It wasn't so long ago that music videos were no more than an after-thought, or a luxury to appease egotistical rockstars who wanted to further their own mythology. But now, with the age of music TV, and Youtube, they are the first opportunity to attract some attention to a new release, and premieres are now more often than not given to music channels or online partners, rather than radio stations as they once were. This of course has provided bands and film-makers the opportunity to make bolder artistic statements, and inevitably, that also means doing something naughty for certain film-makers and bands: there's often an agenda for provocation and controversy, designed to attract more publicity than a song usually would under its own wind. That has lead to some videos, like Nine Inch Nails' sadomasochistic video for "Closer", or Bjork's "Pagan Poetry" to be banned entirely (though both can be viewed on Youtube of course,) as well as some more delicate or sensible commenters to fly off in a rage of righteous indignation at other videos that squeezed past the censors. This article is a celebration of those outrageous videos that caused a fuss when they were initially released, for one reason or another, whether through explicit or just downright offensive content. They might not seem so bad these days, but back in the more sensitive days, the following videos were tantamount to flashing the Pope. Please bear in mind, obviously some of these videos are NSFW, and some are just plain unsuitable for the more tender eyes out there. But then, that's entirely the point...
