Red Hot Chili Peppers - The Abbey Road EP
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Two virgins
The Black Crowes - Amorica
Millie Jackson - Back to the S--t
Here are our picks for the 10 most controversial PG (or mabye PG-13) album covers.
Why? Politics
Green Day released American Idiot two months before the U.S. Presidential election, and tried like hell to keep George W. Bush from getting reelected. Nothing too shocking about the grenade-heart, but politically charged enough to crack this list.
Key Tracks:
9. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Street Survivors (1977)
Why?: Eerie Reminder of Tragic Events
Three members of the band died in a plane crash just 3 days after this album was released, so the label had to put out the fire in a hurry. Last we checked, the original was going for about $100 on eBay.
Key Tracks:
8. The Slim Shady LP - Eminem (1999)
Why? Violence
The Slim Shady LP was our introduction to Eminem, and it featured a picture of a corpse in the trunk of a car, giving a glimpse of his hit "Stan," which came out the next year. He quickly proved to have much more complex issues than the typical thug rapper, and a lot more talent as well.
Key Track:
7. Oral Fixation Vol. 2 - Shakira (2006)
Why? Sex, Religion
Shakira portrayed Eve in the Garden of Eden on this one, which rubbed some people the wrong way. The Colombian singer said that with this cover, she wanted to give Eve a reason to taste the forbidden fruit.
Key Tracks:
6. Get Rich Or Die Tryin' - 50 Cent (2003)
Why? Violence
Did you know that 50 Cent was shot 9 times? When he came on the scene in 2003, every story about him hit on that talking point. The cover played this up as well, with the bullet hole in the glass.
Key Tracks:
5. Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones (1968)
Why? Filth, Possible Blasphemy
Quickly replaced with an image of a white invitation, the original Beggars Banquet cover showed a cleverly-graffitied public toilet. The "God Rolls His Own" message under the band name helped expedite the recall of the cover.
Key Tracks:
4. Mechanical Animals - Marilyn Manson (1998)
Why? Nudity, Weirdness
For the album cover of Mechanical Animals, Marilyn Manson was photographed naked, covered with paint and several layers of latex on specific parts of his body. The resulting androgynous alien look spread the rumor that he had undergone plastic surgery.
Key Tracks:
3. Nevermind - Nirvana (1991)
Why? Baby Nudity
Kurt Cobain got the idea for this one while watching a documentary about birthing pools, and of course the record company wanted to hide the little unit, a request Cobain denied. It made Spencer Elden, who was 4 months old at the time, famous.
Key Tracks:
2. Whipped Cream & Other Delights - Herb Alpert (1965)
Why? Sex
Pretty tame by today's standards, but the sensuous beauty wearing nothing but whipped cream was quite an attention-grabber at the time. Did you know that Alpert had the #1 album slot longer than any other artist in 1966? And no, we didn't forget about The Beatles.
Key Track:
1. Yesterday and Today - The Beatles (1966)
Why? Doll Mutilation
Known as "The Butcher Cover," this compilation album showed The Beatles having a marvelous time amid various bloody doll parts and pieces of meat. Released only in America and Canada, the record company didn't anticipate the outrage, and ended up recalling about 750,000 copies that were initially shipped. Those that slipped through are now collector's items.
Key Tracks:
April 11, 2010
Thanks to Bertrand - Paris, France for his help with this.
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