Matchbox Twenty’s debut album Yourself or Someone Like You, released in November 1996, was massive, selling over 12 million copies worldwide, and making them one of the biggest rock bands of the late '90s. The album is filled with catchy but impassioned anthems that are almost impossible not to sing along to. Balancing studio polish and raw energy, the dynamic arrangements, emphasised by soaring choruses, crunchy guitars, memorable riffs and, of course, the dynamic vocals of Rob Thomas, drenched in emotion; solidified Matchbox Twenty’s signature sound.
Celebrate 25 years of Yourself or Someone Like You with five great Matchbox Twenty music videos below.
‘Long Day’
A clean cut Rob Thomas leads in the music video for the album’s anthemic first single Long Day. Performance based music videos are a signature of the Matchbox Twenty cannon. This one is is punctuated by a black and white side story of espionage and intrigue…
‘Push’
Landing Long Day on several rock radio stations paved the way for one of the bands all-time biggest singles Push – but it wasn’t without its controversies. Some critics literal interpretation of the lyrics saw them cause the band of glorifying domestic violence. But the music video that features scenes of Thomas chained to a wall, holding a barbed wire fence and trapped in a room with no windows make it clear that he’s not the aggressor of the story.
‘3AM’
Another absolutely massive song for the band was follow up single 3AM; and it has a heartbreaking backstory. At first listen the song sounds like an ode to a manic pixie dream girl hopelessly intwined in Thomas’ heart, however, inches annotations for the song, Thomas revealed that it is instead a reflection on caring for his mother while she received treatment for cancer when he was a teenager.
‘Real World’
This homage to escapism sums up the sentiment perfectly in scenes featuring Thomas hanging with a camel in a bowling alley, guitarist Kyle Cook serving steaks out of an ice cream truck, drummer Paul Douchette working as a waitress, guitarist Adam Gaynor appearing in a breakfast cereal commercial and so much more.
‘Back 2 Good’
Back 2 Good was the fifth and final single released from You or Someone Like You. The anthemic ballad examines the past tense of a relationship that used to be good, perfectly portrayed in the music video that starts with a party and ends in a hangover.
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