METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE, VAN HALEN, SCORPIONS, Others Make ROLLING STONE's 'Worst Album Covers Of All Time' List

METALLICA, OZZY OSBOURNE, ANTHRAX, VAN HALEN and SCORPIONS are among the artists who have made Rolling Stone magazine's list of "50 Worst Album Covers Of All Time".

Rolling Stone explained its process for choosing the albums this way: "Our selection criteria for the list, other than fugliness: We skewed toward major artists with the resources of professional graphic designers who really should have known better. (Some of rock music's most revered design firms, such as Hipgnosis, are also some of the worst offenders here.) No more than one album per artist. No mercy for the album's music actually being good (that happens more often than you'd think)."

The hard rock/heavy metal artists featured on the list are:

* REO SPEEDWAGON's "Nine Lives": #49
* QUEEN's "The Miracle": #47
* METALLICA's "Metallica": #41
* BLACK FLAG's "What The…": #36
* OZZY OSBOURNE's "Down To Earth": #30
* BON JOVI's "Slippery When Wet": #25
* ANTHRAX's "Fistful Of Metal": #23
* VAN HALEN's "Balance": #20
* SCORPIONS' "Lovedrive": #18
* YES's "Going For The One": #14
* TED NUGENT's "Love Grenade": #5
* CREED's "Weathered": #3
* LIMP BIZKIT's "Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water": #1

The original "Lovedrive" cover, which was designed by Storm Thorgerson and banned in the United States, depicted a dapper man in a suit with his hand attached to an elegantly dressed woman's breast by way of a puddy-like substance, which was apparently supposed to be chewing gum.

Thorgerson told one interviewer about the "Lovedrive" cover: "I always imagined that the drive — they were on their way to the opera, and he has this fetish about bubblegum and she lets him do it because she doesn't give a shit. But I think it's also a bit silly. I quite like it, yeah."

SCORPIONS singer Klaus Meine later said that the controversy was unintentional. "We never did it on purpose, we just did not know it would be a problem in America, it was just sex and rock 'n' roll," he said. "It is odd that in America that some of these covers were a problem because in the '80s when we would tour here we always had boobs flashed to us at the front of the stage. Nowhere else in the world, just here. We just did not think it would be a problem to put out a record like 'Lovedrive' in America."

Although the "Metallica" album cover appeared to be completely black, the top left of the sleeve featured a barely distinguishable embossed band logo, while in the bottom right hand corner was an embossed image of a coiled rattlesnake.

METALLICA frontman James Hetfield later said that there was a specific reason why he and his bandmates chose to release their 1991 album in what was almost a totally black cover. "There was no theme to this one," he said. "It was a simple black cover and you had to listen to the music. You wouldn't be distracted by a drawing on the front."

ANTHRAX's "Fistful Of Metal" featured a cover depicting a man being held down as a fist is thrust right through his mouth. ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian later called the image "horrible" and explained that "it was [then-ANTHRAX singer] Neil Turbin's idea from start to finish, and was done by a guy called Kent Joshpe. But it's also odd, because if you look at the two hands on the cover, they're both left ones," he continued. "The hand holding the guy's head, and the other coming through his mouth — neither is a right hand."

He added: "The one really good thing to come out of the sleeve was that we got a cool logo. Kent came up with several suggestions, and the one that stood out is what has been our logo ever since."