The video for "Steam" is what happens when you cram too much stuff into a six-minute video. And what's amazing is that it still works.
Like the song itself, "Steam" makes "Sledgehammer" look subtle. The special effects come so quickly you have to watch it a few times just to know what hit you.
"Sledgehammer" video producer Stephen Johnston was apparently fed up with using clay so he found a new medium to work with: computer animation.
The computer animation that was used in "Steam" made for some classic video scenes. A woman begins to paint a portrait of PG while Gabriel poses...and as she paints him, he disappears in the physical form and is animated as the painting. Gabriel is morphed into a steam locomotive and is also seen steping out of a never-ending stretch limo to an audience and dancing buildings in the background.
Most memorable scenes: Gabriel's head is attached to the body of a Chippendale strip dancer who performs to a group of crazed women. (Gabriel probably tells everyone, "What special effects? I really look like that with my shirt off.")
And also, the famous steam room scene where Gabriel looks pleasantly surprised to find there's several towel-clad women in the same turbulent steamroom (Where is this steamroom located anyway? Is it on the Enterprise during a Romulan attack? Not that it really matters...)
"Steam" seems to lack the well-pacing of videos for "Sledgehammer" and "Digging in the Dirt", not to mention that there are some scenes that seem just kinda thrown into "Steam" for their own sake. However, this video is special just for the fact that after working with dancing chickens and slimy slugs, Gabriel finally gets to do a video that looked like fun to make.