10 Greatest Rock Music Videos Of The 1990s

Few artists can make music as confrontational as Fiona Apple, whose songwriting often brims with rage, even when the melodies themselves are sweet or delicate. Breakthrough single “Criminal” is a masterpiece of confusing discomfort, with the 20 year old Apple singing in various states of undress.

Mark Romanek’s video is all Apple, all the time. She drapes herself across couches and plunges into water, most of the time wearing very little. It’s a challenging video to watch - in other hands the aim might have been to make something alluring, but Apple and Romanek have no interest in doing something so simple.

You feel as though you’re not supposed to look at her here - while she doesn’t look unwell per se, she certainly doesn’t appear to be in a good or safe place. It feels consciously exploitative, a rejoinder to similar videos that heavily feature young women not wearing altogether too much.

It may not look like it, but Apple has all the power here. The video makes a perfect introduction to an often difficult but always fascinating artist.