10 Most Troublesome Album Covers

Controversies in the music industry are hardly ever overlooked. Since bad publicity is quite the lifeblood of musicians to remain impactful even after all these years, they often try to manifest their creative (or creepy) mindset through album covers. Remember, it’s the very first thing that a person would see, so it’s only fair that musicians would try and capture that album’s essence through it. Yet, sometimes, their creativity can be a bit too much to handle, and instead of appreciating such things, would only lead to confusion and disgust. Below, we’ll take a look at these 10 most disturbing album covers ever.

 

Grace Jones – Island Life

Upon the release of Grace Jones’s Island Life, others found it so overwhelmingly objectifying the bodies of black people, a thing that was shut down by photographer Jean-Paul Goude, saying that the image wasn’t racist in the first place.

David Bowie – Diamond Dogs

David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs comes in a gatefold jacket, where Bowie appears thin and relaxed as he stretches out on the floor on the cover. However, his lower half is out of the frame to the left, and when you unfold the cover, you’ll see that the back half of Bowie’s body is shaped like a dog’s.

Guns N’ Roses – Appetite for Destruction

The album cover art for this GNR’s classic album once depicted a robotic rapist going to be devoured by a larger and stranger predator in the sky. After receiving several complaints about the frightening image, the band was compelled to replace it with new artwork.

Nirvana – Nevermind

Frontman Kurt Cobain didn’t like the idea of the album being censored, so the child’s picture with his penis out while swimming stayed. But that doesn’t mean that the listeners were okay with its vulgar style.

The Scorpions – Virgin Killer

The Virgin Killer cover from the band was shocking even if it was done on purpose. They knew it would be controversial, but the band nonetheless used a picture of a nude 10-year-old girl only with the phrase “censored” written over her genitalia. Guitarist Rudolf Schenker even admitted that they only did it “for attention.”

Jane’s Addiction- Ritual de lo Habitual

Ritual de lo Habitual was published by Jane’s Addiction in 1990; the album cover art included a diorama created by Perry Farrell, the band’s lead singer. Even if the nudity is only a model, the religious overtones of the display made it too much to see.

Blind Faith – Blind Faith

It was illegal in any way when Blind Faith decided to release their debut album of an 11-year-old girl that’s holding a plane and is completely naked. Truly disturbing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zym70x-SxzE&ab_channel=AllenSteindl

The Coup – Party Music

There doesn’t seem to be much of a chance that a hip-hop group could have predicted the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.  But Oakland duo The Coup did when they set out in June 2001 to design an album cover that would artistically convey the tragedy of 9/11 and the Twin Towers.

The Beatles – Yesterday and Today

The original pressings of Yesterday and Today came with a now-iconic photo of the Fab Four posing in white coats while clutching plastic baby body parts and meat. The picture was deemed too controversial in the US market, so Capitol Records had to recall at least 750,000 copies of the album.

Type O Negative – The Origin of the Feces

Peter Steele chose to give us a great close-up of his anal canal when he was photographing himself for the album cover of The Origin of The Feces. Upon its initial release, the album did not fare well commercially; fans did not purchase either the CD case or the records for a good reason.