[MUSIC] THE SAVAGE ANIMAL "The Videography of Filter"
08.03.11
BY MIKEY MIGO
I have never went out of my way for Filter. I’ve never paid to see them perform live. I don’t seek their videos. I don’t turn through the radio stations and get excited when one of their tracks just so happens to be on. I’ve never went out and bought one of their albums. This all said, I’m a fan. What I’ve heard I’ve enjoyed, but it’s just never been a band that I’ve connected with on any level. That doesn’t make them bad and it doesn’t mean I don’t like them. We’ve just never crossed paths or something. Outside of “Hey Man, Nice Shot” and a few other select singles, my knowledge of the band Filter is purely informative. I know Richard Patrick’s brother was the bad guy in Terminator 2 and I know he was part of Trent Reznor’s touring band in the early days of Nine Inch Nails. From there I’ve heard a lot of the singles and I’ve enjoyed them. They’re not a band that I go out of my way to turn off. They’re just kind of there. I have a feeling they’re better than a “just kind of there” band, but we shall see. Today we’re going take a look at the fifteen music video catalog of Filter. I’m optimistic.
”Hey Man, Nice Shot”
Album: ”Short Bus”
Director: Kevin Kerslake
Year: 1995
It’s their best song and the first single. The opening bass line, the lyrics, and the break are amazing. The video isn’t that impressive. Ominous shadows with weird colors are all we see as the band performs in an isolated location. I was expecting something to really happen once the big break in the chorus came, but not really. This video is really not that entertaining. I don’t think I ever saw it before today. Yeesh. I’ve been a huge fan of the same for years, but this video doesn’t come close to doing it proper justice. This is NOT about Kurt Cobain by the way. Rating: 4.0
”Dose”
Album: ”Short Bus”
Director: Kevin Kerslake
Year: 1995
The slow motion walking at the begining of this video is already better than the “Hey Man” video. There seems to be a narrative. It seems like they’re all rocking out inside of beaten up ice cream truck or armored truck. I can’t tell. It’s an interesting idea and its shot well. It’s just it doesn’t go anywhere from there. Nothing at the end is any different than what happens at the beginning. The chorus of the song has the same scream thing as “Hey Man”, which is cool but I hope it’s not what they hang their hat on for everything. Rating: 5.0
”Stuck In Here”
Album: ”Short Bus”
Director: John Cook
Year: 1996
I like this one. It’s a collection of candid shots of the band doing, but it’s really well done. I’m a sucker for scratched up, grainy black and white footage being used like this. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but it’s still cool. The music doesn’t really match up at all to the song. It almost feels like they used a different song when editing, but just switched it over when it was decided this would be the single. That said, it’s the best of the three videos so far. The look is cool, but it just doesn’t match up with this Nirvana-sounding down tempo song. Rating: 6.0
”Jurassitol”
Album: ”The Crow: City of Angels” Soundtrack
Director: Dean Karr
Year: 1996
Embedding wasn’t allowed so you’ll have to youtube this one on your own. I was a big fan of the movie The Crow and the soundtrack that came along with it. I HAVE heard this song, but I’ve never seen the video. There is an actual production here. The band plays in a creepy place with a lot of candles around. Meanwhile, we get to see a lot of weird and eerie clips of random “Crow-like” things. It’s like a kiddie-glove version of the Nine Inch Nails “Closer” video. I’m a HUGE NIN fan, so the comparison is still a compliment. I instantly notice the bass line is the same as “Hey Man”, but a different chorus for sure. It’s one of the bands more solid tunes and hopefully part of their upward swing when it comes to music videos. Good stuff all around. Rating: 6.5
”Can’t You Trip Like I Do” (w/The Crystal Method)
Album: ”Spawn” Soundtrack
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Year: 1997
My biggest connection to this song was the fact that a Chicago area indie wrestler used to use this for his entrance music. Other than that, I don’t even remember hearing it in the movie. It’s a bad ass song though for sure. The video is awesome. It looks really cool and I wish there wasn’t any Spawn cuts in there. The science experiment situation with the screens and the wires is awesome looking. Then we get to see a lot of weird trippy stuff that gives the song its proper justice. The video makes me think of The Matrix more than Spawn, but I’m not complaining. The visuals here are awesome. By far my favorite Filter song and video thus far. Rating: 7.5
”One”
Album: ”X-Files” Soundtrack
Director: Martin Weisz
Year: 1998
He stands in the rain and looks up into the sky to sing about how “one is the loneliest number”. It’s all creepy and slow. It reminds me A LOT of a bad Nine Inch Nails song. Then at about a minute and half in, it goes to the now-typical “Hey Man” scream thing we hear in tons of their songs. I’ve not seen all the X-Files out there, but I do recognize “the cancer man” in there. Cool stuff. The video is cool, but again… just like the last one I feels more like The Matrix than X-Files. As in generic industrial rock. It looks good and you can tell they poured a lot of money into it, but there is nothing to this video that makes me want to watch it again or remember it tomorrow. Rating: 6.5
”Welcome to the Fold”
Album: ”Title of Record”
Director: Peter Christopherson
Year: 1999
I was always a fan of this song, but I felt it sounded too similar to “Hey Man”. Now I know that’s the case with a lot of these tunes. I’m sure I saw the video back in the day, but I don’t remember it. The band performs on an isolated stage while fans jump around excitedly. Meanwhile an RV drives through the desert until getting to some weird square shaped aquatic looking thing. The coolest part of the video is the overhead shot of the band playing in the isolated room. It just looks cool. Everything else is kind of meh. A group of RV people show up in the dessert and hang out while the band rocks out in their white room. Oh, I get it… they’re playing IN the square. Cute. I don’t like sounding like I’m ragging on it, but it just doesn’t feel right to me for some reason. I’m not saying it’s not genuine, but it feels too artificial and the same ol’ same ol’. Rating: 6.0
”Take a Picture”
Album: ”Title of Record”
Director: David Meyers
Year: 1998
I think I’ve seen this Filter video more than any other. I’m just having my own personal trouble believing this was from 1998. Songs like this make me feel old. There is a crashed plane, a boat, and a really cool surreal set up. Robert Patrick just floats around and sings as we get shots of all this coolness. I like this tune. It doesn’t sound like the other Filter singles and the dude has a great voice when not sounding like he’s singing the same song. We cut to random shots and locations, like a home, the boat, underwater, and the purple lit sky. The last shot is the plane crash. I’m not going to look it up or anything, but I’m going to assume the video is a take on someone seeing their life flash before their eyes upon death. Who knows. At least I’m analyizing something of substance. This is a good one. The song is one of their best and the video is memorable. Rating: 7.5
”The Best Things”
Album: ”Title of Record”
Director: Peter Christopherson & Richard Patrick
Year: 2000
A weird twister thing going through the desert and then we see a creepy black bird. The band is involved in a joy ride as they have fun in old cars in the desert. Meanwhile the band performs in a cool concert setting while people jump around excitedly. I don’t know what’s going on in this video. Lots of driving fast in the desert and cuts back to the performance. Cops show up and shut down the performance fun. The cut aways and shots of certain recognizable actors make me automatically assume this another one of those soundtrack tie-in videos. I’m bored. The song isn’t bad at all, but the video does nothing for me. Rating: 6.0
”Where Do We Go From Here?”
Album: ”The Amalgamut”
Director: Alexander Kosta
Year: 2002
From this point on, I’m pretty sure I’ve not seen any of these videos. So this time we see Richard Patrick walking around a college world. He goes to a crazy party, rocks inside of a class room, and more crazy party. I don’t know what’s up here. It’s a “remember how young and dumb we were back during those old fun days” type of thing. It again, feels like a soundtrack tie-in video of some sorts, but the soundtrack was like “The OC” or something. Things get all somber at the end. I do like the song, but the video doesn’t feel quite right. Rating: 6.5
”American Cliché”
Album: ”The Amalgamut”
Director: Alexander Kosta
Year: 2002
I think because of the booty, the video wasn’t allowed by YouTube. It could just be the fact I’m a “butt man”, but I can’t help but enjoy this video and song. It’s a lot of butt, the American flag, and the band performing in front of a white background. I get the narrative here. The video is supposed to make fun of the cliché videos and all that crap. It’s just it does it better than those who are doing it with less ironic intentions. I liked it better when Monster Magnet mocked rap videos in the 90’s. Still, we have great ass shots, an interesting video, and a pretty decent song. Pardon my high score but I’m a heterosexual male… Rating: 7.5
”Soldiers of Misfortune”
Album: ”Anthems for the Damned”
Director: Evan Lane
Year: 2008
Creepy solider statues and then we see the band performing infront of wall as images of war and poverty is shown over them. The song sucks. The video is shot and cut really well, but it feels really forced. It’s more theme and motif than narrative and substance. It looks cool, but there is no story here. Well, unless you count the weird cuts to burning photos of soldiers they sneak in there in a few shots. Ooooh… flaming money and melting medals. Soooo controversial and meaningful. Ugh. Why, Filter? Why? Rating: 5.5
”The Inevitable Relapse”
Album: ”The Trouble With Angels”
Director: Jesus M. Rodriquez
Year: 2010
Holy crap, this is trippy and cool. It’s like a really cool video background for Windows Media Player. I had to get that joke in, but other than that I’m kidding. I like this song and I really dig the abstract and trippy video. It’s pretty ballsy to release something like this as an official music video. There are tons of fan videos like this floating around out there. Hell, I made a few myself. Cool stuff. Rating: 7.0
”Fades Like a Photograph”
Album: ”The Trouble With Angels”
Director: Mark Racco
Year: 2010
We see a couple holding hands running together all slow and happy. Then we have Richard Patrick singing into a phone infront of a glass with a girl with a phone on the other side. I’m fairly certain she’s in jail. Then bam! They’re performing on roof top. The cinematography is very well done, but the narrative and story is a little lame. Is this another picture related song? Dude likes his photography metaphors apparently. The song is well sung and well produced, but I’m just not buying the sentiment. Rating: 6.5
”No Love”
Album: ”The Trouble With Angels”
Director: Mark Racco
Year: 2010
A gritty cut of the band playing cards in suits. Then cuts of then performing life while we see the crew is a lot of model-like hot chicks. Some of them have masks on and drag another hesitant girl towards something. Then the people at the card table are pulled away too. Holy shit… Carmen Electra pops up too. There’s a lot going on here. Musically, this is crap. It sounds like they’re trying to sound like everything else on Top 40. I’m sure someone will say it’s them evolving, but to me it’s them selling out to the trends. It’s hard to take it seriously when it sounds like a track Linkin Park would have cut from their worst album. I really like the way this video looks. It has a hard black contrast with a cool green glow. I’m going to give this one thumbs up just on craft alone. Rating: 7.0
VERDICT
Like I said, I’ve never had too much experience with Filter. I think I know why. Too much of it sounds the same to me. I know that’s a common phrase for people who don’t “get it”, but it’s the truth. Just like all growl-metal bands sound the same to me, a big chunk of the singles I heard and watched today sound the same. “Hey Man, Nice Shot” and “Trip Like I Do” are the best tracks by the band in my opinion. Video wise, I have to go with “American Cliché” for the butts, “Trip Like I Do” for The Matrix-like visuals, and “Take a Picture” for the very well solid work. I’m still not sold on this band either way. The old stuff sounded like Nine Inch Nails and the new stuff sounds like Linkin Park. Not like a replica or impression or anything, but you can hear the similarities pretty clearly. I don’t hate them even thought it feels like I was a jerk through this experience. I’m still not going to go out of my way for anything related to “Filter”. I can see the appeal, but it’s just not my cup of tea.
BLOGS
- DLP News - The Savage Animal - Random Movie Review - rant/n/rave - PreView:ReView - Worst Case
Scenario
