10 Best Rock Album Music Covers Of The 2000s
3. Hey Ma - James
People generally like babies and generally don't like the idea of any harm coming to them. So, when British indie band James put out an album with a baby reaching for a gun on the front cover, it didn't go down so well.
Hey Ma, which came out in 2008, was the group's first album following a seven-year hiatus. It did relatively well, reaching the UK top ten, even with all the controversy surrounding its artwork.
Guitarist Larry Gott said that he was inspired to produce this picture by the news of a toddler accidentally being granted a firearms license in America.
Gott went on to say that the image was a statement against the gun culture of the US and Britain. This was in line with the decidedly more political tone that James had taken on the album.
Controversy for controversy's sake isn't good, but when an artist is genuinely trying to make a statement then it can be something great. James were not going to back down when it came to expressing their ideologies, and that should be commended.