refused to stock the record at all, and some only would with an alternative cover. Consequently, this album explores such themes as parental roles and America’s hypocrisy of conservative values and culture juxtaposed with its mainstream acceptance of violence and the fame attained by people whose publicly displayed deaths have been romanticized and martyred. This album was Manson’s first release following the April 1999 Columbine High School massacre, for which he had been unfairly crucified in the press as being an inspiration to the killers (this was later determined to be totally unsubstantiated). There are however many, many others, so please mention your favorites in the comments.įull album title: Holy Wood In the Shadow of the Valley of Death
Here are ten of some of the most infamous examples of banned album covers (some of which are highly prized today by collectors). Some banned artwork has been resurrected for later re-issues, but as a record collector, it is the scarcity and hence collectable aspect of the original releases that intrigues me. John & Yoko’s Two Virgins is an example of this approach, and so does not make my list. I’m omitting sleeves that were simply covered up with opaque wrapping so as to hide the “offending” artwork, but otherwise are unchanged.
It should be noted that none of these were banned by legal order these decisions were made purely for commercial reasons.Ĭriteria for this list is that the cover in question must have been actually printed up and released, and due to an outcry, was either altered or outright banned for later releases. As such, some of these might seem rather tame by today’s standards, but nonetheless they originally elicited enough controversy, public outcry, or heavy-handed pressure from major retailers, to cause censoring actions.
BLACK BEATLES COVER METAL FREE
Censorship and attempts to define the limits of free speech is a subject worthy of debating, and of course “offensive” imagery is in the eye of the beholder.
What is “art”? Over the years there have been many record albums or CDs released with what was deemed to be controversial or offensive cover artwork.