Banned album covers!

Whilst doing some digipak research i came across a few album covers which were banned due to nudity, wrong impressions etc. Here are a few of them:

Cannibal Corpse: Butched at brith.


This was the death metal band’s second album, and was quickly banned in Germany until June 2006. The very grotesque cover art featured a slaughtered mother-to-be being cut up by a zombie, with her baby apparently about to be slaughtered by another zombie.


David Bowie: Diamond Dogs.



On Diamond Dogs, Bowie was pictures as a man-dog, whose genitals were clearly visible on the reverse sleeve. When record executives realized that this would cause a major stir, they had the offending area airbrushed out. The original albums now command thousands of dollars from collectors.

The five keys: On stage.


The Five Keys were big in the 50′s, which just so happens to be a time when over-prudence was the norm. Rudy West (far left) had his right thumb just barely visible on the record jacket for this release. Of course everyone got really excited about it, because what if someone mistook it for some ahem, other body part? As a result, on later pressings the offensive digit was covered up.

Guns N Roses: Appetite for destruction.

This disturbing picture of an alien and robot rape scene was the original graphics for the for the cover of Guns N’ Roses’ debut album. They decided to use a completely different image, although this picture did still appear on the inside of the album.