Top 10 Bizarre Music Videos

Warning: Contains explicit lyrics and images. This is a list of the most bizarre music videos that have been made in recent years. Rather than writing a lot of information about each video, I will let them speak for themselves. Least to most weird:

10. Klaus Nomi Lightning Strikes

Klaus Nomi was a German countertenor noted for remarkable vocal performances and an unusual, elfin stage persona. Nomi is remembered for bizarrely theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylized signature hairdo which flaunted a receding hairline. He is one of the first celebrities to die of aids.

9. The Avalanches Frontier Psychiatry

The Avalanches are an electronic music group from Melbourne, Australia, best known for its live DJ sets and debut album Since I Left You, which was assembled from approximately 3,500 vinyl samples. Initially The Avalanches played live using samplers, analogue keyboards, bass guitar, drumkit and theremin. Their set-up later included four turntables, a percussion stand, and a battery of MIDI-controlled special effects.

8. The Prodigy Smack my Bitch Up

“Smack My Bitch Up” was the thirteenth single released by the British electronica/rave/rock band The Prodigy on November 7, 1997. It was the third and final single from the album The Fat of the Land. The song was highly controversial because the lyrics and title of the song were believed to promote violence against women.

7. Björk Hunter

Björk Guðmundsdóttir is an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, actress and music producer. She is best known for her expressive range and an interest in many kinds of music, including pop, alternative rock, jazz, ambient music, electronica, and folk. She has won numerous awards, and has received 12 Grammy Award nominations and an Academy Award nomination.

6. Mushroomhead Solitaire Unravelling

Mushroomhead is an American band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993, the band’s music can be described as a synthesis of alternative, heavy metal, and industrial influences. The members of Mushroomhead have identified themselves by each adopting masks or facial disguises as well as individual pseudonyms. Mushroomhead is identified by its distinct “X Face” logo – commonly worn boldly on the masks of most members, as well as clothing and associated merchandise.

5. Marilyn Manson The Beautiful People

“The Beautiful People” is a song from Marilyn Manson’s second full length album, Antichrist Superstar, released as a single in September, 1996. An alternative metal hit written by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez, and produced by Trent Reznor, Dave Ogilvie and Marilyn Manson, its lyrics discuss two major themes: what Manson refers to as “the culture of beauty”, and that culture’s connection to Friedrich Nietzsche’s theory of master-slave morality — the song’s “weak ones”, who are “always wrong”, are oppressed by and “justify [the existence of] the strong”

4. Dir en Grey Obscure

Dir en grey is a Japanese band formed in 1997. As of 2007, they have released six full-length records and are among the handful of Japanese bands to have enjoyed notable success in Europe and North America. While the group’s lineup has remained consistent since its inception, numerous stylistic changes have made its music’s genre difficult to determine (though it is generally considered to be a form of rock music). Originally part of Japan’s visual kei movement, Dir en grey has opted for less flamboyant attire in recent years.

3. Nine Inch Nails Closer

Nine Inch Nails (abbreviated as NIN) is an industrial rock band founded in Cleveland, Ohio circa 1988 by Trent Reznor. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its musical direction. NIN’s music straddles a wide range of musical genres and modes, while retaining a characteristically intense sound through instruments and a heavy use of electronics and electronic processing techniques.

2. Tool Parabola

Parabola is the name of the second single from Tool’s album “Lateralus”. It was released in 2002 as a promo CD only. In support of this promo single, a music video was released — clocking in at over ten minutes because of the inclusion of the “Parabol” lead-in (a separate track on the album), it hardly met the criteria for being broadcast on mainstream music video stations, although some channels worked around this by cutting off the “Parabol” segment.

1. Aphex Twin Rubber Johnny

Rubber Johnny is a six-minute experimental short film and music video directed by Chris Cunningham in 2005, using music composed by Aphex Twin. The name Rubber Johnny is drawn from a British slang for “condom” as well as a description of the main character, which explains the title sequence. The DVD comes with an art book, containing stills from the film, as well as conceptual drawings, photographs and more.