Madonna has always been a keen student of pop-culture history, and her creative powers were probably at their peak in the late 1980s on the album Like a Prayer. But while the title track generated the most controversy, the multimillion-dollar video for “Express Yourself” generated the most praise. Shamelessly ripping off the 1920s Fritz Lang classic Metropolis (the epigraph of the clip — “Without the heart, there can be no understanding between the hand and the mind” — paraphrases a recurring mantra of the movie), a young director by the name of David Fincher expressed himself by harnessing all of Madge’s signature leitmotifs (the blond hair! her outfits! naked men! a running metaphor to do with a cat!). The video is as powerful to watch as the star herself.
The 30 All-TIME Best Music Videos
Thirty years ago, MTV began to beam a budding art form — the music video — into homes across the U.S. TIME takes a look back at the most memorable clips from three decades' worth of music television
Madonna, ‘Express Yourself’ (1989)
Full List
1980s
- Talking Heads, ‘Once in a Lifetime’ (1980)
- Michael Jackson, ‘Thriller’ (1984)
- Godley and Creme, ‘Cry’ (1985)
- a-Ha, ‘Take On Me’ (1985)
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, ‘Don’t Come Around Here No More’ (1985)
- Run-DMC, ‘Walk This Way’ (1986)
- Peter Gabriel, ‘Sledgehammer’ (1986)
- Madonna, ‘Express Yourself’ (1989)
1990s
- Sinéad O’Connor, ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ (1990)
- Nirvana, ‘Heart-Shaped Box’ (1993)
- Nine Inch Nails, ‘Closer’ (1994)
- The Beastie Boys, ‘Sabotage’ (1994)
- Weezer, ‘Buddy Holly’ (1994)
- Jamiroquai, ‘Virtual Insanity’ (1997)
- Missy Elliott, ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’ (1997)
- Pulp, ‘This Is Hardcore’ (1998)
- Blur, ‘Coffee & TV’ (1999)
- Björk, ‘All Is Full of Love’ (1999)
- Chemical Brothers, ‘Let Forever Be’ (1999)
- Fatboy Slim, ‘Praise You’ (1999)
2000s
- D’Angelo, ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel)’ (2000)
- Fatboy Slim, ‘Weapon of Choice’ (2001)
- Johnny Cash, ‘Hurt’ (2003)
- The White Stripes, ‘The Hardest Button to Button’ (2005)
- OK Go, ‘Here It Goes Again’ (2006)
- Gnarls Barkley, ‘Going On’ (2008)
- Beyoncé, ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’ (2008)
- Lady Gaga, ‘Bad Romance’ (2009)
- Kanye West, ‘Runaway’ (2010)
- Arcade Fire, ‘We Used To Wait/The Wilderness Downtown’ (2010)
