The LA Times has posted a piece about a new exhibition at the Fullerton Museum Center which purports to show “The 100 Worst Album Covers.” The Times also has a gallery that includes examples of “the most magnificently cheesy and bizarre images ever to wrap a 12-inch vinyl disc.” The really bizarre thing? A lot of the covers are pretty awesome. True, some are great for unintentionally hilarious reasons. But, for my money, Captain Beefheart’s Trout Mask Replica actually belongs on a list of “The 100 Greatest Album Covers.” And the Beatles’ original “butcher cover” for their 1966 release Yesterday and Today is a terrific piece of subversive pop art.
So what gets your vote for the worst cover of all-time? Personally, I’ve always detested this dubious example of “What’s wrong with being sexy?”-type erotica by Brit rockers UFO (even if it is the work of Hipgnosis, the design company responsible for the cover of Dark Side of the Moon.) But can you do better? Or, rather, worse? If we get enough great examples, then maybe we’ll do our own gallery of craptastic covers.
More from EW’s Music Mix:
Eminem’s NSFW ‘Warning’ to Mariah Carey
Omer Bhatti: Joe Jackson says he’s Michael’s son
TV music supervisors pick their favorite new artists
Nelly Furtado talks new album, reteaming with Timbaland
Millie Jackson “Back to the S**t” or that new piece of garbage from Brooke Hogan.
My elementary school-age self would say Queen’s News of the World which is an album I HAD to have but I hid the cover somewhere in the depths of my closet so it would not come get me in the middle of the night. I thought I had gotten over it – but it’s the first thing that came to mind when I read this.
Oh, come on! That cover was amazing! Freddie Mercury himself did much of the artwork for their albums. He was a multi-talented genius!
There’s so many to choose from! Mick Jagger’s “She’s The Boss” comes to mind, though:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B000002IXG/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all
How strange you would say that… it’s a great cover photo.
Here’s my vote for Prince’s “Lovesexy” – wonder how many record stores enjoyed displaying THAT one!
In 1981, after the mess involved with the “Can’t Stop the Music” movie, the Village People made a pathetic stab at a comeback with an album titled Renaissance. On the cover, they mercilessly mugged for the camera in glittery clothes & makeup that was inspired by the UK’s New Romantic fad. The NRs never really caught on in America … & neither did the VP’s album.
Dr. C: you can add Mick’s Primitive Cool album.
Here’s another suggestion:
In 1981, after the mess involved with the “Can’t Stop the Music” movie, the Village People made a pathetic stab at a comeback with an album titled Renaissance. On the cover, they mercilessly mugged for the camera in glittery clothes & makeup that was inspired by the UK’s New Romantic fad. The NRs never really caught on in America … & neither did the VP’s album.
Foreigner’s “Head Games”.. featuring a school girl seemingly trapped and terrified in the boy’s bathroom. Good song, though.
Actually, the cover to Foreigner’s Head Games features a young woman in the boy’s bathroom trying to erase her phone number off the wall before she is found. They had a plot on Happy days about that. Guys would write a girl’s name on the wall with her phone number and the legend “For a good time call.” Best one of those I ever saw was “For a free yet bad f***” Classic.
Dr. C: you can add Mick’s Primitive Cool album.
Here’s another suggestion: Renaissance – the Village People.
You can remove my last two posts – sorry for the trouble.
The LA Times article is lame. Most of the covers they featured are perfectly fine.
I have to agree with Cleetus. I don’t get where they say the covers they featured are bad. The Beatles “butcher cover” is a classic! Lame-o!
Rednex Sex & Violins which features the band being urinated on.
http://www.albumartexchange.com/covers.php?id=8900
My second pick is Sharp Teeth by David Karsten Daniels for gross cannibalism.
http://www.albumartexchange.com/covers.php?id=45427
Here’s a new one. The Bloody Beetroots Romborama for depicting a masked zombie on the toilet.
http://www.albumartexchange.com/covers.php?id=50284
Hot Rocks by the Rolling Stones. The mullet-within-a-mullet-within-a-mullet-etc. cover makes me wanna hurl.