Live - Like A Soldier

What this video is

Released in 2002 as a companion to Live's 2001 album V, 'Like a Soldier' arrived during a pivotal contraction in the post-grunge mainstream. Live, a band that had risen to arena prominence on the strength of 1994's Throwing Copper and its run of Modern Rock charting singles, was navigating diminishing commercial returns. V itself was described as the band's weakest seller, released one week after the September 11…

Why it matters

Represents the late-stage visual grammar of post-grunge arena rock: performance-anchored, emotionally direct, and cinematographically warm. The video's rapid cut rate and kinetic motion score are characteristic of how early-2000s rock videos maintained physical urgency as a compensation for waning…

The director

Matt Bass is a New York-born filmmaker who studied at RIT and SVA before relocating to Los Angeles in 1999. He works as a DGA director and IATSE Local 600 cinematographer across music videos, commercials, and documentaries. A 4x Emmy winner, he is best known…