Stryper's "To Hell With the devil" (1986). Original copies she Angels shoving the devil into an Abyss. This image would have looked great on the Sistine Chapel ceiling 500 years earlier but in the mid 80 the Religious community- who you think would have made up Stryper's fan base, were appalled! Stryper were forced to pull a Spinal Tap and reissue it quickly with a pitch black cover! (C'mon! If the devil were behind that imagery he'd be "divided against himself!" You'll find that in the first three Gospels!)
DIAMOND DOGS - David Bowie (1974) RCA Victor Classic, excellent album! *Also, that Roger Waters album, "The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking" is my fave from your list, as I bought that the week it came out, so I obviously have the original cover and hype sticker. Such a shame to so crudely ban that one with the black rectangle. Especially so because that record is such a narrative album. So intimate and dangerous... Marc ⚡
Alice Cooper's "Love It To Death" (1971). On original copies his thumb is placed right in front of his groin so, at first glance, it looks like the Coop is pulling a Jim Morison! There were two alternative covers: the top and bottom of the design was covered with big white bars, then it was rereleased with the arm airbrushed out all-together. (The current 180 gm reissue features the original cover, however...)
There was also the Blind Faith album with a barely teen, barely dressed girl on the cover taht was banned in the U.S.A and a few other latino countries but available here in Australia and the U.K.
@@peterrech2307 also, the blind faith album isn't even the most offensive one in that category. I would say the virgin killer album by the scorpions tops that.
There are a lot of sick album covers out there. One that comes to mind is NOFX “Heavy Petting Zoo”. And especially for the single artwork cover for “Eating Lamb”
Supertramp's " Indelibly Stamped " album-- topless woman with numerous tattoos, in some places in the US, either a paper bag-like cover halfway up to cover the nipples, or stars( in effect, pasties) covering the nipples And Santana's " Abraxas " album a depicted nude woman sometimes had a very obvious sticker covering her, either on the shrink wrap or on the actual cover( in some parts of the US)
The fact that the black Crowes pulled that stunt after they had to scrap the original version (which was called Tall) and they blew through a million $’s (the blow part isn’t a Euphemism either) is nuts. But all that said it’s their best album, and some of the Tall sessions were later released with a more tasteful cover. I don’t know how they weren’t cut from their label.
The first Moby Grape album on vinyl showed one of the members shooting a bird. There also was a poster inside with the same. The finger on the cover was later blotted out. I bought the cd also and the finger has returned!
I have a British copy of Pros & Cons Hitchhiking when it was initially released. The same album released in North America at that time had her in red shorts.
I was in High School when Poison and G'n'R were released. - After I graduated in 1989, I worked at Record World (Sep '89) and we still had some original Poison albums stocked away (it was released in 1988). We weren't allowed to sell them, and the manager wouldn't even allow me to buy it strange enough. - I actually never the G'n'R cover - I remember hearing about Bon Jovi because it was never officially released. - Not sure when I bought U2 (1991), but I'm pretty sure it was very early. I have the cardboard release., and not the jewel case. For some reason, at Sam Goody, when you bought the cardboard release they tried to sell you the jewel case instead, but gave you the option. I'm thinking it was censored pretty quickly or possibly upon release? I checked to see what version I have, and Adam has a great big X.
i had it not in the day it was released ,that at the time i remenber seeing the footage in London of several people in line to at 24h buy the first copy but i only bought it when for sale in my town wich is somedays after everywhere else but only a month after i watched on the news and went to see my version of the cover and there it was ,a worm
The sweet off the record sleeve is pretty cool - cocaine spoon stylus got past the censors lol - virgin killer is way more offensive tho - animal magnetism pretty bad too
in my country there wasn´t a problem and at the same time it came out a album called "gold ballads" with a photo from the same photo shoot of "love at the first sting"
honorable mention: not that the cover was banned, per se, but Prince's Lovesexy album cover got some heat when it was released in '88 --- he was near naked on the cover. If I recall, a Lovesexy sticker was strategically on the cover, while other stores put the album behind the counter. I THINK, it was Target that choose not to carry the album. I would say if anyone has any of those original albums on this list, with the original artwork, I bet they would be worth some. cash.
I actually remember when lovesexy was released. This was the hardest cd to ask my dad to buy for me. I was so embarrassed but it didn’t stop me though. Lol
if the Mamas & Papas album is banned then so would Rolling Stones “Beggar’s Banquet”, that’s why it was issued in a white paper bag with the title on it…
@@CodeBleu724 yes I heard that story as well but then why not just remove.the pink bar? The entire cover did not need replacing. I guess really the why doesn't matter since it was changed.
U2 achtung baby ,i remenber them saying that the cover first was supposed to be the photo of adam clayton ,if no one told me, i wouldn´t notice that litle photo in the back of the album, about lovedrive from scorpions i never knew other cover than the original ,also agree with you almost about everything like they having dressed the girl who was hitchiking, the black crowes is another that i didn´t knew ,the same hapened with first guns ´n´roses album wich i don´t agree and other was also a american rock band that they had a girl sitting on a hook like she was fished from the sea they just put the water to a higher level to do not show the side of a woman naked, about john and yoko they are fine in that cover i never saw it being covered , but those were other times and in the U.S. i know they can´t see a bit of flesh in Europe only started recentelly ,this covering every part of the body thing, normally being naked was a normal thing now it´s tabu
Jimi Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland" original cover had around 4 or 5 nude women on it till they replaced it. Personally not sure why people get so uptight with nudity though.
i also discover that some 15 years ago and i think ,ofensive was destroying a so iconic cover of a already gone artist ,they were naked but not showing their pipi and when they released those two albums with new songs they re-released the other albums censored like if they had something ofensive but only then
Oh my gosh. You mean Yoko. "Yukko" was the nickname of Yukiko Okada, a J-pop singer who committed suicide in 1986 at age 18. I m a fan of music of John, Yoko and Yukko / Yukiko.
Pantera original “Far Beyond Driven” album cover had a giant drill bit going into an anus 🤣. They had to change it to a drill bit going into a skull. Oh, and that’s not the worst Scorpions album cover. Virgin Killer is much more graphic.
Santana's Abraxas album had a censorship sticker as well as The Velvet Underground's 1st effort. BlindFaith's album also comes to mind. Tasteful is a personal choice. Art is like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. Frank Zappa's question "What's the dirtiest part of your body?" "Your mind! " I personally feel that censorship is wrong but if a band wanted to sell albums they complied.... but the retailer also has rights and corporation's do seem to fancy themselves as having taste and morals. Which is pretty funny when thought about. Being censored by hypocritical churches or corporations can be a badge of honor. These things, ideals are fickle. Lou Reeds album or the Stones Sticky Fingers passed the self appointed censor's, as well as many other artists work. The city of Boston banned Gloria by Them and the Reagan admin banned Mapplethorpe's art and for me that is the state going way too far. We're supposed to be Capitalists here in the US and sometimes our government is way out of line by taking citizens livelihoods away. Joe McCarthy comes to mind also. Elvis and Ali (just 2 out of many) being conscripted and taking away their best years of earning power does not comply with the ideals of Capitalism and is Socialistic. Ed Sullivan didn't let the Stones sing Let's Spend the Night Together without changing the lyric and he also banned Elvis from dancing. His show - his rules but both artists sold out and conformed. Much to my chagrin!
Well I was trying to go main stream so people would be able to remember those album covers. If I really wanted to dive deep and find some crazy ones. Maybe I’ll do another one
The Scorpions "Virgin Killer" original cover was sold in Tower Records in the 1970s. I thought "That's going to be replaced eventually." The replacement cover's band shot was a more subdued version of the band shot on the back of the original cover. In the 2000s I saw the original cover was still being sold in Japan and several years ago I saw a used copy of it there (pricey), didn't buy it, saw the next time I was there ("Disk Union") that someone else had bought it
Lennon and Yoko were disgusting. Someone else here commented on the Blind Faith, which to this day I can't fathom why it was allowed. The GNR turned out to be great that they changed it, and became iconic. I always thought that Beatles butcher baby cover was horrific
