Actually terrible album covers of 2009

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_wBa7Q-Vbuuc/SY5NbAO2suI/AAAAAAAADD4/P9sjymxXH-o/s320/NAOMMON_ArtWORK.jpg

I realise this is supposed to be obnoxious to some degree, but come the fuck on

too many to mention

i like that cover

(obv)

i really hate the Lily Allen one - mainly because of how the black 'Lily Allen' text is laid over the big black L. looks like a horrible clumsy afterthought.

do people actually like that album?

dunno but a lot of people like 'The Fear'

http://www.chartstats.com/image/a13907_300.jpg

pointless attempt at edge. and who the hell shows most of an artist's body but not the top of their head? seems awfully amateurish.

http://tonemarrowreviews.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/1233559584_lily-allen-its-not-me-its-you-2009.jpg

just posting it for clarity. blueski's right, + Lily is famous enough to have it go without her name. (though usually when an artist does this, like Bjork, somehow at the label puts a sticker on the cover, which sucks sucks sucks)

this one has almost become a cliche in like 3 days (it'll probably achieve cult status)
http://991.com/newGallery/Neil-Young-Fork-In-The-Road-462468.jpg

as noted elsewhere the Royksopp one is really naff too - looks so rushed and half-assed

http://www.chartstats.com/image/a13919_300.jpg

the funny thing about Pork in the Road, err Fork in the Road is that it looks like a cover your 12 year old niece makes for you when you (57, know nothing about pc's) have talked about wanting the new Neil record. so she downloads the mp3s. burns 'em. prints the 100x100 cover, stretches it to fit and then handwrites the title. (and artist name)

the Naommon one is just v blah. i find it hard to get irked by competent straight portrait photo-based covers tho. magenta text probably a mistake.

I love the Royksopp one!

could also be a photo of YOU (as a joke) made with her brand new mobile phone crappy built in camera.

oh xxpost.

isn't there already a thread like this?

there's one for Best covers. but this will get far more posts no doubt.

http://neonmusic.pararadio.hu/nuke/catalog/images/dubpistolsrumcoke.jpg

^this is pretty terrible but if we're awarding points for reflecting what the album sounds like then it gets some of those

http://991.com/newGallery/Neil-Young-Fork-In-The-Road-462468.jpg

Just like the other handwritten Neil Young titles, this isn't handwritten either. The N in Neil and the N in IN are the same, the R in Fork and Road are the same, the two I's are the same, etc - they have two N's in their font though. The one in Young is different, to put us off. :-)

that dub pistols cover is easily the worst so far. and the lionel richie. at least the NY and Roksopp covers are trying. i'd rather have an album cover go for something interesting and fail/look bad trying than be boring as hell.

dub pistols cover's refusal to accept the 00s ever happened almost admirable (almost)

Actually good album covers/avatars of 2009

most of those, anyways

woah the dub pistols are still going?

they were terrible.

that track with Terry Hall was OK

mehlt i agree with your astute implication that there should've just been a single 'album covers in 2009' thread

http://fordmustang.blogspot.com/img/SigurRosVon.jpg

This is the first Sigur Ros album which imo counts cos you could hardly buy it until now and cos they should have had a rethink and replaced it with something that didn't look like a demo by a cybergoth band

http://lovegloom.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/tmba-cover.jpg

^^^yep - pretty sure I meant to put that one here last time I chanced up on it

http://www.ibiza-voice.com/media/forum/1233542795.jpg

holy shit that boratto one

Great album, but:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41o9%2B1fay9L._SS500_.jpg

the funny thing about Pork in the Road, err Fork in the Road is that it looks like a cover your 12 year old niece makes for you when you (57, know nothing about pc's) have talked about wanting the new Neil record. so she downloads the mp3s. burns 'em. prints the 100x100 cover, stretches it to fit and then handwrites the title. (and artist name)

― Ludo, Monday, April 6, 2009 9:38 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark

that's what makes it cool

the music videos are the music video equivalent of that! he has an internet-age-DIY aesthetic going and I think it's endearing.

(and I like the phoenix album art)

i hate that phoenix cover? what is that pink shape? they should've called it bombs over arizona

i can't believe this thread has made it nearly 2 months without this abomination being included.

http://cdn.stereogum.com/img/thumbnails/posts/depeche-mode-sounds_of_the_universe-album_art.jpg

looks like a two year old with left with PS Paint for 5 minutes.

i hate that phoenix cover? what is that pink shape?

the sky! I like the use of negative space

have no use for the band however

http://www.afterglowblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/abnormal.jpg

i really despise that DM cover. everything about it is wrong.

xp nice airbrushed armpits Tori

depeche mode cover FTW

amos album cover is not half as bad as album title imo

^OTM. Worst album title ever!

i'm in agreement re the DM cover, it's just so dull.

http://trimaran.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/camera-obscura-my-maudlin-career-cover.jpg?w=500&h=500

http://sundayoutfit.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/tiga-ciao-tiga.jpg

This might be the worst album cover I have ever seen.

http://brookesworld.com/images/stories/brooke_The_Redemption_cover_(hi_res)%20copy.jpg

haha wait are you serious

looks like a bad tattoo

this is why people download mp3s

If it didn't have the horrible yellow text in it, I'd really like the Tiga one.

That Brooke Hogan cover seems to be incontrovertible proof that God exists and he hates us.

haha oh my!

We have a winner! Lock thread.

Another reliably terrible post-Waters-esque cover from Biffy Clyro

― PaulTMA, Thursday, 29 October 2009 02:32 (3 days ago) Bookmark

I have to look at this one on my usual bus route every fucking day

http://www3.pic-upload.de/22.10.09/nejsfyxe5i18.jpg

who knew these idiots were still going even?

The name and title on the Biffy album looks a lot like the same on a couple of the Bonnie Prince Billy records. Ease Down The Road or something? Dunno about the big hankies though.

http://www.harmony-korine.com/gifs/filmography/img/ease.jpg

Regarding the Soil cover:
http://www.ithaca.edu/students/breynol1/rockwell_girlatmirror_640.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_eDoHQQ85sZE/SmihD1qcVSI/AAAAAAAAAMg/Kb7GzfFXnDA/s400/Shrinebuilder+-+Shrinebuilder+1.jpg

Uh I don't think that's the cover though

Oh come on that Ease Down The Road cover is gorgeous! It is "fine" at least!

Oh sorry didn't read the post before it.

That Adam Lambert one reminds me of ...

http://www.esquire.com/cm/esquire/images/village-people-renaissance-lg-47696667.jpg

the Village People went new wave? have hipsters rediscovered this yet?

That album contains a moment so epically awful that it has to be heard to be believed.

Definition of "shadow of former glory": the harrowingly lame-o attempt at a rousing "YMCA"/"Macho Man" chant-along workout chorus in

"No-thing's BETTER!
No-thing's BETTER!
No-thing's bet-ter-than-a
BIIIIIIG MAC!"

>>the Village People went new wave?

Okay, I know this is splitting well-coiffed hairs, but they didn't go new wave. They went new romantic.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RdLJHeobL._SS400_.jpg

Yeah, but that's just a picture of Norah Jones chilling at home, it wasn't posed.

Can't believe no-one has done a 'Mark E Smith looking well there' joke in the 70 minutes since that cover was posted

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bI5-8YnkkFA/SuKyvWkye7I/AAAAAAAABWY/XVoP5FYDoHo/s400/00-carly_simon-never_been_gone-2009-retail_cd-front.jpg

yikes

http://nahright.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/rakim-the-seventh-seal-450x414.jpg

P4k Weighs In

"I've fallen... and I can't get up!"

zero effort

It works because listening to MSTRKRFT is like being punched and shat on at the same time.

Gotta admit, this one is pretty great, though.

This one is from the Pfork thread but deserves to be reposted:

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/Shelter-EP-FRONT_.jpg

I think the fact that Jello Biafra actually managed to get Shephard Fairey to do his album cover outweighs any dry Pfork zing, tbh

i like the donut one! it's funny. plus, i like porn and donuts.

could you imagine?

Results 1 - 10 of about 518,000 for donut porn. (0.30 seconds)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fru_T._Bunn

Pfork gets capped on plenty around here, but that list of bad album covers was so shitty that I remember why that hatred is often justified. It really serves to illustrate that site's overall lame sense of humor pretty acutely. That Dark Meat donut cover is well-executed bad taste IMO. Why that image is "bad" but all those Major Lazer videos they love are "awesome", I fail to understand.

They have unearthed some good ones that we didn't catch on here - that Scott Hardkiss one is horrendous - but they've missed a couple of really obvious jokes (Jello and Sum 41 - both basically clever for what they are imo) in their zingquest, and I reckon the 20 worst from this thread are worse than their 20 worst

I think 90% of the covers on Paste's 25 best album covers are actually terrible. Are they joking with this? I only really ride for the OutKast, Badu and YYYs covers there.

madvillain >> king geedorah >> dangerdoom covers

that isnt even the best danger doom cover which is http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AO9O80.jpg imo

that's pretty sick Sam, I hadn't seen that one. They seriously picked the lamest doom cover possible. MMM Food is cool too.

wow this list is bad

http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2009/11/16/mastodon-crack-the-skye-jpg.jpg ?

Fucking hell Paste stop it with the Neko love already. Best cover of the fucking decade?

ahhhh that paste website is a nightmare. get me out of there. it's like everything i hate about web design on one page.

Wow, that Paste list reeks. The only covers on there that I like, let alone love, are the Dino Jr and Animal Collective covers. And that one with the egg is pretty OK. o/w WTFOK

Oh, and YHF is excellent too.

I'm less bothered by the poor choices than the fact that the blurbs underneath appear to be written for 11-year-olds. "This cover's über-weirdness is totally Björk-appropriate" REALLY? "Where's Waldo on acid" REEAAALLLLLYYY? I thought Paste was for like mid-30s retirement home indie rockers or whatever

The Onion AV Club has a list today of great (debatable) 00's albums with terrible (extremely debatable) covers:
http://www.avclub.com/articles/cognitive-dis-21-great-albums-with-questionable-co,36034/

There are some irredeemable ones, true, like the Mudcrutch and Bowie covers, but it's like they managed to select covers almost entirely from my zone of tolerance for goofy concepts or sloppiness or questionable taste. And I will totally go to bat for the Milk Man cover any day.

From the pitchfork list

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/cover3.jpg

Sum41: All the Good Shit: 14 Solid Gold Hits, 2001-2008

It takes a special kind of bad album cover to include an entire decade's worth of bad album covers. The only thing left to do is slap a space shuttle with bird wings on it.

I think that's kinda of awesome, actually. It definitely falls into the "intentionally terrible" category rather than "doesn't know any better", though I'm not sure if that gives it a pass.

Shame they put that price sticker on the wrong word.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8439000/8439483.stm

How many of these "Best album sleeves of 2009" have been featured on this thread? I know the Depeche Mode cover has.

bbc's gotta be trolling if green day is on there

It's taken from here http://www.artvinyl.com/en/nominate/nominations.html
Most of them are awful