laughable attempts to make political statements on album covers/posters/signs/billboards/etc.

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list them here (preferably pics).

don't know much about Nevermore, but this album cover of theirs made me laugh at its lack of subtlety...

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000A69RDU.03.LZZZZZZZ.gif

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 17:37 (fifteen years ago)

http://obucubu.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/music_jilted_generation.jpg

The insert from Music for the Jilted Generation. I've grown to love it really.

Ismael Klata, Thursday, 15 July 2010 17:43 (fifteen years ago)

Its style is like something from "Watchtower"! I wonder if it's the same painter.

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Thursday, 15 July 2010 17:45 (fifteen years ago)

http://i30.tinypic.com/f845s.jpg

i think the statement is "a small portion of eastern oregon is not technically america"

del griffith, Thursday, 15 July 2010 17:50 (fifteen years ago)

hahaha

"fuck Nyssa"

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Thursday, 15 July 2010 17:51 (fifteen years ago)

Manic Street Preachers to thread...

ninjas and lasers and gold and (snoball), Thursday, 15 July 2010 17:52 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.ecompil.fr/bk_img/0000/7314/5122/0722/00731451220722/00731451220722_S.jpg

They were so laughable in and of themselves, I knew they'd be good for something on this thread.

clemenza, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:08 (fifteen years ago)

Not sure what Canned Heat was getting at here...

http://images.jamsbio.com/images/politicalcovers/cannedheat.jpg

Darin, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:14 (fifteen years ago)

http://this.is/drgunni/arular.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:20 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.amiright.com/album-cover-themes/images/album-Green-Day-American-Idiot.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:21 (fifteen years ago)

to be honest I can't think of one that isn't laughable -- are there any?

Philip Nunez, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:23 (fifteen years ago)

^Lots, I would imagine, starting with this:

http://earbuds.popdose.com/robert/img/riot_cover.jpg

clemenza, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:27 (fifteen years ago)

Great album, great artwork, but the captions always cracked me up:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_uB-0D-gV8mY/RwrDNHuanKI/AAAAAAAAEdc/MLMcq7Tdj8I/s400/gang+of+four

xhuxk, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:32 (fifteen years ago)

I always assumed Gang of Four were laughing too. I mean, their name alone is hilarious.

Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:36 (fifteen years ago)

It's sort of a no-win situation isn't it? If you make it too oblique/tasteful it's likely to fly overhead/under radar of the audience you're trying to reach. If you make it earnest and direct it will always seem like an overreach of what a consumer product has any standing to say.

Philip Nunez, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:36 (fifteen years ago)

A perennial favorite:

http://demolishmag.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/sacred-reich-surf-nicaragua.jpg

Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:37 (fifteen years ago)

talking about politics is laughable

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Mañana? (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:37 (fifteen years ago)

to be honest I can't think of one that isn't laughable -- are there any?

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:Mett_-6VtRUGlM:http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/67189.gif

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:38 (fifteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Ice_Cube-Death_Certificate_%28album_cover%29.jpg

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:39 (fifteen years ago)

I don't mean to sidetrack the thread, but one more I'd call brilliant (if you don't know it well, it helps if you can read the newspaper):

http://mentaldefective.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/onthebeach.jpg

clemenza, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:44 (fifteen years ago)

that first RATM album is kind of a joke but the cover isn't

HI DERE, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:46 (fifteen years ago)

Is it the burning monk one? I don't think it's the image so much as appropriating it for a RATM album that makes it laughable.
c.f.
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/images/uploads/2008/08/franzferdinand.jpg
(though I'm not sure what the statement here is either)

Philip Nunez, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:50 (fifteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7e/A_New_Kind_of_Army_Album_Cover.jpg

he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:54 (fifteen years ago)

okay lol at the fine print there

HI DERE, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:55 (fifteen years ago)

Dead Kennedy's Plastic Surgery Disasters still makes it's points pretty powerfully, especially when you stick next to a poster for E.T.

bendy, Thursday, 15 July 2010 18:56 (fifteen years ago)

http://images.jamsbio.com/images/politicalcovers/funkadelic.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:05 (fifteen years ago)

http://images.jamsbio.com/images/politicalcovers/bobmarley.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:06 (fifteen years ago)

http://images.jamsbio.com/images/politicalcovers/thesmiths.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:07 (fifteen years ago)

http://images.jamsbio.com/images/politicalcovers/publicenemy.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

http://images.jamsbio.com/images/politicalcovers/kmd.jpg

ilxor has truly been got at and become an ILXor (ilxor), Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

http://betterpropaganda.com/images/artwork/Fuck_World_Trade-Leftover_Crack_480.jpg

kkvgz, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:08 (fifteen years ago)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/Megadeth_-_The_System_Has_Failed.jpg

del griffith, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:20 (fifteen years ago)

^ was done by david dees iirc

del griffith, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:22 (fifteen years ago)

I remember when Vic Rattlehead was kind of threatening. Now he's just handing out cash, as to say "Plz listen to our new Megadeths cd."

Johnny Fever, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:22 (fifteen years ago)

re: ice cube, the oversize toetag and the sarcasm of his hand across his heart is what cracks me up, though in his defense it's a lot more tasteful than a brujeria cover.

Philip Nunez, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:22 (fifteen years ago)

http://lossless-galaxy.ru/uploads/posts/2009-08/1250506039_sammy-hagar-voa-1984.jpg

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:46 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.headbanger.us/gallerie_e/bilder/exploited_live%20at_the_whitehouse_front.jpg

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:47 (fifteen years ago)

I love'em, but....

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0011WMHWU.jpg

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:48 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.nakasha-spain.com/shop/images/Madonna-American-Life-248349.jpg

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:49 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.johnholmstrom.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/RocketToRussia.gif

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:51 (fifteen years ago)

http://991.com/NewGallery/Iron-Maiden-The-First-Ten-Yea-358688.jpg

Alex in NYC, Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:53 (fifteen years ago)

http://lh5.ggpht.com/dione775/SGWUJzbAqhI/AAAAAAAAC3I/HOYxKQvmxQI/KillingJokeLaugh.INearlyBoughtOneFro%5B2%5D.jpg%5B

pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 15 July 2010 19:53 (fifteen years ago)

c.f.
http://www.creativereview.co.uk/images/uploads/2008/08/franzferdinand.jpg
(though I'm not sure what the statement here is either)

― Philip Nunez, Thursday, July 15, 2010 11:50 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

always figured that the statement = we <3 midcentury soviet design. nothing political about it.

good news if you wear cargo shorts (contenderizer), Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:02 (fifteen years ago)

early 20th century, whatever...

good news if you wear cargo shorts (contenderizer), Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:04 (fifteen years ago)

so far, Anti-Flag's disclaimer wins for me. It's all, "Shit guys, I'm gonna have to explain this cover to my uncle up in Erie".

bendy, Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:11 (fifteen years ago)

Isn't the Ramones back cover far too comic-book goofy to be taken to be taken seriously?

clemenza, Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:16 (fifteen years ago)

I'm going to go get the papers, get the papers.

clemenza, Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:17 (fifteen years ago)

http://i25.tinypic.com/29e0tut.jpg
expression on Middle Chick does it

hazy cosmic jedi (abanana), Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:21 (fifteen years ago)

The Hagar cover rules. Why did he take a parachute? Out of expediency? Then why did he land so far from the steps of the capitol? Why isn't his guitar in a case? What about an amp? Is one being provided for him at the capitol? What business is so urgent that he's required to come in by parachute?

Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 15 July 2010 20:34 (fifteen years ago)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3472554149_7a8b251885.jpg

bidfurd, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:41 (fifteen years ago)

*mind blown*

Ismael Klata, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:41 (fifteen years ago)

that Leftover Crack cover is o_O

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:43 (fifteen years ago)

Alex you rule. That Hagar cover is insane.

The Prodigy one may be laughable to some, but I think it's really genuinely badass!!

Beach Pomade (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:44 (fifteen years ago)

i always took Hagar to be a pretentious twat, and that cover is proof positive. he also seems to be humorless -- so i enjoy the chance to laugh at him.

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:47 (fifteen years ago)

sammy hagar is like the least pretentious rock dude ever

unless you get into his views on tequila

hot dub grime machine (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:49 (fifteen years ago)

dunno, interviews I've read with him tend to contain quite a bit of snobbery.

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:54 (fifteen years ago)

OK, this answers some questions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c51qJ3Ad_4

Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:54 (fifteen years ago)

dunno, i imagine the process behind the Hagar cover was just someone telling him the idea, sammy saying "YEAH, LET'S FUCKIN DO THAT" and then they did it.

tylerw, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:56 (fifteen years ago)

probably.

so discussing "leaders", that Sacred Reich cover is pretty damn ridiculous

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:59 (fifteen years ago)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3472554149_7a8b251885.jpg

― bidfurd, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:41 (8 minutes ago)

you have no idea how hard I am laughing right now

RIP la petite mort (acoleuthic), Thursday, 15 July 2010 21:59 (fifteen years ago)

this thread is brilliant, plz keep it up everyone

RIP la petite mort (acoleuthic), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:00 (fifteen years ago)

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0895262797.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

A prog venn diagram for you to think about (Matt #2), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:21 (fifteen years ago)

I'm resisting the temptation to post any $kr3wdr1v3r covers here

A prog venn diagram for you to think about (Matt #2), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:24 (fifteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkDYhMqEVxo

No one is too good for this album; it is better than all of us. (herb albert), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:24 (fifteen years ago)

more PE:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/Pepoison.jpg

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:25 (fifteen years ago)

YEAH WE GET IT
http://robertod.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/the-coup-steal-this-album.jpg
http://www.jordiscrubbings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/TheCoupCoverLarge.jpg

is breads of india still tite (admrl), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:29 (fifteen years ago)

More things like that Music for the Jilted Generation insert, please.

Cunga, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:29 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah that is the best

is breads of india still tite (admrl), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:30 (fifteen years ago)

Dunno maybe it's not political but it is The Levellers so it's certainly laughable (LOL)
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00004XNX2.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

is breads of india still tite (admrl), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:32 (fifteen years ago)

am i the only person who likes the 'mosh' video

thomp, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:36 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.guerrillafunk.com/press/acid_reflex_cover.jpg

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:39 (fifteen years ago)

This one's pretty awful:

http://i25.tinypic.com/11smc1z.jpg

The lightning bolts really seal the deal.

clemenza, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:40 (fifteen years ago)

second try:

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/dakotajeane3/album-covr-ONLY.jpg

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:43 (fifteen years ago)

prodigy insert is amazing

original bgm, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:43 (fifteen years ago)

WTF?????

http://www.focuspower.com/portfolio/CD_BCcover.JPG

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:44 (fifteen years ago)

mashing every tired political motif (crucifixion, dollar tied to 'evil deed', pics of guns) into a gumbo of incoherence doesn't make a good political cover!

San Te, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:45 (fifteen years ago)

the Jilted Generation insert is charming

latebloomer, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:49 (fifteen years ago)

^^^this, as has been widely agreed

RIP la petite mort (acoleuthic), Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:50 (fifteen years ago)

it could use a charismatic christian or an Illuminatus eyeball in there, but sweet! Are they pro or anti-Noam?

bendy, Thursday, 15 July 2010 22:53 (fifteen years ago)

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eKGTUb9R-Oc/0.jpg

Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Thursday, 15 July 2010 23:48 (fifteen years ago)

I really dig the busy, crusty political collage style, personally.

http://www.swedrock.se/img/covers/Terrorizer-WorldDownfall.jpg

http://img11.nnm.ru/e/b/e/f/2/ebef24b51683ecdcd31b25e5203a64a6_full.jpg

http://www.collective-zine.co.uk/upload/726-dystopiacover.jpg

original bgm, Friday, 16 July 2010 00:22 (fifteen years ago)

http://mp3passion.net/uploads/posts/thumbs/1190030046_plant_cover_front.jpg

WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Friday, 16 July 2010 00:59 (fifteen years ago)

Haha

is breads of india still tite (admrl), Friday, 16 July 2010 01:23 (fifteen years ago)

^^ possibly the worst album cover ever.

Alex in NYC, Friday, 16 July 2010 02:39 (fifteen years ago)

I hate to say it but...

<img src="http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/659/badreligionsufferfront.jpg";>

skip, Friday, 16 July 2010 02:48 (fifteen years ago)

<img src="http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/659/badreligionsufferfront.jpg";>

skip, Friday, 16 July 2010 02:48 (fifteen years ago)

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/659/badreligionsufferfront.jpg

skip, Friday, 16 July 2010 02:48 (fifteen years ago)

the peter tosh one is dope

coldfrap - foam mountain (s1ocki), Friday, 16 July 2010 05:42 (fifteen years ago)

In what way is the "American Life" cover supposed to be political?

As for The Coup, in my opinion the basic idea of the "Steal This Album" cover is nice, but the design is pretty ugly. Ditto for the original "Party Music" cover; since it was made before 9/11, it's only laughable in hindsight. But I think the new "Party Music" cover they came up with is actually pretty dope, probably because the politics in it are more subtle:

http://dkpresents.files.wordpress.com/2007/04/1633-party-music.jpg

Tuomas, Friday, 16 July 2010 06:39 (fifteen years ago)

Jesus Christ, that Hagar video is utterly amazing! Featuring what is possibly the worst Ronald Reagan impersonation of all time.

Man, i blasted this video a month ago because sammy is a conservative....i always liked sammy and thought he was better than DLR in VH....Now that im also a conservative i say ROCK ON SAM! And thank you for steering me right! - YouTube commenter

Becky Facelift, Friday, 16 July 2010 09:21 (fifteen years ago)

Oh - and what's the newspaper on the Neil Young cover say? I can't find a higher res version.

Becky Facelift, Friday, 16 July 2010 09:22 (fifteen years ago)

photo for the 2nd version of the coup's party music is great, but so fucked by the text & logos.

good news if you wear cargo shorts (contenderizer), Friday, 16 July 2010 10:05 (fifteen years ago)

xp: I think it's "Sen. Byrd Asks Nixon To Resign" or something.

kkvgz, Friday, 16 July 2010 10:30 (fifteen years ago)

Very close: "Sen. Buckley Calls for Nixon to Resign."

clemenza, Friday, 16 July 2010 21:36 (fifteen years ago)

I'm pretty sure I remember Neil saying that was an accident, they just used today's newspaper for the shoot

Ismael Klata, Friday, 16 July 2010 21:53 (fifteen years ago)

I don't know...everything in the photo melds together so perfectly: the car buried in the sand, the headline, Neil with his back to the camera. Maybe they didn't choose the paper for that one specific headline, but Nixon must have been the headline every single day that summer, right up till his resignation. Just putting the newspaper in the shot was likely enough; a headline about Nixon was probably a given.

clemenza, Friday, 16 July 2010 22:06 (fifteen years ago)

I've looked at that cover a million times, and now I'm suddenly second-guessing myself as to whether that's a car in the sand. I always thought it was some late-'50s model, but those don't look like headlights, do they?

clemenza, Friday, 16 July 2010 22:11 (fifteen years ago)

Tail lights, I mean.

clemenza, Friday, 16 July 2010 22:12 (fifteen years ago)

Yeah, it's an old Cadillac (or part of one, at least).

Johnny Fever, Friday, 16 July 2010 23:23 (fifteen years ago)

One cool feature of the original sleeve is that the inside of the jacket is printed with the same pattern as the umbrella.

WARS OF ARMAGEDDON (Karaoke Version) (Sparkle Motion), Saturday, 17 July 2010 01:16 (fifteen years ago)

tell me more about On The Beach. was this his California-has-gone-to-hell album or something? i saw a brilliant BBC doc about Young last year and it was a revelation. all that stuff about him doing a 50's rock n roll album and some movie he did with Devo?! anyway yeah back to the album cover, what's it all about?

piscesx, Saturday, 17 July 2010 16:43 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.bay-of-fundie.com/img/2008/squirrel-band.jpg

Δ∇™ (van smack), Saturday, 17 July 2010 16:54 (fifteen years ago)

RATM, Ice Cube, KMD and tbh that dixie chicks rolling stone cover aren't 'laughable' and are instead p great imo. (Dixie Chicks not great but not laughable either. Totally makes sense with their decade of lol their fans of stupid.)

one man meme-denier (a hoy hoy), Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:15 (fifteen years ago)

I'd expected Rage to be manna for this thread, but their sleeves are actually pretty good and avoid looking too try-hard. Stuff like this, maybe not so much:

http://www.postersandtoys.net/catalog/rage1.jpg

Ismael Klata, Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:29 (fifteen years ago)

No dead kennedys yet!

http://www.covershut.com/covers/Dead-Kennedys---In-God-We-Trust-Front-Cover-4547.jpg
http://i222.photobucket.com/albums/dd168/dynowright/DeadKennedys-BedtimeforDemocracy.jpg

Where Time Becomes A Loop, Where Time Becomes Aloof (EDB), Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:36 (fifteen years ago)

That guy in the Rage poster looks like Christopher Walken.

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:36 (fifteen years ago)

I remember my friend in high school bought this RATM shirt that had tons of little propaganda pictures & machine-raging-against political slogans and questions. When he wore it home, his mom asked him, "Do you even know what any of that stuff means?" So he started doing months and months of really in-depth reading about U.S. politics. He is now the most hardcore Republican I know.

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:38 (fifteen years ago)

makin a difference.

Merdeyeux, Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:46 (fifteen years ago)

Inside of evil empire with che's guerilla pamphlet,frantz fannon and soledad bros etc. strewn about is v lame.

Efraqueen Juárez (jim in glasgow), Saturday, 17 July 2010 17:55 (fifteen years ago)

http://image.lyricspond.com/image/r/artist-ray-stevens/album-osama-yomama/cd-cover.jpg

Beach Pomade (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 17 July 2010 18:31 (fifteen years ago)

its kinda crazy that a picture of a monk on fire is just, like, the coca cola logo to me or something. it doesn't even register as a real human being anymore. if they photoshopped a pair of sneakers onto that girl running down the street in vietnam for a nike commercial i don't even think i'd blink. sad, i tellya!

scott seward, Saturday, 17 July 2010 18:58 (fifteen years ago)

More grade A lameness:

http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/d95e61b91ac96800b6e47448a49e0e8c/1885.jpg

Where Time Becomes A Loop, Where Time Becomes Aloof (EDB), Sunday, 18 July 2010 02:42 (fifteen years ago)

Rateyourmusic pics can't be linked to other sites.

Tuomas, Sunday, 18 July 2010 09:31 (fifteen years ago)

That's the lameness.

ninjas and lasers and gold and (snoball), Sunday, 18 July 2010 09:44 (fifteen years ago)

I thought it was maybe John Cage

Ismael Klata, Sunday, 18 July 2010 10:09 (fifteen years ago)

http://respecta.net/uploads/posts/2009-03/1236955744_epmd-business-as-usual-front.jpg

dyao, Sunday, 18 July 2010 11:27 (fifteen years ago)

http://dkpresents.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/fire-of-love.jpg

^^ not sure where this one belongs, tbh - can somebody explain this cover to me?

dyao, Sunday, 18 July 2010 11:28 (fifteen years ago)

Inside of evil empire with che's guerilla pamphlet,frantz fannon and soledad bros etc. strewn about is v lame.

Lame for offering a reading list of classic radical literature to a generation of fans too young to know about most of it? I approve that kind of lame.

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Sunday, 18 July 2010 12:19 (fifteen years ago)

I like a lot of these covers tbh. Too much smug cynicism on this thread.

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Sunday, 18 July 2010 12:20 (fifteen years ago)

thank you for your contributions

San Te, Sunday, 18 July 2010 14:17 (fifteen years ago)

Rights of man is classic radical literature. La guerra de guerillas, a bunch of truisms written by a stalinist who wasn't so good at guerilla warfare, certainly isn't.

Efraqueen Juárez (jim in glasgow), Sunday, 18 July 2010 14:48 (fifteen years ago)

'Fire of Love' cover isn't politico afaik, but all about the hoodoo-voodoo roots of the blues that the The Gun Club was preachin'

nu jack schwing on me nutz (herb albert), Sunday, 18 July 2010 16:39 (fifteen years ago)

jim, your opinion of Che is neither here nor there. You don't have to endorse every book on the list. I maintain that giving buyers of a major rock album a gateway into the 60s radical canon, leaving them to take from it as much or as little as they want, an indeed to disagree with whichever bits they want, was a pretty interesting thing for a band to be doing in 1996.

imo the single-image covers on this thread (Rage, Green Day, Smiths) are fine. It's the montages that get embarrassing, like political cartoons overstuffed with Bad Things. In that spirit, James Brown's Hell is ridiculously OTT - coming from a prominent Nixon supporter, it's not even coherent.

http://images.uulyrics.com/cover/j/james-brown/album-hell.jpg

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Monday, 19 July 2010 09:53 (fifteen years ago)

From the back of The The's Mind Bomb:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8i6Cl2YNI6c/Si7g9s20k8I/AAAAAAAABNs/A9FmOkOOQNc/s400/The+back.JPG

fit and working again, Monday, 19 July 2010 16:44 (fifteen years ago)

^^ not sure where this one belongs, tbh - can somebody explain this cover to me?

images are all taken from photos included in his book which is an amazing study of voodoo/Haiti. not really political

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 16:51 (fifteen years ago)

the Hell cover is a funny thing to cite - it IS completely incoherent once you start to parse/examine it closely, but otoh the design itself is pretty well done.

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 16:52 (fifteen years ago)

that Robert Plant one is next-level hilarious

HI DERE, Monday, 19 July 2010 16:53 (fifteen years ago)

Anything which even faintly reminds me of the Statue of Liberty crying in the Onion cartoons (like The The's impaled dove) is bad news.

I cited the Hell cover because it's so heavy-handed. "Hmm, what else is wrong with America in 1974? Gas prices! Sad Native Americans! Throw 'em all in." But yeah, in terms of eyehurt, it's a cut above Muse Sick.

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Monday, 19 July 2010 16:55 (fifteen years ago)

I remember being perturbed by this one at the time - leftist redneck-bashing crossing the line into eugenics. But I do like the way the fat guy has FAT on his baseball cap, just so as there's no confusion.

http://www.megaforcerecords.com/store/images/P/skatenigs-01.jpg

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Monday, 19 July 2010 16:57 (fifteen years ago)

Wait, that band is called "Skatenigs"? Am I reading this right?

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Monday, 19 July 2010 17:18 (fifteen years ago)

Oh ffs the ratm strewn books picture is po faced didactic bullshit,the low quality totalitarian lit amongst it is just the straw that broke the camel's back. "interesting". Spare me.

Efraqueen Juárez (jim in glasgow), Monday, 19 July 2010 17:54 (fifteen years ago)

&jb didn't support Nixon.he was apolitical providing he was getting paid.

Efraqueen Juárez (jim in glasgow), Monday, 19 July 2010 17:55 (fifteen years ago)

It was harder to imagine Brown reading Fanon four years later, when the musician called for the reelection of Richard Nixon. But the same year Brown sang "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," the future president had pointed out that "much of black militant talk these days is actually in terms far closer to the doctrines of free enterprise than to those of the welfarist thirties." Nixon went on to endorse "black power, in the best, the constructive sense of that often misapplied term....It's no longer enough that white-owned enterprises employ greater numbers of Negroes, whether as laborers or as middle-management personnel. This is needed, yes -- but it has to be accompanied by an expansion of black ownership, of black capitalism."

That might sound like a plan to loosen the strings that held back black businesses, for slashing at the licensing laws and other restraints that kept ghetto enterprises underground. Instead the president announced a black capitalism initiative that amounted to yet more goodies from the government: new contracts, new loans, new red tape. Nixon's black capitalism, like Nixon's white capitalism, had more to do with patronage than with free enterprise. The point wasn't black power; it was quelling unrest and buying votes.

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:00 (fifteen years ago)

About to leap in and point out that jim's talking bollocks but Shakey got there first. JB was still expressing his admiration for Nixon in a 1984 NME interview, so it wasn't just a temporary thing.

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:07 (fifteen years ago)

it's tricky because on the one hand Brown's politics were indeed almost totally self-serving and often schizophrenic/contradictory - but this is not the same as being apolitical. insofar as taking public political stances enhanced Brown's image of himself and got him taken seriously, he was very much willing to be political

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:31 (fifteen years ago)

FUNKY PRESIDENT (1974)

Funkytown, nasty
(Hey, listen to the man)
Yeah, I'm the Godfather (baby)

People, people
We got to get over
Before we go under
People, people
We got to get over
Before we go under

Hey, country
Didn't say what you meant
Just changed
Brand new funky President

Stock market going up
Jobs going down
And ain't no funking
Jobs to be found

Taxes keep going up
I changed from a glass
Now I drink out of a paper cup
It's getting bad

People, people
We got to get over
Before we go under

Listen to me
Let's get together and raise
Let's get together
And get some land

Raise our food like the man
Save our money like the Mob
Put up a fight down on the job

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:33 (fifteen years ago)

Jb's support for Nixon is as superficial and gauche as David lynch's for Reagan. Makes ratm's reading list look profound.

Efraqueen Juárez (jim in glasgow), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:45 (fifteen years ago)

what's superficial about it? This is the guy they called in to stop race riots in Boston. This is someone the black community definitely looked to as an embodiment of their social aspirations - a black man who ran his own shit and said what he wanted.

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:47 (fifteen years ago)

also don't think it's fair to conflate Brown and Lynch. Brown PUBLICLY ENDORSED Richard Nixon, and stuck by that endorsement for decades. Lynch has this to say about Reagan (from 2007):

You were a defender of Ronald Reagan in the '80s —

No, no, no. You know, we live in a time where everything that anyone has ever said, or that someone else has said that they said, goes on some site. It's kind of cool in some ways, but then you need to explain certain things.

Well, let's get this one correct for all time.

Reagan cleared brush. That's what I liked about him. My father grew up on a ranch in Montana, and I grew up in Western American thinking, sort of like cowboys in the past on my father's side. So I liked him for that, and I liked this one speech he read early on, at some convention. But at that time, I thought of myself as a libertarian. I believed in next to zero government. And I still would lean toward no government and not so many rules, except for traffic lights and things like this. I really believe in traffic regulations . Some stop signs are really absurd. Like at night, at two a.m., I come to a stop sign, obviously, no cars are coming. And when I stop at that stop sign, I feel like a fool. It's so ridiculous. And other times, when it's heavy traffic, and the light turns yellow, I really have a strong desire to stop, and to keep the car stopped until the light turns, and then to look both ways before going forward. A lot of situations are a matter of life and death. So I believe in traffic rules.

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:50 (fifteen years ago)

Lynch had some offhand comments blown out of proportion. This is not the case with JB.

Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 July 2010 18:51 (fifteen years ago)

That The The image above is ripped from Discharge circa '82 or so:

http://www.the-rudy.com/images/discharge_never-again_f.jpg

Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Monday, 19 July 2010 19:07 (fifteen years ago)

love how lynch manages to change the subject from politics to one of his visual tropes (traffic lights) there

Mosquepanik at Ground Zero (abanana), Monday, 19 July 2010 19:24 (fifteen years ago)

more pics pls

San Te, Monday, 19 July 2010 19:28 (fifteen years ago)

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/images/huggybear.jpg

Position Position, Monday, 19 July 2010 20:15 (fifteen years ago)

Both the Discharge and The The images are from a collage by the German artist John Heartfield, titled The Spirit of Geneva, dated 1934 on the website I checked this info on.

byebyepride, Monday, 19 July 2010 20:22 (fifteen years ago)

oops; 1932.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/davepalmer/cutandpaste/heartfield_big5.html

byebyepride, Monday, 19 July 2010 20:23 (fifteen years ago)

Question: if a political art statement references something and no-one notices, does a tree fall on a kitten in a forest?

byebyepride, Monday, 19 July 2010 20:24 (fifteen years ago)

another hardcore cover w/ a little bit of everything: eye in the pyramid, fetus in a jar, Big Macs and KFC buckets flying over nuclear winter, which causes an ice age around the Sphinx while Satan Skeleton laughs. if you look closely there's even a pair of tits on the Red, White & Blue.

http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu92/damien_stone/amerika.jpg

nu jack schwing on me nutz (herb albert), Monday, 19 July 2010 20:41 (fifteen years ago)

I didn't realise that dove image was a Heartfield - what was potent in 1932 looks like a cliche 50 years later. I think that's the point with some of these images - they're easy to laugh at from a distance when you've forgotten the context and you've seen a lot of lousy imitations. Though I remember laughing at the Prodigy inlay even at the time.

I think that Huggy Bear cover is great.

Haunted Clocks For Sale (Dorianlynskey), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:11 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.vinyltap.co.uk/gallery/pr/presslis5505594890327420.jpg

tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:19 (fifteen years ago)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_soXI82GSn1A/ST3zGkfKRJI/AAAAAAAAAwM/Ro5eS1a7ax4/s400/PopGroupWheretheresAWill.jpg

tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:20 (fifteen years ago)

http://lh5.ggpht.com/ivan1087/SIvCLIBt73I/AAAAAAAAC5k/FcGwEIO06fs/samples%20boogie%20down%20productions%20sex%20violence%20large.jpg

one man meme-denier - jol in? (a hoy hoy), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:25 (fifteen years ago)

What's laughable in the Solidarity poster? Seems like a valid statement for the time.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:28 (fifteen years ago)

It's shit, is what's wrong with it

tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:33 (fifteen years ago)

What is shit? The poster or Solidarity? I think the poster is fine, if they just wanted to show support for Solidarity, the poster does that in a simple and unpretentious way.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:37 (fifteen years ago)

It's not a poster it's an album

tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:37 (fifteen years ago)

Whatever, the same applies.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:41 (fifteen years ago)

http://www.metallibrary.ru/bands/discographies/images/nuclear_assault/pictures/91_out_of_order.jpg

grab you by the boo-boo and don't let go (kkvgz), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:54 (fifteen years ago)

images are all taken from photos included in his book which is an amazing study of voodoo/Haiti. not really political

― Major Lolzer (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, July 19, 2010 12:51 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

ah okay. I guess I felt kind of edgy after they were mentioned in the n-word thread

dyao, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 11:59 (fifteen years ago)

no KMFDM covers yet?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Kmfdmmoney.jpg
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1359/coverpo2.jpg

dyao, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:03 (fifteen years ago)

What's the political statement in the "Money" one?

Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:09 (fifteen years ago)

he is holding money in his hand, money is a commonly used financial instrument among countries with political institutions

dyao, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:11 (fifteen years ago)

If that's your definition of "political statement", you could post pretty much any album cover that features people doing something in this thread.

Tuomas, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:14 (fifteen years ago)

I think he's holding drugs in his hand and he's pointing the gun at you like "distribute this drug in your inner cities to make drug-slaves out of the impoverished minorities or I will kill you."

grab you by the boo-boo and don't let go (kkvgz), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:15 (fifteen years ago)

"Also, if you do this, I will let you fuck this broad."

grab you by the boo-boo and don't let go (kkvgz), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:15 (fifteen years ago)

man don't you know you're just furthering the repression of people worldwide by posting in this thread, you are just a tool of the government, man

xxp

dyao, Tuesday, 20 July 2010 12:16 (fifteen years ago)

Surprised by the lack of Megadeth.

http://religionnaire.pagesperso-orange.fr/artistes/megadeth/art/rust_in_peace.jpg

(Amazing album)

rhythm fixated member (chap), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 15:34 (fifteen years ago)

Is that skeleton man with chain earmuffs and a metal sleeping mask, holding a glowing pyramid,
is he the one who is holding back Area 52 documents?

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 23:32 (fifteen years ago)

So secret that they're "1" more than usual????

could be a bad day for (Abbott), Tuesday, 20 July 2010 23:32 (fifteen years ago)

Gun Club/Deren Haiti image also used here:
http://media.warp.net/images/WAP050CD_Packshot_1000.jpg

Sensational Howard (admrl), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 00:00 (fifteen years ago)

(not laughable)

(except for the fonts)

Sensational Howard (admrl), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 00:00 (fifteen years ago)

That Megadeth album cover is quite something! I guess the people in it are supposed to be Bush Sr., Gorbachov, John Major, and whoever was the Japanese prime minister at the time... But the dude with the German flag doesn't look like Helmu Kohl? And what is the skeleton man supposed to symbolize? Deadly secrets? Why is he holding a piece of Kryptonite?

Tuomas, Wednesday, 21 July 2010 06:15 (fifteen years ago)

"Helmut Kohl"

Tuomas, Wednesday, 21 July 2010 06:16 (fifteen years ago)

'Major' looks more like Alex Ferguson if you ask me, too

Just what is she studying? ABSLOLUTE STUPIDITY? (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 07:57 (fifteen years ago)

Three guys on the left could be anyone

tom d: he did what he had to do now he is dead (Tom D.), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 10:44 (fifteen years ago)

Alan Hansen second on left.

WOOD! GOBLINS! (NickB), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 10:50 (fifteen years ago)

Skeleton man is named Vic Rattlehead. He also sells peace.

http://megadeth.megawan.com.ar/albums/Tapas%20Discos/images/peace_sells_but_whos_buying.jpg

rhythm fixated member (chap), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 16:10 (fifteen years ago)

in terms of pure LOLage the video for hangar 18 completely outshines the "rust in peace" album cover:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tzWc3Xl4B0

latebloomer, Wednesday, 21 July 2010 16:16 (fifteen years ago)

You can pretty much throw every Megadeth cover on here.

Hubert Lolz (lpz), Wednesday, 21 July 2010 20:06 (fifteen years ago)

the newer Megadeth covers are worse IMO

San Te, Wednesday, 21 July 2010 20:09 (fifteen years ago)

six years pass...

feel like we're about to get a shitload more of these in the pipeline

Charles "Butt" Stanton (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 31 May 2017 03:31 (eight years ago)

of course you want to hear NOFX say George W Bush isn't good
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/bd/NOFX_-_The_War_on_Errorism_cover.jpg
they're implying he's a clown

PaulTMA, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 09:50 (eight years ago)


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