Mylene is a has been

[Captain Gorgeous]

I'm just trying to get a feel of this woman (not literally of course). I only started looking up about her a few hours ago and I'm sorry if I'm repeating things but is this a woman past her best.

In France, at least, she seems to of been a major star that has sold millions of records over the years yet she shows signs of fatigue.
She hasn't released an album of new material in a few years now. Her last album was a greatest hits album, this is never a good sign. She is releasing a remix album, what a bad move. Look what it did to Michael Jackson's album sales. People have even said she doesn't do good remixes.
She has worked on Alizee, it would appear instead of herself, and unless Alizee has a really good third album then Alizee will never be heard of again.
She appears to shun the public and even disappeared from the public eye for a few years because she didn't like it.

All this suggests to me that her career is winding down as a performer, hence the book and she hoped to just manage Alizee instead. But due to bad strategy and the inability to realise that people won't buy Alizee's music just because she wrote it, it means that she may have messed up that one beyond repair. Could it be that the remix album is a cash in? Could Mylene be now only interested in a comfortable retirement? Is she about to have plastic surgery and sleep in the same bed as young children to cause a disturbing parallel?

Disclaimer:
This post was made on the request of someone else. I have as yet, due to poor channel availability, not listened to a single Mylene song and therefore have expressed no opinion on her music. I make no apologises for the inaccuracies of this post.

[Kam]

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

Disclaimer: This post was made on the request of someone else. I have as yet, due to poor channel availability, not listened to a single Mylene song and therefore have expressed no opinion on her music. I make no apologises for the inaccuracies of this post.

Mylène is not a conventional pop artist. As such, what you apply to Michael Jackson doesn't apply to her.

http://www.mf-international.com/viewtopic.php?t=1722

Give that a read.
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[Mayhem]

I think she's fina artist and an accomplished one, enough to sit on her laurels if she so pleases. My problem with her is her attitude. I don't like it one bit.
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God is not worth much in Scrabble.

[Ricky]

OK, let me put on my judgement robe to be able to freely pass judgements on all of these charges. In the chair of the accused, Mylene Farmer ! What are the charges?

CHARGE 1: HAS BEEN
Mylene hasn't released a studio album since 1999, there was a live album in 2001, a compilation in 2002 with 3 new songs, and a remix album in 2003, however, sales of these albums have been strong, with the compilation surpassing 1.5 million copies sold, recurring appearances on the NRJ awards shows, and strong sales for the crap remix album. Thus Mylene is still very much alive in the public eye, wether she deserves it or not is another story, but the fact is, Mylene is still, bar none, the top French female artist, that's a fact jack.
VERDICT 1: INNOCENT

CHARGE 2: LAZY ASS AND RESTING ON LAURELS
We shall base our conclusions on the facts stated above, and thus it's easy to conclude that Mylene HAS indeed been resting on her laurels, her remix album is selling strongly even though there is virtually no promotion at all, however the lazy ass charge is more doutful, we've had videos for all 3 singles from the compilation album, the big tour in 99/00, her book, TWO alizee albums.
So we can say she's has very much been lazy and resting on laurels for her career, but she has done lots of other work nonetheless, and many of you can thank her lazyness for bringing about Alizee.
VERDICT 2: PARTLY GUILTY

CHARGE 3: BAD ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE PUBLIC
As evidence we have Mayhem's recent run in with her in Paris, where she rudeley ignored some of her fans. However, other than this, from public that shows up at her performances to ask for autographs, to people who write her, from people who find her on the street, all agree that she is always very accesible and giving to her fans. However it is also a fact that she is also a very shy person, she's very hesitant in doing promotion and concerts, not a natural performer at all, yet she manages.
Here we obviously have a wealth of evidence in favor of Mylene, she has been charged with many many things over the years and being rude is certainly not one of them. Any artist can have a bad day, as we remember, Alizee displayed some objectionable behaviour in Spain, Asia, and even in some recent french concerts where she also rudeley ignored fans who had waited for her in the exit, exhibiting the same behavior attributed to Mylene in this recent charge, so, are they a pair of bitches? Of course not, anyone can have a bad day, or to be simply in a hurry, what matters here is to take in account that artists are simply people.
The problem with Mylene in the eyes of many Alizee fans is a problem of perspective. There is fear when it comes to Mylene, why? Because Alizee is a muse in their eyes, a godess, so how is it concievable, that behind this perfect being are 2 very controlling entities, pulling the strings. It's quite obvious that the most visible of these entities (Mylene, since Laurent doesn't even register with many of them) will be subject to much suspicion and mistrust. They could be taking advantage of poor Alizee ! Mistreating her, oh no.
What you saw Mayhem, was a reinforcement of that suspicion and mistrust in Mylene's attitude outside the Zenith. The truth is Alizee is very lucky to work with these people, and unless Alizee is lying her face off in all of her interviews when she says she likes Mylene, Alizee pretty much answers this charge herself. Does Mylene have a bad attitude? No, but she can have a bad day.
VERDICT 3: INNOCENT

Ok, whew, time to take this robe off !

[kiouty]

Oooooh, I don't even want to read that...
You go through your denial phase, that just happens to EVERY SINGLE MYLENE FAN OUTTHERE.

But hopefully, that'll mature a bit an dthen, you'll just accept how Mylène is and HAS BEEN FOR HER WHOLE CAREER.

Being a mylene fan has rules :

- Being patient
- Not to expect she'll fullfill our desires

and quite a few other rules that I forgot to mention here.

And for the fans treatment, she's not treating us badly at all, it's a bit more ambiguous than that.

But come on, when the next album will be released you'll be the first one to be loving or criticizing the songs with a renewed flame !

Besides, she's got the right to be fed up with her singing career, she doesn't "owe" us an album and has the right to explore other directions, like trying to be an actress, or even SHOOTING a movie, even if she never held a camera in her life...




He he, I think this is going to be fun...

[Ricky]

Kiouty, did you even READ the posts above? I mean really, your reply is like answring "I like cheese" to someone who asks you how old you are. I have half a mind to delete that post !!! Now go on and read and repost again !

[kiouty]

I said I didn't want to read it
I'll read it later, I promise, I'm gonna go to work now !!

[Captain Gorgeous]

Thanks for your replies guys, this has been a enlightening time for me

[Mayhem]

I hope you're right about her, Ric, I'd hate for Lili to be hanging out with a mean old lady. It's just that I get that evil eye vibe from her, I'm not sure why. Anyway, you can definitely tell Mylene's reluctance to promote has had its influence on Lili's career, although I really wish it hadn't. Had Lili been promoted and marketed correctly, there's no doubt in my mind that she'd still be around the upper echelon of the charts right now. Case in point, the pathetic website. This thing gets updated like once a year. What the hell? 'There's hundreds of thousands of people out there that would kill to be allowed to update and equip that site every day damn for FREE, and the guy they PAY can't even be half-assed to do something even remotely productive or consistent? It's a shameful waste of a good promotion tool. It really seems to me like Mylene's tactics might be the very thing holding Lili down right now. As a singer, if you're not in the spotlight, people tend to forget. I'm all for her writing abiliites for music, but her business sense is either pathetic or selfish. Just because she enjoys her little secrecy shroud doesn't mean she should force it upon Alizée. There are so many fans out there that are just hungry for more Alizée, but we just aren't being given what we want from a promotion standpoint. There's only so many times we can buy the album over again. C'mon, Mylene, let Lili go loose, take some risks, get her out there in a fun and enticing way!


Opinion du Mayhem.............................................................$0.02
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God is not worth much in Scrabble.

[Kam]

Mayhem wrote:

Opinion du Mayhem.............................................................$0.02

Don't worry about calling it an opinion; what you're stressing is a fact. Mylène and Laurent messed up, plain and simple. It's been discussed on these boards many times over. We'll see if Alizée can rebound from this with the third studio album, whenever it comes out.

And kiouty! Read the thread, man!
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[Mayhem]

Well, I'm always a bit weary of criticizing Mylène in a place that's named after her. A lot of us discussed this at the concert, and we all pretty much feel the same way. There were so many of us there, and each and every one of us would gobble up anything Alizée related, but there's just so little of it. And it really seems like it's a pattern that Mylène is perpetuating. I just hope Mylène will back off a little bit on the business end when the third album comes. Let someone with a little more ambition and something to prove have a go at it. Take risks, and let the chips fall as they may. Better then letting is all slip away slowly and then looking back and saying "damn, if only we'd tried a little bit harder...."
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God is not worth much in Scrabble.

[Ricky]

Sure ! I'm all for Alizee becoming more independent on the next album, just don't be surprised if she does that and ends up becoming simply another has been, remember, selling a million records and having a stage prescence isn't enough, you need more than that to be a long term hit.

[Mayhem]

I'd rather see her go down fighting than just laying down and taking it like Mylene has. I really don't see how it would hurt her to promote more aggressively though, at least form a business standpoint. Hell, look at Britney Spears, not a more worthless pile of crap exists, but from a business standpoint, her people are kicking ass. They know how to keep her on top, despite her having the talent of a refried bean.
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God is not worth much in Scrabble.

[kiouty]

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

She hasn't released an album of new material in a few years now. Her last album was a greatest hits album, this is never a good sign.

Mylène has always let three, maybe four or five years between her album releases, and her exceptional presence lately (book, remix, les mots, Alizée) is... exceptional, usually, she completely disappears from the media. Not this time. And why should she release an album if she doesn' feel like it, she better makes an album whenever she is ready to make a good quality production, right ?
She's not popping songs like she's breathing.
Every single text she writes makes suffering and existencial problems ovious, and writing one single text must be really hard. It's not like she was writing about the sun and the butterflies...
"Depressed" artists aren't very productive in a general way.
Plus she is not an american singer who releases CDs just to sell.
She never promised more, she never said she would make a new album, maybe she's fed up with the singing, and as far as we can see, she might just orientate to a movie career, as an actress as well as a film maker, which has always been her dream, as she only became singer by "accident", as she says herself.

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

She is releasing a remix album, what a bad move. Look what it did to Michael Jackson's album sales. People have even said she doesn't do good remixes.

Every single Mylène true fan strongly hates the remix album (even if each one of us bought the digipack edition, the regular plastic edition, the vynils and the tapes ).
It's true, it is a very bad remix album.

BUT it could have been a good move if the remixes had been awesome.
They are not. Is it her fault ? No it's the DJs fault, who didn't have enough consideration for her to give more than half an hour to the remixes productions, these supposedly famous and good DJs resting on their laurels themselves.

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

She appears to shun the public and even disappeared from the public eye for a few years because she didn't like it.

Well this is new to YOU because you've followed Mylène's career since 4 years. But for Mylène fans from long ago, this appears to be a typical move, the typical Mylène pattern, even if not so appreciated. (starts to be a bit long since Innamoramento...)

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

All this suggests to me that her career is winding down as a performer, hence the book and she hoped to just manage Alizee instead.

No, I don't think a book and Alizée could have ever "replaced" her, this is just not imaginable...

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

Could it be that the remix album is a cash in?

Sure, just like regular albums. But she never forced anybody to buy it. And btw, this remix album is getting what it deserves : bad sales. Now that the christmas effect has faded, it doesn't sell very well.
But you can't put all charges on the remix album, saying she's a bad manager, marketer, whatever, she's the most well paid singer in France and the first female singer records selling artist in France !
So she's also a VERY good and smart business woman.

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

Could Mylene be now only interested in a comfortable retirement?

Why is that blamable ? if I were her, that's what I would do...

Captain Gorgeous wrote:

Disclaimer: This post was made on the request of someone else. I have as yet, due to poor channel availability, not listened to a single Mylene song and therefore have expressed no opinion on her music. I make no apologises for the inaccuracies of this post.

Sure so my replies go to this other person

Mayhem wrote:

I think she's fine artist and an accomplished one, enough to sit on her laurels if she so pleases. My problem with her is her attitude. I don't like it one bit.

It surely isn't a generous attitude, but she's always acted that way...
The fans (not you May ) just have to accept it and deal with it.
But yeah, I understand you find it shocking, I’m the first one to be angry with her attitude !!
But she's ALWAYS been feeling uncomfortable with her fans... That's what she says in multiple interviews.

Remember that a crazy guy killed the receptionist at Universal or Polydor office just to see her...

Of course, Mylène has recovered of the trauma since, but she's taking it as an excuse to build her public caracter, which is protective of herself. And she has never liked going on TV. Regarding her attitude towards her fans... She gives everything she's got to give through her songs, and that should be enough. She has decided from the start that the public was going to deal with the public image of Mylène, not the real Mylène.


RICARDO, I FINALLY READ YOUR POST AND I LOVE IT !!!
Let me add that for the resting on the laurels thing, that she has nothing to prove any more... She has done an exceptional career already, and yes, she’s allowed to rest on her laurels if she wants to go in other artistic directions...

Mayhem wrote:

Well, I'm always a bit weary of criticizing Mylène in a place that's named after her. A lot of us discussed this at the concert, and we all pretty much feel the same way. There were so many of us there, and each and every one of us would gobble up anything Alizée related, but there's just so little of it. And it really seems like it's a pattern that Mylène is perpetuating. I just hope Mylène will back off a little bit on the business end when the third album comes. Let someone with a little more ambition and something to prove have a go at it. Take risks, and let the chips fall as they may. Better then letting is all slip away slowly and then looking back and saying "damn, if only we'd tried a little bit harder...."

I agree, the faster Alizée gets away from Mylène, the faster Mylène will come back for us ...
Alizée is taking her just too much time and efforts. Unfortunately, Alizée will be associated with Mylène forever, at least in the minds of people in France, and Mylène doesn’t seem to want to let go of her toy... (half kidding )
More seriously : Alizée better gets an artistic independancy, for her to last longer and she better proves she can do better than just perform, and show her cute little face. But she doesn't seem to have a mature vision of her job. Mylène tried to make her write songs and she refused !!!
And the way she acts in concert, slightly arrogant, really pisses french people on other forums, and I think she doesn't realize she's got more to give. For me Alizée is also resting on her Moi Lolita laurels... Unfortunately...

Oh well, enough with that matter.

What's interesting with Mylène, is that she always creates feelings in people, either of adoration or either of hatred, never neutral feelings. And that's what helps her construct her myth : ))

[Mayhem]

I Mylene fan calling Alizée arrogant? And I thought I'd heard it all...



Seriously, there's not an once of arrogance in her. Confidence, yes, but not arrogance. There's a huge difference.
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God is not worth much in Scrabble.