A scene from Justice's video for the song Stress. (Romain-Gavras/Justice)

On May 1, French electronic music duo Justice unveiled a video for their new single, Stress. The premiere of any Justice video is an event — band members Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Auge tend to select directors with an innovative approach. But Stress is notable for its depiction of extreme violence, which is causing debate amongst music fans and in internet circles. (Watch it here.)

Set in the suburbs of Paris, the video features a group of thuggish young dudes sporting hoodies and leather jackets emblazoned with Justice’s stylized cross logo. The gang is in search of hell to raise. In one scene, they smash a busker’s guitar; in another, they grope a young woman in the Metro. Glasses are shattered at a local bar. Cars are hijacked, taken for joyrides, then torched. The film was shot with shaky handheld cameras and Parisian director Romain-Gavras keeps the tone eerily ambivalent. That open-endedness, and the gang’s seeming lack of motivation, has fuelled the controversy around the video.

Stress certainly isn’t the first video to cause a stir. CBCNews.ca pored through the archives of pop music to come up with a list of some of the most eyebrow-raising clips of the past several decades.

(Warning: These clips contain violent, sexual or otherwise objectionable content.)

Girls on Film, Duran Duran (1981)

The original video to rankle censors, Girls on Film’s salacious depiction of naked mudwrestling ladies and other forms of kink prompted the BBC to ban the clip, which appeared on MTV in an edited form.

I Want Your Sex, George Michael (1987)

Before George Michael got picked up for lewd acts in public washrooms, he raised the hackles of censors with his randy antics in this fantastically cheesy montage of bodies writhing in satin sheets, with words like “EXPLORE” and “MONOGAMY” crudely scrawled on bare skin.

Like a Prayer, Madonna (1989)

Though you can totally understand why the Pope might be pissed off by Ms. Ciccone’s appropriation of Catholic iconography in this video, Like a Prayer seems almost quaint by today’s standards. Some of the imagery (burning crosses, the singer copulating with a black Jesus) may have been dicey, but the video now seems a remarkably complex representation of racism, religion and rape.

Justify My Love, Madonna (1990)

Yet another of Madge’s efforts to court controversy, Justify My Love is almost laughable in its porniness. We watch as Madonna gets hot and heavy with studly lover Tony Ward in a weird, bordello-like building where every room features a different combo of bodies exploring their sexuality. MTV refused to play the clip, which alluded to everything from gay sex to heavy bondage to a ménage a trois.

Black or White, Michael Jackson (1991)

The controversy around this one stemmed from specific scenes in which Jackson manhandles his crotch, zips his fly and engages in acts of vandalism. In retrospect, the most disturbing aspect of this video is the intro, which showcases a young Macaulay Culkin in his bedroom.

Criminal, Fiona Apple (1997)

Apple had just turned 20 when this raw, bluesy single was released, but the gaunt singer looks about 14 in the video directed by Mark Romanek (who was also behind the disturbing clip for Nine Inch Nails’s Closer). All giant eyes and twig arms, a supine, barely dressed Apple pouts and moans while engaging in vaguely pervy acts with unidentified dudes.

Smack My Bitch Up, The Prodigy (1997)

Detractors found much to criticize in this video by the loopy British electronic act: lyrics that encouraged violence against women; nausea-inducing camera work shot from the perspective of a drunken cad; drugs; driving under the influence; doing the nasty with a stripper. While clever, the twist at the end (in which we realize the protagonist is female) wasn’t enough to convince some folks. Television networks generally refused to air this one.

I'm a Slave 4 U, Britney Spears (2001)

It’s hard to pinpoint where Britney’s downward spiral began. Some might reach back to the …Baby One More Time video (1998), a creepy fantasy featuring dancing tweens in schoolgirl uniforms. But I think the moment where a bystander licks sweat off a tarted-up Britney’s face in Slave 4 U marks the beginning of the end. The premise of this one seems to be Spears-as-communal-sex-toy.

Dirrty, Christina Aguilera (2002)

Not to be outdone by Britney, Ms. Aguilera went way over the top with Dirrty. Hoping to make a clean break from her prepubescent period as a squeaky-clean Mouseketeer, our girl took complete creative control of her image. What's the most efficient way to establish yourself as a grown-up entertainer? Recruit flamboyant photographer David LaChapelle to direct you in an oily orgy that involves wrestling, boxing, nudity and chaps.

(s)AINT, Marilyn Manson (2003)

Any number of clips by the Antichrist Superstar could be included on this list. But the video for (s)AINT trumps them all. Manson’s own label was repulsed by this gratuitous mess of self-mutilation, cocaine snorting, blood-smearing and bondage. Enough said.

What do you think of the Justice video? Leave a comment.

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Sarah Liss is the music columnist for CBCNews.ca.