Seems like Spinal Tap’s Smell the Glove should get an honorable mention.

Original Guns'n'Roses Appetite for Destruction cover had a robot that had just done the "business " to a chick with her panties around her ankles. It got pulled so fast!!

For Me "Country Life" by Roxy Music, the "Butcher Block" Album cover by The Beatles, and "Electric Ladyland" by Jimmy Hendrix are the best controversial albums covers (That I own)

I was very lucky to get a BUTCHER COVER back in 1985 at a Beatlefest in Chicago. One of my friends called me up and said there was a guy in NYC that had one signed by John Lennon. I was curious and asked about it and said I would make a trade and give him a few hundred bucks. At first he said no to the deal then a few months later he said yes and made the deal to this day its still my most prized item

Never thought I would hear the word “controversial” said so many times in the span of 15 minutes LOL!!

Never mind the Bollocks, here's the Sex Pistols. After the release of the album, Police raided shops in the UK, forcing owner's to cover up the offending word on the sleeves and posters. It ended up in a big court case here in the UK under the obscene publications act. However, a High Court Judge eventually ruled that Bollocks (a slang term for testicles) also was an old anglo saxon word meaning nonsense. So the Bollocks are now legal in the UK.

I remember sseing a copy of "Some Girls" for msale in a record shop, that had the "under construction" inner sleeve, but not all of the faces from the original wig add had been punched loose. They were still in place covering what was underneath. I am guessing that more than one of these made it out of the factory to be sold, but I have never seen another one, nor have I ever seen one listed for sale in the after market.

I miss albums , you cant clean your seedy pot on a MP3 .........oh wait pot doesn't even have seeds any more

You missed the Roxy Music album “Country Life” where the two young women in their scanty underwear were removed from the original version.

This video would be much, much, much longer if we were talking about heavy metal band album covers, alone.

In late 1982, KISS released Creatures if the Night, which had Ace Frehley on the cover, even though he had secretly left. When the album was reissued in 1985, the new cover included Bruce Kulick , who had not joined them until December of 84, and he was not on the album either.

Similar to the Lynard Skinnard album presented here, Dream Theater's Live Scenes from New York was recalled immediately after release. The cover showed the twin towers in flames (from other elements of the artwork, not the towers actually on fire) but since the album had the misfortune of being released on September 11, 2001 it was immediately pulled.

Here's one you missed, Mom's Apple Pie 1972 original cover was banned.

This is one of the things I miss about records. You also forgot the Black Crowes Amorica cover. Liz Phair's self titled album cover created quite a stir too.

Did not know "Love It To Death" was retouched. Might be interesting to look at album back covers, also gatefold art which was censored, such as the gatefold art on the DKs "Frankenchrist".

I'm surprised that you didn't mention Poisons "Open Up and Say Ahh". Dream Theater also had to re-release their 2001 "Live in New York" (originally released 9/11/01) for reasons similar to Lynnard Skynyrd.

I hope that you enjoy this video on controversial album covers. Please feel free to like, comment, and share!

“All kinds of mental stress” I think the mental stress he’s referring to is the thought that a rich band and a rich record label won’t give him any money if he doesn’t pretend to be upset about it. Having said that, including this as a “controversial” album cover is really stressing the definition of that word.

What about the original album cover for "Smell the Glove" by Spinal Tap?

I had the street survivors with the flames and I gave it to my friend for his birthday period and then I found another one so I still have one.

When it comes to the Stones, your two picks were good, but I would've gone with the original album cover for 'Beggars Banquet' which was a graffiti covered bathroom wall, complete with toilet! It's the album cover which didn't see the light of day until a 90's CD re-release.

Country Life by Roxy Music; Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin; Captain Fantastic by Elton John are the ones I have. I'm grateful they covered John and Yoko! Just subscribed to your channel as I just discovered it today. Loved your thoughts on the album covers!

Really interesting bits of history. I noticed that on the Sticky Fingers the zipper left a bit of a mark on the vinyl too. I agree it is one of their greatest albums. I thought Beggar's Banquet might have made this list.

First cover I thought of was The Black Crowes' Amorica.

JANE'S ADDICTION- Ritual de lo Habitual STRYPER- To Hell With the Devil BON JOVI- Slippery When Wet SCORPIONS- Virgin Killer POISON- Open Up & Say Ahh SPINAL TAP- Smell the Glove KISS- Creatures of the Night (not exactly banned- just reissued with a non-makeup cover) EXODUS- "Pleasures of the Flesh" BOXER- "Below the Belt"

You left out ELP's Brain Salad Surgery which had an airbrushed penis superimposed over the throat of the model on the front cover. A lot of copies went out before someone noticed.

After Sticky Fingers came out... when Motley Crue did their TOO FAST FOR LOVE album... they used a shot of Vince Neil's zipper for the album cover ... as a homage to Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers album.

"Moontan" - Golden Earring. Great vid, I remember all these albums.

As some others have commented, Scorpions Virgin Killer was very controversial, and I believe banned, but I still managed to get one in a minor record store here in the UK. Also the Rush album Permanent Waves, with the newspaper showing the wrong US political headline I think was changed shortly after its release

The cover of Street Survivors was changed at the request of Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Theresa Gaines, Steve Gaines' widow, as the Flame cover showed Steve engulfed in flames. The replacement cover? MCA switched the back photo to the front, and across the back placed "this album was released with a different cover" across the back cover.

My favorite controversial covers include the Scorpions "Virgin Killer", Golden Earring's "Moontan" and David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs",

Did he really miss Scorpions' Virgin Killer or did I just miss it?

Dream Theater - “Live: Scenes from New York”. Had the unfortunate fate of being released on 9/11/01 and showed the NYC skyline in flames, prominently featuring the twin towers of the World Trade Center.

Poison's "Open Up and Say Ahh!" album is another one that could have made the list.

Another problem with Sticky Fingers was that the zipper was actually damaging one of the tracks, that was solved by shipping it with the zipper down. And Spinal Tap’s Smell The Glove should count.

sticky fingers original uk album had an open can of blood with fingers sticking out. the zipper idea was i think done by andy warhol and when you opened it it had life size underwear but it wasnt jaggers junk in it it was a warhol "actor" well that was the rumor anyway.

I have closely examined "The Shmenge's Go Mod" - Yosh and Stan Shmenge - and have discovered the "hidden message" on the album. Esoteric? You decide. It is "Eat more cabbage rolls and drink more coffee..mumumum good!".

MCA recalled the Lynyrd Skynyrd album over concerns that the flame artwork would be considered tone-deaf

Dude, the reason The Blind Faith cover was so controversial is not just the topless photo. SHE WAS 11 YEARS OLD!

"Blood Rock" Debut Album Cover. 1970 "Jump On It" by Montrose (Featuring Sammy Hagar)

A couple you didn't mention... Supertramp's "Indelibly Stamped" from 1971 features the naked torso of a heavily tattooed young lady. I believe there were some censored and alternative covers for this one, but I've never seen one in real life. Good album, but from the era before "Crime of the Century", when they got really big, so relatively few people have heard (of) it. Not sure if this counts, because the airbrushing occurred before the album cover was printed, but ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery" features art by H.R. Giger before he became known for his work on the movie "Alien". Truly a weird cover, it features the face of a prostitute with whom Giger was obsessed. The original artwork included, um, an erect phallus aimed for her chin, which appears on the cover as a glowing blob suggesting, perhaps, what might have been. One of their best albums and a truly memorable cover..

And in similar fashion to the Blind Faith album, the Scorpions' 4th album "Virgin Killer" from 1976 has a similar cover but even more risque than the Blind Faith one. Banned in the US for sure. And I can't blame them. I'd say it was a much inappropriate cover. So instead the US release has simply a band photo on the cover. But in regard to the original cover for The Beatles' Yesterday and Today , I don't think that one would be deemed as offensive today. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of that one.

I think frankenchrist by dead Kennedy’s should be in this list. Album cover changed by the band, but a court case ensued over the inserted poster

What about the Dead Kennedy's album being pulled for having the " explicit " poster of an H. R. Giger painting.

It's funny you mention that the Blind Faith cover was different here in the U.S. I was about 10 in the mid-80s and used to see the original album cover in Caldors, often uncovered, but occasionally with the price sticker where yours showed the band name. I was too young to make the leap that the thing she was holding might be interpreted in a certain way. I had a notion of what the 60s were about and sort of saw it as was described or maybe rationalized as: some sort of commentary about nature and technology. I've read about it, the model used was hoping to get a horse out of it.

Cannibal Corpse - Butchered at Birth Guns-N-Roses - Appetite for Destruction

VISION AND THE VOICE by KOMMUNITY FK was famously controversial, as was the original cover for the BOW WOW WOW LP LAST OF THE MOHICANS, and BLUE SISTERS SWING by FLESH FOR LULU. Most of the 80s CRASS output had cover art which ruffled some feathers.

Vampire Weekend got sued for using a photo w/out permission too; the album Contra

No Guns N Roses "Appetite For Destruction"? The Robert Williams artwork caused quite a bit of furor in the late 80s.

Foreigner's Head Games is kind of in line with that Mamas and Papas album. Also a classic album cover.

Most of the album covers were only banned in the US. The rest of the world could handle the artwork.

What about Jane's Addiction ritual de lo habitual, or Poison's open up and say ahh.........

I have a excellent copy of Three Dog Night "Hard Labor" album promo without the Band-aid covering the birth of the record from a lizard chicken lady in stirrups. It's indescribable, and shocking!

_The toilet was blocked, wait... what_ 🚽

Not sure if it’s true but I have always heard White Rider by Skrewdriver was banned

I own the Blind Faith pubescent girl cover, which I bought as a replacement from Amazon for the one I bought in '69. I was pretty surprised it was still around. I also own the original M&P "toilet" cover but it's in such bad shape it's not worth anything. Another controversial cover I own is the Badfinger "No Dice" cover with the babe in a gypsy or belly dancing outfit with her hand sticking through the pants. Again, it's not in good shape otherwise it might be worth something to a collector. And IIRC Mother's of Invention's "We're Only in it for the Money" Sgt. Pepper's-esque montage had (has?) a picture of Jimi Hendrix fondling a pre-pubescent girl.

There was a Dream Theatre album called “Live Scenes From New York” which was by pure coincidence and cosmic bad luck released on September 11th 2001, which showed a burning big apple with barbed wire around the apple! (I am not making this up!!!!)

Picked up an original Blind Faith "space plane" last summer. Have most of the vinyl you featured save the John and Oko. Music first.

Witchcraft emblem on Rush 2112 & Black Sabbath , Peronoid , The Who's Next by The Who ???So many Heavy Metal groups like Slip knot , Megadeath , etc ..... !

Aerosmith's 'Nine Lives' cover. The original cover had Lord Vishnu with a cat head, dancing on a snake demon. This angered a LOT of Hindu people, and they had to re-release it with completely different artwork

youre videos are amazing! keep doing what youre doing, rock on!! 🤘

When I was a teenager in the 80s I wanted to be an album cover artist. Then CDs happened.

L7 - Smell the Magic - Instabanned as it had a guy with his head between a pair of women's thighs ...

How the hell could you leave 'Houses of the Holy' off this list? Also, 'Amorica' by The Black Crowes...

My aunt has every single Beatles album. US/UK/Ger/Japanese and yes she has the first release butcher cover. I hope I get her collection. Most are still in cellophane. Most still have the price tag. She even has MANY of them unopened.

No Appetite For Destruction? Really??

I remember having the censored white cover cannibal corpse album butchered at birth without the lyrics.I found the real one years later with the sick cover that would make most people cringe.

Led Zeppelin's 'Houses of the Holy' would raise a few eyebrows these days. It's blacked out on Google.

I actually have 2 MONO copies of the Butcher cover - both are pristine in mint condition

The first two albums by Exodus had artwork that was banned. Check out the original covers of Bonded by Blood and Pleasures of the Flesh.

Some extreme Metal Bands have controversial Covers.I think of Canibal Corpse.Also,once I held a record in my Hands that shoved a man decapitated by a train.I can't remember the Name of the Band.Land of Rape and Honey by Ministry is also very hard to swallow.The Cover shows burned corpses from a very near Perspektive. The Cover of Big Black's "Songs about f....ing"could also offend some people.

I originally learnt that the Yesterday and Today cover art was the Beatles objection to Capitol butchering their albums with the album art idea contrived by Paul and John. Who thinks this is correct?

Mom's Apple Pie 1972. The original cover is a collector's dream. It was quickly redone.

no Smell the Glove?

I have the original Some Girls album with the celebrity faces, I wonder how much it is worth

Party Music by The Coup, although I believe it was pulled before release.

Rumor has it that the creature on the cover of Diamond Dogs is an unaltered photo of the Sovereign - Monstroso.

my rubber soul / revolver is parlaphone

I have them all but my Beatles cover is my mono paste over copy I bought when it came out. Jim

What about the original album cover for Appetite for Destruction?

Nirvana - Nevermind

Pretty tame by “modern” terms, but how about - The first album by “Free” (with the “cosmic crotch-shot”) - The first Velvet Underground album with “Peel and See” sticker. (P.S. Which was the early-ish Stone’s single-cover with the band dressed as women?)

3:15 I wonder if those vintage karens also wined about the pictures of toilets in newspaper ads? And I can only assume they covered their eyes when they seen a toilet in person.

Controversial album covers Does not include Mayhem's Dawn of The Black Hearts

Wild Cherry - any cover Scorpions - In Trance Scorpions - Virgin Killer Scorpions - Taken By Force Scorpions - Lovedrive Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

I either have the trunk or butcher cover album. I got it from my dad years ago. I need to figure out which one it is.

Surprised Jimi's Electric Ladyland wasn't included

Cannibal Corpse- Tomb of the Mutilated.

loved it., but I thought you would have as a top 10 Jimi Hendrix -electric ladyland . nude ladies on cover. 2 later ones , Body Count- cop killers. cover had a man with cop killer on chest /new cover had cop killer removed. other one Dream Theater - live scenes from New York. cover shows the twin towers on fire, album came out right before 9-11. also Ginger Baker had said in a interview that was his daughter and saw nothing wrong with it

No mention of Electric Ladyland??!!

Little known Chicago-sounding band called Mom's Apple Pie (circa '73) Painting of an apple pie with one slice out of it, had a clearly defined vagina in the middle of the pie. In protest of being censored they made 3 other covers making fun of censorship.

The indents from the sticky fingers lp affect the ya ya's back cover most...sometimes getting to the vinyl itself... exile followed sticky fingers...and that package had it's own issues

I have them both...the Beatles Butcher with and without the trunk paste over....my good friend owned a record store in Ridgefield Ct, called Discobolus and he sold me an original butcher before he STUPIDLY returned them (he was all business)....which by the way even to this day he would gladly buy it from me!

The way he says "controversial" is really twisting my melon man

I bought a compilation album by Island records. It featured a young girl holding a stick of rock (candy stick?). It was called 'Fill your head with rock'.

If you want to see controversial, look up the album covers from Black Flag, Big Black, or The Dayglo Abortions.

Not that big in the US so it flew under the radar: Witchfinder General Death Penalty.

What about the original album cover of "Moontan" by Golden Earring? The one that shows a naked show girl on the cover.

Two more from the 80's and 90's Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" and the 1990 Poison album "Flesh and Blood" the blood around the tattoo was removed

My most controversial album cover was Guns and Roses Appetite for Destruction.