This week, we have a double shot of music videosity for you with Before and After - one song, two renditions. If this isn't a complete disaster, this will become a semi-regular feature of Music Video Thursday. If it's not so successful... well, you'll probably still be able to find the Google cache of this post.
"Land of Confusion" was originally written and performed by Genesis on their 1986 album Invisible Touch. The single reached #4 on the U.S. charts, but it became notorious for it's video, featuring puppets from Spitting Image - including puppets of the band specially commissioned by the band for the video. The song touched on the Cold War themes of the day, and the general distrust of those in power to make a change for the better...
While Genesis claimed that their generation would put it right, that turned out to be a promise that they couldn't keep, as the song still seems relevant a decade later. In 2005, heavy metal band Disturbed included a cover of the song on their Ten Thousand Fists album, and released it as a single in July 2006. The video (animated by Todd McFarlane) shows the band's nameless mascot leading a revolt against black-suited, gas-masked, jack-booted soldiers wearing dollar-sign swastikas - an interesting commentary on the blurring lines between capitalism and fascism, perhaps? In any case, it seems that we are still living in a land of confusion...
GEEK TRIVIA BONUS: In the original Genesis video, the voice of Ronald Reagan was provided by Chris Barrie, who also spent time in front of the cameras as Arnold Rimmer in the sci-fi comedy series Red Dwarf.
BLOGGER SPELL-CHECK BONUS WORD: The spell check puked on Google - considering that Google bought Blogger over three years ago, you'd think that maybe the spell check would at least recognize the name of their corporate master...
LOTTO 6/49 BONUS NUMBER: 47
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