The 25 worst album covers of all time
Designing CD covers is a dream for pretty much every designer, we often feel that we will be more free working for other artists, which is quite true. Unfortunatly, sometimes singers pick the the wrong designers for their music, following is the disastrous result of bad designers creating CD covers.
1. Saveta Jovanovic
I don’t know what part is more depressing: the hairstyle or the hairy legs?
2. Boned
Hard-rock guitar players are soooo manly…
3. The Higher they Climb
Elvis-style rocker tries to catch a star, blurred font, lovely.
4. The Handsome beasts
Not sure any comment is needed on this one…
5. The karatist preacher
Ouch, fear god’s power damned atheists!
6. Leberkäs’ Hawaii
Photoshop skills anyone?
7. Tozovac
Want to be a real man? Get drunk near some military equipment.
8. The Best of Abba
Couldn’t leave Richard Clayderman out of this…
9. Alla Pugatjova
Well… in some weird way I kind of like this one…
10. ManOwar anthology
Shitty fonts, shitty hairstyles, shitty photo,… nuff said!
11. Live it up
The band is a pretty good one, I don’t get how they could accept such a cover.
12. Abba – Gracias por la musica
Bad music should get a bad cover, right?
13. Def Leppard
I would really have wanted to see the brainstorming session for the creation of this cover.
14. Bajo
You gotta love that suit!
15. Jesus use me
Not sure Jesus wants to use those girls…
16. Li’l Richard & his all stars
Poor rabbits.
17. Christian Crusaders
They just stopped their crusade for lunch.
18. Europe – The final countdown
I hope this was also their final cover.
19. ManoWar – Into Glory Ride
Yes it’s them again… I couldn’t resist.
20. Foster Edwards’ Orch. – What’s Next?
Honestly I don’t really want to know what’s next…
21. Minitel Rose – The french machine
Sooo… futuristic!
22. The Bee Gees
I hope the designer of this cover is hiding in a tin can now.
23. Kjell Kraghe
Why?
24. Cerrone – Supernature
Thow horrible fonts with a WTF picture, could it get any better?
25. Senor Coconut
Not sure if you could expect any better with a name like that…
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i lol’d at some.
i mean.. the got builders on the sticks!
But for some reason i like 11. Live it up – The Moon Sausage Earth Cover
These easily redefine the word ‘crap’
awesome collection! Love 14 & 15
I am still laughing @ #23. …… Why? – that is so funny
I think some of these are really good covers.
ManOwaR’s entire schtick was leather, long hair and heroics. Their music, live shows and image were built around it; why the covers would reflect anything else—I don’t really know.
Another I have to disagree with is Minitel Rose. French modern new wave / pop. They do 70s/80s themed videos (and their music is a pretty distinct modern take on the dancier pop of that time. I think the album cover parodies that false expectation of the “future” really well.
Haha. These are fantastic.
But 11 isn’t that bad, really =P 15 however, must be the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen.
Haha, 23 is Swedish, like me. Almost everyone had glasses like that in the Swedish 70s – we’ve gone a long way since.
the #21 Minitel Rose – The french machine is a new one (not an oldie!). I find it very nice
ahaha awesome!
A bit of Irony never hurt anyone! But, some of those are truly frightening.
This post made my day!
Autch, its makes my eyes hurt!
But I admit I had to laugh a lot…
They are soooo bad, that actually they become “good”.
Mirko,
Then I went “LOL”. I mean, do they really exist?
I was feeling bored this eve, until I saw all of those album covers ~
:p
LOL! These are awful, BUT it’s the kind of collection I’d group together as a print for my wall. The conversations it would kick up at a party would be great. Plus, if some of these concepts were designed today, for a high-profile band or artist, you’d see them rewarded by one of HOW magazine’s annuals. Then: crap. Now: works of art.
Not only Minitel Rose is a recent creation. Sr. Coconut’s album it’s contemporary (and obviously ironic) as well.
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Aside from the hair on the woman’s legs (1. Saveta Jovanovic), I’d have to say the worst design is “6. Leberkäs’ Hawaii”. Some really bad designs!
well…. you realize that senor coconut is a parody?
http://www.rocknrollweekend.com/Worst_Album_Covers_Ever1.pdf
Ooops the link doesn’t seem to work…
http://www.rocknrollweekend.com/
then
“OTHER GREAT STUFF”
4th headline
/Peter
There’s no way around it… that was a great way to start my Tuesday. Thanks for putting this together!
The Christian Crusaders had a 5th member, but the photo shoot ran long and Billy got really hungry.
Not flattering that three of them are from my country (including the woman with hairy legs), given that I’m a designer and that I, well, epilate every couple of weeks…
Some of these are actually very GOOD design – a few of them are great albums as well. Senor Coconut and Cerrone are fabulous. What are you like 12 years old?
Im not sure that you are make’n fun of the design work so much as the bands themselves. of course some of them arent great (more dated than anything) but i think maybe you just missed the point on many of them. not all design has to be slick and modern. just because you missed the images intended message and dont get it doesnt mean its bad/funny… Im just generally annoyed by this article.
I’m pretty sure this will be my favorite blog post this week; Kjell Kraghe is ace.
I agree with Hank, you really dont know what youre talking about on some of these
Hey, you lay off ABBA!
Though I agree that’s a pretty bad cover, all boring and bland.
And the hair on the Faith Tones is nothing short of epic. It’s my favourite of the whole list, though that “Karatist Preacher” one comes close.
here is my contribution to this collection
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuxicek/2887967735/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuxicek/2923582342/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuxicek/2982957709/
fantastic !!
Señor Coconut is a fiction band and one of the many projects from Atom Heart and that cover was obviously designed like that to resemble old mambo lp´s. one does not judge a book by the cover either, so…
Šta fali Tozovcu, majke ti?
Sam…. your post made those even funnier!!!
Wow.. all shockingly terrible.. in my experience, musicians have set ideas and won’t take designer’s advice at all.. they just need someone to put it together and email it..
lol. Great list. The Faith Tones. You can never get enough of the Faith Tones!
#25 is intentional ugly…
Great album with latin covers of Kraftwerk.
#25 is intentional ugly…
Great album with latin covers of Kraftwerk.
Tozovac is the best. Think I gonna have to buy all of his discography.
And you own all these records? You must be the worst collector of all times.
C’mon – Def Leppard trucking that huge guitar from the moon is cool! I loved that album : )
That just made my day! How far we have come in design…
Senor Coconut has you by the (samba)balls since he’s an obvious spoof. Uwe Schmidt is his real name.
MORE!!! MORE DAMN YOU, MORE!!!!
Hilarious
Bring back the Retro! and in the commented words of album number 23. Kjell Kraghe;…. Why. too funny
great post
How about Scorpions – Virgin Killer, that’s the most worst ever….
I agree with all of these except for 21 and 18. The Europe one especially. The song is about space, it’s a space themed cover.
32 is kinda cool
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA OH GOODNESS! I’m so glad I checked this out!
Totally made my day. There is some gold here man..
Thanks so much for the laugh.
LOVE IT!
you even got Alla Pugachova
HAHAHA, funny to see Jacob Dahlin (great swedish tv-personality who sadly died of aids several years ago) as Superman on the Alla Pugatjova-cover.
Nice list. Ugly stuff, indeed! Ey Guys, you ain’ t seen the worst of it! You ain’t heard of Manele singers yet! Their album covers- The Epiphany in Kitsch!
coconut is a JOKE……
Really fine collection, I’m still laughing.
But it would probably be much less hilarous without your short but well-found comments
congratulations!
Why def leppard?
That cover is genius!
- One sausage is falling down. Because it used to be Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. On this album Young fell off.
- It stands for American imperialism.
- The moontravel was baloney.
And the comments to covers like “Photoshop” are just as bad as the hair on the legs of the first cover.
Since the 1st version of Photoshop came out about 8 years later.
I think the fat guy ate the other guy, so technically, he’s still in the picture.
Jag är på tåget och folk måste tro att jag är gallen!!!Min favo är nog ananas- killen. Manowar? What’s the deal?
so do I, and I like their music too
I had to come back and look at these again. Oh yeah DEF LEOPARD!! hahahahhahahaaaaa. makes me wanna cry.
Awesome, hilarious list, but how could you leave out “W.A.S.P. – Animal (F**k Like a Beast)”?
Interesting nostalgic ideas review
Oh ma gawd, I’m hurtin’ from laughin’
When Jesus passes the offer of using the ‘The faith tones’ I’m pretty sure Mike Crain will take his honors!
My God this compilation made me laugh till my stomach hurt! Thanks
Señor Coconut is actually all Kraftwerk covers.
hahahah…..
good!!
Here’s a huge Swedish collection of awful album art:
http://katastrofalaomslag.blogspot.com/
I think that the Crosby, Stills & Nash, Def leppard and Bee Gees covers are quite good actually..
I must say n.º 25 (Señor Coconut) is “bad-tastingly” made on purpose, made to be ironic and funny.
Just for information Minitel Rose means “pink minitel” and was the ancestor of the internet porn website, when the first french geeks saw porn in black and green with a resolution of 320*240 (or 160*120?) on the minitel
“Another I have to disagree with is Minitel Rose. French modern new wave / pop. They do 70s/80s themed videos (and their music is a pretty distinct modern take on the dancier pop of that time. I think the album cover parodies that false expectation of the “future” really well.”
–> +1, it’s just design. See the clip of Justice-DVNO
Do you even own these records?! Haha that’s probably the worst of it all!
Absolutely, thanks for pointing that out
I would love to see the guy who write this articles try to do some cover on the same years then the release… photoshop?! are u kidding me… it was not even released… as for some i definitly agree.. for some other i couldn’t.. Minitel rose, Europe, Man o War, … all of them were definitly on the style of their years, and were in accord to the style that the people were waiting from them (Why do something for ManoWar??!… 4 guys in suits… or 4 bimbos on a smimming pool…)… It’s like looking of the hair style of the 60′s and saying :”how could you go out with hairstyle like that now!!!” …. Easy to laugh about it, but for some of them, you were just totally wrong… i would just love to know how old you are…and maybe you should make some more research about the style in the 70′s, 80′s… you should do the same article with some covers released in the last 2 years… THAT would be fun…
Couldn’t be more agree with that…. annoying artciles… missing the point…
Well, I can agree, that all of them look funny and even terrible for a 21st century eye. 4, 5, 7 and 24 are realy “awesome”.
But, on the other hand, do you know something about styles of 60s and 70s. Most of the albums, and so the covers, come from that time, some of them are from 80s. All of the music and cover designs correspond with styles of the era they were made. Those “funny” hairdressed girls from 14 were very modern, when they sung.
So, I agree with the last comment, you should do this with new covers, not to compare old with new.
And by the way, I am not an old lady, but I still like ABBA. Their music is not bad in my oppinion.
I agree on this, they´re making great and funny latino remakes of famous songs, everything around them is kind of parody and “pathos” stuff, a really good one.
we can be happy they were created, so we have something to laught at 
But other covers…of crap
No they dont! they VERIFY the meaning of the word ‘crap’.
SOD – (Stormtroopers of death) – title: speak english or die
thought pretty dubious lyrics, good music but absolutely awfull artwork
In Holland there were a bunch of terrible bands with even worse artwork, Any album of those bands could go on your list: Vitesse, Turbo
Really??
None of those god-awful No Limit hip-hop albums where every rapper is holding a fat wad of dollar bills and diamond-encrusted dollar-sign necklaces??
Good collection though!
my stomach
Not flattering that three of them are from my country
This might sounds impossible, but the ridding cannon guy made lots of money 35 years ago, the guy in blue suit and harry lady also had successful careers. I know this all sound ridiculous but it’s true. The fact is back then you didn’t need good look just to be famous, they are all very talented people, but obviously theirs talents didn’t include fashion
:):)
saveta is sooo sexy with her hairy legs…
You have to consider the year it was made! Some of them are not bad, just old! Where wasn’t computers always.
But it’s really funny anyway, I love 14-17, 12, 1… ohh there is many, I cannot decide
)
Musically speaking, the listed Def Leppard album was their best.
It showcased more ingenuity and technical prowess than their subsequent releases.
See http://www.e-elgo.pl/tygodnik/kazdy-moze-miec-wlasna-plyte-ale-czy-na-pewno
Yes, they incite some laughter.
However (and I’m not taking sides). The artwork was
representative of the times. I’m pretty sure most all
were produced before YOU were born, and considering
the technology available, were considered “interesting”
at the time. (I was born in ’57, so I’ve seen it all).
It’s easy to consider what is “horrible design” considering
what we have, technically available, these days, compared
to what was available back then. I agree on the hairy-legs,
but the hairdo was in concert with those days.
So let’s set a timer. You were bone in 1980 … and these
were produced before you were borne … so let’s see what
comments folks have for graphic art submitted in 2010
when we reach 2040
Just thought I’d provide the flip side of the coin.
Anyone else notice that #7 looks exactly like edward james olmos? hilarious…
oml, my eyes!!
Brothers and sister of steel will unite to fight against the shits like you until we die! We never yield! Into glory we shall ride!
“Blood and fire death and hate, your body I will desecrate
Dogs and vultures eat your flesh the Hall of Hades waits!” ManOwaR
I share the same opinion about Into glory ride. Manowar’s soliders shall kick your fucking ass!
“The torn flesh of a slow death waits for you”
Fuck the world HAIL AND KILL!
Thanks for a good laugh.
t
20 and 24 are priceless.
How come three of the albums are Swedish? Interesting in my eyes how they are somewhat overrepresented… I feel ashamed:)
Err…why do you call these “CD” covers? It dates you.
please, In the above message, my delete web addres…
Def Leppard’s album cover for On Through The Night was AWESOME. I don’t care what you say. The album rocked, too!
the collection is quite funny, but the comments below the images aren’t.
actually i find them quite ignorant. gerhard polt’s “leberkäs hawaii” is actually a very appropriate cover for that record since he is a comedian, who reflects on sort of bad-taste, narrow-minded, petit-bourgeois things – if that makes sense
what a bad collections!!