# Great album / awful cover art! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [October 25, 2021, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160 "2021-10-25T10:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/21 "2021-10-26T16:34:17Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Anyone remember the original album cover for The Beatles’ _Yesterday and Today_ and its quickly replaced substitute? I can’t decide if the original is ahead of its time or a tasteless misstep. But that replacement cover… it’s baffling how Capitol took the circa-1966 Beatles and made them look so boring. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/22 "2021-10-26T17:14:16Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Anyone remember the original album cover for The Beatles’ _Yesterday and Today_ and its quickly replaced substitute? The original was a brilliant statement on how Capitol butchered EMI’s _Rubber Soul_ and _Revolver_ to create the Frankenstein monster that is _Yesterday and Today_. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/23 "2021-10-26T17:32:32Z")
I was never very fond of the cover of Cream’s [“Wheels of Fire”.](https://www.discogs.com/release/641084-Cream-Wheels-Of-Fire/image/SW1hZ2U6NDQxNTg5MDM=) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/24 "2021-10-26T17:33:10Z")
Oh! Well now I could put this in the “pop culture things you realize after a million times” or whatever. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_Sudan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chad_sudan/32/4509_2.png) [@Chad\_Sudan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_Sudan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/25 "2021-10-26T18:17:10Z")
The cover of the first Steely Dan album is a collage, the most tasteful element of which is a photo of streetwalkers. At first I assumed the aesthetics here must have been ironic – a deliberate car crash. Apparently not! Walter Becker and Donald Fagen themselves said it was possibly the “most hideous album cover of the seventies.” [https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-8e25iavqdi/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/475/631/Steely\_Dan\_Cant\_Buy\_a\_Thrill\_Sticker\_\_34717.1536807223.jpg?c=2](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-8e25iavqdi/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/475/631/Steely_Dan_Cant_Buy_a_Thrill_Sticker__34717.1536807223.jpg?c=2) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/26 "2021-10-26T19:43:22Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > I had to stare at that for several minutes to “get it”. 🤦‍♀️ At first I thought the marks on the pillar were childrens’ shadows and I thought “well, that’s kind of trippy”. Now I just think it’s kind of gross. Heheh, I got it the first time I saw it. Always loved that cover. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/27 "2021-10-26T19:49:51Z")
The Stones’ _Let it Bleed_. Random round things stacked on a spindle … why? [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c0/LetitbleedRS.jpg/220px-LetitbleedRS.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c0/LetitbleedRS.jpg/220px-LetitbleedRS.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/28 "2021-10-26T19:50:56Z")
We probably don’t want to know what they WANTED to put on a cover, with a title like that! ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/29 "2021-10-26T21:19:44Z")
Considering what they got away with for _Sticky Fingers_, you’re probably right. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/30 "2021-10-26T22:06:56Z")
Look at the back cover. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/31 "2021-10-26T22:17:29Z")
I always cringed at this one: [![Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/1ZOfgxl.png "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/1ZOfgxl) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/32 "2021-10-26T23:37:44Z")
Somehow I think these two would not go over very well in modern times… [![](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0988/4272/products/38_Special_-_Wild_Eyed_Southern_Boys.jpg) ](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0988/4272/products/38_Special_-_Wild_Eyed_Southern_Boys.jpg) [![](https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0003/581/MI0003581267.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) ](https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0003/581/MI0003581267.jpg?partner=allrovi.com) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/33 "2021-10-26T23:47:56Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Was there any cover art more low effort than The Beatles White Album? I heard it was supposed to be ironic because it followed Sgt Pepper’s extremely detailed cover. But “Magical Mystery Tour” came between the two. DOH! When the question is, “If you had to be stranded on a deserted island with just one album to listen to…?” the White Album is my answer. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/34 "2021-10-27T00:43:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Look at the back cover. The same stuff, but messed up and broken. How does explain anything? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/35 "2021-10-27T01:34:36Z")
That’s the point. The Stones reveled in their bad boy image. The front cover shows sweetness and order; the back cover shows what they thought about the idea. It perfectly encapsulates the group. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/36 "2021-10-27T01:50:27Z")
Spirtualized did a couple of amazing albums (shoe-gazey but enough banging tunes to not be irretrievably noodley) that have cover art that was at the same time great and awful. Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space came with an awesome authentic looking pill packaging: [![](https://www.irenebrination.com/.a/6a00e55290e7c4883301bb09405b3b970d-800wi) ](https://www.irenebrination.com/.a/6a00e55290e7c4883301bb09405b3b970d-800wi) Let it come down had a cool optical illusion deal (it’s embossed but it looks raised): [![](https://www.unifiedmanufacturing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/9539355_spiritualized-optical.jpg) ](https://www.unifiedmanufacturing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/9539355_spiritualized-optical.jpg) Why were they awful? They wouldn’t fit in _any_ bloody CD rack ever made. You always had to put them on top where they would inevitably fall behind the rack and get lost. Additionally the pill casing has an authentic foil back like a real pill, once its torn off thats it! ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/37 "2021-10-27T01:58:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The front cover shows sweetness and order; the back cover shows what they thought about the idea. It perfectly encapsulates the group. I’m not sure I buy it. And even if I did, it’s still ugly! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/38 "2021-10-27T04:08:32Z")
That Foreigner album cover was very controversial at the time, too. (It wasn’t a very good album, either.) The “who cares what the music sounds like; did you see the cover?” award probably goes to a one-off act called Mom’s Apple Pie. All I’m going to say is that it’s definitely NSFW. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/39 "2021-10-27T04:23:07Z")
But it is kind of a pastel black. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2021, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160/40 "2021-10-27T11:45:50Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Mom’s Apple Pie. All I’m going to say is that it’s definitely NSFW. For the curious: A bloody vulva in a pie. The vulva probably wasn’t obvious to many buyers of the album — it’s rather small and subtle, but obvious (and clearly intentional) once pointed out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-album-awful-cover-art/953160.md?page=3)