@@jimmm7339ki3456 I started lstening to Metaallica when they first came out. I love the first 3 albums. To me it's not about sales and money.. Does it kick ass? Is my question. And thus I declare the black album shitty. LOL
@@jimmm7339ki3456 It would be my no. 5 too because they certainly didn't get any better after that either. Cliff Burtons death and running out of Mustaine riffs threw their asses for a loop.
When I was a kid I thought that Deep Purple's "In Rock" was a cheap, semi-authorized collection. That cover screams, "K-tel". I'm glad that I gave it a shot at some point (I think I bought it on cassette at a truck stop on a family trip) since it's one of the best albums ever! Thanks for the fun list Pete & Martin.
This channel has become my favorite these past six months. You have really stepped it up big time this past year. I am a huge massive Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal fan and most of your videos really entertain me big time. All the new content is perfect in my eyes, and other than yourself, you have an amazing variety of special guests and they all entertain me also. My favorite is easily the rants with the Hollywood Squares episodes. The chemistry you guys have is amazing. Just like many others my favorite guest Is Chris Alo. I also love it when you have Chris Caffery as a special guest. I have been following your channel for at least four years or close to it, and in my opinion your channel is better than ever. Thanks for all the content.
I like this topic a lot, because it doesn't mean at all that we dislike the music, but the cover art. Off the top of my head I got: AC/DC Annihilator Metal Church Ozzy Osbourne Queensryche
Another excellent show. Martin made me laugh out loud on several occasions. He has a brilliant way of being dismissive without giving offence. Really looking forward to part 2.
I like the Fly on the Wall album cover actually, it gives me horror movie vibes with the eye peaking out. I love the Powerage album cover too because it reminds me of Carrie (1976), to me at least.
r fernandes to which you can add ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘Purpendicular’, ‘The Battle Rages On’, ‘Rapture of the Deep’, What Else?!’, ‘Abandon’ and ‘Slaves and Masters’, all of which are appalling.
I felt like all the Deep Purple cover dissing must've been hurting you a little bit Pete lol but you grinned and beared it very well and it was a entertaining watch!
I love Martin but I don’t agree about the In Rock cover being bad. Martin has it out for that album lol. On the last Popoff-Pardo show he talked about how he doesn’t have much use for In Rock because it sounds old. Like with Pete, In Rock is one of my favorite albums, so each time I’ve been like “WHAT!?” I appreciate Martin being a contrarian, but In Rock is sacred to me.
In Rock - Put our faces in rock Fireball - Put our faces in a fireball Machine Head - Reflect our heads in a machine Taste the band - put our faces in a wine glass Burn - Literally make our heads into candles and burn them - but that one works somehow
But In Rock references Mount Rushmore which makes the concept very cool. Love that cover and always thought it was regarded as one of the coolest album covers in classic rock.
Very entertaining show. Got to go with Deep Purple “Bananas “ as the worst. GFR “ Born to Die” is pretty disturbing although a really good underrated album.
Robert Short He would have received a one off fee for the job, but the band has probably earned nearly as much money from its use on T-shirts and other merchandise than it has from most of its records, aside from ‘Back in Black’.
You can always count on a good show when Pete and Popoff join together. Haven't seem a bad show from those guys. And for those who want to know a little more about Popoff: his first concerts, his thoughts on whether Back in Black would be such a success with Bon on vocals, or Iron Maiden with Paul Di'Anno, I recommend this interview on a Brazilian show that has the same vibe as Pete's Sea of Tranquility: ruclips.net/video/8XrOxvcs6vQ/видео.html Cheers!!!
One that comes to my mind immediately is Ted Nugent. The first three albums aren't bad (I don't mind Free-For-All's cover) but after that they got really weird.
4 года назад+2
...............especially Scream Dream (although I think it's funny).
I have this book about band names and I've thought about this for many decades. Some names are brilliant but some are just so ridiculous, uncool, lame, nonsensical. Yet, because of the stature of the band, we don't think of them that way. If you take a band like the Slits, the Police, the Beatles, the Cars, the Kinks, the Pretty Things, ACDC, the Zombies, Bad Company, Atomic Rooster, the Wailers, Kansas, Boston, Slade, 10cc and others and say their names over and over, out of context, they sound so dumb. But if you say them in relation to their songs and albums, they don't. Whereas some names sound great however you speak of them and whatever the context, Deep Purple, Procul Harum, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Return To Forever, Weather Report etc......
This is going to be very interesting. My own pick? Many probably won't like this, but I always thought The Rolling Stones had a slew of awful album covers.
Goat’s Head Soup is disturbing, Black and Blue is just bad, Exile looks cluttered, Beggers Banquet is a damn bathroom stall lol, Their Satanic Majestic is awful, and pretty much everything after Some Girls ranges from forgettable to oh my god what is this
@@iainholmes2735 the EXILE cover was exceptional at the time. So many pictures, scribblings etc. It draws you in and keeps the eyes busy. Even the inner sleeves are full of stuff and hand-writing...
@@johnnyjohansson1736 Wasn't the whole heavy metal era ridiculous and trashy, with hindsight? Now we're grown-ups, we can't remember how cool it felt at the time.
AC/DC is my favorite band and it was long before they were ever one of the world's biggest bands. While they certainly have some clunkers (most from the Brian Johnson era) I do like some of those that Martin slagged. High Voltage (international) is a great album cover and looks great on a t-shirt. Angus being pushed forward as the mascot makes sense here. He wears the uniform and is the bratty, snot-nosed face of those early days. It makes more sense to push him on the cover than it does Yngwie as his suit and persona are iconic. Also, Highway to Hell was the album cover I thought of as the exception to the rule of not being on the cover... why? Like the music, AC/DCs mode of dress is timeless. It doesn't date them like a band like Queen or Maiden. Powerage is by far their best album cover. As for If You Want Blood... it's blurry, but iconic and shot at the club in my hometown. The back cover is excellent!
I always presumed that the cover art for Grand Funk's "Shinin' On" album was supposed to be viewed thru 3D glasses. If not, maybe it might improve the experience a bit anyway
Not trying to disrespect Chris, but I'm gonna have to disagree when he says to NEVER put a picture of the band or artist on the album cover. I agree that if done wrong, it looks bad, but if done right it can make it even more iconic. Examples include Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, The Stranger, "Heroes", and my personal favorite album cover of all time, Aladdin Sane. I see what Chris is getting at tho, some bands just slap a cheesy photo on it and call it a day😄. Tell Chris I hope to see him back soon, his high energy really brings life to the show🙂
I totally disagree with Chris. Some great album covers have the band on the cover. It's way too absolute to invoke it as a general rule. There are tons of the worst covers ever where the band is nowhere in sight so it works both ways.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid Samson - Head On Uriah Heep - High and Mighty Helloween - Chameleon Megadeth - Super Colider Metallica - St. Anger Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy Autopsy - S**tfun Trapeze - Hold On Fates Warning - Inside Out
Note, the cover photo of Deep Purple on "Made in Japan" is from the Rainbow Theatre in London. Photo on the back from Oxford (where you can see Phil Collen from Def Leppard in the audience).
Yep, 3D glasses came with the "Shinin' On" album. A few years ago I bought the Japanese SHM CD reissue of the album and they replicated the original packaging, including the 3D glasses. Similar to the 3D glasses they used to issue for 3D horror movies at the cinemas back in the day.
That cheesy 3D gimmick with the grey/pink/blue was a “thing” in the mid 70’s. I used to get kids/teen magazines with that kind of picture in them. (Remember Dynamite magazine?). The idea was the pics were supposed to look trippy and cool and 3D, but the effect was poor at best. Shinin’ On’s album look was a gimmick that made the album seem immediately dated and childish.
He liked the covers enough to have the band sign them. The Grand Funk Shinin' On is bad, but the reason it is blurry is because it was an old 3D graphic and it came with 3D glasses.
Pete first off, I want to thank you for helping get thru this Pandemic with your show. I left my job Feb 28th. I am in an industry that is very easy to get good paying gigs but three weeks later the country shut down. Thankfully I saved a lot of money and it got me thru. That said, I start my new job tomorrow and it is a dream job for me. I will only be able to catch up on your shows on the weekend. But I will be on the channel every weekend. Again THANK YOU very much as you helped keep me grounded and pumped my man. See you Saturday and have a great week buddy. Oh by the way another Great show today sir.
I like the ACDC covers mainly because it's simple and no frills, straight to the point, just like their music. It's fits their style well, even if a bit repetitive.
It's incredible how these bands could do great art in music art but instead bad art in covers. I agree 100% with your choices and many other top bands could be in this list.
Been looking forward to this, will probably watch tonight with a beer! Expect sabbath to be here! Lol. Ever thought of a favourite bands list by genre as I know you have already listed your 30 favourites
I'm surprised Martin didn't know the story behind the title, "Come Taste the Band"... Ian or one of them had a bit of wine and was singing "Cabaret" with the line, "come taste the wine, come hear the band" only he switched "taste" and "hear"...
Hi Pete You are so right about the Nazareth album covers from 1980 onwards, along with the disappointing music waiting within. And Golden Earring did some awful and tasteless album covers after 1976. Perhaps you could do a show called "awful albums you keep by artists you love.... for example:- 1. All the Naz LPs you held up plus their 2009 - 2014 output. I keep "The Newz" for one track only (Gloria). 2. Don Henley - Cass County 3. A slew of Jan Akkerman LP's with two good songs per record. 4. Other bad solo artist albums from bands u love. I am gonna have a cull... and get rid of those three good tracks or less LPs. And don't get me started on Cheap Trick post 2003!!!!!
Martin's a fountain of hard rock knowledge...I may not always fully agree with him but his stuff is so interesting and full of information I've been drawn to it for years.ive learned a LOT from that guy🤘👍his collectors guide to 70's metal has been huge for me
Van Halen had not bad but boring covers. I only like the cover art of "Fair Warning". The worst cover has "1984": An angel with cigarettes. On the "Heaven and Hell"-cover several years before angels already were smoking and playing cards
I agree. They had some great album covers in the past like Love Hunter, but in my opinion the last decent album cover they had is the Slide It In album which was over 35 years ago.
I like how Martin references Chris Alo (hoped I spelled his name correctly) about what should or shouldn't be on an album cover - don't put a photo of the band on the cover, and make sure the cover can be put on a t-shirt. It provides some good rules to follow that I can't argue with. A couple bands that don't follow those rules are Fleetwood Mac (after the Peter G. era) and Free (other than the one album with the girl jumping over the camera). I really like the music of both these bands, but I'm not crazy about those covers. Good topic, Pete!
The days of picking albums by the cover art is over. I remember buying stuff because of either I knew the record label had other stuff I like or it looked like a hard-core punk album. Subhumans e.p / l.p was first thing I bought based on cover art and song names that was probably 1993.
@Martin Popoff It is bad. It's just so forgetable that it didn't even enter my mind. Now the Bananas cover? That left an impression on me. Now that I think about it, an awful lot of these covers left an impression on me. Worst band cover art ever? Riot has to be in the running.
Those Nazareth album covers are quite perplexing. Great choice by Martin having Fly on the Wall behind him during the video. Make this a continuing series. Very entertaining.
i saw the bananas tour in Brisbane Australia....forget the album cover....they were selling batteries included bananas (in a clear plastic on card package like an action figure) with Deep Purple written in Red on the banana....you unscrew the banana, insert 2 batteries, tighten back up and it vibrates...yep, bought one for the wall and one for my wife...i bet it was Gillans idea, lol
Funny thing is, I love the album {except "Shandi"} and I've always liked the cover ! When I did buy it, it was as part of a bundle so it was stuck in the middle !!
The original vinyl release of Grand Funk "Shinin' On" was a 3-D cover. The glasses on the front were removable in order to view the 3-D image. That's why the cover looks blurry. I believe there may have been a 3-D poster inside as well. In 1974 it was a pretty cool gimmick.
The thing with using Angus as a mascot for the band, that's different from using Eddie as the mascot for Iron Maiden because Eddie represents all of the members. While Angus is only part of AC/DC when there's also Mal, Cliff, Phil, and Brian. It doesn't seem right having only Angus represent the entire band on their merchandise (unless they were ok with having Angus be the center of attention, but yeah). That's like using Bruce as a mascot for Iron Maiden, which thankfully they never did. At least Maiden showed all of the band members on the back cover of their albums (not sure if they did that for all of them though). But that's why AC/DC's Highway to Hell is my favorite album cover because it had all of the members. I kind of wish they stuck with that approach for their following albums, though I did like the Ballbreaker album cover, I'll give them credit for that. Brian doesn't appear on an album cover though, which is sad!
A good example can be suicidal tendencies. Most of their albums are good But awful cover albums, thats probably the reason I missed out on them on the 90's .
I kind of like Deep Purple's early covers. "Shades of...." is what it is, a pretty good cover, nothing groundbreaking but not bad. The next two are quite good too. "Concerto" isn't actually a bad cover, it's just a 'meh' one that conveys the feeling of a classical orchestra somehow involved. I'd say that it does what it's supposed to do. Then the band knock it out of the stratosphere with the next 2. "Deep Purple in rock" is one of my favourite 6 LP covers of all time along with Revolver, Ummagumma, Through the past darkly, Strange Days and Trout mask replica. I think it is a fantastically original piece of art, packed with humour yet stating their intent in much the same way that "Concerto"'s cover does. If the Concerto cover says "there's a classical orchestra in these grooves" then "Deep Purple in rock" screams loud and clear that this album has no frills and is rock all the way. Whenever I see it, on a video, in a magazine, whatever, I have to look at it. And have been doing so since 1980. I first got it on cassette and it was like having Merlin's wand in my hand. I can appreciate that many people think it's a load of shit and when I hear people lambast it, far from wanting to tell them how wrong they all are, I'm filled with joy and marvel at how humanity and creation is so diverse, at how we're so different. It thrills me that we can look at the same piece of artwork and have so many differing thoughts and feelings about it. “Shades of…” and “Fireball” were the first Purple albums I heard and I loved both almost instantly, had them taped within 3 days. Shades was a reissue so the cover wasn’t the original. It was pretty lame actually. But I loved the cover of “Fireball” from the minute I set eyes on it back in ‘79. The reason that’s significant to me is that I was then only at the beginning of my true appreciation for album covers. I liked most Beatle covers but I didn’t have much experience of much else. I’d been blown away by Pink Floyd’s “A Nice Pair” and it was through that that I really started to dig cover art. I thought then and still think now that Fireball has an immense cover. I used to have a biography of the band back in the early 80s {I think it was by a guy called Chris Charlesworth} and in it, I think there is a segment of the photos that were taken during the “Fireball” photo shoot. If you look closely at the album cover, you can see that the band were standing up to have the picture taken. So as with “Deep Purple in rock” I disagree with Martin {a superb and valuable writer whose works are among my favourites} about the band not really taking much care over or seriousness with their album covers. “Fireball” is one of the earliest covers to hit me and it still does. If I was the kind of person that had artwork hanging on my walls, “Fireball” would be a serious contender. As might “Burn,” “Stormbringer” and “Come taste the band.” “Burn” is quite simply invention overload. “Stormbringer” is beautiful, its only drawback being its stylistic similarities to albums by the Temptations {Wings of love}, Uriah Heep {Magician’s birthday}, Budgie {If I were Brittania….}, Dog Soldier {S/T}, Miles Davis {Bitches Brew}, Van Morrison {Hard nose the highway}, Osibisa {S/T}, Oschinn {S/T} and “Come taste the band” was a very clever idea and in my opinion, well executed. Made in Japan is a good cover, not a classic, but good and serves its function. I actually quite like the fact that Ian Gillan is playing congas on it, the irony being that his conga playing is actually rarely heard ! Off the top of my head I can’t think of any songs he plays on. “Who do we think we are ?” is a really good album design but a pretty lame album cover. You have to go inside to the gatefold to appreciate its value. As for “Machine Head,” well, that is a pretty crummy cover in my opinion. If you want to get dizzy, look at it for half an hour ! The idea is inventive but it doesn’t translate well to a piece of art that you look at. It would have made so much more sense to use the back cover as the front, even though it also is a pretty crappy picture. It’s saving grace is that it features the machine head of a bass.
witchfinder general had the best/worst album covers. they only made 2 albums and they broke up right after their secong album "friends of hell".great band!
Martin doesn't think Grand Funk is heavy. Unbelievable. Lol. Must be something in that Canadian glacial water supply. You guys are fantastic as a tandem.
Great show, but Martin......I love the Mark II and Mark III Deep Purple covers (except for Who Do We Thing We Are). I always thought it was cool how they tied the album title with images of the band members. Stormbringer is awesome as well.
UFO had terrible album covers from 1971 up until whenever their last album was . The only cool imagery of their entire catalogue are the performance shots on the back of Force It , and the band photo on the back of No Heavy Petting ( where they all look high , or drunk ) . One of the best Proto Metal acts , but what strange album covers ( especially the Schenker years which are the best of their musical accomplishments )
17:02 Who Do We Think We Are looks like a Christmas Album, with Jingle Bells. Reminds me of the 1974 James Last Christmas Album that my father had at home (google it) . Hahahahahaha.
I will take a little issue with the GFR album shinin' on...as that one was blurry because the album came with 3D glasses that made the album cover look like it was in 3D..but you're right for the most part
I remember my friend telling me how cool that album cover (Born Again I'm talking about) was back in the 80's. I wasn't that impressed, but at least they tried.
@@igoroliveira7458 Agree, it's no Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules, love those two covers. And I like the Live Evil cover, I had it as a gatefold vinyl back in 1983.
If I was in a band, especially a really heavy band, I'd put pictures of adorable kittens on all of my covers. I like consistency and I also like to mess with people.
Can never get tired of watching these great rant shows.
I think Martin loves all of those album covers and just wanted to show off how many of them he has signed by the band.
The line begins behind Riot
😂
So true. I think that cover prevented me from getting into that band.
meanz71 I love Seal Boy!
Riot's Seal is at least memorably goofy as a mascot, and he was used several times.
@CartoonKiller35 Thundersteel is awesome. Riot is great, but those album covers..
I have to disagree about "Back in Black." That's a classic, iconic and perfect album cover given its importance after the death of Bon Scott.
So good that Metallica pretty much stole it for their shitty black album.
Troy Cleek Shitty Black Album? Wow. I wish I could produce a shitty album that sold over 100 million. Whatever.
@@jimmm7339ki3456 I started lstening to Metaallica when they first came out. I love the first 3 albums. To me it's not about sales and money.. Does it kick ass? Is my question. And thus I declare the black album shitty. LOL
Troy Cleek I’m not saying it’s better than their first 4 albums, not at all. But in my opinion it’s #5.
@@jimmm7339ki3456 It would be my no. 5 too because they certainly didn't get any better after that either. Cliff Burtons death and running out of Mustaine riffs threw their asses for a loop.
You two are prolific hard workers. Now I'm settling down to watch. I love the album art shows.
When I was a kid I thought that Deep Purple's "In Rock" was a cheap, semi-authorized collection. That cover screams, "K-tel". I'm glad that I gave it a shot at some point (I think I bought it on cassette at a truck stop on a family trip) since it's one of the best albums ever! Thanks for the fun list Pete & Martin.
Yep, cheesy execution of the concept. The artist is competant but not top tier. Terrible color choices for art and lettering.
I feel the same way about Machine Head. I've always hated that cover. It looks like a cheap public domain knockoff or something.
I’ll never tire of Pete with Martin Popoff shows ! Chris Alo too !
When Martin and Pete are together, you know that there will be video magic.
This channel has become my favorite these past six months. You have really stepped it up big time this past year. I am a huge massive Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal fan and most of your videos really entertain me big time. All the new content is perfect in my eyes, and other than yourself, you have an amazing variety of special guests and they all entertain me also. My favorite is easily the rants with the Hollywood Squares episodes. The chemistry you guys have is amazing. Just like many others my favorite guest Is Chris Alo. I also love it when you have Chris Caffery as a special guest. I have been following your channel for at least four years or close to it, and in my opinion your channel is better than ever. Thanks for all the content.
As a kid, I thought the AC/DC logo was really cool. And I love the 'Back in Black' cover.
I like this topic a lot, because it doesn't mean at all that we dislike the music, but the cover art.
Off the top of my head I got:
AC/DC
Annihilator
Metal Church
Ozzy Osbourne
Queensryche
You know, the thing about Martin Popoff, even when I disagree with him I love hearing him rant. So entertaining.
12 year old me really liked the AC/DC and Kiss logo. So easy to draw on my schoolbag
Another excellent show. Martin made me laugh out loud on several occasions. He has a brilliant way of being dismissive without giving offence. Really looking forward to part 2.
I thought Fly on the Wall would have made the choice! Hence the background on Martin hehe
I like the Fly on the Wall album cover actually, it gives me horror movie vibes with the eye peaking out. I love the Powerage album cover too because it reminds me of Carrie (1976), to me at least.
Bananas by Deep Purple is one of the very worst I've ever seen.
r fernandes to which you can add ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘Purpendicular’, ‘The Battle Rages On’, ‘Rapture of the Deep’, What Else?!’, ‘Abandon’ and ‘Slaves and Masters’, all of which are appalling.
Perfect Strangers was issued bang in the middle of the heavy metal boom. Hence the DP logo cast in steel.
Bananas!!!Worst cover and album title
Nazareth made a lot of albums. I only know one.... I think its Hair of the Dog.
And what a terrific LP
Imagine thinking "For Those About to Rock" is a bad album cover
I felt like all the Deep Purple cover dissing must've been hurting you a little bit Pete lol but you grinned and beared it very well and it was a entertaining watch!
I love Martin but I don’t agree about the In Rock cover being bad. Martin has it out for that album lol. On the last Popoff-Pardo show he talked about how he doesn’t have much use for In Rock because it sounds old. Like with Pete, In Rock is one of my favorite albums, so each time I’ve been like “WHAT!?” I appreciate Martin being a contrarian, but In Rock is sacred to me.
In Rock - Put our faces in rock
Fireball - Put our faces in a fireball
Machine Head - Reflect our heads in a machine
Taste the band - put our faces in a wine glass
Burn - Literally make our heads into candles and burn them - but that one works somehow
But In Rock references Mount Rushmore which makes the concept very cool. Love that cover and always thought it was regarded as one of the coolest album covers in classic rock.
Bananas - Let's take a picture of some....................bananas. (Thanks for clearing up what a banana looks like, guys!).
Sidewinder snakes live in the desert 🌵
Yeah, I don't know what he was talking about. I mean, I TOTALLY associate snakes with the desert, especially highly venomous ones.
I live in Arizona and we have snakes. The baseball team is called the Diamondbacks.
Dave Defrancesco 😂😂👍🏻
Very entertaining show. Got to go with Deep Purple “Bananas “ as the worst. GFR “ Born to Die” is pretty disturbing although a really good underrated album.
Quick bit of useless trivia - The AC/DC logo was created by the same guy who did the Time Magazine logo.
Robert Short He would have received a one off fee for the job, but the band has probably earned nearly as much money from its use on T-shirts and other merchandise than it has from most of its records, aside from ‘Back in Black’.
Patrick Crowther Bro you have the same last name we’re you from
Jae Crowther I’m from London, England originally but live in Italy. My father’s family come from Yorkshire in north England.
@@patrickcrowther9195 would be the right name for a member of the Black Crows
The guy who created the AC/DC logo never got a dollar for it either.
You can always count on a good show when Pete and Popoff join together. Haven't seem a bad show from those guys. And for those who want to know a little more about Popoff: his first concerts, his thoughts on whether Back in Black would be such a success with Bon on vocals, or Iron Maiden with Paul Di'Anno, I recommend this interview on a Brazilian show that has the same vibe as Pete's Sea of Tranquility: ruclips.net/video/8XrOxvcs6vQ/видео.html Cheers!!!
Pete has this bemused look on his face the whole time Martin is showing the albums, LOL!
One that comes to my mind immediately is Ted Nugent. The first three albums aren't bad (I don't mind Free-For-All's cover) but after that they got really weird.
...............especially Scream Dream (although I think it's funny).
@ yeah. That and the original Love Grenade cover.
Do a show about bands with the best logos.
100% there are snakes that live in the desert.
My statement was incorrect then. Noted!
The points Martin makes about Machine Head (along with those about The Cars and The Police) are spot on. I had never thought about that before.
I have this book about band names and I've thought about this for many decades. Some names are brilliant but some are just so ridiculous, uncool, lame, nonsensical. Yet, because of the stature of the band, we don't think of them that way. If you take a band like the Slits, the Police, the Beatles, the Cars, the Kinks, the Pretty Things, ACDC, the Zombies, Bad Company, Atomic Rooster, the Wailers, Kansas, Boston, Slade, 10cc and others and say their names over and over, out of context, they sound so dumb. But if you say them in relation to their songs and albums, they don't. Whereas some names sound great however you speak of them and whatever the context, Deep Purple, Procul Harum, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, King Crimson, Return To Forever, Weather Report etc......
This is going to be very interesting.
My own pick? Many probably won't like this, but I always thought The Rolling Stones had a slew of awful album covers.
Agreed. 'Exile...' is a landmark album. Sprawling, louche, but brilliant. The cover is bilge, in my humble opinion.
Goat’s Head Soup is disturbing, Black and Blue is just bad, Exile looks cluttered, Beggers Banquet is a damn bathroom stall lol, Their Satanic Majestic is awful, and pretty much everything after Some Girls ranges from forgettable to oh my god what is this
@@alexandergilles8583 Thanks for making me laugh SO hard. I'm in 100% concurrence with everything you said!
@@iainholmes2735 the EXILE cover was exceptional at the time. So many pictures, scribblings etc. It draws you in and keeps the eyes busy. Even the inner sleeves are full of stuff and hand-writing...
I thought the Stones should have used the poster insert art for the cover of Goat's Head Soup.
AC/DC, Accept, Foghat (especially the 80s), Grand Funk Railroad, Status Quo, Hanoi Rocks and Riot all come to mind.
I'll ad Aerosmith, Uriah Heep and Krokus to your list of what's coming to mind ranting this topic.
And I’ll add scorpions (especially the 70s. Looking at you virgin killer!), UFO, and foreigner
@@johnnyjohansson1736 Wasn't the whole heavy metal era ridiculous and trashy, with hindsight? Now we're grown-ups, we can't remember how cool it felt at the time.
Accept's Balls To The Wall album is a MASTERPIECE, but the album cover is horrific big time.
AC/DC is my favorite band and it was long before they were ever one of the world's biggest bands. While they certainly have some clunkers (most from the Brian Johnson era) I do like some of those that Martin slagged. High Voltage (international) is a great album cover and looks great on a t-shirt. Angus being pushed forward as the mascot makes sense here. He wears the uniform and is the bratty, snot-nosed face of those early days. It makes more sense to push him on the cover than it does Yngwie as his suit and persona are iconic. Also, Highway to Hell was the album cover I thought of as the exception to the rule of not being on the cover... why? Like the music, AC/DCs mode of dress is timeless. It doesn't date them like a band like Queen or Maiden. Powerage is by far their best album cover. As for If You Want Blood... it's blurry, but iconic and shot at the club in my hometown. The back cover is excellent!
I've grown to love the AC/DC bar fly.
LOL!!!!
You and Martin have to keep doing these shows. Awesome! Loved it.
I always presumed that the cover art for Grand Funk's "Shinin' On" album was supposed to be viewed thru 3D glasses. If not, maybe it might improve the experience a bit anyway
The album came with a pair of 3D glasses.…
Not trying to disrespect Chris, but I'm gonna have to disagree when he says to NEVER put a picture of the band or artist on the album cover. I agree that if done wrong, it looks bad, but if done right it can make it even more iconic. Examples include Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, The Stranger, "Heroes", and my personal favorite album cover of all time, Aladdin Sane. I see what Chris is getting at tho, some bands just slap a cheesy photo on it and call it a day😄. Tell Chris I hope to see him back soon, his high energy really brings life to the show🙂
I totally disagree with Chris. Some great album covers have the band on the cover. It's way too absolute to invoke it as a general rule. There are tons of the worst covers ever where the band is nowhere in sight so it works both ways.
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Samson - Head On
Uriah Heep - High and Mighty
Helloween - Chameleon
Megadeth - Super Colider
Metallica - St. Anger
Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy
Autopsy - S**tfun
Trapeze - Hold On
Fates Warning - Inside Out
Note, the cover photo of Deep Purple on "Made in Japan" is from the Rainbow Theatre in London. Photo on the back from Oxford (where you can see Phil Collen from Def Leppard in the audience).
"You're not going to see snakes out in the desert." What??
You can tell you're a city boy!
GFR's "Shinin' On" is out-of-focus because...it's 3D. The LP had the 3D Glasses on the cover...perforated so you could remove them. Cheeze-ola!
jazzpunk yep
Yep, 3D glasses came with the "Shinin' On" album. A few years ago I bought the Japanese SHM CD reissue of the album and they replicated the original packaging, including the 3D glasses. Similar to the 3D glasses they used to issue for 3D horror movies at the cinemas back in the day.
That cheesy 3D gimmick with the grey/pink/blue was a “thing” in the mid 70’s. I used to get kids/teen magazines with that kind of picture in them. (Remember Dynamite magazine?). The idea was the pics were supposed to look trippy and cool and 3D, but the effect was poor at best. Shinin’ On’s album look was a gimmick that made the album seem immediately dated and childish.
Had those so called glasses on my vinyl in 75. Awful really but a bit of fun
He liked the covers enough to have the band sign them. The Grand Funk Shinin' On is bad, but the reason it is blurry is because it was an old 3D graphic and it came with 3D glasses.
The first time I saw the cover of Flick of the switch, I thought Angus was putting a glass on a shelf.
Rattlesnakes ARE indigenous to deserts. Sidewinders make patterns in the sand while moving across the desert. They are actually really cool..
Pete first off, I want to thank you for helping get thru this Pandemic with your show. I left my job Feb 28th. I am in an industry that is very easy to get good paying gigs but three weeks later the country shut down. Thankfully I saved a lot of money and it got me thru. That said, I start my new job tomorrow and it is a dream job for me. I will only be able to catch up on your shows on the weekend. But I will be on the channel every weekend. Again THANK YOU very much as you helped keep me grounded and pumped my man. See you Saturday and have a great week buddy. Oh by the way another Great show today sir.
thanks, and congrats on the new job!
@@seaoftranquilityprog Thank you Pete, can't wait till Saturday to catch up on the videos. SO GOOD!!!!!!!
Charles Chapman Yeah, congrats on the new gig!
@@DCToonTime Thank you very much.
Without watching yet, my choice is Riot.
I like the ACDC covers mainly because it's simple and no frills, straight to the point, just like their music. It's fits their style well, even if a bit repetitive.
It's incredible how these bands could do great art in music art but instead bad art in covers. I agree 100% with your choices and many other top bands could be in this list.
Been looking forward to this, will probably watch tonight with a beer! Expect sabbath to be here! Lol. Ever thought of a favourite bands list by genre as I know you have already listed your 30 favourites
I'm surprised Martin didn't know the story behind the title, "Come Taste the Band"... Ian or one of them had a bit of wine and was singing "Cabaret" with the line, "come taste the wine, come hear the band" only he switched "taste" and "hear"...
Hi Pete
You are so right about the Nazareth album covers from 1980 onwards, along with the disappointing music waiting within. And Golden Earring did some awful and tasteless album covers after 1976. Perhaps you could do a show called "awful albums you keep by artists you love.... for example:-
1. All the Naz LPs you held up plus their 2009 - 2014 output. I keep "The Newz" for one track only (Gloria).
2. Don Henley - Cass County
3. A slew of Jan Akkerman LP's with two good songs per record.
4. Other bad solo artist albums from bands u love.
I am gonna have a cull... and get rid of those three good tracks or less LPs. And don't get me started on Cheap Trick post 2003!!!!!
Martin's a fountain of hard rock knowledge...I may not always fully agree with him but his stuff is so interesting and full of information I've been drawn to it for years.ive learned a LOT from that guy🤘👍his collectors guide to 70's metal has been huge for me
Fireball is one of the worst. As fireballs go, it looks like a sperm with the guys in it...like the band is gonna "Impregnate you with rock!"
Van Halen had not bad but boring covers. I only like the cover art of "Fair Warning". The worst cover has "1984": An angel with cigarettes. On the "Heaven and Hell"-cover several years before angels already were smoking and playing cards
Yep, Fair Warning is the only cover of theirs that I like, just because it's so bizarre.
This guest knows his album covers!
Sometimes I wonder if some bands actually do "bad" album covers deliberately as part of their whole image.
Whitesnake last few releases boring logo based terrible
I agree. They had some great album covers in the past like Love Hunter, but in my opinion the last decent album cover they had is the Slide It In album which was over 35 years ago.
Great stuff. The man knows what he's taking about. LP covers are, where important.
Damn how many sucky albums did Nazareth put out? Too many.
Thank you for Rant: Bands With Lots of Bad Album Covers - Part 1 (w/ Martin Popoff)🎤🎸🎵🥁
I like how Martin references Chris Alo (hoped I spelled his name correctly) about what should or shouldn't be on an album cover - don't put a photo of the band on the cover, and make sure the cover can be put on a t-shirt. It provides some good rules to follow that I can't argue with. A couple bands that don't follow those rules are Fleetwood Mac (after the Peter G. era) and Free (other than the one album with the girl jumping over the camera). I really like the music of both these bands, but I'm not crazy about those covers. Good topic, Pete!
Hey man I've been a fan for a good minute now! Love your stuff! I'd love to see you rank Survivor's incredible discography
The days of picking albums by the cover art is over. I remember buying stuff because of either I knew the record label had other stuff I like or it looked like a hard-core punk album. Subhumans e.p / l.p was first thing I bought based on cover art and song names that was probably 1993.
When Martin said he was saving the worst for last, I was certain it was Bananas! LOL!
@Martin Popoff It is bad. It's just so forgetable that it didn't even enter my mind. Now the Bananas cover? That left an impression on me. Now that I think about it, an awful lot of these covers left an impression on me. Worst band cover art ever? Riot has to be in the running.
Shinin' On was a 3d cover originally with the glasses included. Very cool when I was 14.
love it Pete keep it up
Those Nazareth album covers are quite perplexing. Great choice by Martin having Fly on the Wall behind him during the video. Make this a continuing series. Very entertaining.
Sidewindet is a rattlesnake in the desert. That moves sideways in the sand. In case you did not know. Guess thats what Nazareth were trying to do.
Lol, I have the Phoenix bird tattooed on my arm.
We can end this rant right now with #1
WASP - Inside the Electric Circus !
i saw the bananas tour in Brisbane Australia....forget the album cover....they were selling batteries included bananas (in a clear plastic on card package like an action figure) with Deep Purple written in Red on the banana....you unscrew the banana, insert 2 batteries, tighten back up and it vibrates...yep, bought one for the wall and one for my wife...i bet it was Gillans idea, lol
High Voltage a bad album cover? I think it's their best.....but that's me.
Chicago --essentially just the band logo for many of their albums.
Spot on..And what about the Doors? All they did was put a photo of the band on the cover...
@@mikepatrick5909 Ah, but "Weird scenes inside the goldmine" is pure gold and "Strange Days" is an utter classic. It's one of my top 6, ever.
KISS “ Unmasked “. How embarrassing buying that back in the day.
LOL!
Funny thing is, I love the album {except "Shandi"} and I've always liked the cover ! When I did buy it, it was as part of a bundle so it was stuck in the middle !!
The original vinyl release of Grand Funk "Shinin' On" was a 3-D cover. The glasses on the front were removable in order to view the 3-D image. That's why the cover looks blurry. I believe there may have been a 3-D poster inside as well. In 1974 it was a pretty cool gimmick.
"Burn"? Heads with candles sticking out of their heads? Now, this was quite an idiotic cover.
Balls to the wall...I don't have the ballz to frame it and I love that album!!!
The thing with using Angus as a mascot for the band, that's different from using Eddie as the mascot for Iron Maiden because Eddie represents all of the members. While Angus is only part of AC/DC when there's also Mal, Cliff, Phil, and Brian. It doesn't seem right having only Angus represent the entire band on their merchandise (unless they were ok with having Angus be the center of attention, but yeah). That's like using Bruce as a mascot for Iron Maiden, which thankfully they never did. At least Maiden showed all of the band members on the back cover of their albums (not sure if they did that for all of them though). But that's why AC/DC's Highway to Hell is my favorite album cover because it had all of the members. I kind of wish they stuck with that approach for their following albums, though I did like the Ballbreaker album cover, I'll give them credit for that. Brian doesn't appear on an album cover though, which is sad!
How about the topic of great Songs on mediocre/bad Albums? Seems like another fun topic to discuss. As always, great video!
Great episode guys. I actually found myself nodding and laughing.
There are snakes in the desert
For those about to rock cover is a bad ass iconic cover!
It's simply an album cover, don't overthink it Popoff.
A good example can be suicidal tendencies. Most of their albums are good But awful cover albums, thats probably the reason I missed out on them on the 90's .
I kind of like Deep Purple's early covers. "Shades of...." is what it is, a pretty good cover, nothing groundbreaking but not bad. The next two are quite good too. "Concerto" isn't actually a bad cover, it's just a 'meh' one that conveys the feeling of a classical orchestra somehow involved. I'd say that it does what it's supposed to do.
Then the band knock it out of the stratosphere with the next 2. "Deep Purple in rock" is one of my favourite 6 LP covers of all time along with Revolver, Ummagumma, Through the past darkly, Strange Days and Trout mask replica. I think it is a fantastically original piece of art, packed with humour yet stating their intent in much the same way that "Concerto"'s cover does. If the Concerto cover says "there's a classical orchestra in these grooves" then "Deep Purple in rock" screams loud and clear that this album has no frills and is rock all the way. Whenever I see it, on a video, in a magazine, whatever, I have to look at it. And have been doing so since 1980. I first got it on cassette and it was like having Merlin's wand in my hand.
I can appreciate that many people think it's a load of shit and when I hear people lambast it, far from wanting to tell them how wrong they all are, I'm filled with joy and marvel at how humanity and creation is so diverse, at how we're so different. It thrills me that we can look at the same piece of artwork and have so many differing thoughts and feelings about it.
“Shades of…” and “Fireball” were the first Purple albums I heard and I loved both almost instantly, had them taped within 3 days. Shades was a reissue so the cover wasn’t the original. It was pretty lame actually. But I loved the cover of “Fireball” from the minute I set eyes on it back in ‘79. The reason that’s significant to me is that I was then only at the beginning of my true appreciation for album covers. I liked most Beatle covers but I didn’t have much experience of much else. I’d been blown away by Pink Floyd’s “A Nice Pair” and it was through that that I really started to dig cover art. I thought then and still think now that Fireball has an immense cover. I used to have a biography of the band back in the early 80s {I think it was by a guy called Chris Charlesworth} and in it, I think there is a segment of the photos that were taken during the “Fireball” photo shoot. If you look closely at the album cover, you can see that the band were standing up to have the picture taken. So as with “Deep Purple in rock” I disagree with Martin {a superb and valuable writer whose works are among my favourites} about the band not really taking much care over or seriousness with their album covers. “Fireball” is one of the earliest covers to hit me and it still does. If I was the kind of person that had artwork hanging on my walls, “Fireball” would be a serious contender.
As might “Burn,” “Stormbringer” and “Come taste the band.” “Burn” is quite simply invention overload. “Stormbringer” is beautiful, its only drawback being its stylistic similarities to albums by the Temptations {Wings of love}, Uriah Heep {Magician’s birthday}, Budgie {If I were Brittania….}, Dog Soldier {S/T}, Miles Davis {Bitches Brew}, Van Morrison {Hard nose the highway}, Osibisa {S/T}, Oschinn {S/T} and “Come taste the band” was a very clever idea and in my opinion, well executed.
Made in Japan is a good cover, not a classic, but good and serves its function. I actually quite like the fact that Ian Gillan is playing congas on it, the irony being that his conga playing is actually rarely heard ! Off the top of my head I can’t think of any songs he plays on. “Who do we think we are ?” is a really good album design but a pretty lame album cover. You have to go inside to the gatefold to appreciate its value.
As for “Machine Head,” well, that is a pretty crummy cover in my opinion. If you want to get dizzy, look at it for half an hour ! The idea is inventive but it doesn’t translate well to a piece of art that you look at. It would have made so much more sense to use the back cover as the front, even though it also is a pretty crappy picture. It’s saving grace is that it features the machine head of a bass.
witchfinder general had the best/worst album covers. they only made 2 albums and they broke up right after their secong album "friends of hell".great band!
Some nice semi nekkid babes on those sleeves though.
Black Ice had four different covers. My copy is in white letters.
Martin doesn't think Grand Funk is heavy. Unbelievable. Lol. Must be something in that Canadian glacial water supply. You guys are fantastic as a tandem.
Thanks for an excellent video guys🤘
Great show, but Martin......I love the Mark II and Mark III Deep Purple covers (except for Who Do We Thing We Are). I always thought it was cool how they tied the album title with images of the band members. Stormbringer is awesome as well.
Pete, that "Shinin' On" cover is blurry because it is 3D. On the LP, you took out the glasses on the front to see the 3D image.
UFO had terrible album covers from 1971 up until whenever their last album was . The only cool imagery of their entire catalogue are the performance shots on the back of Force It , and the band photo on the back of No Heavy Petting ( where they all look high , or drunk ) . One of the best Proto Metal acts , but what strange album covers ( especially the Schenker years which are the best of their musical accomplishments )
17:02 Who Do We Think We Are looks like a Christmas Album, with Jingle Bells. Reminds me of the 1974 James Last Christmas Album that my father had at home (google it) . Hahahahahaha.
Pete. You could probably do an hour show on bands with album names that don’t fit or relate to the music on the album
I really liked AC/DC putting Angus on the covers!!
I will take a little issue with the GFR album shinin' on...as that one was blurry because the album came with 3D glasses that made the album cover look like it was in 3D..but you're right for the most part
Great choices guys. I include Riot, great first three albums, awful covers half seal, half human deserve better.
"Hanging in the Balance" by Metal Church🤮
"Born Again" by Black Sabbath🤣
'Born Again' divides everyone. I have grown to love it.
I remember my friend telling me how cool that album cover (Born Again I'm talking about) was back in the 80's. I wasn't that impressed, but at least they tried.
I hate Dehumanizer cover, it has nothin to do with sabbath
@@igoroliveira7458 Agree, it's no Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules, love those two covers. And I like the Live Evil cover, I had it as a gatefold vinyl back in 1983.
Deserts are actually full of snakes Pete...
If I was in a band, especially a really heavy band, I'd put pictures of adorable kittens on all of my covers. I like consistency and I also like to mess with people.
Pete and Martin: I heard today on a Florida radio station that vinyl records outsold CDs for the first time in the last 30 years.
I read that, but said since 1986...
Apart from Weekend Warriors, Ted Nugent had some album cover clunkers.
I love Who Do We Think We Are as an album, but the cover I always called the "Christmas Tree" cover.
Been loving this ongoing topic. I'm curious if theres albums you dont like but with great album art.
Stay tuned tonight!
Martin's AC/DC rant is as funny as anything on Spinal Tap.
Thank you, Sir.
I spoke too soon - - Deep purple was even funnier.