Avicii - Levels

December 12, 2011 Critic Jonni 1 Comments

I saw this video when it was first released, there was very little hits on the YouTube video sharing site for this music video, and it's surprising how much it has got now. The first time I saw this I burst out laughing and couldn't stop until right at the end. There's many reasons why some people like it whereas others don't, and I'll explain those reasons later.

Avicii (pronounced ah-vi-chi) first came into my life by his almost proper name Tim Berg (real name being Tim Bergling), with his song "Seek Bromance", which I found to be amazing and that was the day I got hooked onto this artist. Not only that but the music video for Seek Bromance upsets me a little at the end, and I hope one day I get to review it. Sooner rather than later. Avicii got his name while choosing a MySpace profile, he remembered his friend telling him about Avici which is the buddhist term for the lowest level of hell. He has gone on to create a number of different songs, all of which have made the UK chart including "Seek Bromance" (13), "My Feelings For You" (46), "Fade Into Darkness" (195) and I bet there is more to come, definitely. He has also collaborated with the likes of Leona Lewis and David Guetta. He will definitely be the next big thing, if he isn't already. It's definitely the time for Club/House music. I have to admit, there was a time when I hated this sort of music, but as I've grown older I've learned to appreciate it and love it.

The song was written by Tim Bergling, Ash Pournouri, Leroy Kirkland, Pearl Woods, Etta James. The music is written by Avicii (Tim Bergling) and Ash Pournouri. So therefore the other three must have written Etta James' song "Something's Got a Hold On Me", which Avicii has featured a sample of in this song, to probably add some lyrics into it. I love this song and it's probably played in the clubs a lot. I'm surprised it managed to get a UK charting position of number 4, and I hope it manages to go all the way to number one, although I doubt it will. This is definitely one of those songs you can't help but like, whether you love it or you hate it.

The music video... Hmm..... What to say about it, I think it's hilarious personally, but I also understand why some people think it is rubbish and they expected better. I can see both sides of how people think but personally it makes me laugh every single time.

First we see a building, after a few restarts I worked out that it says "Levels Inc." at the stop of the building. I'm not sure what type of work our main protagonist does but it includes a lot of paper work. I'm not entirely sure if he hears music or anything, maybe Avicii is going off inside of his head, or maybe he just feels like dancing and writing "Avicii" but that is exactly what he does. But is it really ordinary dancing, it's the sort of dancing that you would know how to do and would easily copy, but it's so embarrassing that only that guy is brave enough to dance like that.

I love the Taser bit and where he is hiking up that mountain trying to get the boulder to the top, which is very reminiscent of Sisyphus, who appears in Greek Mythology as being a king who was punished by being compelled to roll a boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down the hill, and he was to repeat this for the rest of eternity. Not only that but he also appears in Roman Mythology.

Before he wakes up a flower sprouts from his mouth and infects his male nurses, who then go on to infect a few other people. The flower disappears back in to his mouth and everyone who gets infected has an fit on the floor, next thing they're back up dancing weirdly and grooving to the music we presume is playing in their heads.

I love this music video, I'm not even watching it now and I'm laughing. All I'm doing is listening to the song on repeat, and imagining the music video in my head. Personally I don't know what else they could have done with this song, they could have made sure that guy wasn't dancing in that suit, it really doesn't work (take note: NEVER dance while wearing a suit). I'm not sure what everyone expected with the hype of this music video. I couldn't have come up with any ideas at all, and I marvel at how they even thought about this idea.

Overall I laugh every time I see this music video, I think it sort of goes with the song since it is dance music and the people in the music video are dancing. But it's low budget and I think that what puts people off because it's so obvious that they didn't spend that much money on it, but then again maybe they did, we can never be sure. So to keep everyone satisfied I've gone with a 4 star rating.