Rock and roll has always pushed the limits of music compostion, performance, attire, additude and of course presentation, namely the album covers. The following covers were banned from store shelves until they were changed or in some cases sold in a plain paper wrapper.
The original cover of the Scorpions, Virgin Killer, featured a nude girl partially obscured by shattered glass (which is censored below) and it generated worldwide controversy and protest. The album could only be sold sealed in black plastic in several countries and was replaced in other countries with an alternative cover of the band. The original is named in various "worst album cover" lists: Cracked magazine online named it the No. 1 "Worst Album Cover of All-Time," Gigwise.com lists it as No. 1 of the "50 Most Controversial Album Covers Of All Time", UGO Networks called it one of the "Weirdest Album Covers," and two.one.five magazine placed it No. 6 on the "All-Time Worst Album Covers". The band said that it was the labels idea and was pleased when the album was reprinted with a band photo.
Three days after this album's release Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashed en route to Baton Rouge, LA. The accident claimed the lives of the pilot, copilot, Skynyrd's assistant road manager and three band members: singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines. Out of respect for the survivors and the victims families the original cover image featuring the band in a ring of fire was replaced with a plain band image. The original cover is valued up to $25.00.
Already familiar with cover art controversy the Scorpions once again got the censors attention with the cover of their album Lovedrive, which featured a formally dressed couple in a pose where the man's hand was connected to the women's breast by a wad of bubble gum. This is one of the few Scorpions album covers that was edited upon release in many places, only to have the original uncensored art restored for the remaster series. The back cover featured the same man and woman, but holding a photograph of the band and her breast exposed, without the gum.
Bow Wow Wow was an English new wave band put together by Malcolm McLaren. Controversy arose when their album See Jungle!, the 15 year old Annabella Lwin was posed as the nude woman in a recreation of Manet's famous painting, The Luncheon on the Grass. This was their first album to chart, it reached #192 on Billboards top 200.
Roger Waters solo album went to press with a cover that featured a rear shot of a female hitchhiker, wearing nothing but a red backpack and high-heels. The censors didn't care for it, and a black bar was placed over the woman's backside. The nude cover is valued up to $20.
Bon Jovi's third album, Slippery When Wet, had three Top 10 Billboard hits, two of which reached #1. This made Bon Jovi the first hard rock band to ever have two consecutive #1 Billboard hits. The orginal cover was of a busty young lady in a wet T-shirt but it was rejected and the cover was changed to a wet black garbage bag with the words "Slippery When Wet" traced in the water. In Japan most releases of the album have the original cover art.
The debut album by Guns N' Roses has accumulated worldwide sales of more than 35 million copies and ranks as the highest-selling debut album of all time. The original cover for the album was of a robot rapist on the streets, but it was soon changed to the skull and cross bone cover. The rape cover is valued up to $50.
