WTF Album Covers: Leona Anderson Music To Suffer By

by Joe Wallace

I stumbled on this image of the album cover for Leona Anderson’s Music To Suffer By on The Magic Whistle. WTF is going on in this picture? This one’s suitable for framing–at least in MY house where bad album art has a special place of love and reverence.

There’s nothing quite like the joys of an especially wretched piece of album art. The ones so wrong-headed you can’t even begin to describe them are my favorites. Music To Suffer By from Leona Anderson is definitely one of those. Can you hear the discussion between Anderson and the artist? “Well, miz Anderson, the guy with the violin is, you know, gonna KILL you here with that lighter as you’re trying to sing with cobwebs coming out of your mouth. GET IT?”

If YOU get it, please by all means, let ME know what this is trying to say. I think maybe I’m still drunk from a week last Thursday and that’s why I can’t wrap my head around it.

WTF Album Covers: Top Dog Slam Dunk’n Hoes

I was browsing the design site Creative Meat when lo and behold, what do I find but a collection of top WTF moments of album cover design genius. My favorite wrong-headed cover (and in this case just plain misogynistic to boot) has to be courtesy of a gent calling himself Top Dog. Just look at the liberal, forward-thinking mentality at work on this record, Slam Dunk’n Hoes:

One of the biggest criticisms leveled at hip-hop is that a rather uncomfortable number of the artists involved seem to be all about freedom, equality and the right to be what you are…as long as you are male. Album covers like Top Dog’s don’t really do much to counter that argument, no?

But never mind all that, after all, Top Dog clearly doesn’t care about any of that and we’re wasting our breath trying to convince him that his attitudes are, well, crap. Let’s address the pressing issue of eye pollution here. Top Dog looks like he just stepped away from his segment on The View, talking about a new high colonic regimen and juice-only health plan. He really could be on tour with Joel Osteen here instead of, well, slam dunking “hoes”.

And one thing that is ALWAYS priceless about these kinds of projects is the list of “guest stars” on the album cover. Hey look! This album features a whole laundry list of people YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF! Isn’t that AWESOME that Icey Hott is on this record?

You’d never buy a record by Icey Hott all by itself–I mean, REALLY–who wants to hear songs about sports cream? But here these people all are, most likely hanging out in the studio agreeing with everything Top Dog says for like, 12 hours at a time JUST IN CASE they can throw their voices on one of these tracks.

I hate to draw comparisons here, but much of hip hop has become the new country music, in that there are about five themes endlessly recycled on all records, plus about seven standard costumes for all performers. I think hip hop and country really SHOULD team up the way gangsta rap and heavy metal did back in the 90s–wouldn’t THAT be a riot?

Can you see a Dirty South/Southern Fried music movement blending all the cliches of country and hip hop together to make one big empty musical statement about truck drivin’ playas who slam dunk hoes and love their dogs? I would pay to see that.

But I’m getting ranty. Suffice it to say Top Dog won’t be invited to speak at any NOW conventions any time soon. Top Dog, if you had at least put this album cover in, say, outer space, it wouldn’t be so cringe inducing. Then at least the viewer would be completely bewildered even as you were scratching your head at the whole disrespect to women thing. Confusion is sex.

WTF Album Covers: Wrong On So Many Levels

This installment of WTF Album covers is brought to you by racism, bad taste, and misguided youth. We present you three eyeball-searing album covers that beggar logic and make us seriously reconsider whether music is a good thing or not. “Do you like music?” Well, WE do, but the people who made these album covers clearly DO NOT.

This particular series was discovered at the COMPLETELY awesome site Glorify The Turd, which as far as website names go is one of the greatest in history. Normally we try to avoid sourcing images like this, but Glorify The Turd has some of the most truly obscure and brain-jerkingly horrific album covers that we couldn’t resist paying tribute to them here with these three starting with a quartet of truly misguided born-again metalers.

The fine print there at the bottom reads, “This album is dedicated to those who have not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. We’re Coming.” Oh dear. One thing this bunch of born-again Klangmeisters does have going for it is a bit of rare multi-culturalism.  But the hairdos and stage clothes have GOT to go. These lads have been shopping for their gear at Forever 21, as evidenced by the polka-dot dude here on the bottom right. Nice one, man–raid your little sister’s wardrobe AND tell me about Jesus.

Next, a move in the opposite direction. These gents aren’t into JESUS…they want to go a bit further SOUTH:

Um…res ipsa loquitor.

Your attention might not be directed to the bottom half of this album cover, but you’ll discover the REAL HORROR of it once you detect the bobbing head. OK, I’ll be the first to say it (maybe not). If our society is going to evolve past its racial tension problems, we have to progress to the point where we are either not afraid or or hurt by at all of the N-word or any other slur or nickname, or NOBODY GETS TO SAY THEM EVER. It’s one or the other, folks.

WTF Album Covers: Ronnie Ronalde

by Joe Wallace

Sometimes, these WTF album covers are chosen simply because I haven’t had enough caffeine yet when I see them and they just…set…me…off. This one was discovered during a particularly bad decaffeination headache. I snarled at the computer screen. “Yodel…OR whistle. You can’t do both at once, jackass”.

I’m on my second cup now and feeling much better. But this record still sucks. If you listen to this after seeing both the word “yodeling” and “whistler”, there’s simply no hope for you.

WTF Album Covers: Raven The Pack Is Back

Brace yourself; what follows is one of the most brain-twistingly wrongheaded album covers in heavy metal history. What WERE these lunks thinking when they approved THIS image to sell their album for Atlantic Records?

WOW! This is a staggering achievement. It manages to be cheesy, stupid, AND sports related at the same time! According to the legend of this pile of flaming crap, a corporate label hack got a hold of this band, pressured them to make the record as commercial as possible and these poor metal schmucks wound up having HORNS and KEYTARS overdubbed on their record.

I’m no fan of metal, but I can sympathize with a band that has its musical vision turned into the sonic equivalent of Sesame Street but a guy in a necktie. Poor, misguided Raven. They should have told the photographer AND the corporate hack to get stuffed…but what can you do? Except brace yourself for inclusion in the Hall of Shame.