Classic Album, FUCKING TERRIBLE Cover Art

It never occurred to me before, but that invisible touch cover is pretty yawnsomely literal.

I've always thought the cover art for Led Zeppelin III is pretty terrible

Not sure if these two have been mentioned yet.
https://i.discogs.com/lyKy1z6fxwBjy-LMfZWFyFUZrAvd4JdTeIViAJprzXo/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:599/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTEzNzU1/NTc1LTE1OTM4MTQy/ODAtMTQyOS5qcGVn.jpeg
https://i.discogs.com/-OMGBkLDpJnhQE_1bfKWqon1UVOyD8LsOVw-k2dPo0Q/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE0ODk1/NTItMTUyMzEzMzMw/NC04Mzg3LmpwZWc.jpeg

I actually really like that aesthetic, though I think the illustration on Funky Kingston is stronger than the one on Livin' For You. Also the Livin' For You kind of recalls Grateful Dead American Beauty (wood grain, rose, vaguely psychedelic).

Split Enz Mental Notes is the weirdo prog-pop version of that style, and I like it too:

https://i.discogs.com/RTloqsrkDao2rDTc2lErjjmZ2yPTzoG3qeb5o9c0zn8/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTkxODYw/Mi0xNDY1MTM3MTM4/LTg0MTAuanBlZw.jpeg

funky kingston cover is so iconic that it's hard for me to evaluate it objectively

Got no problem with Funky Kingston! It's decently executed mid-70s graphic art, a bit Children's Television Workshop, but nothing awkward like the Al Green or ersatz-Hipgnosis like the Split Enz paintings.

That Al Green cover is bizarre - I guess he's half tree, half man? Great album though, one of his best and part of that phenomenal run in the '70s.

I didn't know Peter Falk was in Split Enz. I guess he turned everyone on to dressing like Columbo.

Split Enz cover giving me BNL "Gordon" flashbacks.

lmao yes

Take a good look at this piece of shit:

(Appetite for Destruction cover)

"Destruction" just barely fits on the banner. Plenty of room for "*Appetite," though. All around ugly and poorly executed.

Because we must strive for fairness when assessing the works of great artistes like GNR, I will point out that this wasn't the original cover (aesthetically questionable as that one may have been); it wasn't even the compromise cover (which does not squeeze the title into a little banner beneath the cross); it was a modified version used for the cassette (and, I guess, the CD?)

is there a thread for great covers, shit records---?

Best Yes Studio Album

yeah i dig the funky kingston aesthetic

This one always cracks me up:

https://i.discogs.com/6s70-PY3OI42e48527oFXFo3WsGFgXR84EqIJSe77u0/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTkyODkw/MjMtMTQ3ODAxODA3/OS0yNTg0LmpwZWc.jpeg

My pick for this thread is Sonhos e Memórias 1941 - 1972 by Erasmo Carlos. It's one of the best Brazilian pop albums ever, and the cover art is a stylized collage of photos of contemporary and historical pop culture icons (mostly American). I don't have an issue with the massive 70s font block letters or even the clashing color scheme; I just find it utterly bizarre and distracting to put photos of Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, John Lennon, JFK, Richard Nixon, and Bob Dylan (from the cover of New Morning lol) et al. on one's own album cover. It just occurred to me that he might have been going for a low-rent Sgt. Pepper's kind of thing. Whatever the intent, it just makes me cringe:

Front:

https://i.discogs.com/BADH0pVX3rZzXm3VpalpN06nR5o5Q65yc_uBOcN3SFQ/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:606/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM5NDE2/MTItMTQ0NDc3NDUy/OS0yMDIxLmpwZWc.jpeg

Back:

https://i.discogs.com/rSOtFHf2woj1npaYXbDIEae9S9pZsX3STNYJCUgxq1I/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:594/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTM5NDE2/MTItMTQ0NDc3NDUz/MS0zNTQyLmpwZWc.jpeg

jimb otm. i always thought it was pretty terrific that you can do this by cropping that cover:

https://i.imgur.com/ZvjBK7i.png

don't know what's more intimidating there: the eyes or "the mustache."

what the hell is wrong with Funky Kingston?

it kinda reminds me of Milton Glaser

Also, extremely hurt to see BGM appear here, etc wtf wtf wtf… that image is perfect

https://i.discogs.com/VkhSi5VkhhNKDcq2c7HM3sBmxZSYQY7sQXScNt2OpPc/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:598/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTE3NDI0/MzM3LTE2NTE3NDA1/NDItMTQ1NC5qcGVn.jpeg

Irma Thomas - In Between Tears

Also one for the yawnsomely literal thread, I suppose.

The toilet Beggars Banquet - much prefer the fancy replacement

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/Beggar_Banquet.jpg

OTM

KING - We Are King

Amazing album but that album cover is a mess

As a kid the Let It Bleed cover grossed me out, especially the olive pizza in the middle of the stack. But it, like Beggars Banquet, was trying to be obnoxious so I'd consider both jackets a success.

I guess those kinds of moves were why the Stones appeared in Circus and other metalish publications into the 80s, even if they didn't musically fit. Those in the magazine editors' generation saw the Stones as part of that same transgressivelness as the Guns 'n' Roses Robt Williams cover, etc.

Also, extremely hurt to see BGM appear here, etc wtf wtf wtf… that image is perfect

― brimstead, Tuesday, July 19, 2022 4:52 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

yeah ok I take it back, I like the cover now. there's definitely a keen sense of irony to everything on this album which I didn't quite pick up on before

KING - We Are King

Amazing album but that album cover is a mess

its very 90s maximalist which I think actually works for this album. but yeah it does feel cheap

The classic Stones-era had the best "bad" (or rather greatest ugly) cover art.

Not fucking terrible, but yawnsomely literal, thoroughly mediocre execution, and it's an awful pic of Harley. (You can argue whether it's a classic album too I guess, but I love it.)

https://i.discogs.com/BD1fcsOS32XQdqztw5orTfyC9f8YXmYJpITAF8kO2AM/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:596/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTgxMzU0/NC0xMzc5NjE4NjE4/LTkxMTcuanBlZw.jpeg

“Great album” may be strong here, but it’s a very good album, with a total “what were they thinking??” cover:

https://i.discogs.com/qUrCUXOz2FYr8yffYqVuH-1tjZe0-IRYT4hLIrkuLO4/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:588/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTc3ODEx/NTktMTU0OTM1NzQ5/NC0yODk5LmpwZWc.jpeg

(Apparently, the guy also ended up suing them, saying his image was used without his consent)

“Worth it!”

The "It wasn't you, it was just someone like you" defense did not hold water

I'd say this one doesn't look very promising: a clunky juxtaposition of glum photo and cheesy "Age of Aquarius" illustration:

https://i.discogs.com/2-SxdFAqR7DNnyxknTiqH83cy9s6zTj11cHuWIVJs34/rs:fit/g:sm/q:40/h:300/w:300/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTIyOTY4/NTQtMTU5NTAzMzcw/NC00Mzg4LmpwZWc.jpeg

Re: Matchbox 20. The '90s were a golden age of terrible repurposing of rando portfolio photos for album art, advertising etc.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/22/Dolmen_Music.jpg
Meredith Monk - Dolmen Music

Always found it disappointing and drab (framing, B&W, font, everything) and wished there was actual art

This prompted me to dig through Hipgnosis' portfolio on Discogs, because I remember that a lot of their album covers were bad in an irritatingly fussy way. With bad visual puns. Which brought me to Toe Fat's Toe Fat from 1970, which isn't a classic album, but ye gods:
https://i.discogs.com/36XV6sWj5Guc--Y1FT926vUxkGXAtrqT7GXrGLXdc0g/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:586/w:600/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9SLTU0NTc0/NTktMTM5Mzg1NzE4/Ny05MDc1LmpwZWc.jpeg

bad in an irritatingly fussy way

Hypgnosis should repurpose that Toe Fat cover for the new Animals remix.

Kinks' Schoolboys In Disgrace is no classic either, but it's surprisingly excellent and concise for their 70s albums, but I reckon it is widely dismissed/ignored due to it looking like this
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/510tX++V93L._AC_SX355_.jpg

My LP copy also has RCA "Nice Price" written on it, which doesn't help.

Yeah I suspect "medium-to-good album, terrible covert art" is the bigger category, and the one that's les to far more medium-to-good music going under heard and underappreciated.

RHCP reveal deliberately ugly cover art, in crassly transparent attempt at qualifying for “Classic Album” status (and thus making this thread):

https://media.pitchfork.com/photos/62dd3b7e4e5e79e85598914b/master/w_1280,c_limit/Red-Hot-Chili-Peppers-Return-of-the-Dream-Canteen.jpg

I feel like there are at least three elements on that cover that are supposed to represent jizz.

^^New Borad Description?

that RHCP album cover is sick, better than all their previous album covers combined

but I like 90s goa trance compilation art so wdik

https://static.stereogum.com/blogs.dir/2/files/2014/02/Soundgarden-Superunknown-608x597.jpg

Soundgarden - Superunknown

ps. this thread is re classic albums vs crap covers.
while i am open(ish) to the idea that rhcp vs classic album status,
no-one knows re this album.
yet.
but yeah, that's a truly dreadful album cover.

Yeah I posted it mainly as a lark & b/c this thread was active (I actually searched first for “Deliberately bad cover art,” but no dice)

Never realized how bad the cover of Superunknown was until seeing that post just now.

Never realized how bad the cover of Superunknown was until seeing that post just now.

― Meme for an Imaginary Western (James Redd and the Blecchs),

co-sign.

It's not bad, it's just very, very, very, very, very 1994.

If you squint, he looks like a molten lava version of the Joker from the old Batman: The Animated Series cartoon from the '90s

Not really a Soundgarden fan, but I was always under the impression that this was the closest they ever got to a truly superb album, albeit one that feels highly derivative of Led Zeppelin and other classic hard rock acts.