10 Best Metal Music Videos Of All Time
The best of heavy metal's strange visions...
Metal was always designed as a genre that could scare you to death. Even if the main crux of the intention was to have a good time, the sheer volume behind the music would never fail to make the hairs on your arm stand up on edge. However, the real artists behind these songs are able to take their music and transfer it over to the visual medium.
As metal has evolved over the years, the style has shifted to include different facets from hair metal to nu-metal and everything in between. This caused the subject matter of each song to drastically change from tales of the macabre to partying, rebellion, or just mindless odes to rock and roll. Whether it be about having fun, standing up to authority, or just telling a story, these bands use the music video as an opportunity to experiment with how they bring across their message.
Utilizing everything from animation to cutting-edge effects, each of these music videos became mini-movies as they preached the unholy gospel of all things metal. As if the music wasn't enough, these videos really brought the true theatricality to these heavy tunes.
10. We're Not Gonna Take It - Twisted Sister
Once the 80's were just getting underway, MTV was just starting to come into its own as a legitimate cultural force. However, the way bands were showcased in the channel's early days were nothing more than just performance clips of shows with very few bells and whistles.
Just left of center, Twisted Sister's theatrical mix of glam and metal was tailor-made for the music video format. When the band decided to film a video for "We're Not Gonna Take It," frontman Dee Snider had a specific vision for how he wanted to portray his anthem.
Taking inspiration from the Roadrunner sequences in Looney Tunes, the video is a great cat-and-mouse game between a father and son as the father tries (and fails) to put an end to the metallic gallop of the Sisters. Along with being a catchy tune, this video contains what may be some of the best slipstick comedy to ever be put in a rock video, from the father being jettisoned out a window to having the door smashed in on him far too many times to count.
For a genre with a tendency for terrifying sentiments, Twisted Sister brought us metal at its most cartoony and playful.