Album Cover Art

Let's continue our look at Gigwise's most controversial, weird, best and worst album covers as compiled by their staff. Some I agree with, some would rate a bit different, but everyone has their own opinion.

Controversial


45. Roxy Music: ‘Country Life’ – The cover features two scantily-clad models, Constanze Karoli (reportedly the sister of Can's Michael Karoli) and Eveline Grunwald. Bryan Ferry met them in Portugal and persuaded them to do the photo shoot as well as to help him with the words to the song "Bitter-Sweet". Although not credited for their photos they are credited on the lyric sheet for their German translation work.

Roxy Music is an English art rock group founded in the early 1970s by art school graduate Bryan Ferry (vocals and keyboards). The other members are Phil Manzanera (guitars), Andy Mackay (saxophone and oboe) and Paul Thompson (drums and percussion). Former members include Brian Eno (synthesizer and "treatments"), and Eno's replacement Eddie Jobson (synthesizer and violin). Extant from 1971 through 1983, they reunited for a concert tour in 2001, and have announced that they are recording a new album for a yet-to-be-confirmed release date.

The cover image was considered controversial in some countries such as the United States, Spain, and The Netherlands, where it was censored for release. As a result, a later American LP release of Country Life featured a different cover shot. Instead of Karoli and Grunwald posed in front of some trees, the revised cover featured only the trees. Author Michael Ochs has described the result as the "most complete cover-up in rock history".

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Weirdest

The Cranberries: 'Bury The Hatchet' Bury the Hatchet was the fourth album by The Cranberries, released in 1999. In the US, the album has sold 377,000 copies as of April 2007.

It's the first album released by the band after their (first) hiatus which started back in 1996. Dolores had taken that time to heal from stress-induced diseases, and also had her first child, Taylor, during this period. This last fact reflected on some of the tracks in the album, mainly on "Animal Instinct" and "You and Me". The sound of the band had matured. It wasn't the melancholic and nostalgic feel of their first two albums, and it steered far apart of the anger shown in To the Faithful Departed. The themes of the songs vary, from maternity and children, to divorce and child abuse. The cover, although controversial, is a great glimpse at many phobias and the fact that you are being watched, wherever you are!

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Worst


Logging in at #45 is Vanilla Ice – ‘To The Extreme’ Released: August 28, 1990
Chart Positions: #1 US, #6 R&B/Hip-Hop
Last RIAA certification: 7x Platinum
Singles: "Ice Ice Baby", "Play That Funky Music", "I Love You"
Not much more has to be said.



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Best


45. Kiss: ‘Alive!’ When the album came out, KISS was the band, true rock & roll heaven. Add in the make-up, platform shoes and sheer excess and you have rock & roll in the 70's

Alive! was Kiss' fourth album and is considered their breakthrough, as well as a landmark for live albums. Released on September 10, 1975, the double-disc set contained live versions of selected tracks from their first three studio albums, Kiss, Hotter Than Hell, and Dressed to Kill. It peaked at #9 on the album charts. The album charted for 110 weeks, by far the longest in the band's history. In 2003, the album was ranked number 159 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.