I have searched and searched for a new release single that has a music video, but this is the only one that I have come up with, which is slightly frustrating since I don't like Avenged Sevenfold. However, the song is stuck inside my head at the moment, and this history lesson and political stance of a music video is definitely shocking, to say the least. I'm pretty sure I'm not going to run out of words to say about this music video. Avenged Sevenfold has released this music video for "The Stage" showing the history of the world as well as the concept of the world now politically.
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band consisting of M. Shadows, Zacky Vengeance, Synyster Gates, Johnny Christ and Brooks Wackerman. They are one of a few heavy metal bands that do well in the charts globally, especially in America and the UK. If sales figures since midnight are anything to go by, this song could well be their biggest hit to date, already in the top 40 of the UK iTunes chart, they just need to maintain their sales and a push on Spotify might make it their biggest hit. It is quite catchy, so it wouldn't surprise me if it does chart well on Friday. This song was written by Brian Elwin Haner, Matthew Charles Sanders, Brooks Wackerman, Zachary James Baker and Jonathan Seward.
The video was directed by Chris Hopewell. It's quite haunting, with the intro inviting you into a circus tent. Camera and editing tricks are used to make it incredibly freaky as the music starts up. People start buying tickets in a rhythmical fashion, and they take their seats in the audience.
We watch as the curtain reveals a puppet stage booth. It says: 'Professor Batz Fantastical History Of The World'. We watch as we see history unfold.
The first scene is of the cavemen in a mountainous wintry setting. They fight and we watch as one dies. Scene two is of ancient Egyptians, where you can see people being whipped. The third scene is warriors walking up to a castle, and the guards burning the soldiers alive.
Then we are taken to ancient Rome, where we watch the ruler use the controversial thumb motion to kill off two people who are tied together. His thumb is turned down as are the audiences. A lion enters the colosseum and bites off the leg of one of the captors.
The next scene is Vikings jumping off a boat and slaughtering people who offer a gift, whilst burning the village. The sixth scene is from American history, focusing on the ancient Mayans, especially with The Pyramid of Kukulkan in the setting. We watch as the Mayan civilians are shot and killed by a cannon. Next is the Witch Trials, I presume it's supposed to be the Salem Witch Trials since that is one of the most popular, however during the Salem Witch Trials no one was burned to death. Instead, they were imprisoned. We watch as the puppets burn a potential witch.
Scene eight shows a guillotine and the killing of a perpetrator. Then the American Indians with their teepees. They shake hands with the military, but after a few camera shots of the audience laughing, the American Indians are dead with the American flag planted behind them.
Next is war and what we presume is World War I because the poppies follow. We see soldiers amongst the side panels of the stage. The poppies appear next with a cute little dove; before the poppies get crushed by another tank, symbolising World War II.
As World War II is being shown, the previous scenes appear as a memory, a flash back on the history of the world and how death surrounds us all. Smoke fills the circus tent and when it clears, we find out the audience have disappeared. Not something I was expecting.
This is not the end. The audience have been transformed into puppets; now on the stage. This is technically brilliant, but there's more... It's time to see who is controlling the puppet audience... It's five more puppets, all looking similar to the 21st-century world leaders about at the moment. From right to left we have: Kim Jong-un, the supreme leader of North Korea; Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany; Hillary Clinton, American politician and the nominee of the Democratic Party for President of the United States in the 2016 election; Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation; and Xi Jinping, the President of the People's Republic of China.
Now this is quite the twist, but it gets worst... Because who is controlling the world leaders? Well, we never find out. This person has scaly fingers, one he or she uses to press a button and everything dies... Is this the button that brings on the end of the world? We watch a bit of white noise before we are returned to the caveman scene, but there is only one now and he stands all alone.
Talk about going all out for this video. Avenged Sevenfold has really made people think, all it takes is one button and it's the destruction of everything. I love how it has been released while the big election for the President of the United States is going on. The fact that Hillary Clinton has been chosen to stand amongst the world leaders definitely suggests that they, at least, think she's going to win. Whatever the outcome, this video definitely brings up some political ideas. Vote wisely people.
In a role-reversal music video, this definitely outlines the destruction of mankind. Since when did heavy metal use their influence to seek peace on the world, but that is what they are doing. Has Avenged Sevenfold taken some ideas from Radiohead's "Burn The Witch"? Brilliant video, totally taking a stand on politics and an insight into history. This music video has it all, and I have to give it this rating because it deserves no less!
It's time to revisit Inna on a Thursday. It wasn't exactly my plan to do another Inna song, but I actually can't believe I haven't reviewed this music video yet, and since it's over five years old and is probably going to be a guarantee on the set list in Dublin, Ireland; I have to do this! This is one of Inna's biggest songs, next to "Hot", it gave her a second shot at international fame, but unfortunately, it didn't stick around. Inna is sexy and provocative in this music video for "Sun Is Up" as she poses for pictures and videos for her love interest, Tore Frisholm Jr, who is behind the camera.
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, has had a lengthy career, she is one of the biggest female singers from Romania and in 2011 became the richest earning female singer in Romania and Eastern Europe. She's had many hits and worked with some of the world's biggest stars. Now, she's gearing up for the release of her fifth studio album, and there's no stopping her. Her versatility is inspiring, she has sung in a few different languages to show originality and to appeal to a wider audience. I can't wait to hear what she has in store for her new album release. This song was an international success, having charted all over the world. It was written by Sebastian Barac, Radu Bolfea and Marcel Botezan.
Directed by Alex Herron; shot in Marbella, Spain; it features the love interest, male actor and model Tore Frisholm Jr; this music video has it all.
This is a full performance piece, with Inna singing in a few different sets, from the stunning pool scene to the bedroom scene, Inna doesn't miss a step or a beat. She performs like she's on a stage, looking incredible throughout and giving high energy vibes even when she isn't moving much.
She is posing for video shots and photos with her on-screen love interest Tore Frisholm Jr, who acts as the photographer, capturing her every movement. I like how we have the makeup scene as if gearing her up for the photo shoot. The party scene at the end suggests that there was an afterparty, maybe leading on to the bedroom scene later on. There's a slight narrative but not by much.
Overall it's a slightly relatable piece, it's a club song and there is a party going on. The sun is up in the scenes as well. It's a great interpretation of the lyrics, but her music videos haven't advanced all that much. Many of them are very similar only difference being the scenes and the settings. Regardless, I am literally so excited to see her live in December in Ireland.
Definitely one of my favourites from the 2014 contest. Mariya Yaremchuk was one of the first entrants to be announced for the Eurovision Song Contest 2014. Representing Ukraine she came sixth overall with 113 points. This song is definitely catchy, and it was well received. Mariya Yaremchuk performs in a dark room pouring her heart into the song for the video whilst lanterns cast light and shadow around the room.
Mariya Yaremchuk has been performing in Ukraine contests since 2012. First up was Holos Krainy (translated as The Voice of the Country, the Ukraine's version of The Voice), where she came fourth in the second season. Next, she took part in New Wave 2012, an international contest of young performers. She came third in the contest. Then, she attempted to represent Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with a song called "Imagine". She came fifth in the national selection titled Evrobachennya 2013. A year later she tried again with this song and won the 2016 Ukraine national selection. Since coming sixth in Eurovision 2014, Mariya Yaremchuk has released a few singles under Марія Яремчук, hopefully, there's an album on the way. The song was written by Mariya Yaremchuk and Sandra Bjurman.
The music video is a pure performance piece, showing that Mariya Yaremchuk was meant to be on a stage singing her heart out.
Light effects definitely make this music video, the editors and the light technicians use the lanterns and the shadows to their advantage. Spotlighting the dancers whilst making Mariya Yaremchuk look amazing.
There's not a lot to say about this music video, Mariya Yaremchuk is stunning throughout. She performs with emotion whilst showing off her voice. There's no narrative and not a lot else to comment on. She connects with the audience through her vocals and her performance, igniting and teasing the viewers.
She is back! We've been waiting for her return for ages now and here she is, with a totally different sound, that might just surprise you. I've supported her since Lemonade Mouth and her debut single "Ready Or Not". Yet, I'm not so sure on this song. It's a totally different vibe and sound for her. I totally loved her first album, so this song has to grow on me because it's so different. However, if it's the music she wants to do, I respect that and I'm glad she can do that now. In this video for "Atlantis", Bridgit Mendler hosts a party at her ex's house whilst he's unconscious. Kaiydo also appears for his rap section.
Bridgit Mendler is an ex-Disney star and is definitely following in the footsteps of many great well-known singers and actors. Focusing on her music, she released a debut single that did well, "Ready Or Not" quickly became a favourite and quite the international success. Follow-up single "Hurricane" didn't do so well and neither did her debut album even if it was packed full of tunes! With her new EP on the way in November, this single acts as the first single from the EP. Featured act Kaiydo, real name Keiondre Boone, is a 19-year-old rapper who is definitely getting his name out there, he is perfect on this track, so keep an eye on him! This song was written by Bridgit Mendler, Spencer Bastian, Mischa Chillak and Kaiydo.
Directed by Allie Avital, the video is totally different, much like the song. This is not something we would expect to see from this ex-Disney star, definitely following in the footsteps of some ex-Disney stars.
Mainly a narrative piece, we watch as Bridgit Mendler and her mates break into an ex's house and throw a party, all while her ex is unconscious. She tends to hang around with the unconscious male, so it looks like they're doing things together.
Kaiydo's performance piece is fully energetic, and a total contrast to Bridgit Mendler, who packs in emotion in her visual. I feel like she's experimenting with her sound and her voice, whilst writing songs that have a lot of her heart in. This EP is something new for her, but I expect this is just a side step, giving music to her fans rather than it sitting in the studio doing nothing.
Overall it's an interesting video. It's quite tongue-in-cheek and engaging. Definitely relatable to the song, and it perks up the song a lot more since the song isn't something you would expect from Bridgit Mendler. I'm interested in what the EP will be like, but with vocals like that, I'm sure it'll be amazing.
It's Monday which means it's Chart Mondays, and with James Arthur reigning supreme at the top of the UK singles chart with "Say You Won't Let Go", it opens the Top 10 to my Chart Mondays review. In this case, it leaves me with no choice but to review this music video as I have either reviewed all the other music videos in the UK top 10 singles chart, or they don't have an official music video. Therefore I am reviewing this one which is currently at number two on the chart. The Weeknd kills his previous self and smashes his apartment up before jumping in a car with a cat that transforms into a panther. He is definitely a "Starboy", look what you've done.
The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, has really come into his own in the past few years. Having done all right when he first hit the music scene, he has definitely built his name and had batted out hits left, right and centre. This one just proves how far he has come, and how much more he has to give. Recently he has changed his hair style, which definitely goes well with this whole new direction. Featured on the track is Daft Punk, an electronic music duo consisting of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They have been going for years and years and have many hits. Most recently "Get Lucky" brought them back into the public eye and since then they have released hit song after hit song. They'll always be popular. This song has had international success and was written by Abel Tesfaye, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Thomas Bangalter, Martin McKinney and Henry Walter.
Directed by Grant Singer, this video is The Weeknd reinventing himself. With a new album a new sound and this is definitely the start of something new, so why not say goodbye to the previous era and start a whole new one. He has changed his hairstyle, killed his previous self and smashed everything in his apartment that was a part of the previous era.
The narrative is interesting, watching him kill his former self through asphyxiation using a plastic bag; it's definitely surprising. He finds a pink neon cross which he uses to smash the place, before setting alight his wardrobe. It all a part of the previous album, saying goodbye to it.
He next goes to the garage and chooses a car and rides off into the night with a black cat in the passenger seat, which soon transforms into a panther. The entire video says goodbye to his previous album and the music that definitely made him popular.
It's clear The Weeknd likes his cars, his choices in the garage are the Lamborghini Aventador SV Roadster, a Bentley Mulsanne and the McLaren P1. The latter is actually owned by The Weeknd himself, which is the one he chooses to drive away in.
Daft Punk appears only in a portrait of themselves which is hung on the wall. Otherwise, they are nowhere to be seen, which isn't really surprising. This usually is the case when DJs and producers are featured on a track.
Overall, this is a well-planned music video that is fully in-depth. It has a performance and a narrative built in one. The Weeknd pulls both off at the same time perfectly, while also killing his previous self. His performance vibes pour from him, and boy can he put on a show!
Leah McFall made quite the impact on this song, having bided her time for the past few years, she's back now and wow does her voice still astonish us since the first time we heard it. Her voice is amazing and it's surprising she didn't win The Voice UK, but then again neither did Becky Hill and look how far she has got now. Leah McFall will definitely become just as amazing as Becky Hill, mark my words. Leah McFall gives a powerful performance to the viewers in this music video for her most recent single "Wolf Den".
Leah McFall was the runner-up in the second series of The Voice UK. She was mentored by will.i.am who went on to record debut single "Home" with her coach. Unfortunately, the song didn't do so well on the UK chart and she was later dropped by Capitol Records. After years of wondering where she's been, Leah McFall made a comeback with this gorgeous soulful song. Released independently, it's no wonder it didn't chart, but that doesn't mean it was a bad song, it just means that promotion for the single wasn't possible. She stated it was a gift to all who have supported her. Hopefully, an album is on the horizon, as we need a lot more tracks with her amazing voice on.
Directed by Phil Harrison, The clip is a pure performance piece where Leah McFall shines throughout.
She puts her all in performing this piece, and you can see this song is close to her heart. Emotion runs out through her pores of her skin. No one can deny that this song is powerful. It's clear that she was born to sing and born to perform, Leah McFall proves why she should've won The Voice UK series two.
There's not a lot to this music video, no narrative, no storyline; just Leah McFall and this song. Yet she still manages to stun us. Who needs all the theatrics when you have her performance presence and her astonishing vocals?
As you all already know, I'm obsessed with Inna, and I'm excited to announce that I will be going to see her live in Dublin, Ireland for the first time and I literally cannot wait... She released this song and music video recently and I knew I'll end up reviewing it soon. Having already covered it for CelebMix, there's not a lot more I can comment on, although I will certainly make this review more of an opinion piece, like many of my reviews on here. Inna flaunts in this promotional online music video for "Say It With Your Body" and that is definitely what Inna and her love interest are doing.
Inna, real name Elena Apostoleanu, is one of the biggest Romanian female singers in the world. She launched onto the scene with debut single "Hot" which definitely gave her international success, since then she has gone from strength to strength, and this is the latest song from her next album. This follows the amazingly catchy single "Heaven", and both tracks are cut from her fifth studio album. Released under Global Records.
The music video is definitely sexy and sultry, but we expect nothing less from Inna. There is also a love interest, but the male actor is unknown unless someone knows who he is (comment below or message me on Twitter).
In one of the rooms, Inna is in, there is writing on the walls. They are lyrics from her previous album, check out my CelebMix article to find out more.
Inna gets all wet in what seems like shower rooms, whilst her love interest walks around her. She is clearly the central focus and the love interest is more background eye candy.
There's another scene where she's dancing, slightly, to the song in what could be a bedroom. It really looks like it belongs in the "Endless" music video if I'm honest, and although it does relate to the song, it just seems less inviting than the rest of the scenes. It feels out of place; on the other hand, it definitely breaks up the other scenes.
Overall, as a music video, this doesn't quite work, but since it is a promotional online video for a promotional song, we can give it some slack. It's relatable and there is a love interest. Inna is looking gorgeous as always and the song is another grower to add to her collection.
If there are two DJs we want to collaborate again and again it's Kaskade and deadmou5. Yet what makes this collaboration even better is the featured artist Skylar Grey, what more do we want? The last time deadmou5 collaborated with Kaskade, their track "I Remember" charted, could this happen again with this song? It's quite doubtful. Slow song and video, we watch as Skylar Grey emerges from a wrecked car and heads towards a light, but with a twist of an ending, do we really know what happened?
Kaskade, real name Ryan Raddon, was one of the hottest American DJs back in 2008-2009, hitting out amazing songs that even managed to chart around the world. He has gone on to work with some of the biggest stars as he continues to release amazing songs we can't quite get out of our heads. This collaboration with deadmou5 is surely one of them. deadmou5, real name Joel Zimmerman, is a name everyone pretty much knows. He was one of the most influential DJs back in 2008, with his song "Ghosts 'n' Stuff" even managing to hit number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. Various other singles and albums have followed, and he will continue to be one of the biggest DJs around even if he's not a raging chart success. He certainly doesn't need to be. As for Skylar Grey, real name Holly Hafermann; she was originally known as Holly Brook. Her musical career has been up and down with some surprising collaborations and versatile song releases. The track as a whole is hauntingly quirky. one that I could listen to on repeat for sure.
The music video relates to the song well, it's quite a haunting visual to go with the haunting track. It's pretty slow too which is totally in time with the song.
Skylar Grey is in a car crash. The car is upside down, then she comes to, she starts to move and manages to get out of the car. She takes off her heels and heads towards the light. Then a few seconds later the camera returns to the car and her on-screen lover wakes up, rushes to the car and drags a semi-conscious Skylar Grey out of the car. Quite a twist of an ending.
Very slow with not much going on and yet it still manages to confuse. This video would've been perfect for a Halloween release, what with Skylar Grey all bloody and stuff. Guess this is the start of the Halloween music videos.
Overall it's a great interesting visual with an awesome track behind it. Skylar Grey astonishes in this piece, and I can't wait to hear more from her. I'm also happy to see another deadmou5 music video, as it has certainly been too long. This is relatable to the song, but the confusing music video doesn't quite make sense and leaves the viewers to make their own mind up about it.
It's Thursday so it's revisit time, so I picked this one out of Antonia's back catalogue. I definitely prefer her new song "Get Up And Dance"! This comes as a surprise to me as it was released in the UK under 3beat records, which released songs for Inna and Alexandra Stan before focusing their efforts on other artists (and that's me being nice about it). They clearly didn't promote this song because I didn't see this music video whatsoever, which probably explains why the song didn't chart in the UK. Antonia creates an ultimatum for her girlfriend "Morena" in this music video whilst giving a sultry stage performance.
Tom Boxer, real name Cosmin Simionică, is a Romanian DJ who has had a few hit singles namely this one and "Deep In Love". He has released a few more singles here and there, but none has made quite an impact. As for Antonia, full name Antonia Iacobescu, she has continued singing and has released some much better songs, as well as an album. She's going from strength to strength and I can't wait to see what the future brings for her. This song was written by Tom Boxer. It hit number one in Poland and Bulgaria.
There isn't a lot to this music video, focusing solely on the performance side of things rather than anything else. I can't find the original video; this one if from 3beat's YouTube Channel. This record label is known for editing music videos to a 'UK version', they did it plenty of times with Alexandra Stan and Inna, just look at "Get Back (ASAP)"; so I'm guessing this isn't the full video, but it's the only one I can find.
Antonia gives a great sexy performance on stage. Her modelling background really comes to play in this music video. She's in a bar singing to her lover called Morena. She later gets up from her seat and dances around Antonia.
It's not until we near the end of the music video, we realise that it's all a part of a slight narrative. We watch as Antonia storms out of a house and then turns around and talks to Morena. From the words they say, we find out that she caught Morena cheating with a guy, of all people.
Antonia gives Morena an ultimatum and kisses her to help her decide. As she drives away, Morena comes after her and gets in the car. That kiss must have been something so powerful.
Focus on the performance is what makes this video slow and uninteresting, it isn't until the narrative kicks in that it brings the audience back. I'm sure the full video is slightly different and much more engaging, but this one fails to keep the audience attention. The video slightly redeems itself at the end, hence my rating.
Back to my Eurovision Special, I'm so close to finishing off my favourites from Eurovision 2014, before having to launch into my Eurovision 2015 Special. This was Russia's Entrant in the 2014 contest and they came seventh place with 89 points. The performance on the Eurovision stage was memorable because it consisted of a seesaw. The Tolmachevy Sisters received a lot of boos after their performance, but that was mainly because they were representing Russia, and the points and placement proved that the Eurovision Song Contest has nothing to do with politics, otherwise this great sweet song would not have ranked so well. The Tolmachevy Sisters contrast in this video with a black and white filter which gives a classy look for this sweet "Shine" song.
The Tolmachevy Sisters consist of Anastasiya Tolmachevy and Maria Andreyevna Tolmachevy. This isn't the first Eurovision contest they have competed in. They previously represented Russia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006, where they won with their song "Vesenniy Jazz". Eight years later and they represented Russia again in the Eurovision Song Contest and came seventh. They were chosen through internal selection. The girls released an album after they won the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006, but since the 2014 Eurovision Contest, they haven't released anything new internationally. This song was written by Philipp Kirkorov, Dimitris Kontopoulous, John Ballard, Ralph Charlie and Gerard James Borg.
This was directed by Aslan Ahmadov. It is a full-on performance piece. Contrast is used effectively in this black and white video, it helps to distinguish who is who, although we're not told ourselves. It feels classy and has an oldness quality to it.
They use the two separate colours, black and white, dramatically. They kind of separate the sisters, which can be both detrimental and helpful.
The girls are relaxed, they clearly love this song and they love to perform it. They scenes they are in adds a quality to the video, but not much else.
The performance is lacking compared to their Grand Final stage performance. It's entertaining to an extent but seems too old-fashioned, there's hardly anything new and current. The video doesn't exactly show the girls personalities, and then there's nothing to relate to the song. A clear narrative would've worked better than a lifeless performance piece. At times the sisters look lost and confused as to what to do, yet they still attempt to perform.
