Updated: 29 May 2002
Allright, the visitor boom had to do with http://buzz.bazooka.se/. Well, then I guess it's a passing phenomenon. :-)
This page is devoted to disturbingly ugly record covers. There aren't many yet, but hopefully, the list will grow.
Many records have ugly, boring, tacky, ill-advised or badly realised covers, but then there are those that go beyond that; the truly atrocious, completely tasteless record covers, the ones that make you gasp in wonder and ask yourself what on Earth could have made anyone think that piece of "art" was representative or their music. The record covers on this page all had that effect on me. Not necessarily on you. But I hope you don't have to be reminded that it's a question of individual taste.
Click on the record covers for larger versions, and on the record names for their respective All Music Guide entries.
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Black Sabbath - Sabotage (1975)
Comments from visitors made me realise that Born Again wasn't fit for this list; I still insist it's ugly, but not ugly enough. Well, this one is. I love Sabbath and I think this record is great, but those outfits... it's humiliating. And what's the deal with the false mirror image? (Also take a look at the backside for a generous view of Bill Ward's checked underwear.) |
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Charta 77 - Hobbydiktatorn (1992)
Charta 77 is a Swedish punk band that has, among other things, released an album with this painfully lame cover art. |
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Roger Daltrey - Ride a Rock Horse (1975)
The second solo album by The Who's lead singer. He's posing as a muscular centaur with permed hair -- how much cooler can it get? Just look at the way he pounds his chest and raises his fist in rage. The manliness! The virility! (If anyone has a larger version, please notify me.) |
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Devo - Oh No! It's Devo (1982)
Are we not men? No, we are Devo, and we're completely nuts... err, potatoes. I mean, just look at us! Aren't we the craziest guys you've ever seen? I'm a Devo fan, but this album wasn't one of their higher points -- especially not cover-wise. |
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Paul McCartney - Red Rose Speedway (1973)
He's throwing up a rose! ("I get it, it's a picture puzzle... There's a red rose, and there's a speedway bike... that's, like... Red Rose Speedway! Yeah! Smart!") |
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Ozzy Osbourne - Down to Earth (2001)
Ozzy, Ozzy... what the hell were you thinking? |
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Roxy Music - Country Life (1974)
A great record with a disastrous cover. It's sexist, tasteless and ugly. (And please, take your boorish homophobic comments and stick them up your arses. I'm sure it will feel good.) |
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The Brian May Band - Live at the Brixton Academy (1994)
The album notes for this one state: Cover concept by Richard Gray. What a genius he must be. A former Queen guitarist with big hair, tight trousers and legs wide apart, rocking in front of a clear blue sky -- I would never have thought of that one myself. The cheesy font is really the finishing touch. |
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Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Trilogy (1973)
This is not really a disgustingly ugly cover -- the disgusting thing is that it's a prog rock classic with a cover that looks like an airbrushed poster of a B grade pop-metal band from 1983. |
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I am Robert K Huselius (klaatu(at)gnarf(dot)org).
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