59.  Pearl Jam – Evolution 
     (***)  Pearl Jam, still scoring a little too highly on the pretentiousness countdown to actually appear in their own videos, this time churns out an interesting animated yarn worthy of the MTV cartoon shows like "Aeon Flux." It scores Hell’s Bells points for having a series of crucifixes and a hint of intelligent satire in commenting on current religious and political behavior. Okay, can you tell I’ve been in college too long? --AH 
     (****)  Okay, it’s pretentious, it’s trite, and the song doesn’t stand out at all, but what a great video! Pearl Jam’s first video effort since Ten is an in your face view of the evolution of life, drawn by Todd McFarlane (of "Spawn" fame) and packed into 3 minutes. It’s kind of like what Disney did in Fantasia, without the classical music and updated for the declining standards of the 90s. I think there’s a complaint in there somewhere, but this video just made me say "wow." --JW 

58.  JD f/Jay-Z – Money Ain’t a Thang 
     (***)  The original elements of gangsta rap, most of them, have been abandoned. Some people protest when you constantly talk about blowing niggas and cops away and how bitches ain’t shit. Now all rappers like Jermaine Dupri can do is brag about how much damn money they have. They drive down the street and throw money out the window, even when the cops are chasing them. Ridiculous… Even with his spotty producing history (Kris Kross? Da Brat? I mean, come on.) I still like JD. And Jay-Z, who made me want to shoot him with "Hard Knock Life," holds his monotonistic own here, but doesn’t impress too much. The garishness and humor of the video, though, make me recommend it. --AH 
     (*1/2)  Apparently, rappers are suffering from some disease that inflates their ego to the point of absurdity. The contention laid out here is that they have the money to do whatever they want, including stopping the PO-lice with thrown hundred dollar bills. At this rate, I guarantee that JD will be broke within a year and begging for change outside the local Liquor Doctor. --JW 

57. Limp Bizkit – Faith 
     (½-star)  This is the kind of thing bad nightclub bands sing at ten to one, when all but the comatose drinkers have already headed out to less smoky territory. These spoiled white punks transform George Michael’s bathhouse anthem into moshing material. It gives them absolutely no credibility, and neither do any of the shots of band members mugging in front of their tour bus. I guess we haven’t improved ‘80s-‘90s relations since the 1996 Marilyn Manson holdup of "Sweet Dreams." --AH 
     (**)  How can a George Michael song go anywhere but up? The boys of Limp Biscuit almost pull it off, with a catchy alternative rendering of the song, but then make it absurd by drenching the chorus in throaty metal screaming. I lost all my faith in the bad right there. –JW 

56.  Eagle-Eye Cherry – Save Tonight 
     (**)  You know how fraternities always let that one black guy in so they can claim politically correctness? Eagle-Eye Cherry was one of those. I mean, how much soul can you have when your sister is Neneh "Buffalo Stance" Cherry? Rarely have I seen a video so shamelessly drive home the principle of face recognition. The video follows a New York City street scene, with Eagle-Eye turning into about 30 different people. Don’t bother; no one will remember his face in a year. --AH 

55.  Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz – Deja Vu 
    (**1/2)  I guess these guys thought they’d get some respect from serious musicians after sampling what sounds like the theme to "Masterpiece Theater" in the song’s intro. We visit a stadium where the game is postponed so Tariq and Pete can rap from the middle of the field. The crowd enjoys it, probably because they were paid to look amiable. In real life, they’d have discarded hot dog mustard packets and cotton candy sticks thrown down on them. Still, I have to give them points for using a truly groovy camera angle at one point. It’s a 360-degree sweep around and under Lord Tariq’s crotch. For next year’s MTV Video Awards, this video’s director should get a technical award for pioneering that soon-to-be-imitated crotch cam shot… You know, during this whole countdown, MTV has been running comments from viewers on the bottom of the screen. For "Deja Vu," they’ve quoted someone who calls himself as "The Pleasure Percolator." From New Jersey. That about sums it up. --AH 

54.  Hanson – Weird 
     (*1/2)  Proving they could too get on MTV in 1998, Hanson hired Gus Van Sant to direct this video. Yes, the guy who once made Drugstore Cowboy spent 1998 on a Hanson video and a remake of Psycho that shows Anne Heche’s ass. I thought you were supposed to get wiser with age… In the "Weird" video, Hanson roams a subway, as everyone kind of stares. The camera cuts away before they get the shit beaten out of them and all of their lunch money stolen. I haven’t mentioned this publicly, but I find the two younger Hansons attractive. They’re a couple of cute girls, and they can definitely come to my summer camp for some horseback riding... Okay, I just looked back up at the screen and now Hanson’s swimming through a flooded subway car, singing. I’m not even going to ask… This just in: Van Sant is going to do a shot by shot remake of Nena’s "99 Luftballons" starring Sarah McLachlan. --AH 
     (*1/2)  Isn’t it weird that Gus Van Sant still has any professional respect left after this video and that Psycho remake? At least we didn’t have to witness Zac Hanson killing people in a dress, pretending to be his mother. They save that kind of thing for home. Apparently, in this video, Hanson has been kicked out of their house, and must now play for change in a New York subway. What a perfect prediction of the future as they prepare to join the legions of washed-up child stars. You almost expect to see Gary Coleman sipping a 40 in the corner of the subway car. --JW 

VJ REVIEW: ANANDA LEWIS 
     She is one sexy girl. And she’s so good at changing her voice from black to white to black again, depending on who she’s talking to. --AH 

53.  Brandy – Have You Ever 
     (**)  Occasionally, I’ll come across a video that I just can’t say anything about. Either it’s a just plain boring song to begin with, or it’s just a series of needless closeups of the artist in different styles of dress, or it shows the artist longingly caressing a TV screen. If it’s this Brandy video, the answer is all of the above. It’s got nothing original to offer and it’s not truly bad to look at either. It’s just mindnumbing. Ah, it appears Brandy has a date with Jermaine. Lucky girl, especially if it turns out to be Jermaine Dupri. James improvises some makeshift lyrics: "Oh, Jermaine, baby, rap to me. Cause I got a show on the WB." –AH 

52.  Method Man – Judgment Day 
     (**1/2)  Method Man apparently raided that dark corner of Dr. Dre’s wardrobe closet that has the metal plated Mad Max outfit he wore in the "California Love" video. He raps from something that looks like a misdesigned castle level from a Sega game. All the while he’s blathering on about how it’s judgment day. Somehow I just can’t see myself standing before the judgment throne and justifying the contents of my life to Method Man. --AH 
      (*1/2)  Method Man… isn’t that the guy who lives down the street who mixes drugs in his bathtub? Oh wait, that’s The Meth Man. My mistake. This is (trumpets call out) Method Man! In his purple spandex and cape, he goes out to protect the Ghetto Way of life! Look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a g-thug! --JW 

51.  Jewel – Hands 
     (*)  "My hands are small, I know, but they jacked off six record executives last year and now I don’t live in my car anymore." In this video, Jewel walks around a disaster area in a trenchcoat as victims glower in the rubble, having lost all their earthly possessions. Worse, they have to be comforted by Jewel. In some deep layer of hell, there has to be an endless "Rescue 911" video loop where William Shatner introduces vignettes starring a Red Cross-certified Jewel. --AH 
     (*1/2)  Jewel forces yet more of her whiny morality lessons down our throats with great lines like, "These hands aren’t yours, they are my own." How very deep of you, Jewel, and how nice of you to go slumming in this broken neighborhood. Is this where you parked your car when you were living in it? --JW