Top Rock/Metal Album Covers That’ll Get You Banned On Social Media

VAN HALEN "Balance"

Balance is the tenth studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released on January 24, 1995, by Warner Bros. Records.

What was the band thinking when they did this cover? What does it even mean?

REASON WHY:

Ok so the explanation is a little long so I'll let you read about it here.

MEGADETH "Youthanasia"

Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American Heavy Metal band Megadeth, released on November 1st, 1994, through Capitol Records.

Although it hasn't happened to me on social media it's been noted that this album will get you flagged on social media.

REASON WHY:

The title is a play on words, implying that society is euthanizing its youth. The cover art features an elderly woman hanging babies by their feet on a seemingly endless clothes line, a direct reference to a line in the title track.

EXODUS "Pleasures of the Flesh"

Pleasures of the Flesh is the second studio album by the American Thrash Metal band Exodus. It was released in 1987.

It shows some people cooking human meat.  This is cartoonish, but if you want to watch something gross check out the story about a soccer team crashing into the Andes Mountains.

REASON WHY:

The cover art is an illustration of the band depicted as cannibals preparing and eating their meal. However prior to release, the cover was replaced with a photo of the group members leaning on a bar. Just before the record's issuance, the original album cover was promoted by the record company in music magazines with the headline "Metal's Heaviest Meal".

CANNIBAL CORPSE "Butchered at Birth"

Butchered at Birth is the second studio album by American Death Metal band Cannibal Corpse. It was released on July 1, 1991 through Metal Blade Records.  

Pretty much any Cannibal Corpse album will get you a warning. This one is pretty self explanatory. It's meant to shock but do any Cannibal Corpse album covers actually shock anyone anymore?

Contrary to the subject matter of his music, Fisher's personal life, viewed largely through his Instagram page, has been noted to be "wholesome", showing him as a father with his children at Walt Disney World and with large plush toys; he himself has noted an affinity towards winning plush animals from claw machine games, which he then often donates to charity.

REASON WHY:

The album cover was created by longtime collaborator Vince Locke and is frequently identified as one of the most gruesome album covers of all time.

GUNS N' ROSES "Appetite for Destruction"

Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American Hard Rock band Guns N' Roses, released by Geffen Records on July 21, 1987.

Painter Robert Williams had published The Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams, a folio book, which kickstarted the surrealist "lowbrow" art movement, sporting a painting from his four-part "Super Cartoons" series titled Appetite for Destruction on its cover.

The album had particularly impressed a young singer from Indiana who called himself Axl Rose.

"This painting was never intended for the general public. It was made for an arcane group of people who loved this sort of thing."

REASON WHY:

The cover depicts the aftermath of graphic sexual assault perpetrated by a robot, and an otherworldly, ferocious metal-monster about to devour the mechanical attacker.

BON JOVI "Slippery When Wet"

Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by American rock band Bon Jovi. It was released on August 18, 1986, by Mercury Records in North America.

Wait... Good boys Bon Jovi did something bad? Maybe it was the medication they were on at the time. Whatever the case just don't post this on social media or the media censors will be after you.

The Story Goes...

"As we were driving back to the Number Five – our favorite strip club in Vancouver – our manager Doc McGhee saw this sign on the road, 'Slippery When Wet,'" Sambora added. After watching one of the dancers get into an on-stage shower as part of her act, both the title and the cover photo concept came into view. "We shot this one beautiful girl with large breasts and a [shirt] that said 'Slippery When Wet,'" he said.

But they weren't done yet. "The censors didn't let it happen," Sambora explains – although a similar cover was used in some overseas territories. With time running out, Bon Jovi was forced to improvise. "[The cover] is actually a Hefty trash can bag with water sprayed on it. We held it on both sides and Jon Bon Jovi wrote 'Slippery When Wet.'"

REASON WHY:

Reasons given for the switch were record executives' fears that dominant record store chains at the time would have refused to carry the album with a sexist cover.

SCORPIONS "Love Drive"

Lovedrive is the sixth studio album by the German rock band Scorpions, released in 1979.

Klaus always found it funny that the U.S. had issues with it as so many woman exposed their breasts to the band while they were on tour. Fair point!!

REASON WHY:

The album did have a boob covered in gum on the European release, but the American record company would not distribute it, so it was replaced by a blue scorpion image. The band has had some controversial albums covers but it most recent years they've toned it down.

NAILBOMB "Point Blank"

Point Blank is the only studio album by heavy metal band Nailbomb, released on March 8th 1994, by Roadrunner Records. The side project was started by Max Cavalera and Alex Newport in the mid-1990s.

Max Cavalera was quoted as saying "We just wanted a shocking picture". I think it’s great, but it’s really shocking and really brutal. But we found out later that the lady in the picture never died. The soldier never shot her, which is one good thing about that picture is that she never died right there.

REASON WHY:

The album cover is a female Vietnamese civilian with a U.S. soldier's gun to her head. So you can imagine the controversy when it first came out. The record company didn't want anything to do with it but the band insisted and won.

GREAT WHITE "Hooked"

Hooked is the fifth studio album by American rock band Great White, released on February 18, 1991.

Wait a second... Did I see a nipple? So is that the reason they banned this album on social media? Maybe the PMRC didn't like it? Or was it because the woman is on a fish hook? Still trying to figure this one out.

REASON WHY:

The album depicts an undressed mermaid sitting on a fish hook, with blood visible around the wound.

The nature of the image was deemed too violent and disturbing for public consumption and was considered inappropriate for younger audiences. The cover was recalled and replaced with a less controversial image that has the hook still below the sea level and the model partially submerged, so that only her head and arms are visible to comply with industry standards and avoid negative publicity.

MAYHEM "Dawn of the Black Hearts"

The Dawn of the Black Hearts (subtitled Live in Sarpsborg, Norway 28/2, 1990) is a bootleg live album.

I had hesitated to post this one. After all it's pretty disgusting looking at someone's head blown off. What goes on in someone's head to kill themselves? Life is short, we are on this planet a short time. Your time for death will come so enjoy your time on Earth for as long as you can.

REASON WHY:

Singer ‘Dead’ had infamously killed himself with a shotgun blow to the head and bandmate Euronymous (who was later murdered by Burzum’s Varg Vikernes) took a picture of the grisly scene. The photo adorns the bootleg’s cover and furthers the demented legacy of the black metal pioneers.

DISMEMBER "Indecent & Obscene"

I've seen worse. But you know it will offend someone. The LP feature the cult “Indecent and Obscene” sticker mocking the censorship troubles Dismember faced at that time.

REASON WHY:

The song "Skin Her Alive" had the band make headlines for allegations of obscene content. The band ultimately won the ensuing court battle. Avoiding certain claims of being "pornographic, obscene or indecent". This case gave them a name for their second album, Indecent and Obscene in 1993, also widely regarded as a classic death metal album. Nonetheless this incident and their quality music earned the band a devoted following.

Conclusion:

There's hundreds of Metal albums that will you get you flagged or banned on social media. Covers showing boobs or extreme violence will do that. If you really wanna see some disturbing ones check out more on the internet. I've pretty much given up posting Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" or Scorpions "Virgin Killer".