10) Scorpions – Virgin Killer (1976)

This was released in 1976, but even today it has to be censored. The members of Scorpions blamed the record company for steering them towards a naked image of a child, barely covered by cracks in glass. Pretty much everyone kicked off about the artwork, and rightly so. They went with a classic band shot instead, looking good fellas.

11) The Game – Jesus Piece (2012)

Unsurprisingly the Catholic church went nuts over this one and called Interscope Records direct to let them know what they thought about the art work. The record company knelt at the Pope’s feet and The LA Rapper went for an image of his deceased brother instead. Do not frig with the might of the Catholic church. Those dudes have got some connections.

12) Cannibal Corpse – Butchered At Birth (1991)

Hurray! Cannibal Corpse! Everyone loves these death metal scamps. They have quite a reputation for offensive, gore splattered art work, but butchered at birth took it a bit too far for the censors. I guess I can kind of see why. Most of the band’s album covers were banned in Germany right up until 2006. The band didn’t bother doing a second cover though, the record company just packaged it in a black case.

13) Chumbawamba, ‘Anarchy’ (1994)

Well, if you can’t sell records on the strength of your music, you may as well try to offend a few people, get your album banned and sell some records that way. Of course, the original image sent housewives into meltdown. They replaced it with this morbidly chincey inlay.

So people, if you’re in a band and you wanna get some press. Make yourself a disgusting cover picture and you’ll be well on your way.

☛ More Cover Art: Legendary Album Covers In LEGO