10 Most Controversial Album Covers Of All Time
2. Nevermind - Nirvana (1991)
During their short career, Nirvana carved out quite a legacy. As the Godfathers of Grunge, they astutely assassinated the Hair Metal bands that preceded them and over the years, many a disillusioned teenager has found solace in Kurt Cobains tortured poetry and his bands lo-fi, punky attack. Worshipped the world over, the adulation that would have been music to the ears of the have-nots was actually a major contributing factor to Cobains suicide.
Ending his life with a self-inflicted bullet fired to end a pervasive self-hatred and depression, the bleached blonde idol cemented his rock legacy by taking his place alongside his heroes in the legendary 27 Club. Nirvanas music may have been scintillating and their lyrics a chaotic manifestation of Generation X tedium but their masterstroke was releasing an explicit album cover that appeared to be immune to criticism. A scathing comment on Capitalist greed and its reliance on hooking the young into the metanarrative of the American Dream, the prevalence of infant genitalia on the cover of Nevermind is largely ignored. Perhaps suggesting that the instant a baby is clothed their innocence is revoked as it becomes a part of a bigger brand, Cobain purportedly suggested censoring the cover with a sticker that declared if youre offended by this, you must be a closet paedophile.
Eternally uncompromising and fiercely true to his individuality, it was when the accolades, airplay and mainstream recognition arrived that Cobain began to feel like the infant pictured, floating in a personal purgatory, drawn to the siren call of the US dollar. The conscious sonic assault of the Steve Albini produced In Utero was one such attempt to reinstate his anti-establishment ethics and alienate the scenesters; the gunshot wound the one that succeeded.