thank you @Ace Reject for approving this rate!

With 21 #1s, over 35 million copies sold worldwide, a Diamond certified record in four different decades and the biggest stadium tour by a French artist, Mylène Farmer stands as a titan of pop music in Europe while remaining one of the most enigmatic figures in music to this day.

Her sonic and visual universe is dark, often pulling from literature such as Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Baudelaire, Virginia Woolf and from other visual artists like Francis Bacon, Egon Schiele or Francisco Goya. With the help of her long time producer and collaborator, Laurent Boutonnat, she crafted a universe that has captured millions of fans and has gone to inspire others such as Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Caroline Polachek, Angèle, Christine & The Queens, and even the legendary David Lynch who remixed one of her songs before his passing.

In Part I of her discography rate, we will step back in time, starting with her debut album and running through her sixth studio album. This period showcases Mylène at her highest, from the cinematic music videos and the countless records she has broken to the theatrical tours that solidified her as a touring force across Europe.

RULES

1. Give a score from 1-10 for each song on the form.

2. Only decimals of 0.1 are allowed. (Example: 7.2, 8.4, ..., not 7.25, 6.111, and so on.)

You can rate up to five 11s, and up to five 0s + ONLY one 12, and one -1.

3. Sabotage is accepted, but don't go too far with it, no trolling allowed, otherwise you'll be disqualified. For example: if you're conatus, you are not allowed to give Sans logique a 2 or giving only 10s or 1s to a single album, and so on.

4. Leave your optional comment about the song in its specific space, NOT in the space reserved for its score! 

5. In the optional "Overall thoughts" section under each album's cover, you are free to write whatever you want about that said album: be it your thoughts about a track that wasn't included, about the memories you hold for the album, and so on. This is to encourage more conversation once the results are out, thus making the rate more entertaining!

6. Once you've submitted your ballot, to ensure it has been transferred correctly onto the Google sheet, please contact me via thread (@California) or PM. You can edit your ballot whenever you want: if it were the case, remember of course to submit it again (respect the deadline though!).

7. Do not post your ballots on the ATRL thread.

To submit your scores, access the Google Form below

https://docs.google.com/forms

Spotify playlist

*note that two songs are only available on youtube, links below

not available on streaming

DEADLINE: October 11th

PARTICIPANTS

1. California

2. rst

3. playboi

4. HonourableVomit

5. Album Leak

6. Mezzanine

7. Florence Belch

8. Pendulum

9. allforyou

10. bestfiction

11. Ghibli

12. Frozen99

13. Haze

14. Kabrona

15. Suilen

16. BrokenMachine

17. Meloetta Carey

18. conatus

19. Démodé

20. SupremeGoddess

21. Ewan Chaos

22. Indie Go Mind

23. Legend E

24. Terated

25. B-Luke

26. That Bad Eartha

27. Eeveelution

28. ChooseyLover

29. John Slayne

30. Graffiti

31. Young In Love

32. Alongoria13

RESULTS

87 Ange, parle-moi 4.465

86 Cendres de lune 4.519

85 L'annonciation 4.884

84 The Farmer's Conclusion 4.966

83 Myléne Is Calling 4.991

82 Chloé 5.078
81 Slipping Away (Crier la vie) 5.366

79 Puisque 5.444

79 On est tous des imbéciles 5.444

78 Dernier Sourire 5.450

77 La poupée qui fai non (with Khaled) 5.800

76 Tous ces combats 5.997

75 My Soul Is Slashed 6.113

74 Déshabillez-moi 6.141

73 We'll Never Die 6.264

72 Greta 6.278

71 Redonne-moi 6.347

70 Les Mots (feat. Seal) 6.375

69 Et pourtant... 6.500

68 Jardin de Vienne 6.547

67 Nous souviendrons nous 6.556

66 Devant soi 6.713

65 Tomber 7 Fois 6.728

64 Il n'y a pas d'ailleurs 6.756

63 Vieux bouc 6.788

62 Effets secondaires 6.797

61 Laisse le vent emporter tout 6.859

60 Derrière les fenêtres 6.894

59 La veuve noire 6.913

58 Serais-tu là? 6.966

57 Consentement 6.978

56 Nobody Knows 7.256

55 Rêver 7.275

54 J'attends 7.284

53 La ronde triste 7.316

52 Au bout de la nuit 7.347

51 L'autre 7.359

49 Regrets 7.403

49 Et si viellir m'était conté 7.403

48 À quoi je sers... 7.459

47 Maman a tort 7.488

46 Souviens-toi du jour... 7.494

45 L'Histoire d'une fée, c'est... 7.538

44 Eaunanisme 7.559

43 Aime 7.609

42 Et tournoie... 7.616

41 Plus grandir 7.634

40 Psychiatric 7.662

39 Mylène s'en fout 7.712

38 Dans les rues de Londres 7.724

37 Pas le temps de vivre 7.781

36 L'amour n'est rien... 7.872

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by California

@Suilen @Graffiti @Escape @conatus @Eeveelution @Graves @Ace Reject @Technicolor @Indie Go Mind @HonourableVomit @Démodé @Pendulum @khorkina @Legend E @Alongoria13 @Haze @playboi @tiagol88 @John Slayne @Florence Belch @theblackestday @MP2K @Frozen99 @bestfiction @The7thStranger @worldwide angel @Ghibli @cloudbusting @Opalite @Radical Pessimism @xperience30 @Veckatimest @Shimenawa @BrokenMachine @SupremeGoddess @Mezzanine @Truth Teller @BlackoutZone @allforyou @Curaga @Kabrona @Movimento Perpétuo @IBeMe @greento @Ewan Chaos @faye @That Bad Eartha @Mitsouko @Sailor Moon @B-Luke @Mewtroyshka @Dorbecker @Caltrask @Achilles. @Antisocialites @Album Leak @DivaCup @Cruel Summer @LanaDelRey @Atlantis @Alessandra @Billionaire @pitysmith @ZeroPoint @Vorfreude @sunbathinganimal @Invisibility @Meloetta Carey @AMIT @Katamari @AvadaKedavra @Saddy @Opulent

Hello, if you're being tagged that means you've either interacted in Mylene related threads or you're a rate regular who is always open to discover new music! so this might interest you.

There's no obligation to take part. Feel free to silently exit after reading this, as I'll only be tagging those who interact with this post/the thread going forward. Thanks!

obviously doing this

Dessine-mou un mouton top 1

Edited August 8Aug 8 by Pendulum

C'est à qui le tour ?

Here to salvage scores from all the opps

Anyone giving SL less than 11 should have their ballots revoked etc

Happy California/Sans Logique/Je te rands ton amour win!

Just now, Démodé said:

Here to salvage scores from all the opps

Anyone giving SL less than 11 should have their ballots revoked etc

We're tanking the second half of Innamoramento

7 minutes ago, Ghiles said:

C'est à qui le tour ?

let's get part 1 out of the way first damn

We wanted her best album Point de suture

We will be boosting all of Innamoramento

I will participate but I already dread choosing my elevens. There's definitely some music of Mylène I don't particularly care for, but not in this part of her career, and half of the included songs are stone cold classics.

My twelve is already locked in though

Before the release of her debut album, Mylène was an aspiring actress, but that changed when she got her hands on a demo titled "Maman a tort" made by what ended up being her long time collaborator and producer Laurent Boutonnat. The nursery rhyme-like song with its haunting and dark undertones quickly caught the attention of the public and the critics, becoming her first hit. The song followed a story of a young girl in a psychiatric hospital who falls in love with her nurse.

She got signed to Polydor Records, but they wouldn't allow her to release an album until she proved herself, meaning she had to release another hit. What followed completely took the country by storm and cemented her as a true artist. Mylène released her second single titled "Libertine", accompanied by a short film directed by Laurent Boutonnat. The video was inspired by Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" and showcased Mylène playing a gender-bending rogue engaging in duels, and if that wasn't enough, she became the first female artist to show full-frontal nudity on French television. The song was simply major and it remains one of her signature songs to this day.

"Cendres de lune" was released in 1986, marking the beginning of a sonic and visual universe she has managed to build throughout her career. The album touched on subjects such as existential dread, melancholy, sex and even politics to a certain extent. These are just some of the themes that can be found in most of her albums. Sonically, the record is layered in strings and cold synth-pop working in contrast with the poetic and dark lyrics, a defining motif that she would become known for. Obviously, the album was a massive success, it went Diamond etc etc you get the point. She came in this bitch mad as hell.

Edited August 8Aug 8 by California

After a massive debut with hits upon hits, controversies and scandals that had everyone talking, you'd be surprised to find out that Mylène was just getting a taste of what's to come.

Two years after "Cendres de lune", she releases her sophomore record titled "Ainsi soit je...", which would mark another peak for her. It's the album where Mylène took control of absolutely everything and from then on she wrote each and every song of hers. "Ainsi soit je..." sees Mylène at her most vulnerable, with darker and more personal songs, with touches of theatricality that could only be found on Kate Bush albums at that time.

It is also the era where she became an LGBT icon with the help of the single "Sans contrefaçon" in which she explored gender identity, while songs like "Pourvu qu'elles soient douces" challenged the public with its sexual connotations and a music video that was a direct sequel to "Libertine" featuring massive battle scenes. The video cost so much that it entered the Guinness Book of World Records.

Most of the songs are inspired by poems, more specifically Charles Baudelaires' which are often morbid and melancholic. The fan favorite, "Sans logique" was released as the last single of the era with a music video inspired by one of Goya's most famous paintings, turning heads for its satanic symbolism but also for the lyrics inspired by schizophrenia, death and religion.

By the time the era was over, the album went Diamond and became the best selling female album of the 80s in France.

Edited August 9Aug 9 by California

"L'autre..." is possibly the most interesting and darkest period of Mylène's career in my opinion, and for a number of reasons.

With a complete look change, Mylène did not slow down, in fact she pushed herself even harder and so she released her third album, "L'autre...", a record full of self-doubt and sadness but unlike her first two albums which were almost shielding themselves behind 19th century poetry. This album is raw and unfiltered and it tapped into a societal nerve so deeply that it remained at number one for 20 weeks, selling 2 million copies in a year.

Naturally, I have to mention the generational dance anthem "Desenchantee" that solidified her as one of the best pop acts in Europe. It's a masterclass in pop contradiction with nihilistic lyrics that served as a battle cry not just for her generation but also for the ones that followed. The music video shot in Hungary, in a factory that resembled a concentration camp, followed Mylène playing a prisoner who led a violent uprising.

Mylène wasn't just depressed during this era, she was also incredibly sarcastic. On the single "Je t'aime melancolie" she pokes fun at the critics that were complaining about her constant obsession with sadness and morbidity. The song is basically telling everyone that she enjoys being sad and that she will keep making money off of it.

She continued to push the boundaries of censorship yet again with the single "Beyond My Control". The music video was highly erotic and violent, depicting a woman catching her lover cheating and burning him at the stake. The video was quickly banned from daytime television entirely.

Despite the monumental success the album had brought her, the era would end up with a tragedy that would change Mylène's career forever. In November 1991, a fan entered in the headquarters of Polydor Records armed, demanding Mylène's personal address. The receptionist tried to calm him down but was shot instantly, dying on the spot. Mylène quickly cancelled the tour she had planned and vanished from the public eye. This was the definitive turning point in how she handled the press, the public and her own fame. What followed were limited interviews with limited answers. This is the sole reason she still remains an enigma to most people to this day.

Mylène never shied away from reinvention, and that is most clear on her fourth album "Anamorphosée". After a life changing tragedy and a box office failure that was "Giorgino" directed by none other than her collaborator Laurent Boutonnat, she knew she had to escape so she packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles for a while.

That's where "Anamorphosée" was born, an album that sees Mylène stepping a bit out of the shadows, embracing a new aesthetic and a completely new sound. Obsessed with Nirvana, and the rise of rock music, "Anamorphosée" is filled with electric guitars, groovy basslines, trip hop influence and overall a lighter and more sensual atmosphere.

The obvious highlight of the album is the single "California" with its music video directed this time by American indie director Abel Ferrara showcasing Mylène's ability to play with duality by portraying both a glamorous woman and a hooker.

The lead single "XXL" is a female empowerment anthem and a sonic shock for the French public. For the music video, Mylène was tied to the front grill of a moving steam locomotive for 4 hours in a heatwave, quickly becoming one of her most televised and memorable music videos.

On the other hand, the grungy single "L'instant X" recalls Nirvana's "Dumb" and displays yet again a more sarcastic side of her. It's an apocalyptic hymn with lyrics that talk about the end of the world and natural disasters. Some argue that the song is also about ejaculation, which wouldn't be completely off knowing her.

Safe to say that critics were split, but overall the album was another massive success for Mylène, debuting at #1 and staying in the charts for two whole years, giving her another Diamond certified album. It went on to become a fan favorite and is often considered her magnum opus by many.

Edited August 8Aug 8 by California

Excited to join this rate!

After finishing her wildly successful tour in 1996, Mylène completely disappeared from the public eye for three years. She decided to travel the world and seek inspiration from other places, immersing herself in more literature and developing an interest in Buddhism... where have we heard that before?

By 1999, she dove head first into a more atmospheric and ethereal soundscape with her fifth album "Innamoramento", an album about falling in love, which believe it or not wasn't necessarily a predominant theme for her before. "Innamoramento" is a sonically rich record that blends world-music influence and sweeping strings that showcase Mylène's vocals at their best.

The lead single "L'ame stram gram" turned a French children's counting song into a techno influenced banger, twisting childhood innocence into something dark and sensual. It also worked as a great callback to her debut single "Maman a tort" and it instantly became a fan favorite. The music video is where she truly went all out though. She flew to Beijing to shoot what would become the most expensive French music video at that time. Mylène portrayed two sisters who used superpowers to fight off an entire invading Mongol horde, once again exploring the idea of duality, cementing her as the queen of music videos.

Of course the era couldn't exist without scandals, the second single "Je te rends ton amour", came with a highly controversial video used as a commentary on religion that follows a blind Mylène with a bible in her hand who ends up covered in blood from head to toe and crucified by a demon. The French broadcasters were horrified, censoring almost half of the music video, but this time Mylène responded by releasing the uncensored version on VHS tapes and handing the profits to an AIDS charity. Queen.

To close out the era she began the "Mylènium Tour" with a show designed entirely on her own and a stage dominated by an 11 meter tall ass statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis, using it to make her grand entrance as she floated above the audience. With over 43 dates she pulled in more than 450k people and became her best selling tour at that time.

Edited August 8Aug 8 by California

Pop emergency

great write ups

With the industry changing at a fast pace, Mylène knew she had to do things a little differently. It's not worth talking about "Avant que l'ombre" just yet without mentioning the era of Alizée first.

Mylène spent the early 2000s working on what would basically become her "pet project". She and Laurent Boutonnat spotted Alizée on a TV talent show, saw some potential and quickly decided to sign her to the label, writing and producing her first two albums. In case you were not aware, Mylène is the mastermind behind Alizée's biggest hits. She wrote "Moi... Lolita" which remains to this day one of the most popular songs across Europe. She made Alizée a star overnight and proved that she still had a place in the industry.

Mylène's sixth album "Avant que l'ombre" was released in 2005, a full six years after "Innamoramento", displaying an even more intimate side of her, with mostly minimal production guided by haunting pianos, acoustic guitars and a touch of electronics.

The lead single "Fuck Them All" was a goth-punk moment of female rage at being gaslit by an entire social structure blasted every half an hour on the radio on release day and it served as a feminist anthem and a middle finger to the critics. It was fairly successful, but obviously the critics were not having it.

The rest of the era stayed personal, from singles like "Q.I" and "Redonne-moi" a haunting pop ballad and "L'amour n'est rien" (her biggest song in Russia for some reason) where Mylène responded to paparazzi who'd recently published unauthorized nude photos of her on a private beach by having her own boyfriend direct a full striptease music video of her, credited under a pseudonym.

The album debuted with 150k in the first week, charted for over 77 weeks and won Album of the Year at NRJ Awards.

She hired Mark Fisher, the legendary stage architect behind Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and U2's stadium tours and booked a 13-night residency at the colossal Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in 2006. With absolutely zero television or radio promotion, the residency sold nearly 200,000 tickets strictly through word of mouth. She performed on a gigantic cross-shaped stage that spanned the entire length of the arena floor, entering the arena enclosed in a glowing glass sarcophagus and had a custom circular water curtain that was used for the encore.

Edited August 9Aug 9 by California

Count me in All her best albums being in this rate

48 minutes ago, California said:

if you're conatus, you are not allowed to give Sans logique a 2

Oh, you know it was gonna be THAT bad if the host is singlehandedly warning you like this

29 minutes ago, California said:

After a life changing tragedy and a box office failure that was "Giorgino" directed by none other than her collaborator Laurent Boutonnat, she knew she had to escape so she packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles

Mylène was at her lowest... fat, nasty and broke. Career in shambles. She came on this b itch mad as hell!!!

The write-ups and the visuals are beautiful, you did an INCREDIBLE job babe

We will be stanning L'ame stram gram, what a masterpiece