VIDEOS OF THE WEEK #17 (with GUEST HOST)

[RJhog (Admin)]

Hey folks, RJhog here.  This week I'll be guest hosting VOTW for Niels, as he will be doing the same for me on AOTW.  I will follow basically the same layout as Niels and I hope I can do justice to the awesome feature that VOTW has become.

I'm gonna show you seven videos.  I know, that's a lot of videos.  It was originally six, but I realized I needed to add one more as a companion/opponent of my classic offering.   I'll put up 2 new videos, each by post grunge bands, one that is classified by Wikipedia as a heavy metal band, the other as a metalcore band.  I have a new video from a classic band (well, based on some opinions that I'm familiar with a few members, they may not actually be classic, but for me they are).  I have 2 Cheese Factor videos.  I'm posting 2 because the first thought that comes to my mind when I hear "cheesy video" is hair band, but I think this will show that many 80's videos, despite the genre, were quite cheesy.  And finally, I'll add one classic video by a classic band.  The reason for the additional video is that it's a cover of that same classic song and I want you guys to judge the two videos and song performances and let your thoughts be known.

Please remember to rate each video and song and score the Cheese Factor videos for their cheesiness.  After a couple of members chime in, I'll then post my thoughts on each video.  Thanks for watching and thanks to Niels for letting me guest host VOTW.  Here goes:

New Videos

Unraveling by Sevendust

Sevendust is from my neck of the woods (Atlanta, Georgia).  They are classified as a heavy metal band by Wikipedia and released their first of 8 albums in 1997.  The song Unraveling is taken from their most recent release, 2010's Cold Day Memory.



Hold On by All That Remains

All That Remains is an American metalcore band from Springfield, Massachusetts.  The have released 5 albums since 2002 and Hold On comes from the album For We Are Many, which was released today (Oct. 12, 2010).



Classic Band/New Video

What Do You Got by Bon Jovi

Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey, and they've been putting out albums since 1983.   The band has released 11 studio albums to date and this song is one of 4 new tracks that will be included on their upcoming Greatest Hits - The Ultimate Collection which is due in November.



Cheese Factor

Breaking The Chains by Dokken

Dokken is an American hard rock/heavy metal band whose first album was released in 1983, while their most recent studio effort was in 2008.  They are sometimes thought of as a hair band, but I'm not sure that's entirely accurate.  Breaking The Chains is the title track from their debut album.



Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is an American singer/songwriter who has released many albums.  This particular song and video come from his second number 1 album, 1984's Born In The USA. 



Classic Video (followed by a cover version and video)

Land Of Confusion by Genesis

Genesis is an English rock band that formed in 1967.  Land Of Confusion comes from their 1986 album Invisible Touch.  The song is basically a political statement concerning the fear of what could happen during the cold war.  The video itself is full of cameo's by famous caricatured celebrities and world leaders.  It won a Grammy for Best Concept Music Video in 1988 and lost the MTV Music Awards category for Video Of The Year to Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer in 1987.



Land Of Confusion by Disturbed

Disturbed is an American heavy metal band from Chicago.  The cover version of Land Of Confusion comes from their 3rd album, released in 2005, called Ten Thousand Fists.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Let me just say ahead of time, I apologize about the advertisements before each video.

[Niels (Mod)]

Looks good, RJhog. I'll be looking at them later today.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Cool. I look forward to your ratings.

[TageRyche]

Hey now, Dokken is great!

[RJhog (Admin)]

I don't disagree with that TR, but I sure think this is a cheesy video (awesome song, cheesy video).

[Niels (Mod)]

Okay, it's time for some ratings:

Sevendust (0 stars)

I don't really know what to say about this. Neither the song or the video are any good, I think. (But 0 aint bad. If I hate something, it's -1).

All That Remains (0,5 stars)

The song had a GREAT start, and when it's fast, I really like the song, but when it slows down, it's a bit boring, 0,5 for the song. The video is not very good, 0 stars.

Bon Jovi (1,75 stars)

I like this one. It's a really good song (1 star) and a good video with one or two Hollywood-actor(s) (0,75 star).

Dokken (1,5 stars plus a high cheese-factor of 8,5)

Now THIS is a very cheesy video. I don't know where to begin, so I do'nt, but it's a good song, and if it was 1983, it would had been a cool video, but it ain't.

Bruce Springsteen ( 1,75 stars with a cheese-factor of 5,5)

I can see, that it's kind of cheesy with the kids and all, but I rather liked the video, and it's a great song, of course.

Genesis (2(or 3) stars

This is one of the best video's ever, and it's one of the best, if not THE best songs by Genesis (imo).

Disturbed (-2 stars)

Now why did they make this cover-version? I HATE the way he sings some of the words, like "daahh" in the end of the words, and they are "messing" with one of my favorite songs, and I mostly hate it. I also think a cartoon-video is mostly booring, This is.

[Scott]

Sevendust... .5 stars
0 stars for the video, best part was when the singers face was hidden behind the studio mic and I mean that in the best possible way. .5 star for the song, at least its listenable, just not unique or catchy.

All That Remains...1 stars
.5 for the song and .5 for the video because Im trying to be a kinder gentler Scott.

Bon Jovi... .5 stars
I need to address an issue. Im not a Bon Jovi fan, my wife likes him, probably really a lot too. But I cant get into them, so Im asking Jon (Bon Jovi that is) to forgive me because I have donated to his fortune a few times. However, I'm giving the song a 0 because weve all learned to agree to disagree. The video is ok due to it having a nice message and stuff like that, .5 stars for that

Dokken... 2 stars with a cheese factor of 5
1.5 stars for the song, my favorite Dokken! Video .5. I was going to give it a full star until they gave us a Don Dokken crotch shot on the bed. ewww.... Cheese factor points for guitar strings made of chains, bass player banging the body of his guitar like he was playing it that way, and the mental image of Don Dokken chained to a bed wearing a... a... a... I dont know what that was...

Bruce Springsteen... .5 stars
I havent see this video for years and you know it still feels like its been overplayed! hmm... 0 stars. But I like the song enough to lean towards the positive side of the rating system .... .5 stars

Genesis... 1.5 stars
1 star for a still very cool video and a Ron and Nancy cameo! Miss Them! .5 stars for a cool song, just not the best Genesis song...

Disturbed... 0 stars
My former self would pan this because its not a very unique remake and I would'nt have liked it anyway. You know? Come to think of it, the new me doesnt really care for it either. 0 stars...

Now if you'll excuse me I need to go to the grocery store for some Crest. I feel a bit of gingivitus coming on for some reason....

[Jon]

I'll scope them out this weekend. A fine job you did! If it was Scott that did this, I would just have to make my own videos and listen to the songs.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Damn...I'm glad you're finally off my back and onto Scott's.

[Jon]

Don't offend me!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Sevendust (1.25 stars)

I love this song. One full star there. The video is just okay, not the worst I've ever seen, so 0.25 stars.

All That Remains (1 star)

The song is very decent, so 0.75 stars there. This is one of those bands that sounds pretty good when they sing, which is what they do in most of this song. But when they growl, they suck. The video gets 0.25 stars for the same reason as the Sevendust video.

Bon Jovi (1 star)

The song gets 0.75 stars, because it's a pretty decent song. The video, to me, is no better or worse than the first two, so I'll give it 0.25 stars. If they looked the part of a rock band I'd have given it 0.5 stars. All of that being said, I wonder if Bon Jovi will ever be a rock band again. Write a friggin' rock song. You are now a Contemporary Easy Listening Band, that's it.

Dokken (1 star/Cheese Factor 10)

I think this is a superb song. One full star for the song. The video is so full of cheese it's rediculous. Especially Don Dokken. And how 'bout the drummer when he "breaks the chains" at the end of the guitar solo. He looks like Will Ferrell in the "More Cowbell" skit from SNL. Honestly, you can't get any more cheesy than this.

Springsteen (1 star/Cheese Factor 9.5)

Again, great song. Scott says it's overplayed, and he's probably right, but it's still a great song. I only gave it a CF of 9.5 because I said you couldn't get any cheesier than Dokken's video. But this is just about as bad. Bruce's rolled up shirt sleeves and his inablility to play his guitar in time with the song. I don't know what's going on with Silvio Dante's face everytime he steps up to the mic. The chick (Bruce's wife I think) is singing background, but I don't hear a female voice at all. And everybody just looks too damn happy. Especially the black dude (can't think of his name, I wanna say Clarence Clemmons, but that may be way off). How friggin' happy can you be playing a block?


Land Of Confusion

For Genesis, it's 2 full stars. Great song, great video. How great is the "superman where are you now" part in the original video compared to the cover? There really is no comparison. At best, Disturbed's cover will get 0.5 stars from me for the song. It starts out pretty decently, but just drags from there. No stars for the video. Again, the original is so way above the cover that there is no comparison.

[Scott]

And by overplayed I mean that the song was sooo enormously popular that it could be seen and heard on every station and channel. And because the song was so fantastically written, produced and played, we all got to share an enhanced experience when watching the video. So you see, my critique is really very very positive.

Signed, you new kinder, gentler Scott