Unsane - Visqueen

I suppose in a day and age were CSI and its many offshoots and imitators are all the rage in popular television people have become desensitized to violent depictions of cadavers, but let's face the facts, Unsane's cover for Visqueen is disturbing.

At face value, the abandoned corpse, which the viewer is left to decide if the victim was shot, slit or bashed, carries an innate shock value. Of course, the subtle message here is that Unsane (a tremendous live act) are stating that the appreciation of human life has dwindled to the point a killer leaves the victim in an open field without remorse, much less an effort to properly bury the remains. In turn, the visual presentation states that we, as a society, have grown less appreciative of life to the point Unsane can slap a gruesome painting on their album and most people will hardly blink.

Sad, but subtly brilliant...

Covers that go Bang!

Some covers might make you go "Yay" or "Boo" or "Ewwww", but some actually go "Bang" all by themselves.


"Bang!' by Thunder from from this year.


"Bang!" by World Party from 1993.


"Bang" by uh... yeah, by Bang. The self-titled 1971 debut from this killer early metal/doom outfit.

Vangelis, Heaven and Hell

If you've heard of Vangelis, you probably know him from his Oscar-winning score for Chariots of Fire or, perhaps, his chilling music for Blade Runner.

But because of Cosmos--and my father's interest in the music featured in Carl Sagan's groundbreaking public television show--I first heard of this Greek synth whiz and his classical compositions early on. His haunting electronica provided the perfect auditory backing for the astronomical images gliding across the screen.

And the cover of the album from which the Cosmos music came, Heaven and Hell, etched itself into my memory.

X-World/5-New Universal Order

Now this certainly isn't the worst outer space/spaceship type cover of all time. However, considering it was done in 2008 you would think they could have done better. It looks like part of the old Battlestar Gallactica only the artist misjudged it and couldn't fit the whole thing on the cover. Or perhaps the band thought it would be a real clever idea if they had a spaceship advertising their band name on the side like it was a city bus or something.

Guns -n- Roses-The Spaghetti Incident?

The time is 1993 and two art consultants are hard at work on the cover of the new G-n-R album.

Art Consultant #1-I can't believe that we get to work on the cover for the new Guns -n- Roses album.

Art Consultant #2-It's just a cover album though.

Art Consultant #1-No, it's a unique chance for the band to do interpretations of songs that had a major impact on them.

Art Consultant #2-Oh, I figured they were just doing filler covers that were not good enough for a real studio album just so they could appease the fans while they work on the next real album.

Art consultant #1- Well whatever the reason I am sure the next studio album will be a killer.
G-n-R are one the few hard rock bands who have survived most of hard rock being pushed out by grunge.

Art Consultant #2-So you think the next studio album after this cover thing will be out soon?

Art consultant #1- Of course, it would be stupid and career suicide for them to wait too long to release the next album. I mean someone who was on top of the music scene would have to an ignorant, selfish, egotistical jackass to make fans wait a long time for the next album.

Art consultant #2-I would certainly go along with you on that. What do you have for the cover of "The Spaghetti Incident" so far?

Art Consultant #1 passes a rough draft cover to Art Consultant#2

Art Consultant #2-Uh...this looks like a close up of the inside of a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti with a very generic band logo slapped over it.

Art Consultant #1-Well, yes I guess that's part of it, but really it's making a statement.

Art Consultant #2- What that they're cheap and don't care?

Art Consultant #1-No, the statement is that this a stripped down album and G-n-R are still about being real and success won't go to their heads.

Art Consultant #2-I am not that big on the cover, but let's go with it. I am sure that you are right that the next album after this will be coming soon. I am sure that the band realizes that if they waited too long to release an album that they would just become a bad joke and an embarrassment to themselves and everyone involved.


***Perhaps that's how it went some 15 plus years ago.