Rolling Stone (May 30, 1996) p.46
THE VIDEO FILE
WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC LIKES HIS TARGETS DEAD serious: fun-loving icons like Sting
and Nirvana were tailormade for Yankovic's brand of absurdist parody. In theory
his "Amish Paradise," which owes nothing but its tune to Coolio's "Gangsta's
Paradise," seems allwrong. The target here isn't Coolio but those sober, hard-
working Christians who have been making us laugh for more than two centuries.
Face it: the Amish are funny, jokes about the Amish are funny, and Yankovic
makes all of them in this simple, sunny, green-and-gold series of goofy
vignettes. Maybe he has a deeper point, one about outsiders creating their own
Edens. Or maybe not.
There's an alternative-video-by-numbers kit out there somewhere, and Marilyn
Manson have bought one. In the band's video for its droning, unnecessary cover
of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," the freaky, Iggy Pop-thin singer - made up with
an unwholesome, insectoid look - is filmed with colored lights (everything's
nuclear green and pylon orange), writhing about in an abandoned space filled
with debris. Meanwhile the film performs cute tricks like pretending to be all
scratched up. This is an example of a jumped-up novelty act getting a little
cash - and blowing it.
Hype Williams is the hip-hop director to beat, and the gorgeous, silly and scary
look of his video for Busta Rhymes' "Woo-hah!! Got You All in Check" is so fresh
it's still flopping around on the hook. Shot almost entirely in nerve-racking
close-ups, the video creates an interior nightscape ofdeep primary colors,
ominous or twisted spatial effects, and the sight of Busta himself,
gesticulating vigorously and wearing a number of puffy outfits. Props are few
(candles in one scene, a slamming red ride in another), hats are big, and, like
the song's irresistible refrain, the whole feel is as extravagant as it is
menacing.
By Arion Berger
(
geocities.com/sunsetstrip/backstage/2220) (
geocities.com/sunsetstrip/backstage) (
geocities.com/sunsetstrip)