the admiral 28,777 Posted May 24, 2012 The catch is that the album has to be good, so anyone who posts Ken: By Request Only, Big Bear: Doin' Thangs, or any of the other greatest hits gets thrown into a Burmese tiger trap.TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie MountainFirst half of this album + "Things You Can Do" at the end is such lights-out awesomeness that we can forgive the rest of it being just kinda meandering noise. It's not a very good cover, though. I can't pinpoint why, but I really don't like it. Maybe it's that Edwardian script they use on the title (and otherwise use for their name on other covers). I don't know. It's just dreary and messy. Incidentally, it is no longer 2006; do people still have strong feelings on TV on the Radio?Tortoise - It's All Around YouThis is the half-brother of an airbrushed wolf shirt.Beat Happening - s/tCovers like this one are why people make fun of music geeks.Beatles - Magical Mystery TourYou know, I actually like this whole album better than Sgt. Pepper's! "Fool on the Hill," "Blue Jay Way," "Penny Lane," and "Baby, You're a Rich Man" are better than every Pepper track except "A Day in the Life," which everyone agrees is unequivocally the best Beatles song, if not one's personal favorite (mine is "Eleanor Rigby"). But this cover, hoo boy, that's a hot mess of words words words and colorvomit.Empire of the Sun - Walking on a DreamEminently listenable electropop album that looks like a poster for a really bad summer movie where things blow up.Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IIIThis is the Zeppelin album that endures long beyond The High School Classic Rock Phase, just like Animals with the other half of those twin towers. But what's the with bubbly text and psychedelic splattering? I know "Tangerine" is the Zeppelin song everyone's girlfriend likes, but no album with "Immigrant Song," "Out on the Tiles," and "Since I've Been Loving You" should look this wispy and doodly.FAKE EDIT: boy, don't do a google image search for this one, it kinda messes with your eyes. Not sure what I thought was going to happen. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sc49erfan15 2,374 Posted May 24, 2012 Not one of my favorite albums, but one of the most well-known...and I always thought the cover was crap.Example of a cover completely being ruined by the transition to CDs:vs. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
officeglenn 2,439 Posted May 24, 2012 Here's a little bit of Canadian content ...Barenaked Ladies - Gordon? Not terrible from a technical perspective, but so achingly ?90s that they changed the artwork on future re-issues.Our Lady Peace - Naveed? Great album that really helped get me into rock music in high school. But the artwork is a little creepy, with a little too much droopy old man skin for my taste (this coming from a guy who watched Ric Flair wrestle for however-many years). And I think the nipple ring is photoshopped on. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
missouri tigers 79 Posted May 24, 2012 ...and pretty much every album by- 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drdougfresh 690 Posted May 24, 2012 A random mix of some of my all time faves (with awesomely bad cover art):And a more recent choice:Thing reminds me of a Pure Moods CD or something. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zer0dotcom 9 Posted May 24, 2012 The Gotye and Alanis covers aren't that bad...could be worse, like By The Way...I remember in stores, the insert would be flipped to the goat page on the inside, stores were squeemish over the nipples on the real cover.Somewhat dissapointed with this one...Garbage already did a G motif on a pink background in the 90's. There are lots of other things they could have done, this seems too simple 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sc49erfan15 2,374 Posted May 24, 2012 Yeah, the Alanis cover doesn't scream "AWFUL!" to me... just "NINETIES!" 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cody21 1 Posted May 24, 2012 This:To the Japan version:Which ones better? 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the admiral 28,777 Posted May 24, 2012 It's a Sum 41 album, so it probably sucks anyway.I was going to post that Ben Folds Five cover! That was one of the first albums I ever bought, I think the first "real" album, and it really is quite good, but even then I thought the cover was pretty lame. The Gotye cover looks like a Phil Collins/Sting album, which is appropriate, since he sounds like Phil Collins and Sting. Who would've guessed that the guy from Genesis and the guy from the Police would somehow both end up as a couple of New Age wisps. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ColeJ 1,268 Posted May 25, 2012 adore bad brains, and this is probably their best album (as long as it's the vinyl, and not the sped-up and disgusting ric ocasek remixed cd)... but that album cover is horrible, ugly, and boring. so much worse than their self-titled iconic cover.everything artistically and "branding" related to this band is perfect, except this. just slapped together, 2 color, and the flag isn't even black. it's blue. such a disappointment considering how amazing the covers for damaged, my war, and slip it in are.that last one is danzig 4...on the flip side, these are my favorite covers by the same bands: 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CS85 10,601 Posted May 25, 2012 Arguably the worst album artwork ever, the question is whether or not the album is "good." 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltere 565 Posted May 25, 2012 Pretty much any Queen album could fit the bill, but there's a special kind of trippy horror to this.Why on earth anyone thought packaging what's basically an industrial metal album in a sleeve that makes it look like a crummy euro-dance album by the poster boys for the local gay bar is beyond me. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leggman01 15 Posted May 25, 2012 Why on earth anyone thought packaging what's basically an industrial metal album in a sleeve that makes it look like a crummy euro-dance album by the poster boys for the local gay bar is beyond me.i'm not a music afficionado, but isn't the juxtaposition exactly the point with this album cover (and maybe some of the others)? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sc49erfan15 2,374 Posted May 25, 2012 Pretty much any Queen album could fit the bill, but there's a special kind of trippy horror to this.I was going to post some Queen covers. They don't seem bad to me, just boring. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evan 0 Posted May 25, 2012 beach house - teen dreamyeasayer has some stupid artwork, but i don't like their albums. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waltere 565 Posted May 25, 2012 Why on earth anyone thought packaging what's basically an industrial metal album in a sleeve that makes it look like a crummy euro-dance album by the poster boys for the local gay bar is beyond me.i'm not a music afficionado, but isn't the juxtaposition exactly the point with this album cover (and maybe some of the others)?There is a heavy dose of irony around most things they do, so I don't dispute that that was the point. I just don't think it works in this instance. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Camden Crazy 142 Posted May 25, 2012 Came in here specifically to post Doggystyle. The list begins and ends with that one. One of the best rap albums ever released deserved a better cover than that. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the admiral 28,777 Posted May 26, 2012 Du hast mich!yeasayer has some stupid artwork, but i don't like their albums.Well, you should. Yeasayer is pretty great.Tortoise - TNTI know there's a lot of Glass/Reich-inspired repetition on this album, but I don't think this artwork is effective minimalism. And I suppose one of the things that separates post-rock from progressive is that they don't take themselves quite as seriously as their nerdlinger forebears, but come on now. At least I'm only reminded of how silly this is every time I put on, y'know, one of my favorite albums ever. 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mania 381 Posted May 26, 2012 Example of a cover completely being ruined by the transition to CDs:vs.Only reason no album title is available, is because Columbia refused to release it under it's original title... Don't Be A . 0 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites