GABRIEL FINISHES FIRST, LOU COMES UNGLUED

Since more and more videos seem to shy away from concepts and settle for lip-syncing, this month’s top two videos are all the more welcome. In them, Peter Gabriel’s and Lou Reed’s directors put them through some heavy changes with eye-catching results.

Ratings system: 80-100, don’t miss; 60-79, recommended; 40-59, watchable; 20-39, weak; 0-19, wretched.

OTHER RECENT VIDEOS:

Sly Fox’s “Let’s Go All the Way.” Sometimes a video succeeds simply because the director has a good eye--and not because of plot or message or the performer’s charisma. Here’s pull-out-all-the-stops minimalism, if there is such a thing, as the director manipulates images, contrasts drab old film with high-tech color, cuts with impact, and flashes negative/positive images back and forth to create a strobe effect. It’s a method that obscures the lyrics and the personalities of the black/white male duo, but as kinetic pop art it clicks. Director: Mick Kleber. 80