It’s amazing how times change. What would be considered absolutely unacceptable 40 years ago is the norm now. Sometimes I wonder what people will find completely acceptable 40 years from now. Yikes!
In any case, just for fun, here are 30 or so album covers that were either banned, changed to appease an overly prudish public, or sanitized to keep a retailer happy. Enjoy!
1. The Black Crowes, ‘Amorica’ (1994)Amorica depicted a closeup of a bathing suit with pubic hair showing.The picture was from a 1976 United States Bicentennial issue of ‘Hustler’ magazine and caused quite a controversy. The record company ended up putting out an alternative cover that blacked out the offending image. They loved it in Brazil though. |
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2. Bow Wow Wow, ‘See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah! City All Over, Go Ape Crazy!’ (1981)The singer for Bow Wow Wow was only 15 years old when this album was released. Lwin’s covered-but-naked body on the album cover, prompted her mother to accuse band manager Malcolm Mclaren of exploiting a minor. Scotland Yard even investigated the case. |
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3. Cannibal Corpse, ‘Butchered At Birth’ (1991)This was the death metal band’s second album, and was quickly banned in Germany until June 2006. The very grotesque cover art featured a slaughtered mother-to-be being cut up by a zombie, with her baby apparently about to be slaughtered by another zombie |
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4. Chumbawamba, ‘Anarchy’ (1994)This one doesn’t need any explanation as to why it caused problems. The anti-establishment rockers, whose guitarist Danbert Nobacon very famously drenched Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott at the 1998 Brit Awards, actually intended to cause outrage with this sleeve. Many stores refused to stock it and others covered it with a plain wrapper. |
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5. David Bowie, ‘Diamond Dogs’ (1974)On Diamond Dogs, Bowie was pictures as a man-dog, whose genitals were clearly visible on the reverse sleeve. When record executives realized that this would cause a major stir, they had the offending area airbrushed out. The original albums now command thousands of dollars from collectors. |
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6. Guns N’ Roses, ‘Appetite for Destruction’ (1987)This very disturbing picture of an alien and robot rape scene was the original graphics for the for the cover of Guns N’ Roses’ debut album. In the end they decided to use a completely different image, although this picture did still appear on the inside sleeve of the album. |
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7. The Five Keys, ‘On Stage!’ (1957)The Five Keys were big in the 50’s, which just so happens to be a time when over-prudence was the norm. Rudy West (far left) had his right thumb just barely visible on the record jacket for this release. Of course everyone got really excited about it, because what if someone mistook it for some ahem, other body part? As a result, on later pressings the offensive digit was covered up. |
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8. Roger Waters, ‘The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking’ (1984)When this album (a really under-appreciated album, by the way) was released, complaints that it could be seen as encouraging rape meant that subsequent pressings were changed to have a black bar across the hitch-hikers’ bum. |
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9. Jimi Hendrix, ‘Electric Ladyland’ (1968)Obviously this much nudity wouldn’t do in 1968 – the sleeve as it appears here was banned. Even now, the version you’ll see in the shops features Hendrix’s face covering the album. I guess they ran out of black bars to cover up the bad bits. If you like this album, you should definitely check out the “making of” DVD. |
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Lynyrd Skynyrd, ‘Street Survivors’ (1977)In a fairly ironic twist of fate, only three days after this album came out several members of the band, including lead vocalist and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, died in a plane crash. Suddenly the flames on the sleeve seemed insensitive to everyone, so for many years the flames were airbrushed out. |
18 Comments Received
April 9th, 2009 @11:05 am
I’m totally amazed that you missed Scorpions Virgin Killer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Killer
>> MOD: We left it out because we did an entire article on it recently:
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/12/scorpions-virgin-killer-cover-banned-uk/
April 9th, 2009 @11:46 am
All those albums which were censored in the US, was that by law or something the record companies did because of pressure (or because they were afraid it wouldn’t sell enough)?
April 9th, 2009 @1:46 pm
How could you leave out “Smell the Glove”?!?
April 9th, 2009 @1:49 pm
What about the “Sticky Fingers” album cover by the Rolling Stones (with a real zipper). Surely a classic.
>> MOD: it is actually listed in the article.
April 9th, 2009 @2:01 pm
The one I remember quite vividly was Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet” which you can see both versions of here: http://www.sleazeroxx.com/censored/slippery.shtml
April 9th, 2009 @2:30 pm
No “Smell the Glove”?
April 9th, 2009 @4:25 pm
Lynyrd Skynyrd, ‘Street Survivors’ (1977)
You say the flames were airbrushed out, but the image you linked to is clearly a cover with a completely different photograph.
April 9th, 2009 @4:42 pm
Missing:
1. Foreskin 500: “Manpussy”
http://www.alibris.co.uk/search/music/qwork/400206369/used/Manpussy
2. Butthole Surfers: “Butthole Surfers”
http://www.austinchronicle.com/binary/0fb7/music_phases-18038.jpeg
3. Ism: “A Diet for Worms”
http://commercialzone.blogspot.com/2007/07/ism-diet-for-worms-1983.html
April 9th, 2009 @5:17 pm
I had no trouble buying Blind Faith here in San Diego. As a matter of fact, I still have the album.
April 10th, 2009 @1:37 pm
You also left out The Coup’s 2001 album showing WTC towers on fire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_Music
April 10th, 2009 @6:01 pm
Good list. There are plenty of controversial album covers, way too many to list them all. I didn’t even know about Electric Ladyland.
April 10th, 2009 @6:47 pm
Uh, Jane’s Addiction… (they even had to release a second album cover)
April 13th, 2009 @8:24 am
What album cover was it that the PMRC got freaked out about? Something to do with a crotch if I remember correctly
September 26th, 2009 @2:35 pm
I think Virgin Killer is so controversial, even this list wanted to stay away from it. It’s automatically the winner.
October 11th, 2009 @12:32 am
A record i saw that wasn’t put on the list of censored records is Moontan from Golden Earring with the nude girl cover.later replacement cover was a picture of an earring in an ear
December 6th, 2009 @3:08 am
I don’t see the big deal with some of these. The 2nd one is basically a spoof of a painting and I don’t see what’s the problem with the 4th.
Meanwhile, I think Scorpions’ Virgin Killers and Blind Faith’s selftitled albums have somewhat offensive covers (nude underage girls, one being seen entirely (though the vagina is hidden with something looking like a break in a glass panel) and the other seems only topless though holding a plane with a shape reminding of something else…).
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