10 MOST SHOCKING ALBUM COVERS IN ROCK MUSICby: Nick Nadel Yesterday
Rock stars love to give the proverbial (and sometimes literal) middle finger to the establishment, and there's no better way than with a shocking album cover. As the recent kerfuffle over Nirvana's 'Nevermind' cover being banned from Facebook proves, many of the most infamous album covers are still controversial today. Join us for a look at the 10 Most Shocking Album Covers in Rock Music. (Note: Before you scroll down, some of these images are not safe for work ? unless you work at Tommy Lee's house. Then you're probably fine.)
1) Guns N' Roses, 'Appetite for Destruction'Including sexual or violent imagery on your album cover is a surefire way to get it banned. Put them together, and you have Robert Williams' infamous 'Appetite for Destruction' painting depicting a rape robot about to be devoured by what looks like a monstrous version of the Rolling Stone lips. But while the album cover released in stores ended up being the Guns N' Roses members depicted as skeleton heads on a cross, censors weren't completely successful in keeping Williams' shocking painting away from young, impressionable minds. All kids had to do to see it was open the album sleeve. (Like kids weren't going to read the lyrics.) Needless to say, the image made for a lot of awkward parental discussions during the late '80s.
2) Rolling Stones, 'Sticky Fingers'
3) John Lennon and Yoko Ono, 'Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins'
4) Jimi Hendrix Experience, 'Electric Ladyland'
5) Nirvana, 'Nevermind'
6) David Bowie, 'Diamond Dogs'
7) Lynyrd Skynyrd, 'Street Survivors'
8 The Beatles, 'Yesterday and Today'
9) Jane's Addiction, 'Nothing's Shocking'
10) Alice Cooper, 'Love It to Death'
Which of these album covers do you find the most shocking?
All of these album covers were controversial for one reason or another. Which of them do you find the most shocking? And, if there's a shocking album cover we missed, let us know about it in the comments section below:
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