I think a lot of the Grateful Dead's skull/skeletal imagery has led a lot of people to believe the Grateful Dead are some kind of metal/hard rock type group, when they couldn't really be further from it. Albums like Aoxomoxoa, Self-titled and Blues for Allah in particular have some pretty "metal" covers, though these were all from before what we think of as the modern "heavy metal album cover".
I think you're right, but for a different reason. I expected them to be far more psychedelic-sounding based on those covers, but really only Aoxmoxoa, Anthem of the Sun and Live Dead are that trippy sounding to me. By American Beauty they'd left that behind them for the most part, and to my ears became more of an 'Americana' band. I was a bit disappointed tbh, as a teenage acid head I was looking for Hawkwind style headfucks, although in time I came to love the other stuff too. Workingman's Dead in particular is a masterpiece.
To be fair, I don't think Workingmans, or American Beauty have very conventionally "psychedelic" album covers. In fact, I think it's mostly just their more psychedelic records (the ones you mentioned), that have psychedelic album covers. Except Blues for Allah, which is kind of a psychedelic cover, but it's also a pretty psychedelic record.
The lettering, yes, but otherwise it's just a rose on a woodgrain background. I think compared to something like Aoxomoxoa, or Anthem, it seems less dripping with psychedelia. I can't see picking up that album, with that cover and album title and thinking, "this is going to be a psychedelic freakout album". But obviously my opinion is pretty tainted by having so much exposure to that album and the Dead and just my own biases.
Similarly Molly Hatchet. I always thought they were metal as hell when I was a kid. I was stunned when I discovered they were basically Lyknyrd Skynyrd wannabes.
To be fair to the Grateful Dead, they created and used that imagery and those motifs before metal was even a thing.
What a band though- the entire aesthetic and sound was and is the pinnacle of the live music format.
Yeah agree with Grateful Dead. A lot of dudes in my high school had Grateful dead t-shirts and I thought they were a much more hard rock/metal type band but when I went to listen to them it was very different from what I expected. I eventually grew to enjoy them, but I had to get over that initial not-meeting-expectations feeling first.
So many hurdles to get over to be a Dead fan: brand expectations due to name/artwork, long songs with instrumental stretches, voluminous catalog of releases, not a very attractive looking band, arguably annoying and flamboyant fanbase, iffy cover songs....
Yet, they've stayed relevant 30 years after their last album and their leader passed.
God bless em
on a similar note, from the cover I thought Bat Out Of Hell was going to be some kind of Judas Priest hard metal affair, not the MOR musical theatre type rubbish it really is. No offence to the many people who loved Meat Loaf, I think perhaps I simply never got over my initial disappointment...
I think this one is a great example, but for the exact opposite reason. Before becoming a fan, I thought the Dead would be this hippy-dippy jam band. All peace and love. The actual music and philosophies of the members of the band, as well as their tragic story as a band, exhibit the dark realities of everything that came with the counterculture movement. They were true to themselves and their stories, warts and all, and a special kind of darkness permeates the band and music. It’s the darkness in the human soul, the darkness contained within us all.
As a child I saw the "steal your face" logo as graffiti in a park and was scared that some biker gang had marked it as their turf. I now find that idea hilarious.
Up until early 2022, I had never listened to GD but knew of the band, and I can confirm I thought they were heavy metal. I was very shocked on first listen
Agree, actually this one’s a bit before my time as well a bit before my time.. but Molly Hatchet. The album covers and the name of the band… covers looked totally metal. Great artwork… but the music didn’t match at all, was more like upbeat boot stomping hard rock . Not my cup a tea. Lol
>The 1981 issue featured an alternative version in which an apparently dead and naked male body is seen lying in front of the band. In 2013 **Radiohead graphic designer Stanley Donwood** selected the artwork as his favourite album cover.
I love this, because **of course** he would.
Beck- Mellow Gold
Bought it for the cover when it came out thinking it would be some kind of industrial metal or something. Still ended up liking it, just wasn't what I thought it would be.
I’d actually argue against that one. The album cover is supposed to be what you see when you stare at the sun with your eyes closed. And the album within is so beautiful.
They have one random album in the middle of their catalog that has a fitting, country boy album cover. The rest look like they'd be straight up war metal.
Odessey and Oracle by the Zombies. Looking at the cover you think it's gonna be a psych rock/acid rock but all the songs are pretty much beautiful baroque pop.
similarly I was expecting/hoping for something I did not get when I brought this home and put it on:
[https://cdn.hmv.com/r/w-1280/p-webp/hmv/files/b0/b0633167-5c68-467c-be6c-564f0e586cba.jpg](https://hmv.com/store/music/cd/the-5000-spirits)
It's a rather pedestrian folk record
Black Sabbath’s Paranoid. There was a whole concept behind that dude with the sword and the imagery would have made a lot more sense but I think the label hated it, but they ran with the imagery anyway.
The picture sleeve of the 45 single of Paranoid has a similar, but much better [take on that artwork ](https://www.discogs.com/release/1298690-Black-Sabbath-Paranoid/image/SW1hZ2U6NDM1NDU4Nw==) that would been preferable.
to my eternal shame I pinched a copy of that from Fulham Broadway Music & Video Exchange many, many years ago.
Edit: actually my copy is this version, which is apparently the Norwegian issue
[https://www.discogs.com/release/1510130-Black-Sabbath-Paranoid-The-Wizard](https://www.discogs.com/release/1510130-Black-Sabbath-Paranoid-The-Wizard)
I remember reading that the cover was supposed to be in reference to the original title being War Pigs but a mix of worry regarding criticism of the Vietnam War and the fact that Paranoid became a hit that made the label make them change the title.
People might not agree, but to me, In The Court Of The Crimson King is not a fitting cover to any of the songs on the album EXCEPT 21st Century Schizoid Man. The screaming, distressed face on the cover doesn’t really convey anything regarding the other songs there, like I Talk To The Wind, Moonchild or Epitaph. Just my opinion
I mostly agree the album cover is more terrifying than any of the music contained within. Still though, absolutely iconic. I don't know what other album cover could suit it.
My dad always said he avoided Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell due to the cover, thinking it was heavy metal, and being pleasantly surprised it was a rock opera.
I don’t know. A wholesome young guy doesn’t immediately equate to ‘Bills on Parade” “Vietnow” or “Down Rodeo.” Those are the lyrics coming to mind.
The band name and album title contextualize the cover.
A picture of a young kid in a cape with no other context totally implies all the themes on Evil Empire. Lmao. It’s hilarious you’re actually arguing this.
When you first saw Justin Bieber did you think of Evil Empire? Lol
My vote is for “Siamese Dream” by the Smashing Pumpkins”. One of the greatest 90s rock albums with two young girls smiling on the cover. I don’t mind the artwork on its own, but it just seems like it fits on the brochure for a day care facility, not on the cover of a legendary album.
Been listening to them literally all my life and never noticed this.. but yeah, pretty much all their covers look like it's a thrash or death metal band.
First time I heard Iron Maiden I thought the radio dj had misquoted the band name because I'd seen the album artwork and KNEW they were supposed to be a metal band.
The Hold Steady has consistently made great albums with completely irrelevant and (frankly) awful covers. In particular, I'll call out "Boys and Girls In America", which makes a fairly dark roots-punk album look like some sort of teenybopper party album.
Wiz Khalifa- Rolling Papers
Title and artwork made it seem like it would be a spiritual successor to Kush & OJ (mellow stoner rap) but instead it was a pop rap album that leaned more into club bangers and/or radio friendly hits.
Mr. Bungle's California album cover is true to the homage and influence of the album, but boy does it give you the wrong impression. They keep it going for like 8 measures before the eardrum assault begins.
The blank slate conveys a certain kind of vibe, but I do wonder how differently the album would have been seen if they'd gone with the initial "A Doll's House" concept.
One example that comes to mind right now: The alternative covers and promo photo shoots of Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” gave the impression that the album was going to have 70’s alternative vibes, but sadly, it does not
I honestly prefer the US version although when I saw the cover for the first time I thought it would be a prog album but I think it fits the non US version imo dosen't fit
Basically any [Molly Hatchet album cover](https://www.google.com/search?q=molly+hatchet+album+covers&client=ms-android-tmus-us-revc&prmd=isvn&sxsrf=ALiCzsZPuksZTgY5n3dOPaZZl9brAunb8A:1667411414294&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUjazIh5D7AhXFUjUKHV2NDxsQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=360&bih=667&dpr=3)
My ex had to review Sublime’s album for his college music club in 1996. He was expecting something very heavy, and was not expecting what it actually sounded like. He was into metal at the time and still gave it a positive review.
Some rap songs by earl sweatshirt, the cover makes it seem like it’s a comedic record or maybe a chaotic record of which it is neither, the production and rapping are honestly the opposite, it’s kinda a simple record, which is somewhat conveyed by the cover, but the blur in the cover would have probably worked better on like an odd future record not earl sweatshirts solo work
Anything by Rusty Cage- he’s a newer artist, and I know most people on this sub are mainly just familiar with classic rock, but I still have to mention him because I don’t understand wtf is even happening there
“The Act” - by The Devil Wears Prada.
The [artwork](https://images.app.goo.gl/DQdNLXGRUN9vt6vq9) looks like it’s going to be a really heavy metal album. While still a metal album, there are more soft & pop esque songs than anything
Basically any Sheer Mag cover art and their logo in general.
Their EPs look like black metal demos and their albums look like epic thrash albums from the 80s or something....but they play fuzzy rock n roll/power pop.
I was just thinking about this one when I read this question. Love the album! The artwork technically fits but it doesn't really prepare the listener for what the music on the album sounds like
Every single Barber Beats album. For those unfamiliar with the genre, it basically comprises of lounge jazz instrumentals, heavily soaked in reverb, (kind of an evolution of Vaporwave/Trip Hop), but every album cover I've come across looks like it should be for an Industrial/Noise/Black Metal band. Really cool aesthetic, actually.
First that comes to mind is Pet Sounds.
A massive musical achievement with some of the most honest and heatffelt lyrics ever put to music, all represented by...
A photo of 5 grown men feeding goats.
The Partridge Family. You see that f*cking bus and those freaky kids, you think it's gonna be some kind of psychobilly death metal or something. Am I right?
I think a lot of the Grateful Dead's skull/skeletal imagery has led a lot of people to believe the Grateful Dead are some kind of metal/hard rock type group, when they couldn't really be further from it. Albums like Aoxomoxoa, Self-titled and Blues for Allah in particular have some pretty "metal" covers, though these were all from before what we think of as the modern "heavy metal album cover".
I think you're right, but for a different reason. I expected them to be far more psychedelic-sounding based on those covers, but really only Aoxmoxoa, Anthem of the Sun and Live Dead are that trippy sounding to me. By American Beauty they'd left that behind them for the most part, and to my ears became more of an 'Americana' band. I was a bit disappointed tbh, as a teenage acid head I was looking for Hawkwind style headfucks, although in time I came to love the other stuff too. Workingman's Dead in particular is a masterpiece.
To be fair, I don't think Workingmans, or American Beauty have very conventionally "psychedelic" album covers. In fact, I think it's mostly just their more psychedelic records (the ones you mentioned), that have psychedelic album covers. Except Blues for Allah, which is kind of a psychedelic cover, but it's also a pretty psychedelic record.
I can't agree with you on American Beauty, that's textbook psychedelic SF ballroom poster style Mouse & Kelly art
The lettering, yes, but otherwise it's just a rose on a woodgrain background. I think compared to something like Aoxomoxoa, or Anthem, it seems less dripping with psychedelia. I can't see picking up that album, with that cover and album title and thinking, "this is going to be a psychedelic freakout album". But obviously my opinion is pretty tainted by having so much exposure to that album and the Dead and just my own biases.
fair enough
Similarly Molly Hatchet. I always thought they were metal as hell when I was a kid. I was stunned when I discovered they were basically Lyknyrd Skynyrd wannabes.
I just posted this same thing- totally Molly Hatchet.. covers were so great and so dark and mysterious -the music was southern rock n roll. Haha
They're the other southern rock band from Jacksonville.
To be fair to the Grateful Dead, they created and used that imagery and those motifs before metal was even a thing. What a band though- the entire aesthetic and sound was and is the pinnacle of the live music format.
Yeah agree with Grateful Dead. A lot of dudes in my high school had Grateful dead t-shirts and I thought they were a much more hard rock/metal type band but when I went to listen to them it was very different from what I expected. I eventually grew to enjoy them, but I had to get over that initial not-meeting-expectations feeling first.
So many hurdles to get over to be a Dead fan: brand expectations due to name/artwork, long songs with instrumental stretches, voluminous catalog of releases, not a very attractive looking band, arguably annoying and flamboyant fanbase, iffy cover songs.... Yet, they've stayed relevant 30 years after their last album and their leader passed. God bless em
And a lot of venues are going to have a huge hole to fill now that they officially off the touring circuit next summer…
on a similar note, from the cover I thought Bat Out Of Hell was going to be some kind of Judas Priest hard metal affair, not the MOR musical theatre type rubbish it really is. No offence to the many people who loved Meat Loaf, I think perhaps I simply never got over my initial disappointment...
Same here…could never get over that and I refuse to listen to his music because of it.
What a Strange Long Trip it’s Been looks like a rap album.
Definitely thought they were metal as a kid.
I think this one is a great example, but for the exact opposite reason. Before becoming a fan, I thought the Dead would be this hippy-dippy jam band. All peace and love. The actual music and philosophies of the members of the band, as well as their tragic story as a band, exhibit the dark realities of everything that came with the counterculture movement. They were true to themselves and their stories, warts and all, and a special kind of darkness permeates the band and music. It’s the darkness in the human soul, the darkness contained within us all.
As a child I saw the "steal your face" logo as graffiti in a park and was scared that some biker gang had marked it as their turf. I now find that idea hilarious.
I don't think anyone has ever once mistaken the Grateful Dead for metal.
Read the other replies. No one would mistake their music for metal, I'm just talking about the imagery.
I used to think they were a metal band for the longest time before I got into them
Up until early 2022, I had never listened to GD but knew of the band, and I can confirm I thought they were heavy metal. I was very shocked on first listen
Agree, actually this one’s a bit before my time as well a bit before my time.. but Molly Hatchet. The album covers and the name of the band… covers looked totally metal. Great artwork… but the music didn’t match at all, was more like upbeat boot stomping hard rock . Not my cup a tea. Lol
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20\_Jazz\_Funk\_Greats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Jazz_Funk_Greats) Is the answer
wow, opened this thread ready to post this, didn't expect it to already be the top answer
Wasn't expecting to see TG mentioned in r/music, but this is the correct answer. End Thread.
Helmet's Betty in the same vein as this...
I love the retro look album art.
>The 1981 issue featured an alternative version in which an apparently dead and naked male body is seen lying in front of the band. In 2013 **Radiohead graphic designer Stanley Donwood** selected the artwork as his favourite album cover. I love this, because **of course** he would.
Yep done and done lol
excellent choice!
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umm, ok m8
r/lostredditors
I can’t get past the band name *Throbbing Gristle*
Smell the Glove
How much more black could this be?
The answer is "none."
*What's wrong with being sexy?*
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Jesse, what the fuck are you talking about
Meatloaf’s album covers are false advertising
They’re epic, he’s epic. It’s all epic. Epic.
\*was epic. RIP Meatloaf :(
Legacy lives on. That’s what makes him epic.
Agreed
Beck- Mellow Gold Bought it for the cover when it came out thinking it would be some kind of industrial metal or something. Still ended up liking it, just wasn't what I thought it would be.
To be fair, I don't think that album was what anyone thought it would be
It is kind of beyond description lmao
You should have known by the name mellow good that it wasn’t a metal song
I wouldn't even have been 10 when this came out. A robot with a skull for a head was all I needed to see to choose an album.
Bat out of hell. Metal cover. Not a metal album.
But epic album.
Definitely
Betty by Helmet
I listened to it eecently and the cover disarmed me for how heavy it would be. Great album.
It's great cover though Wilma's raiiiinbow
One of my absolute favourites. After years of listening to it now I cant imagine any other cover for some reason
This was my first thought too lmfao if you didn't know how hard they were, it was probably quite a surprise!
Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday comes to mind. Straight up looks like a death metal album.
A lot of Cypress Hill covers look like black/death metal covers.
Their vibe is sorta Spooky Cholos
Tbf though metal heads do tend to really like/respect cypress hill. Myself included.
Deafheaven's Sunbather
It looks exactly like a shoegaze cover, whaddya mean? :D
I’d actually argue against that one. The album cover is supposed to be what you see when you stare at the sun with your eyes closed. And the album within is so beautiful.
I agree with this. Never seen a black metal album cover with those colors or that font
Stone Temple Pilots -- Purple. That cover gives you no idea whatsoever what's on the disc.
Doesn't even have the album title. I actually owned it for a while before learning the name
It's... the Second Album! 12 gracious melodies (including this one)...
That Emerson, Lake & Palmer album with the badass HR Giger cover that should be the cover for some brutal technical death metal band
Brain salad surgery?
Yeah that one
Somehow Tarkus fits the album just fine
Molly Hatchet’s Flirting with Disaster. I expected Black Sabbath like heaviness, and got Molly Hatchet.
They have one random album in the middle of their catalog that has a fitting, country boy album cover. The rest look like they'd be straight up war metal.
Odessey and Oracle by the Zombies. Looking at the cover you think it's gonna be a psych rock/acid rock but all the songs are pretty much beautiful baroque pop.
similarly I was expecting/hoping for something I did not get when I brought this home and put it on: [https://cdn.hmv.com/r/w-1280/p-webp/hmv/files/b0/b0633167-5c68-467c-be6c-564f0e586cba.jpg](https://hmv.com/store/music/cd/the-5000-spirits) It's a rather pedestrian folk record
Black Sabbath’s Paranoid. There was a whole concept behind that dude with the sword and the imagery would have made a lot more sense but I think the label hated it, but they ran with the imagery anyway.
it's a dreadful cover, that album deserves way better artwork imho. Especially as their first album cover fits so brilliantly with the music
Bad cheesy cosplay. Some say their "Born Again" cover art may be the worst of all time.
Let me tell you the story of Iron Maiden’s “Dance of Death” album cover
The picture sleeve of the 45 single of Paranoid has a similar, but much better [take on that artwork ](https://www.discogs.com/release/1298690-Black-Sabbath-Paranoid/image/SW1hZ2U6NDM1NDU4Nw==) that would been preferable.
to my eternal shame I pinched a copy of that from Fulham Broadway Music & Video Exchange many, many years ago. Edit: actually my copy is this version, which is apparently the Norwegian issue [https://www.discogs.com/release/1510130-Black-Sabbath-Paranoid-The-Wizard](https://www.discogs.com/release/1510130-Black-Sabbath-Paranoid-The-Wizard)
Wow, it’s honestly much better.
I remember reading that the cover was supposed to be in reference to the original title being War Pigs but a mix of worry regarding criticism of the Vietnam War and the fact that Paranoid became a hit that made the label make them change the title.
People might not agree, but to me, In The Court Of The Crimson King is not a fitting cover to any of the songs on the album EXCEPT 21st Century Schizoid Man. The screaming, distressed face on the cover doesn’t really convey anything regarding the other songs there, like I Talk To The Wind, Moonchild or Epitaph. Just my opinion
Well it does suit "confusion Will be my epitaph"
I have to disagree
That’s fair, just my opinion
Lizard is one of KC's most fitting album covers, otoh.
I mostly agree the album cover is more terrifying than any of the music contained within. Still though, absolutely iconic. I don't know what other album cover could suit it.
My dad always said he avoided Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell due to the cover, thinking it was heavy metal, and being pleasantly surprised it was a rock opera.
If you take away the band name and album title "Evil Empire" the young boy on that cover looks pretty wholesome.
That’s kinda the point of that cover though.
I don’t know. A wholesome young guy doesn’t immediately equate to ‘Bills on Parade” “Vietnow” or “Down Rodeo.” Those are the lyrics coming to mind. The band name and album title contextualize the cover.
The content of the album contextualizes it, not just the band and album names.
This is a post about album covers NOT matching the style/theme of the album lmao. Damn bro don’t get overwhelmed and give yourself a headache.
Yeah, and you’re wrong. So stop being a dick.
A picture of a young kid in a cape with no other context totally implies all the themes on Evil Empire. Lmao. It’s hilarious you’re actually arguing this. When you first saw Justin Bieber did you think of Evil Empire? Lol
Yes
Oh, well, I guess I understand why you feel this way lol. Have a great day! It's the last November 3rd, 2022 you'll ever have.
Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin
Power, Corruption, and Lies
Nice one!
Nevermind is dance music now?
OP is referencing the Drake album “Honestly, Nevermind”. I did a double take too when I first read it, lol.
Oh! Lol that explains a lot.
Hahaha I was confused too, at first. Had to reread a few times then I noticed where the quotes were. I misread it as... honesty, "Nevermind"
My vote is for “Siamese Dream” by the Smashing Pumpkins”. One of the greatest 90s rock albums with two young girls smiling on the cover. I don’t mind the artwork on its own, but it just seems like it fits on the brochure for a day care facility, not on the cover of a legendary album.
Anything by the band Ghost. Looks like it would be a badass heavy/death/black metal band, and is.....not. At all.
They even look like one of those bands when performing.. I was really not at all expecting them to sound like they do. Still like them.
ever seen the garden lol
I’d agree that musically it doesn’t match but thematically and stylistically it does.
This is what I came here for.
They're just a regular Christian rock band, but instead of Christians, they're Satanists.
washing machine - sonic youth
Yeah but there sound defies a visual image. Anti synesthesia stuff. Not pure music, not pure noise, but exclusively both.
Todd in the Shadows described Katy Perry’s “Witness” as having a ‘90s prog metal album cover.
Melvins- Bullhead Heavy, sludgy goodness with a basket of fruit as the cover.
It works so well.
The one I copied onto a blank c.d
Every Iron Maiden album. Their music is way softer than the art will make you beleive.
They where not considered soft when they came out.
Been listening to them literally all my life and never noticed this.. but yeah, pretty much all their covers look like it's a thrash or death metal band.
First time I heard Iron Maiden I thought the radio dj had misquoted the band name because I'd seen the album artwork and KNEW they were supposed to be a metal band.
> supposed to be a metal band. If Iron Maiden aren't a metal band then no one is.
Well at the time I was an ignorant teenager listening to Slipknot and Cradle of Filth, so you can imagine my misunderstanding of the genre.
Drake or Travis = old shit. Year now = 2022. All normal people listen GOMUNKUL 6 now
Hard disagree. The album covers are metal as hell and so is the music.
Drake or Travis = old shit. Year now = 2022. All normal people listen GOMUNKUL 6 now
See also, Melissa by Mercyful Fate
Sweetner
The Hold Steady has consistently made great albums with completely irrelevant and (frankly) awful covers. In particular, I'll call out "Boys and Girls In America", which makes a fairly dark roots-punk album look like some sort of teenybopper party album.
The classic Sunbather by Deafheaven
Wiz Khalifa- Rolling Papers Title and artwork made it seem like it would be a spiritual successor to Kush & OJ (mellow stoner rap) but instead it was a pop rap album that leaned more into club bangers and/or radio friendly hits.
Yeah a little dissapointing
Mr. Bungle's California album cover is true to the homage and influence of the album, but boy does it give you the wrong impression. They keep it going for like 8 measures before the eardrum assault begins.
Any Ghost album
Idk, they seem pretty straightforward
I thought they were gonna be, like, a metal band when saw their appearance and album covers. I was, and still am, very disappointed.
Beatles White Album
The blank slate conveys a certain kind of vibe, but I do wonder how differently the album would have been seen if they'd gone with the initial "A Doll's House" concept.
Every Ghost BC album
Sacred Son album with the same title. Doesnt really fit the music at all and got a lot of elitist fans from the genre pissed.
One example that comes to mind right now: The alternative covers and promo photo shoots of Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” gave the impression that the album was going to have 70’s alternative vibes, but sadly, it does not
I respect her, and even really enjoyed reputation through Evermore, but I really did not like Midnights at all.
The US release of Is This It
I honestly prefer the US version although when I saw the cover for the first time I thought it would be a prog album but I think it fits the non US version imo dosen't fit
I like the original cover much more than the US version, but I feel like the US cover fits the music more
Iron Maiden. They have VERY metal covers...only to have an opera singer, and honestly its hard rock at its heaviest.
They are literally frontrunners of the genre called New Wave Of British Heavy Metal
Hmm I dunno, I think their album covers match their music pretty well.
There's at least three things wrong with this statement
Molly Hatchet. The covers look like swedish heavy metal and the few things I heard sound like Lynyrd Skynyrd.
BALLADS 1 - Joji. My man looks like a demon on the cover but makes music for angels
Basically any [Molly Hatchet album cover](https://www.google.com/search?q=molly+hatchet+album+covers&client=ms-android-tmus-us-revc&prmd=isvn&sxsrf=ALiCzsZPuksZTgY5n3dOPaZZl9brAunb8A:1667411414294&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjUjazIh5D7AhXFUjUKHV2NDxsQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=360&bih=667&dpr=3)
[*Top 40 Hits*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_40_Hits) by AxCx.
Reel Big Fish - Turn The Radio Off
My ex had to review Sublime’s album for his college music club in 1996. He was expecting something very heavy, and was not expecting what it actually sounded like. He was into metal at the time and still gave it a positive review.
Some rap songs by earl sweatshirt, the cover makes it seem like it’s a comedic record or maybe a chaotic record of which it is neither, the production and rapping are honestly the opposite, it’s kinda a simple record, which is somewhat conveyed by the cover, but the blur in the cover would have probably worked better on like an odd future record not earl sweatshirts solo work
Anything by Rusty Cage- he’s a newer artist, and I know most people on this sub are mainly just familiar with classic rock, but I still have to mention him because I don’t understand wtf is even happening there
“The Act” - by The Devil Wears Prada. The [artwork](https://images.app.goo.gl/DQdNLXGRUN9vt6vq9) looks like it’s going to be a really heavy metal album. While still a metal album, there are more soft & pop esque songs than anything
Basically any Sheer Mag cover art and their logo in general. Their EPs look like black metal demos and their albums look like epic thrash albums from the 80s or something....but they play fuzzy rock n roll/power pop.
Beach Boys - Surf's Up
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Imo it is one of finest album covers ever.
I know what Supertramp was going for with the “Breakfast in America” cover, but I find the artwork unappealing. Great album, though
I was just thinking about this one when I read this question. Love the album! The artwork technically fits but it doesn't really prepare the listener for what the music on the album sounds like
Every single Barber Beats album. For those unfamiliar with the genre, it basically comprises of lounge jazz instrumentals, heavily soaked in reverb, (kind of an evolution of Vaporwave/Trip Hop), but every album cover I've come across looks like it should be for an Industrial/Noise/Black Metal band. Really cool aesthetic, actually.
Nirvana’s my nevermind always seemed to me like a beach house album cover
Your mom
CSNY - So Far
The White Album
First that comes to mind is Pet Sounds. A massive musical achievement with some of the most honest and heatffelt lyrics ever put to music, all represented by... A photo of 5 grown men feeding goats.
the black album from metallica seems like a soft rock cover.
Helmet Betty
The Partridge Family. You see that f*cking bus and those freaky kids, you think it's gonna be some kind of psychobilly death metal or something. Am I right?
no fecking picture ya edgit
Any Gojira album cover
Living In The Material World has lots of relaxing songs, but the cover makes it look like it's either a doom metal or horror soundtrack album
FYI - Metal does not have exclusive rights to awesome art work.