Better Than Ezra - Rosealia

What this video is

Released in October 1995 as the third single from Better Than Ezra's debut album 'Deluxe' on Elektra Records, 'Rosealia' arrived during the height of MTV's influence on alternative rock. The song addresses domestic and verbal abuse — a subject treated with narrative empathy unusual for mainstream alternative rock radio — and charted at No. 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 11 weeks on the Modern Rock Tracks…

Why it matters

A representative artifact of mid-90s post-grunge alternative rock video production: the rapid-cut mixed performance-narrative format, warm practical lighting, and understated realist aesthetic became genre-defining conventions for MTV-era alternative acts signed to major labels. The existence of…

The director

Frank W. Ockenfels III (b. 1960, West Chester, PA; raised Lockport, NY) is an American photographer, artist, and director. He studied at the School of Visual Arts, NYC. In the early 1990s he directed approximately 20 music videos and 40 commercials for…