Rolling Stone published a list of the 50 worst albums covers of all time. For young folks, an album cover was a 12-inch square cardboard sleeve that covered a vinyl recording of songs. The artwork on the cover was very important, and often involved a team of designers trying to make a statement that would sell records. But sometimes that design went very wrong. The music may have been wonderful. The album may have sold millions of copies. Or it might have tanked and ended up in the discount bin because the cover art looked so bad.
Rolling Stone didn't bother with small town studios or self-published album covers, which can be hilariously bad. No, these are from major record labels, featuring at least some artists you know well. Some of the selections seem like a case of laziness. Others are trying too hard, or the aesthetic was off-putting, or an idea they though was edgy turned out to be just plain silly (it could have been the drugs). The examples above are from the list, but they are far from the worst. I don't want to make anyone queasy if they decide not to see the entire list. -via Metafilter