Well, I tell you what, some of them Rolling Stones album covers, they just make you scratch your head and wonder, “What in the tarnation were they thinkin’?” I ain’t no fancy art critic or nothin’, but even I can tell when somethin’ looks like a dog’s breakfast.
Now, I heard tell that Rolling Stone magazine, them city slickers, they went and made a list of the worst album covers ever. And let me tell ya, some of them Stones albums, they sure ‘nough deserved to be on there. I mean, some of ’em are just plain ugly, and some of ’em just don’t make a lick of sense.
Take that Beggars Banquet album, for instance. I heard they first wanted to put some picture of a dirty ol’ bathroom wall on the cover, all covered in scribbles and such. Can you imagine? Who’d want to look at that while they’re listenin’ to music? Thankfully, the record company, they put the kibosh on that idea. Ended up with somethin’ plain white, like an invite to a church supper or somethin’. Not excitin’, but better than a dirty bathroom, I reckon.
Then there’s all sorts of other covers that just leave you scratchin’ your head. Some are blurry, some are weird colors, and some just have pictures that don’t have nothin’ to do with nothin’. It’s like they just threw somethin’ together at the last minute and said, “Good enough.” Well, it ain’t good enough, not for a band as big as the Rolling Stones. They shoulda put a little more thought into it, that’s what I say.
- I seen one cover that looked like a bunch of kids got ahold of some crayons and went to town.
- Another one had a picture of a fella lookin’ like he just woke up from a bender, all bleary-eyed and confused.
- And don’t even get me started on them covers with all them fancy designs that just look like a jumbled-up mess.
You can’t even tell what it’s supposed to be!
Now, I ain’t sayin’ all their album covers are bad. They had some good ones, too. But when they got it wrong, boy, did they get it wrong. It’s like they were tryin’ too hard to be artistic or somethin’, and they just ended up with somethin’ that looked like a pile of manure.
I remember hearin’ about that Beatles album, Yesterday and Today, with the butcher cover. Folks went crazy for it, even though it was kinda gruesome. I guess some folks like that kinda thing. But with the Stones, sometimes it wasn’t even gruesome, just plain bad. Like they didn’t care or somethin’. Like they just slapped somethin’ on there and figured folks would buy it anyway ’cause it was the Rolling Stones.
And you know, sometimes they’re right. People do buy the albums, even with the bad covers. But that don’t make it right. A good album cover, it should tell you somethin’ about the music inside. It should draw you in, make you want to listen. Some of them Stones covers, they just make you want to turn around and walk the other way.
I ain’t no expert, like I said, but I know what I like and I know what I don’t like. And I don’t like no ugly album cover. It’s like puttin’ a beautiful dress on a pig. It don’t matter how good the music is, if the cover looks like somethin’ the cat dragged in, it just ain’t right. The Rolling Stones, they shoulda known better. They’re a big deal band, they should have big deal covers, not this… this mess.
So, yeah, them Rolling Stone folks, they might be city slickers, but they got it right about some of them Stones albums. They had some bad covers, no doubt about it. And I reckon they’ll keep on makin’ ’em, long as folks keep on buyin’ ’em. But that don’t mean we can’t complain about it, right?
Tags：Rolling Stones, Album Covers, Worst, Music, Art
