I’ve never really looked at that cover before. Looks like a perfectly nice, tasteful cover design that someone then added a bunch of extraneous doodles to.
A perfect companion to the original Yesterday and Today cover! 
The Band was not all that well-known when they released their first album, Music From Big Pink. The big ugly was that the cover was done by Bob Dylan.
My god that album cover should be in the dictionary next to the definition for: The 70s
The same could be said for The Beatles Revolver cover mentioned above if you replace 70s with the 60’s. Though the covers may have not aged well aesthetically, they are suited to when they were released, and would probably not have been considered ugly at the time. Some others mentioned in this thread are ugly regardless of when they first saw the light of day.
I’m guessing this was taken right before Peter Gabriel and the rest of the band parted company.
You think that’s worse than Heroes Are Hard to Find?
For sheer goofiness, it’s hard to beat the cover of James Brown’s I Can’t Stand Myself When You Touch Me.
(PS. The person who submitted the Mystery to Me cover embarrassed themselves somewhat by imagining that the cover art might refer to Stevie Nicks, who hadn’t yet joined the group when that album came out.)
That was one of the very first Albums I ever purchased, I still have it in a box.
Let’s see, ugly-ass baboon crying as it eats a piece of cake after eating a piece of book vs. skinny-ass guy holding a little girl. They both suck. But the ugly ass baboon is just too ugly ass. I don’t know what there is about an ugly baboon crying that says “The Music of Fleetwood Mac” to the cover artist, but … hell, looking at some of the other album covers in this thread, it appears that a lot of groups back in the day were engaged in some kind of secret contest to prove that fans would buy their music no matter how meaningless and repulsive their cover artwork. I’m guessing “Mystery to Me” was Fleetwood Mac’s entry.
Years ago I saw Gabriel on MTV and he’s still proud of even the ridiculous hats & goofy kabuki makeup he wore back then.
Van Halen Balance
Remember when they were a fun, dumb band who didn’t take themselves too seriously and enjoyed rockin’ covers of 60s tunes? This comes well after those good and unpretentious times.
As a good Def Leppard fan, I give you this: File:Def Leppard - Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.jpg - Wikipedia
Perhaps because they wouldn’t give Peter a chair.
Two that look like they were drawn by eleven year-olds, for eleven year-olds. (No links, sorry.)
ELP: Tarkus
Doors: Full Circle
.
Other kid-art-like covers:
Yardbirds, Roger the Engineer
Bob Dylan, Self Portrait (interestingly, cited in the link as an “awesome album cover”)
The band Orleans may not be that well-remembered nowadays, but they charted a few times back in the 1970s (hits included “Dance with Me” from 1975, “Still the One”, from 1976, and “Love Takes Time” from 1979). Some older people may recall that the ABC network used “Still the One” to promote new shows.
And that big hit song came from this album. To paraphrase the OP, I’m unsure why a band would think that this cover would sell records.
Except for the music. “Phoning it in” is the kindest description.
There ain’t no kid who can draw like that. The drawing is weird, yes, but technically proficient.
That one just made me laugh out loud.