Album Cover Art

As we reach #18 on our look at Gigwise.com's list of the most controversial, the weirdest, the best and the worst album covers, let's explore what made their list:

Controversial


18. Megadeth: ‘Youthanasia’ So Grandma is washing the babies again, at least she doesn't put them in the dryer, having them hang outside on the wash line will give them that 'fresh air' smell to them.

Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994. The title is a pun on euthanasia, implying that society is euthanizing its youth, which would be consistent with bandleader and principal songwriter Dave Mustaine's views.

Megadeth is known for a distinctive guitar style, often involving complex, intricate musical passages, and trade off guitar solos. Mustaine is also known for his original "snarling" vocal style, as well as his recurring lyrical themes, often involving politics, war, addiction, and personal relationships.

As one of the most commercially successful heavy metal bands of all time, Megadeth has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, including six consecutive platinum albums, with seven consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Metal Performance. In their 23 active years, Megadeth has had 20 official members, with Dave Mustaine remaining as the driving force, main songwriter, and sole original member. Megadeth is mentioned as one of the bands among the "Big Four of Thrash," along with Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, who were responsible for creating and popularizing the genre in the 1980s.

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Weird


18. Hella: 'Acoustics' Yes, why not put an image of a pile of crap on your album cover, that will help sell records. Errr, this is really melted chocolate. Hella is an American band from Nevada City, California. They play a technical blend of math rock, noise rock, and experimental rock. The primary members of the band are Spencer Seim on electric guitar and Zach Hill on drums. In 2005, the band expanded their live band by adding Dan Elkan on vocals, rhythm guitar, and synthesizer and Jonathan Hischke on bass guitar. In 2006, Dan Elkan and Jonathan Hischke left the group. The new line-up includes Josh Hill, Carson McWhirter (of The Advantage), and Aaron Ross. Acoustics EP is an acoustic live EP by the chocolate lovers.

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Worst


18. Eulenspygel – ‘Eulenspygel 2’ Which came first the chicken or the egg? I love chickens especially with BBQ sauce. The ROYAL SERVANTS, forerunners of EULENSPYGEL, were formed in 1965 in Swabia/Germany. Starting up with beat music, they gradually turned to Blues Rock, finally Progressive Psychedelic and released one album named "We". In early 1971, they were one of the first bands to write their songs in German. So they changed their name into EULENSPYGEL the same year and the first new release was named "2", recorded at the Maschen studio near Hamburg. The front cover caused a scandal because of a burnt chicken and was later substituted. This album documents the awakening of the german rock music on the way to its own identity.

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Best

18. David Bowie – ‘Aladdin Sane’ Aladdin Sane is an album by David Bowie, released by RCA Records in 1973. The follow-up to his breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, it was the first album Bowie wrote and released as a bona fide pop star.

The name of the album is a pun on "A Lad Insane". An early variation was "Love Aladdin Vein", which Bowie dropped partly because of its drug connotations. Although technically a new Bowie 'character', Aladdin Sane was essentially a development of Ziggy Stardust in his appearance and persona, as evidenced on the cover by Brian Duffy and in Bowie’s live performances throughout 1973 that culminated in Ziggy’s ‘retirement’ at the Hammersmith Odeon in July of that year. Moreover there was not the thematic flow on this album that was present on its predecessor. Bowie himself described Aladdin Sane as simply "Ziggy goes to America", most of the tracks being observations he composed on the road during his 1972 U.S. tour – the reason for the place names following each song title on the original record sleeve.

With a purported 100,000 copies ordered in advance, Aladdin Sane debuted at the top of the UK charts and reached #17 in America, making it Bowie's most successful album commercially in both countries to that date. Critical reaction was generally laudatory, if more enthusiastic in the U.S. than in the UK.