Decadent mainstream music

[NightsAquarium]

And while it may not be very tasteful or credible to admit, I do reckon that the vast majority of relatively young people interested in industrial or industrial-adjacent transgressive art at this point got there, in part or in whole, thanks to Marilyn Manson.

A master at translating fairly radical and insular avant-garde ideas into a mainstream culture framework. Viewed from a certain angle, industrial music is popular music. Perhaps the most popular.

Hard agree with The Holy Bible. Edwards truly was one of the best lyricists of all time and this album is proof of it.

Edwards was a genius, yes. Cobain, Reznor, Buckley, Yorke and all the other "tortured rock geniuses" of the decade couldn't really compete with him. Edwards, I think, operated from a much more serious place than them.

EDIT:

I guess that, in Europe, Rammstein were likely to serve the same purpose as Manson served in America. As in, they presented a similarly unified totality of vision, where the visuals reflected the music, the music reflected the visuals, and it all reflected the culture which spawned the band. And the culture was one of severe national pessimism, devoted to the idea that the late 1990s were the end of history.

"Here comes the sun..."

While the subsequent decades have produced plenty of similarly radical popular art, I cannot imagine that any other decade ever will allow said art to be as widely accessible and approachable as the 1990's did.

[Cranial Blast]

I've been enjoying the new Morrissey album a lot. Just have a weak spot for this man.

Morrissey has released a lot of great material over the years. Vauxhall and I is an absolute classic and essential indie rock/pop album.

[NedOik]

Richard Thompson - this guy is a God in our house. He can go to some really dark places - and does repeatedly. This message to a new-born usually kills conversation at dinner parties. Its from his 1974 album 'I Want To See The Bright Lights' with his wife Linda. I prefer the demo version where she sings the first two verses.

I feel for you, you little horror
Safe at your mother's breast
No lucky break for you around the corner
'Cause your father is a bully
And he thinks that you're a pest
And your sister, she's no better than a whore

Life seems so rosy in the cradle
But I'll be your friend, I'll tell you what's in store
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow
There's nothing to grow up for anymore

And all the sad and empty faces
Pass you on the street
All running in their sleep, all in a dream
Every loving handshake
Is just another man to beat
How your heart aches just to cut him to the core
Your mother works so hard to make you happy
But take a look outside the nursery door
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow
There's nothing to grow up for anymore

Tycoons and barrow boys will rob you
And throw you on the side
And all because they love themselves sincerely
And the man who holds a bread knife to your throat
Is four feet wide
And he's anxious just to show you what it's for

Life seems so rosy in the cradle
But I'll be your friend, I'll tell you what's in store
There's nothing at the end of the rainbow
There's nothing to grow up for anymore

[Kaaoskultti]

Marilyn Manson is amazing! Although he might not be particularly enjoy within this forum, I really enjoyed his music as I first started to listen to it, back when I was 11. He was my favorite artist back then. While to this day I thoroughly enjoy his music, it might not be fair to put it into the greatest music ever. Maybe? His lyrics and aesthetics relly resonated with the youth, creating a particular language through which the 90's nihilistic urban kid ethos was conceived. I remember Kvarforths diatribe on the beginning of I Och Med Insikt Skall du Förgå, where critices "black clad wannabes" for criticising people like him and Eminem, in regards to them "bringing this shit to the masses without pretension for a style". Makes perfect sense to, as someone like him mastered the negative aspects of exisctence through a more mainstream-approach appeal and such.

[Cranial Blast]

An interesting topic for the sake of "decadent mainstream", because is it truely decadent by the artists true integrity to put out such material and is it cause such artists broke the matrix by accident beyond the control of the mainstream, or is it social engineering being put forth as social experiment by major record labels and for what motives? Is it ment to breakdown morality or past values on purpose? Mainstream artists of the late 90s remind me of products, products you buy in a store, on a shelf like razors, shampoo, ect. When I think of Eminem I think of social engineering, a product for the times at the end of a century. It's interesting cause at this same time Insane Clown Posse was equally as decadent one could argue, yet they didn't quite fit the mold for some reasons or another and now a days they kinda do...What changed? It's a weird thing to see, like is the world doubling down on subtle mainstream decadence or is it by true artist integrity and it's the average listeners just changing and being more open to decadent themes in music.

[Kaaoskultti]

An interesting topic for the sake of "decadent mainstream", because is it truely decadent by the artists true integrity to put out such material and is it cause such artists broke the matrix by accident beyond the control of the mainstream, or is it social engineering being put forth as social experiment by major record labels and for what motives? Is it ment to breakdown morality or past values on purpose? Mainstream artists of the late 90s remind me of products, products you buy in a store, on a shelf like razors, shampoo, ect. When I think of Eminem I think of social engineering, a product for the times at the end of a century. It's interesting cause at this same time Insane Clown Posse was equally as decadent one could argue, yet they didn't quite fit the mold for some reasons or another and now a days they kinda do...What changed? It's a weird thing to see, like is the world doubling down on subtle mainstream decadence or is it by true artist integrity and it's the average listeners just changing and being more open to decadent themes in music.

I think it's a sign of the times we live in, like any other else, where people hold certain values sacred in a specific manner, and thus what was shocking decades ago isn't anymore, and vice-versa. It can be also said that in some spaces any song could be more transgressive than what it was before - a simple example being liberals taking some things seriously a lot more than it was in the past, for nuance perspectives they hold themselves. I belive most artists aren't consciously concerned with an effective "break down of morality", but when it happens, it's mostly case of someone vocalizing certain sides of reality which are inherently present, thus making the music acknwoledged in some way.

[Wild Nature Acolyte]

I know this is an old (resurrected) thread, but I'm surprised that there hasn't been mentioning of Lana Del Rey in here. Namely her Ultraviolence album, which has been a "mainstream" favorite of mine since it came out in 2014.

[W.K.]

Yeah Lana Del Rey is great!

[John Cagefight]

I don't think this ever really broke into the true mainstream, but peak MySpace-era decadent pop seems relevant to this thread.

[Hyena]

Worth noting Manson didn't write much of the music. He'd been nothing without Twiggy and Pogo. (The stuff he does now... ugh. But the old stuff was great.)

Hard agree on the Manics' "The holy bible". Excellent and very unique album.

[prolapsedlielack]

Worth noting Manson didn't write much of the music. He'd been nothing without Twiggy and Pogo. (The stuff he does now... ugh. But the old stuff was great.)

Bingo. He spent all his good ideas early and surrounded himself with great musicians to cover this.