S&M Rammstein put on the rack

The German government has told shops to shove the new Rammstein album under the counter and not where children's eyes can see it. Not as a musical judgement, either. It's just the sexual violence that makes them queasy:

Officials were offended by the track "Ich tue Dir Weh" ("I Want to Hurt You"), which includes such lines as "Bites, kicks, heavy blows, nails, pincers, blunt saws - Tell me what you want," as well as artwork showing guitarist Richard Kruspe with a masked, naked woman on his knees.

Charming.

There's also worries about a public health message, too:

The German Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People in Bonn also criticized the single "Pussy," stating that it incites listeners to engage in unprotected sexual intercourse despite the risk of AIDS. But the song was not officially part of the ruling.

The video for "Pussy" has also caused some commotion as it shows what appear to be members of the band participating in sex scenes, although sources close to the band insist that the band members were doubled.

That's a lovely case of missing the point - "it's okay, the childish sexism isn't actually the band, it's just people who look like them." Apart from furthering the impression that the sort of band who make stuff like this don't actually have sex in real life, what difference does that make?

Let's just look at that public body name again:

The German Federal Office for the Examination of Media Harmful to Young People

I know that's a translation of the title, but... doesn't it kind of imply that the material it's examining has been prejudged as harmful before they get to it?