposes a sense of meticulous craftsmanship with an uncontrolled, reckless aesthetic, epitomizing the industrial textures that were creeping into late ’90s music scenes.

What makes this song fascinating is the very tension it embodies—a drum and bass pioneer known for his intricate arrangements embracing a deliberately abrasive and almost primal edge without losing any of his characteristic complexity.

Whether audibly exhilarating or downright grating largely depends on one’s tolerance for chaos, but “Temper Temper” undeniably leaves a strong impression, unapologetically messy yet precisely engineered.

This was a moment where Goldie demonstrated that even at his most confrontational, he remains an innovator capable of uniting disparate threads of rock, electronic, and industrial into a single, volatile composition.

Featured on the 1998 album “Saturnz Return”.

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4 . Pet Shop Boys – Single ~ Bilingual

Released in 1996, “Single-Bilingual” is the Pet Shop Boys’ third single from their album *Bilingual*, a record that deftly merges synth-pop with cosmopolitan flair.

The track’s hybrid nature extends beyond its title, which was cleverly altered to avoid unnecessary mix-ups with Everything but the Girl’s “Single.”

Instead of being just another poppy exploration of relationships, “Single-Bilingual” layers themes of personal connection with the nuances of English language struggles, making it resonate with expatriates and cosmopolitans alike.

Sonically, the song makes a sharp pivot into “Discoteca” territory, seamlessly blending pulsating beats with lush electronic undertones that feel equally at home in smoky basements and polished urban lofts.

Despite only climbing to Number 14 on the UK Singles Chart, it remains a cultural snapshot of the mid-’90s, where pop leaned into experimentation without losing its sharp contours or relatable themes.

Featured on the 1996 album “Bilingual”.

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5 . Denis Leary – Asshole

Denis Leary’s “Asshole” is a sharp, satirical jab aimed squarely at self-centered behavior, delivered through a comedic rock lens in his 1993 album *No Cure for Cancer*.

Written by Leary and Chris Phillips, the song exaggerates the undesirable traits of a stereotypical American male, blending humor and critique with a deadpan vocal delivery.

Its biting lyrics address topics such as misuse of handicapped parking spaces, disregard for public etiquette, and an overinflated sense of entitlement rooted in the American Dream.

The track gained a cult following and substantial airplay, particularly in Australia, where it reached #2 on the ARIA charts and achieved Platinum certification.

Its music video, a montage of comedic scenarios, achieved prominence on networks like MTV and MuchMusic, albeit with some censorship due to its provocative content.

“Asshole” also found unconventional uses, including adapted versions for UK Holsten Pils ads and later reappearances, such as a 2016 performance criticizing political figures.

With its mix of caustic wit and memorable hooks, the song is both a time capsule of 1990s alt-comedy and a biting commentary on societal arrogance.

Featured on the 1990 album “No Cure for Cancer”.

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6 . Alice In Chains – Would?

“Would?” by Alice In Chains delivers a brooding anthem that stands as one of the pillars of the grunge era.

First appearing on the “Singles” soundtrack before finding a permanent home on their seminal album “Dirt,” the track arrives laced with heavy introspection and raw emotion.

Written by Jerry Cantrell in tribute to Andrew Wood, the late frontman of Mother Love Bone, the lyrics drip with themes of addiction and guilt, yet they resist melodrama, opting instead for searing authenticity.

Musically, the track hinges on a hypnotic bassline that snakes through the verses, while the layered vocals of Cantrell and Layne Staley provide a dynamic interplay—harmonious yet eerily foreboding.

The chorus bursts open with an undeniable force, offering a catharsis that feels both pained and defiant.

The song’s cultural relevance bleeds into its simple but evocative video, co-directed by Cameron Crowe and Josh Taft, which garnered an MTV VMA in 1993.

What elevates “Would?” beyond its initial moment is its longevity—it resurfaces on charts decades after its release, a testament to its enduring impact.

No frills, no pretense, just pure, unvarnished grunge, brimming with darkness and brilliance in equal measure.

Featured on the 1992 album “Dirt “.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

7 . Metallica – The Memory Remains

Released on November 11, 1997, Metallica’s “The Memory Remains” occupies an unusual space in their repertoire, blending hard rock grit and unsettling theatricality.

As the lead single from the band’s seventh album, *Reload*, it mirrors the record’s broader experimentations with moodier motifs and mid-tempo pacing.

The song revolves around a melancholic tale of fading fame, a cautionary reflection underscored by Marianne Faithfull’s deeply evocative background vocals, chosen for their raspy, cigarette-stained texture.

Commercially, it performed respectably, peaking at #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieving a higher resonance on rock charts, suggesting its appeal leaned towards established fans rather than casual listeners.

The video, directed by Paul Andresen, doubles down on surrealist imagery, placing the band on a rotating platform while Faithfull gazes impassively, paper money raining down in an unsubtle nod to the transactional nature of celebrity culture.

While its chorus can feel repetitive to some, Faithfull’s spectral chant infuses the track with a haunting permanence, particularly during live shows where audiences eagerly chant along.

Bassist Jason Newsted later gave a rather blunt critique, suggesting that this track might have prompted him to avoid buying the album altogether if he weren’t already inside the Metallica bubble—a rare public dissonance within the band’s tightly-wound public image.

Its inclusion in their illustrious *S&M* concert with the San Francisco Symphony in 1999 further cemented the track as a live staple, its eerie dramaturgy melding surprisingly well with orchestral accents.

Ultimately, “The Memory Remains” is as much about the peculiar meeting of cultures—rock stardom à la Metallica and the wistful grandeur Faithfull brings—as it is about grappling with the ephemeral halo of fame.

Featured on the 1997 album “Reload “.

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8 . Jesus Jones – The Devil You Know

“The Devil You Know” by Jesus Jones bursts onto the scene as a three-and-a-half-minute synthesis of rock, techno, and industrial, standing as a product of its time and yet strangely forward-looking.

Released in 1993 as the lead single from their digitally-infused album “Perverse,” the track grapples with the classic double bind of mainstream success: to tread familiar ground or risk alienation in pursuit of something radically new.

With its pounding rhythm section, snarling guitar riffs, and sharp-edged synthesizers, the song weaponizes its soundscape to mirror the thematic push-pull of creative comfort versus ambition.

It’s not subtle—Jesus Jones doesn’t do subtle—but the frenetic energy of Mike Edwards’ songwriting, employing his “collage effect” technique, makes the track a satisfyingly jagged listen.

The lyrics, riffing on the proverb “better the devil you know,” veer into existential territory without losing their pop sensibility, a feat that’s harder to pull off than it looks.

The accompanying music video, dripping in early-’90s digital aesthetics, was an MTV darling and perfectly articulated the futuristic ethos the band envisioned in this phase of its career.

Yet, beneath the precise production by Warne Livesey lies a certain darkness, reflective of the band’s pressure to follow up their highly successful album “Doubt.”

That tension bleeds through in the music’s tone—a fascinating contradiction between the optimism of dance-floor electronics and the weightier themes lurking within the lyrics.

“The Devil You Know” hit No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart and ruled the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in the US for six weeks, proving that even experimental edges could find a commercial sweet spot.

Still, for all its merits, it feels calibrated to please both fringe followers of innovation and mainstream audiences, leaving a slight sense that its cutting edge wasn’t quite as sharp as it could have been.

Whether you view it as groundbreaking or merely well-crafted pop-tech experimentation depends on your tolerance for calculated risk in music.

Featured on the 1993 album “Perverse”.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

9 . Madonna – Oh Father

Madonna’s “Oh Father,” a baroque pop ballad stitched into the fabric of her 1989 album *Like a Prayer*, tackles the shadowy interplay of personal trauma and familial conflict with a precision few pop stars dare. Co-produced with Patrick Leonard, the track leans hard on its cinematic arrangement, weaving whispers of violins, solemn piano chords, and deliberate drum beats into its melancholic core.

Thematically, the song pulls no punches. It unpacks Madonna’s fraught relationship with her father, rooted in her mother’s death and her father’s remarriage during her formative years. It’s not subtle, nor does it aim to be. There’s a rawness here that’s refreshingly unvarnished, even if it edges on melodrama.

The accompanying music video, directed in stark black-and-white by David Fincher, is a meticulous homage to *Citizen Kane*. The visuals clash innocence with grief—a child playing in the snow while a harrowing parental dynamic looms overhead. It’s a storytelling vehicle as relentlessly somber as the track itself, landing it a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards.

Chart-wise, “Oh Father” fractured Madonna’s unbroken streak of top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 20 stateside. If public nostalgia wasn’t sufficient to propel it, critical acclaim filled the gap. Canada, at least, gave it more love, letting it snuggle comfortably within the top 15.

Despite its mixed commercial outcomes, the track remains a cornerstone for fans and critics who admire Madonna’s tendency to pull back the curtain on her life—albeit theatrically. If her catalog is a cocktail of defiance, allure, and introspection, this track is the ice cube slowly melting at the bottom of the glass, unglamorous but essential.

Featured on the 1989 album “Like a Prayer“.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

10 . Björk – Possibly Maybe

“Possibly Maybe” stands out as one of Björk’s more emotionally intricate offerings, sketched from the blueprint of her “Post” album in 1995.

Where most break-up songs gravitate towards anguish or defiance, this one sullies its sadness with detachment, making it a subtle anthem for the ambivalent.

The song’s trip-hop flirtations play out over a minimalist electronic backdrop, punctuated by Björk’s quirk-laden vocals that oscillate between intimacy and detachment.

The track plays like an unraveling conversation, where the push-and-pull of relational dissonance is as discomfiting as it is quietly hypnotic.

The accompanying Stéphane Sednaoui-directed video mirrors this thematic ambivalence, with its kaleidoscopic visuals, vibrant theatrics, and oddly disarming sensual imagery—an experimental mishmash as confounding as it is captivating.

Perhaps it’s all a bit too self-aware, daring to undercut Björk’s own bravado with moments of unchecked vulnerability.

This is by no means an easy listen; Björk leans into discordance, leaving any melodic expectations to wilt under the weight of her narratively driven exploration of waning intimacy.

Peeling back layers of its abrasive charm reveals a work that impresses not through immediacy but through its subtly disarming smarminess.

If there’s a beauty here, it thrives in the song’s reluctance to luxuriate in what’s pretty, choosing instead to parade the raw, unadorned fibers of creeping disconnection.

For anyone seeking clarity or closure, “Possibly Maybe” balks at such linearity; instead, it revels in its unresolved tensions, a fitting auditory snapshot of love’s inherent hesitations.

Featured on the 1995 album “Post“.

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11 . Radiohead – No Surprises

Radiohead’s ‘No Surprises’ feels like a quiet rebellion wrapped in lullaby tones, a stark counterpoint to the chaos often associated with ’90s alternative rock.

The track’s delicate interplay of glockenspiel and acoustic guitar instantly draws comparisons to the wistful sophistication of the Beach Boys, yet its slow, deliberate rhythm carries a weight all its own.

As part of ‘OK Computer,’ released on May 21, 1997, the song captures the disillusionment of a generation increasingly suffocated by modern life’s trappings—heartfelt yet restrained, melancholic but not melodramatic.

The now-iconic music video, directed by Grant Gee, walks a fine line between beautiful and unsettling, its single shot of Thom Yorke encased in a water-filling helmet serving as a chilling metaphor for emotional stagnation.

Recorded in a single take at Jane Seymour’s Gothic countryside mansion, St. Catherine’s Court, the simplicity of the production is deceptive—there’s a palpable purity that contrasts with the sophistication of its layered meaning.

Released as a single on January 12, 1998, it climbed to No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, pushing boundaries not with bombast but with quiet insistence.

The accompanying B-sides, including the jaggedly yearning ‘Palo Alto’ and the lo-fi domestic hum of ‘How I Made My Millions,’ only served to deepen the listener’s immersion into the fractured psyche ‘OK Computer’ explores.

Whether heard live during Radiohead’s 1997-98 world tour or dissected through the lens of its numerous uses in films like *The Butterfly Effect*, the song has a peculiar way of feeling timelessly relevant.

Strangely, though undeniably successful on charts and airwaves alike, its understated nature almost questions the machinery of its own commercial success.

As an anchor within Radiohead’s catalog, ‘No Surprises’ does not shout for your attention but whispers truths so striking they’re hard to forget.

Featured on the 1997 album “OK Computer “.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site

12 . Depeche Mode – In Your Room

“In Your Room,” Depeche Mode’s throbbing declaration of devotion, lands at the dark intersection of desire and obsession.

Released in January 1994 as the fourth single from their 1993 album “Songs of Faith and Devotion,” the track makes its mark with Alan Wilder’s meticulous production and a dual personality: the haunting album version and the more industrial-leaning “Zephyr Mix,” courtesy of Butch Vig, which dominated airwaves and visual mediums alike.

The accompanying Anton Corbijn-directed video stitches together a tapestry of nods to their past work—an act of self-referential meta-commentary—but dials up the tension with flashes of bondage and sparse nudity that pushed MTV to shove it into post-prime hours.

The song charted respectably, peaking at number eight in the UK and doing particularly well in Scandinavian territories, reflecting the band’s enduring Northern European fanbase.

Stateside, its performance was more muted, save for dance-club circuits, and it enjoyed a re-entry boost later that year thanks to its inclusion in live performances documented in “Songs of Faith and Devotion Live.”

Musically, the track blends the band’s electronic roots with a guitar-driven grit, creating a claustrophobic yet exhilarating soundscape where themes of emotional dependency take on a startling rawness.

Performed live during their grueling “Devotional” and “Exotic” tours, its on-stage aura leaned into its inherent intensity, amplifying both its pull and unease.

Behind the scenes, the single emerged against a backdrop of chaos—Dave Gahan spiraling into addiction and the inner dynamics of the band fraying to breaking point, culminating in Wilder’s departure the following year.

Critically revered and endlessly ripe for covers and remixes, “In Your Room” lingers as one of their most evocative creations, a paradoxical mix of power and vulnerability that continues to resonate far beyond its initial release.

Featured on the 1993 album “Songs of Faith and Devotion“.

Lyrics >> Review >> More by the same : Official Site