MTV may have gone awry decades ago, but that doesn't mean the music video isn't alive and well in 2011.
For a while, it seemed the art form might be on its way out, with the rise of reality programming on former music channels, but the music video has persevered, and it's finally unlocked the potential of the Internet to once again become a viable -- and powerful -- form of promotion.
And we had some good ones this year, including the return of Primus, a beach party with Rammstein and a pair of excellent shorts from the Foo Fighters.
What video took home the No. 1 spot? Read on to find out!
10. Behemoth - "Lucifer"
As dark as this video is, we can't help but smile knowing it marks a healthy return Behemoth mainman Adam "Nergal" Darski, who this year played his first show with Behemoth since undergoing treatment for leukemia.
09. Five Finger Death Punch - "Under and Over It"
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Five Finger Death Punch were all about making a stir this year, so it's no surprise that the band who named their new album American Capitalist used the album's lead video to cram in every excess imagineable.
08. Radiohead - "Lotus Flower"
A viral sensation due to the sheer prowess of Thom Yorke's crazy dancing, the "Lotus Flower" video created countless spinoffs as YouTubers competed to see who could best sync up Yorke's unorthodox dance moves to hilariously out-of-context music.
07. Opeth - "The Devil's Orchard"
This spaced-out, vaguely German-expressionist clip for "The Devil's Orchard" seems a perfect fit for the vintage prog vision of Opeth mastermind Mikael Akerfeldt.
06. Steel Panther - "If You Really, Really Love Me"
Say what you will about Steel Panther, but these guys just get the eighties. Steel Panther could have taken this video to the ridiculous extremes of the song's lyrics, but instead they went for a playful take on the feel of big ballad videos of days gone by and nailed it.
05. Primus - "Tragedy's A' Comin'"
While it will never eclipse the cinematic masterpiece that is "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver," the video for "Tragedy's A' Comin'" is a welcome return for Les Claypool and Co. Only the zany minds behind tracks like "Jilly's on Smack" and "The Last Salmon Man" could cook up a scene involving a hungry astronaut and a reluctant lobster.
04. Rammstein - "Mein Land"
Is there any German industrial metal band you'd rather have a beach party with than Rammstein? We didn't think so.
03. Megadeth - "Public Enemy No. 1"
It's safe to say when most of us saw the early screen caps of this video featuring the Megadeth guys in the Old West, we thought the final product might be a little more Tombstone and a little less Dunston Checks In.
02. Mastodon - "Deathbound"
According to Adult Swim, "We asked Mastodon for a song for our Adult Swim Singles Program. When they sent us this incredible jam, we knew we had to make a video for it. We called our friends at Authority Films and the first thing they thought was 'puppets!'" It's hard to beat the acid-tinged feel of Mastodon's other music video this year, "Curl of the Burl," but when it came time to decide which video made the list, we had to side with the puppets.
01. Foo Fighters - "Walk"
It was hard to choose this over the "White Limo" video -- or for that matter the "Hot Buns" tour promo video -- or the ensuing live footage of the Foos serenading protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church -- or the one where Dave Grohl kicks someone out of a show ... . The hell with it, "Walk" is our No. 1 video of 2011, but let's take the rest of this article to celebrate all the great Foo-tage from 2011.
